• EVERY billionaire, whether British, American, or Russian oligarch, seems to be a philanthropist these days, whereas the true philanthropists are the mass of people who contribute to their fortune, as in the novel: The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell, about a painter/signwriter, living in Mugsborough, who gives an account of daily life in the building industry.

Though written in 1914, everyone living in their own Mugsborough, should read it.

WILSON JOHN HAIRE
Lulot Gardens, N19