Was Ambrose Meyrick insane or born in the wrong millennium? A Welsh orphan, he went to live with his uncle at a public school in the industrialized midlands, where he was seen as a lazy, idle, unrealistic and impractical dreamer. So he was caned by the teachers, bullied by his classmates, and bored by his classes. His father, before his death, had developed an enthusiasm in him for antiquities, especially the ancient...