Arrows Of Outrageous Fortune Research Articles

Fibromyalgia: Hamlet’s Soliloquy and the State of the Art

Fibromyalgia might be considered as the body’s response to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune [...]

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune: Exploring resilience in the third sector

AbstractThis Special Issue is based on a selection of papers initially presented at the conference on “Resilience and the Third Sector” (Institute of Public Sector Accounting Research, University of Edinburgh, November 2022). The third sector is pervasive in most societies and makes a distinctive and widely‐recognized contribution to the public good by building social capital, frequently affording a foundation for social cohesiveness. However, it is a fragile sector that is significantly affected by crises (the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune). These have the potential to curtail the capacity of third‐sector organizations (TSOs) to deliver societal benefits and, in the most extreme cases, even threaten their survival. Given this, the resilience of TSOs (albeit this term has multiple layers and manifold meanings) is critical. This paper explores a range of connotations linked to third‐sector resilience and explores contemporary evidence (including the papers in this Special Issue) as to how the sector identifies, manages, and learns from crises. In addition, it provides a brief outline research agenda as a basis for encouraging researchers to focus on resilience in TSOs and enhance knowledge. It is argued that more rigorous, evidence‐based research of this nature has the potential to positively influence practice in the sector, as well as policy formulation by government and others who steer TSOs.

So you think you want to run an environmental conservation meeting? Advice on the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that accompany academic conference planning

A key component of academia is the meeting. A conference or symposium is a valuable resource for academics in so many ways. However, despite their value, planning an academic meeting can be difficult, partly because of the nature of academics themselves. Planning an environmental meeting adds an extra layer of difficulty, as special attention must be taken with ensuring that the meeting is as environmentally friendly as possible. This article has been written to give those wanting to plan an academic meeting some advice, with some useful tips and warnings about pitfalls that may be encountered. Issues such as location, transportation, accommodation, catering, promotion, social media, funding, and dealing with problem delegates are covered. Importantly, issues related to reducing the environmental impact of the meeting are discussed. It is hoped that the tips contained within this article will take some of the stress out of organizing an academic meeting for those in the environmental and conservation fields.

Spins and arrows of outrageous fortune

Spins and arrows of outrageous fortune

Suicide risk assessment: myth and reality.

To be, or not to be, that is the question - Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die, to sleep; … Hamlet, III i Hamlet's soliloquy is surely the most famous expression of suicidal ideation in English literature. However, by the end of the play, it is not Hamlet, but Ophelia who has taken her own life, even though she gave no prior hint of self-destruction.

