Individuals exposed to it become vertiginous, and are almost in a state of stupour: their animal heat is augmented one or two degrees, and the pulse in an adult gives one hundred and fifteen to one hundred and twenty-four beats in a minute; and in a child of ten years of age gives one hundred and sixty.

Investors have already started buying back shares they had sold last year in an effort to increase their profits.

Is my gloom, after all, Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?

Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.