From Charles Norrie
Could France’s nuclear fallout from Chernobyl and the rise of Jean-Marie Le Pen (Feedback, 11 May) both have been influenced by King Henry II of England? Compare a map of the French lands held by England’s most European monarch (he spent most of his time in France) in 1154 and you have a good match with the areas that didn’t vote heavily for Le Pen in the first round, and an even better match in the second. Go back to the French NF vote in the 1970s and the 1980s and the relationship is still valid.
Beats me how good King Henry (who spoke French and very little English), and certainly knew no radiochemistry, managed to produce the caesium fallout map. See The Times Atlas of World History (Times Books, 1979, p 125).
cbnorrie@hotmail.com