Orthodontic dental casts: The case for routine articulator mounting

To mount or not to mount: that is the question. The famous quotation from Hamlet, slightly transformed, continues: “Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them. To die, to sleep. Of course, the question of whether to mount dental casts is not worth “suffering slings and arrows,” nor is it worth getting depressed, and certainly we should not commit suicide over it! After all, it’s only an articulator; yes, there are many reasons why we should mount models on an articulator, but let’s think about its clinical importance, use some logical thinking, and take away the passion. To better understand this Point/Counterpoint discussion, we should avoid relating the use of an articulator to a group, a philosophy, or a guru. It is simply what is best for the patient. Researchers have reported that the use of an articulator is not evidenced-based, as stated by Rinchuse and Kandasamy in their article, “Articulators in orthodontics: an evidence-based perspective.” Evidence-based research needs to be put in the proper clinical context. The most relevant question is whether research is always good for clinical practice. This implies that the clinical reality to which it is applied should not be misrepresented to satisfy the demands of the research. Use of the term “evidenced-based” in position-statement papers only confuses the situation. From a clinical perspective, several points should be considered. The articulator is only a clinical tool that we can use to obtain a more complete diagnosis. The more information we have about the patient, the better our diagnosis and eventual treatment. Therefore, concerning its use, it is not a matter of yes or no but, rather, why not? An orthodontist can do good orthodontics without using an articulator, but an articulator can help him or her provide better treatment in many clinical situations. The articulator provides an added dimension that helps in gathering more information by visualization of the pretreatment occlusion in static occlusion, and permits the visualization of various functional movements. In prosthodontics, once the musculoskeletal stable position has been obtained and the patient’s dental casts are mounted on the articulator, posterior teeth can be removed. It is then possible to determine whether the origin of the malocclusion is horizontal, vertical, or transverse. Knowing this in many Angle Class II cases will prevent the clinician from trying to do the impossible in correcting the malocclusion. By doing this easy step in diagnosis, we know the limitations even before placing the first bracket. This information is impossible to obtain with hand-held dental casts, and most orthodontic failures are due to an incomplete diagnosis and not determining the origin of the malocclusion before treatment. Mounted dental casts are an aid to a more complete diagnosis. The following is a list of many important reasons for mounting dental casts on an articulator. 1. It helps in measuring the centric relation-centric occlusion discrepancy in 3 planes of space. This is important information when the goal is to treat to a musculoskeletal stable position. 2. It helps in determining the first contact point (fulcrum point) in centric relation. This is particularly important in patients with a reduced posterior vertical dimension and a vertical or clockwise pattern of growth. This gives a realistic picture of the vertical control mechanics that must be used to correct the malocclusion. 3. It helps in studying the attrition patterns and the proclination of the maxillary incisors in periodontal patients. 4. It helps in determining the need for “trial” treatments. A diagnostic setup on mounted dental casts is often necessary in patients with tooth-size discrepancies. We can determine the needed changes before our actual treatment. Specialist in orthodontics, San Sebastian, Spain. Specialist in orthodontics, Parma, Italy. Reprint requests to: Domingo Martin, Plaza Bilbao 2-2 , San Sebastian, Spain; e-mail, martingoenaga@arrakis.es. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2012;141:8-17 0889-5406/$36.00 Copyright 2012 by the American Association of Orthodontists. doi:10.1016/j.ajodo.2011.11.007

Temporary Derailment or the End of the Line? Unemployed Managers at 50

Based on fieldwork conducted at the outset of the current economic downturn, this paper examines the experiences of a group of unemployed managers and professionals in their fifties. Following a review of existing literature, the authors use a methodology to explore how these people incorporate the experience of job loss into their self-images and identities. They identify certain core similarities in the experiences of unemployed professionals and then discern three strategies through which unemployed professionals tried to make sense of their dismissal and sustain their sense of selfhood. The first approached job loss as a temporary career derailment and insisted on seeing a future as a resumption of career, no matter how implausible such a prospect appeared to others. The second saw the job loss as the end of the line, a traumatic event, the product of cruelty, injustice and unfairness, from which there is no prospect of resuming or salvaging a career. The third strategy accepted job loss as a radical discontinuity but refused to lapse into despondency, self-blame or in extreme blame and vilification of others. Instead, it attributed it to social factors, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to other uncontrollable forces, towards which they adopted a philosophical attitude, seeking to live within their means and engage in temporary paid and unpaid work, studies and other creative activities. The term, narrative coping, is proposed as a way of describing each unemployed professional’s struggle to construct a story that offers both meaning and consolation. The paper is intended as a contribution to two academic fields that in the past have generally stayed well clear of each other. One addresses the psychological consequences of job loss, along with coping mechanisms and the effectiveness of interventions intended to aid the unemployed. The second addresses constructions of identity and career among professionals, focusing specifically on the effects of job loss on the way people construct and sustain their life stories.

The Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune: Can You “Lose” the Lottery but Still Win?

This article discusses potential legal arguments that can be made for a lottery player in a seemingly hopeless situation: buying a winning lottery ticket immediately before the deadline, only to find out that the ticket was mistakenly dated for the next week’s draw. Although the lottery rules and regulations and the courts’ interpretation thereof are strongly slanted against lottery players, the authors nevertheless argue that a consistent and coherent application of traditional contract law principles could favour the claimant. They note that Canadian courts have rarely been consistent in their application of contract law to lottery situations, with courts sometimes characterizing lottery advertisements as both an offer and an invitation to treat. Even so, whether the lottery corporation is construed as the offeror or the offeree, the authors contend that a diligent analysis of the formation of the underlying contract could entitle the claimant to the prize. The article concludes that the regulatory framework governing lotteries does not necessarily preclude the acceptance of contract law arguments in favour of the claimant. Rather, it is the courts’ tendency to analyze the contractual elements of the relationship between the player and the lottery corporation in a haphazard manner that has been the source of frustration for many lottery players across Canada.

