Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. Evil genius. He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. That's like hiding at your own funeral. Yeah, it's a big, great gig. I'm Russell Kane. Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. It also helps

that it's a long time ago, right? It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream

van plays music when it's out of ice cream. Listen to evil genius on BBC sounds.

This is a download from the BBC. For more information and our terms of use, go to BBC.co.uk slash radio three.

It's a slim book, a schoolgirls story, a parable about damnation and betrayal,

a sublimely comic novel whose forebears include that far from comic tale, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,

a book written by a Catholic where Catholic is put to the torch,

an uncategorisable book made into a film with an Oscar-winning performance by Maggie Smith.

Muriel sparks the prime of Miss Jean Brody is the subject of this evening's nightwaves landmark. It was written by the Edinburgh-born Muriel Sparks the Prime of Miss Jean Brody is the subject of this evening's nightwaves landmark.

It was written by the Edinburgh-born Muriel Spark and first published in its entirety in 1961,

in a single issue of the New Yorker.

By that time, Muriel Spark was already an established figure in the London literary world, having published

poetry and biographies. At the heart of the novel set in Edinburgh of the 1930s is Miss Jean Brody,

or rather Miss Jean Brody and her set. There are a group of girls whom she chooses as her disciples,

attempting to imbue them with all her values and beliefs,

including her passion for Italy, not least Mussolini. Miss Brody even embroils them in her love life.

She lones out one of her girls to have an affair with Teddy Lloyd, the one-armed married art teacher,

whom she herself truly loves and renounces.

The novel, slim as it is, is no simple matter.

It weaves back upon itself more like music than a work of fiction.

We learn early that one of Miss Brody's set will die in a fire, that a second, Sandy

will betray her mentor and become a Carmelite nun, and we learn later that a third, egged on

...