Learning Skills

Article of the day for December 17, 2019 is Gascon campaign of 1345 . The Gascon campaign of 1345, part of the Hundred Years' War, was fought between August and November in English-controlled Gascony in south-west France. Henry, Earl of Derby, commanding an Anglo-Gascon force, met a large French force at Bergerac, east of Bordeaux, and decisively defeated it. He moved to besiege the provincial capital of Périgueux, but was threatened by a much larger force commanded by John, Duke of Normandy, the son and heir of the French king. Derby withdrew and left garrisons blockading Périgueux, including one at Auberoche, which the French besieged. He returned with a small force, launched a surprise attack against the greatly superior French, and won another decisive victory, killing or capturing all of the French leaders. This campaign was the first successful English land campaign of the war; morale and prestige swung their way in the border regions of Gascony, providing an influx of taxe...

With a high of 59F and a low of 38F.

By BY PETER KIMANI from NYT Books https://ift.tt/34sLVjZ

By BY NEIL GENZLINGER from NYT Books https://ift.tt/2sAVobq

By BY JULIA PHILLIPS from NYT Books https://ift.tt/2S2QUVI

By BY DWIGHT GARNER from NYT Books https://ift.tt/38IbCjW

Article of the day for December 16, 2019 is Maria Rundell . Maria Rundell (1745–1828) was an English writer. In 1805, when she was over 60, she sent an unedited collection of recipes and household advice to John Murray, of whose family—owners of the John Murray publishing house—she was a friend. Murray published the work, A New System of Domestic Cookery (frontispiece shown), in November 1805. It was a huge success and several editions followed; the book sold around half a million copies in Rundell's lifetime. It was aimed at middle class housewives. In addition to dealing with food preparation, it offers advice on medical remedies and how to set up a home brewery, and includes a section entitled "Directions to Servants". She also advises readers on being economical with their food and avoiding waste. Rundell wrote a second book, Letters Addressed to Two Absent Daughters (1814), with advice concerning death, friendship, how to behave in polite company and the types of b...