Thomas Wakley: relevant to today's society

Roger Jones' essay on the turbulent life and the turbulent times of Thomas Wakley, the founding editor of The Lancet, is a racy story and a very entertaining read.1 However as far as I'm concerned there is still a lot to learn from the life and times of Wakley that is relevant to today's society, both lay and scientific. Of course much has improved since the early 19th century for which we must be truly grateful. The profession is governed, regulated and disciplined by a GMC that is increasingly pro-active. Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is the rule rather than the exception, and in the last 50 years we have witnessed real advances related to both clinical practice and public health interventions, that are reflected in reductions in infant mortality and increases in expectation of life. In 1950, the UK experienced 26,000 infant deaths; that has fallen by 80% at the time of writing.2 Today an average woman can expect to live to 79 years, which is twice the life expectation at the time Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837.2 Worse still, in Wakley's day the expectation of life among the working class was often under 20 years.2 Life was short and brutal, and little that medicine had to offer could improve on these cruel facts. I would even go further and suggest that medicine in those days added to the cruelty rather than offering palliation or cure. Purgation, bleeding, poisonous potions and crude surgery without anaesthesia or antisepsis, only added to the sum of human suffering. It is no wonder therefore that many of the alternatives to conventional practice, such as homeopathy, founded by Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1833) or chiropractic invented by Daniel David Palmer in 1895, that had little to offer in efficacy but were at the least mostly free of toxic side-effects, flourished at the outset. Yet the lay public is fickle and has a short memory. There are many today, aided and abetted by the celebrity culture, who deny progress, invoke a golden age that never was and contribute to a momentum that heralds the dawning of the age of ‘endarkenment’. Homeopathy whose success at birth was a result of the principle, not that like cures like, but rather that nothing was better than something, is enjoying a renaissance in spite of existing in an evidence free zone,3 yet in the modern era, for most maladies, something is most certainly better than nothing. As far as chiropractic is concerned, we are witnessing a return to the bad old days described in Jones' essay, where battles are played out through the courts rather than through the scientific journals. You may be familiar with the case of Simon Singh versus the British Chiropractic Association (BCA). Simon Singh has a PhD in particle physics at Cambridge University and was a director and producer in the BBC science department. After leaving the BBC, he wrote a series of bestselling popular science books, such as Fermat's Last Theorem, The Code Book and Big Bang. In 2003 he received an MBE for services to science education and communication. In April 2008, he wrote an article for The Guardian that focused on chiropractic. The article also coincided with Chiropractic Awareness Week, which was organized by the BCA. The article discussed the history of chiropractic and the founder's belief that manipulating the spine could treat 95% of all diseases, because disease was supposedly caused by blockages in the flow of innate energy along the spine and through the nervous system. In particular, he wrote about the likely risks of chiropractic treatment and whether or not there is any evidence that it is effective for various childhood conditions, including asthma. The BCA claimed that he had defamed their reputation and sued for libel. On 7 May 2009, there was a preliminary hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice. Sir David Eady, the presiding judge, decided that the article contained ‘the plainest allegation of dishonesty and indeed it accuses them (the BCA) of thoroughly disreputable conduct’. Singh is now considering taking the case to appeal at the personal risk of financial ruin. For a full description of the case and an opportunity to join the campaign ‘Keep the libel law out of science’, log in to the web page http://www.senseaboutscience.org.uk/index.php/site/project/333/. The BMJ has taken up the case and issued a challenge to the BCA to produce their evidence that chiropractic might, among other systemic disorders, cure childhood asthma.4 Richard Brown, on behalf of the BCA, rose to the challenge, claiming that their was substantial evidence for efficacy.5 A Thomas Wakley is needed today to stand up for reason and prepared to thicken his skin against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Perhaps Simon Singh is that man.

