David Frum

David Frum @davidfrum

Everything old is new again Have you ever heard of Thomas Bowdler? In the early 19th century, he and his sister Henrietta Maria decided that some of the masterworks of English literature - notably Shakespeare and Gibbon - were too bawdy and otherwise offensive — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

The expurgated editions were a commercial success. But to a later generation, "to Bowdlerize" became a catch-phrase for everything prudish and philistine. Later generations of writers defiantly insisted on facing life's realities, even when hard or ugly. 3/x — PolitiTweet.org