BleakChesneyWold

                            Relevance of a Nonevent                 As a result of the Congress of Berlin 1878, the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, previously part of the Ottoman Empire, became under the management of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, established in 1867. Austria had lost control of Lombardy (1859), and Venetia (1866). Austria-Hungary was now up against a largely unified Italy, and a unified Germany under Prussian control. It would have to look towards The Balkans if it wanted to extend its territory and influence. The Congress of Berlin also recognised the independence of Serbia, which the Ottoman Empire had lost control of since 1867. Franz Joseph had been emperor of Austria since 1848 . It was from reading the Dutch language book Schoten in Sarajevo by Mark de Geest , an intriguing 'parallel biography' of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his assas...

                                              From the British Library Tales of the Weird Catherine Crowe (1790-1872)  has been called the 'first ghost hunter' or the 'first paranormal investigator'. A fluent German speaker, Mrs Crowe translated The Seeress of Provorst (1829) by prominent German scientist Justinus Kerner ( who discovered botulism and somnambulism). She was also inspired by other German scientists such as Heinrich Jung-Stilling, Karl Eschenmayer, Joseph Ennemoser, and Gotthilf Henrich von Schubert. All who were interested in the spirit world as an extension of their own research.  Mrs Crowe also wrote a series of novels published from around 1841  including,  The Story of   Lilly Dawson   ,The Adventures of Susan Hopley  or Circumstancial Evidence (  her most famous work ),   The Adventures of a Beauty...