The heritability of general cognitive ability increases linearly from childhood to young adulthood

Although common sense suggests that environmental influences increasingly account for individual differences in behavior as experiences accumulate during the course of life, this hypothesis has not previously been tested, in part because of the large sample sizes needed for an adequately powered analysis. Here we show for general cognitive ability that, to the contrary, genetic influence increases with age. The heritability of general cognitive ability increases significantly and linearly from 41% in childhood (9 years) to 55% in adolescence (12 years) and to 66% in young adulthood (17 years) in a sample of 11 000 pairs of twins from four countries, a larger sample than all previous studies combined. In addition to its far-reaching implications for neuroscience and molecular genetics, this finding suggests new ways of thinking about the interface between nature and nurture during the school years. Why, despite life's 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune', do genetically driven differences increasingly account for differences in general cognitive ability? We suggest that the answer lies with genotype-environment correlation: as children grow up, they increasingly select, modify and even create their own experiences in part based on their genetic propensities.

A 'Sea of Troubles' and a 'Pilgrimage Uncertain' / Dial Of Princes as the Source for Hamlet's Soliloquy

SCHOLARS have known since the nineteenth century that William Shakespeare often made free use of the images and phrases found in Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives. As George Wyndham wrote in the preface to North's magnum opus: ‘Shakespeare … not only copies North's picture, he also uses North's palette.’1 Wyndham then showed that many passages, like Shakespeare's description of Cleopatra's voyage up the Cydnus and Volumnia's climactic speech to Coriolanus, overflow with phrases taken directly from Plutarch's Lives. Shakespeare also appears to have studied North's translation of Dial of Princes (1557) by Antonio de Guevara and turned to its speculations on death when penning Hamlet's famous soliloquy. Chapters XLVIII–LII and LVII of Dial of Princes devote themselves almost exclusively to meditations on mortality, but the most relevant passages are: (i) the successive discussions of death by Secundus and Seneca (chapter XLVII); (ii) Panutius's oration to the dying Marcus Aurelius (chapters L, LI); and (iii) Aurelius's response to these mortal reflections just before he died (chapter LVII). Scholars who peruse these sections will not only find precisely the same philosophical viewpoint as that expressed by Hamlet, they are likely to read many comments that seem eerily familiar. For example, in chapter XLVII, Secundus refers to death as a ‘kind of sleeping …, a pilgrimage uncertain’ and, in the next paragraph, Seneca observes, ‘for of all those which are dead none returned.’2 This is reminiscent of Hamlet's notable description of death as a kind of sleeping and an ‘undiscover’d country, from whose bourn / No traveler returns (3.1.79–80).3 Similarly, while Panutius, in chapter LI, describes death as way to escape ‘the assaults of life and broils of fortune’,4 Hamlet, of course, refers to it as a way to escape ‘the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’. Dial of Princes also includes the phrases ‘sea of troubles’, ‘of so long life’, and, in one sentence, places forms of the words sleep, perchance, and dream in proximity. The following table provides a list of a few of the resemblances between the soliloquy and Dial of Princes (emphasis occasionally added):

