‘When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him’ – Jonathan SwiftMany years ago, I undertook an internship at the New Statesman on the books desk. I would like to say that I found myself exposed to many brilliant authors and titles that I would not otherwise have encountered, but unfortunately I did not. However, one sublime thing did come out of my brief stint in the Statesman’s confines. The literary editor one day handed me a copy of a book with a peculiar title – A Confederacy of...