In every era a certain kind of unprincipled demagogue driven by an insatiable need for attention and a sense of what will capture the public's imagination rises to the fore. In the early years of France’s Third Republic, it was the ludicrous Marquis de Morès.
Sometimes the devil comes as a serpent. Sometimes he comes as a cleft-footed beast. Sometimes, Bob Dylan sings, he comes as a man of peace. And sometimes he comes as a clown.
The horrors wrought by … [+24439 chars]