A Candle of Darkness: Multiplied Deixis in Roberto Ciulli’s King Lear

Spring 2008 83 A Candle of Darkness: Multiplied Deixis in Roberto Ciulli’s King Lear Jerzy Limon When in Act V, scene 2, of William Shakespeare’s King Lear, the Earl of Gloucester, blinded, resigned, and no longer desiring to flee any further, declares, “No further, sir; a man may rot even here,” his son Edgar encourages him to save himself: What, in ill thoughts again? Men must endure Their going hence even as their coming hither: Ripeness is all. Come on. Gloucester’s reaction to this is somewhat surprising, for he says (in the Folio version): “And that’s true too.” As Bernard McElroy long ago observed,1 if he had said simply, “That’s true,” or “That’s not true,” there would be nothing unusual in this utterance; but he says “and that’s true too.” In other words, he equates two mutually exclusive options. It is impossible both to “rot even here,” and also, in the awareness that the time has not yet come, to face “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” It is, I suppose, not without significance that the words “and that’s true too” are the last that Gloucester utters in the play. (The Fool, in turn, will say, equally paradoxically, as he departs from the text, that he will “go to bed at noon.”)2 In Roberto Ciulli’s recent production of King Lear (seen at the XI International Shakespeare Festival in Gdańsk, Teatr Wybrzeże, August 2007), the ambiguities of language are deepened by the fact that each of the actors performing on stage impersonates at least two distinct fictional figures.3 One of these figures is not Shakespearean at all, and for that reason, and also because only Shakespeare’s text is used throughout, what is true for one of the figures in its specific context is Jerzy Limon is Professor of English at the English Institute, University of Gdańsk, Poland. His main area of research includes history of English drama and theatre in the 16th and 17th centuries. His publications in English include Gentlemen of a Company, Dangerous Matter, and The Masque of Stuart Culture. He is now preparing a book on theory for an American publisher, and a historical work connected with King James I’s secret service. Limon has also published four novels and translations of plays by William Shakespeare, Thomas Middleton, Philip Massinger and Tom Stoppard. He runs a theatre project in Gdańsk, which aims at reconstructing an Elizabethan-style theatre, and organizes an annual International Shakespeare Festival. 84 Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism not necessarily true for the other. Moreover, whatever the situation might be, the relevance of Shakespeare’s language to one of the figures may always be related to the implied relevance of the same utterance to the other figure, by which the network of possible relationships is deepened and becomes multi-layered. This means that all the verbal utterances, constituting what I prefer to call stage speech rather than language, appear simultaneously in distinct contexts, by which they generate different meanings, depending on their relationship to one of the two fictional speakers (played, as I said, by one actor) and their deictic axis.4 In theatre, meaning derives from the relationship of the denoted attributes5 of the fictional realm to the material substance (and its modeling) of scenic signs. Since in this particular production we have two distinct layers of fiction (for the sake of clarity, I shall mark them simply 1 and 2), the relationship becomes more complex and depends also on the cognitive choices made by the spectator. Thus the meaning of stage speech may be drawn from the relationship of the referential world, as created verbally by live actors, to one or the other of the two fictional figures to whom a given speech is attributed. The described situation, rather rare in theatre, relies on the actor’s ability to create more than one assumed deixis of fictional figures.6 Naturally, this needs further explanation. In Ciulli’s King Lear all the actors are blind, from the very start of the performance. More precisely: through the acting technique adopted, they indicate that they...

Modulation of stress responses: How we cope with excess glucocorticoids

We are admirably equipped to respond to survive the acute slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. With acute challenges of sufficient magnitude, activity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is stimulated and the protean adrenocortical hormones, glucocorticoids, are secreted to do their job throughout all cell types in the body, most of which contain the appropriate receptors. The consequent actions of the glucocorticoids, together with the rapidly acting adrenomedullary catecholamines, alter metabolic, cardiovascular, immune and central neural responses to the ongoing condition so that we can effectively sustain life at the moment. Circulating glucose is increased with an abundant supply for the potential need for fighting or fleeing, as is arterial blood pressure; the immune system is prevented from over-responding to acute bacterial threats; contextual brain-generated behaviors are enhanced by both increased attention and drive (13). Thus, the glucocorticoids engage many of the body systems for optimal responses to acute challenge. These responses enable and sustain life.

The Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune: Transformation and Degradation of Entitlements for Children and Families

The Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune: Transformation and Degradation of Entitlements for Children and Families

To See or Not to See

To See or Not to See

Of porcupines and poodles—a joint challenge to industry and the profession

IntroductionThe original title of the presentation was ‘Our relationshipwith industry—slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’.This was chosen not in recognition of the multiplicity oftapes and devices developing within our speciality (slingsand arrows), nor of the pecuniary influences of thepharmaceutical industry (outrageous fortune). More partic-ularly, it was chosen in recognition of the venue of themeeting, Copenhagen; this summary is punctuated withsome relevant lessons from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Princeof Denmark:To be or not to be, that is the question: whether ‘tisnobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows ofoutrageous fortune, or to take arms against the sea oftroubles, and, by opposing, end them.Hamlet, act 3, scene iOne might paraphrase as follows: do we need arelationship with industry or do we not? Do we accept thestatus quo, or do we seek to change what might be seen asdifficult interaction? Should we move to modify ourrelationship with industry such that it works to theadvantage not only of ourselves and industry, but moreparticularly, our patients? Or should we cease any interac-tion at all?The nature and extent of our relationship with industryOur interactions with industry can clearly cover all aspectsof our working lives: educational, research, clinical practiceand governance issues. In educational terms industry isresponsible for the development and sponsorship of manypostgraduate meetings, conferences, symposia, courses andworkshops. They provide product information to patients,carers and health care professionals. The role of keyopinion leaders is crucial to many activities of industry.Personal sponsorship and other aspects of hospitality arefurther key issues.Industry is also clearly responsible for much researchfunding, and along with that, industrial contacts arefrequently involved in protocol development, data collec-tion, analysis, presentation, publication and ghost writing.In terms of our clinical practice, product development,marketing and consultancy are clearly all important areas ofinteraction.Finally, in the context of clinical governance, ourinteractions with industry present major potential and actualconflicts of interest for many of us, and transparency overthis is crucial.There is an old children’s joke which is particularlyapposite in the present context. Question: What does an800-pound gorilla do? Answer: Pretty much anything itwants? If this is so then: What does a $400 billion colossusdo? Answer: Absolutely anything it wants! Four hundredbillion dollars is the current estimated turnover of thepharmaceutical industry. Whilst the devices industry, with aturnover of around $250 billion, might be seen as thesmaller cousin of the pharmaceutical industry, its workingprinciples and practices are very much the same. Althoughmost of the illustrations and comments given here come

