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W. Somerset Maugham

W. Somerset Maugham (25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer. He achieved national celebrity as a playwright; by 1908 he had four plays running simultaneously in London's West End. After 1933 he concentrated on novels and short stories. His popularity provoked adverse reactions from highbrow critics, and many belittled him as merely competent. More recent assessments generally rank Of Human Bondage as a masterpiece, and his short stories are held in high critical regard. Maugham's plain prose became known for its lucidity, but his reliance on clichés attracted adverse critical commentary. During World War I Maugham worked for the British Secret Service, later drawing on his experiences for stories published in the 1920s. He married Syrie Wellcome in 1917, and they had a daughter, Liza. However, his principal partner was Gerald Haxton; after Haxton's death, Alan Searle became Maugham's secretary and companion. Maugham gave up writing novels after World War II and died in 1965. (Full article...)

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Self-Portrait as a Tahitian (1934)
Self-Portrait as a Tahitian (1934)

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Ram Mandir

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January 25: Feast day of Saint Gregory of Nazianzus (Eastern Christianity) and Dwynwen

Protester during the 2011 Egyptian revolution
Protester during the 2011 Egyptian revolution
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Lahaul and Spiti district

Lahaul and Spiti is a district of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Located in the Himalayas, it was formed by the merger of the districts of Lahaul and Spiti in 1960. At the 2011 census of India, it was the least densely populated district of India. This photograph shows the valley of the Bhaga River in Lahaul, with the villages of Kardang (left) and Biling (right) visible on opposite sides of the river, near the district headquarters of Kyelang.

Photograph credit: Timothy A. Gonsalves

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