One life, said John Dos Passos, is not enough. There are many in his book. Likewise Chaucer. Pilgrims, characters, stories. Human abundance

Ossietzky and Orwell contain worlds. Canto general. Something of the sort has been attempted here, branching out in diverse directions. Trying to ask the right questions. Who did what and why?

Roger Howe studied American history, literature and politics at Manchester; international history at the London School of Economics. He has written for various publications. Feature-writing, copywriting and copyediting.

He is the author of the unpublished Book of Losing and Finding.