Mitochondria and cell death: Apoptosis and necrosis

“To be, or not to be: that is the question:Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,And by opposing end them? To die” William Shakespeare, Hamlet

To give or not to give? That is the question.

While Hamlet experienced “suffering caused by the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune…,” many modern day scientists have similar feelings when asked to give and share published data and materials with other members of our community. Herein, we argue that being on the side of the fence that

Essential ethics for EMS: cardinal virtues and core principles

Dutiful attention to virtue, teamwork, beneficence, justice, and respect for patient autonomy provides a coherent approach to addressing many ethical dilemmas in the out-of-hospital setting. Most of the great risks of EMS--abandonment, competence, and safe-driving skills--lie at the ethike or character of those who ply the prehospital art. Proactively fostering the personal and professional virtue of team members may be a kind of moral vaccination against the ethical pitfalls inherent in emergency medical service provision. Future training, education, disaster preparedness drills, and related exercises must include opportunities for character and team building before optimal performance and accountability can be assured. In the steady, almost glacial, maturation of the specialty of EMS medicine, truly the character of those who serve in the "line of fire" of evaluation, management, and transport in the out-of-hospital arena must be girded with more than the armor and shields of technology. Since September 11, 2001, it has become increasingly clear that EMS workers must strengthen their ability to bear the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," armed with swords of discipline, virtue, and character to provide the breadth of care that only a well orchestrated team can deliver. Ultimately, humans perform best when they share themselves unselfconsciously, surrendering to an enterprise and cause far greater than themselves. Our citizens, patients, and heroic colleagues deserve no less.

Clearing the Muddy Waters: Jeff Peires and The Great Treks

Twenty years ago 1 had the pleasure of reviewing a volume of papers on precolonial Southern Africa edited by Jeff pekes.' Titled Before and After Shah: Papers in Xguni Histoy, it was based on a workshop held at Rhodes University in 1979. Among the contributors were Julian Cobbing, Phil Bonner, Jeff Guy. John Wright, Patrick Harries and Leroy Vail. 1 was somy to have missed the workshop, because the papers breathed a spirit of cooperative enquiry as well as a willingness to revise outworn interpretations. Two decades on, the contributors have gone their separate ways. Vail sadly went to an early grave. Others have had serious health scares. Some have not spoken for years. The spirit of cooperation in challenges to old orthodoxies, which promised so much, evaporated. I have often wondered at the barely perceptible processes by which Young Turks are turned into the Old Guard. Perhaps the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune take their toll on all of us. For whatever reasons, Peires presents a prime example of a scholar whose mind has closed. His review presents no new evidence, opens no new lines of enquiry, and brooks no questioning of established lines of interpretation. Peires is, of course, entitled to his opinions, and for that reason I was tempted to leave his strident accusations unanswered. The lively rejoinders to his own book, The Dead will Arise, remind us of the times when he has had to take it as well as dish it out2 However, it seems to me that those who teach that 'history is an argument without end' have a duty to respond when basic questions of evidence and interpretation are raised. This journal, I know, is primarily intended for mature scholars, but I hope readers will pardon me for writing as if for an interested audience of under-graduate students. Who knows? It is not inconceivable that debate on some of the propositions I have put forward might some day form the basis for a university text.