lynx-dev [2.8.1] why no bold links?

[Tim Benham]

I just "upgraded" from 2.7.1 to 2.8.1 and was horrified to find that
links are no longer displayed in bold, instead they display in reverse
video (and the currently selected link is basically
indistinguishable).

I configured with 

$ ./configure --with-screen=ncurses --enable-persistent-cookies 

which prpduced a build which wouldn't compile because it couldn't find
the file "curses.h". I symlinked curses.h to ncurses.h and it compiled
without complaint.  My system is linux. My ncurses version is 1.9.6.

I can't find anything about this in the INSTALL or PROBLEMS
files. What am I doing wrong?

TIA,

Tim