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Passages for reading. Read them out aloud. Paraphrase or précis them. Discuss them with friends. Does anything surprise or impress you? How does the author work your feelings? Would you use his words? How would you direct the scene in a movie — and who would your stars be?

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On This Day

Saturday July 27 ns July 14 os

July 27, 1916

The execution of Captain Charles Fryatt (1)

Captain Charles Fryatt

A civilian ferry captain was court-martialled by the Germans for thumbing his nose at their U-Boats.

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International Relations

A Credit to His Country

The diplomat’s task is to see the best in other peoples, not to scold them for their failings.

by François de Callières 1645-1717

Lives of the Saints

The Synod of Whitby

In 664, a council at Whitby decided to align the traditions of the Northumbrian Church with those of Rome and Constantinople.

by John Richard Green 1837-1883

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Mediaeval History

The Voyage of John Cabot

On the Feast of St John the Baptist, June 24th, 1497, Venetian navigator John Cabot claimed North America for the King of England.

by Edith Louise Marsh 1870-1960

Poets and Poetry

The Candidate

William Cowper’s peace was shattered by the arrival of a Parliamentary candidate doorstepping his Buckinghamshire constituents.

by William Cowper 1731-1800

Lives of the Saints

Cuthbert’s Box

Shortly before Easter, an ivory box went missing from the gifts presented at the shrine of St Cuthbert.

paraphrased from an account by Reginald of Durham ?-?1190

Music and Musicians

The Seikilos Epitaph

Lost for seventeen centuries, caught up in a war, and used as a pedestal for a plant pot, this is the world’s oldest surviving song.

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Selected Authors

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W. Somerset Maugham

The Lessons of Empire

Arthur Penrhys Stanley

Christ is Risen!

Samuel Smiles

A Bit of Luck for his Lordship

Mark Twain

Silver Swan

Jawaharlal Nehru

The First Opium War

Hugh Blair

Order and Method

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Selected Topics

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France

Stories about our friends across the Channel, from Roman times to the Hundred Years’ War, her bloody Revolution, and the giddying rise and fall of Emperor Napoleon.

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Classical History

Tales of tragedy, ambition and heroism from the Battle of Marathon and Hannibal’s passage of the Alps to Caesar’s fateful crossing of the Rubicon.

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International Relations

Britain has always demanded respect, open seas, and to be left in peace to ‘work out our own salvation’ — a courtesy we should extend to others.

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Extracts from Fiction

Romance, adventure and comedy from the very best fiction writers, including Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, Charles Dickens, John Buchan, and many more.

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Sport and Sportsmen

Stories from the world of cricket, football and other sports, and the men and women who have played them.

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Poets and Poetry

Passages from English verse, from Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf to Shakespeare’s sonnets, Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade, Kipling’s If and many more.

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The Copy Book

Readings in history, society and literature

The Copy Book

Readings in history, society and literature