Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© Wellcome Images, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
A man unjustly condemned to transportation finds that thieves thieve, but sometimes decency shines through too.
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From the Athens War Museum collection, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Under a moonlit sky in October 1942, Allied and Axis forces met in battle on the sands of the Egyptian desert.
By Robert Pine (1730-1788), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
A hen-pecked, ne’er-do-well farmer from New York took off into the Catskill Mountains, and fell in with some very odd company.
© Piyashi Ghosh, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
James Tod brought order to Udaipur after years of turmoil, but not everyone appreciated him.
Vijay Singh, Raja of Jodhpur, was left to fend for himself after his army deserted him.
By Samuel Scott (1702-1772), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Prussia’s invasion of Silesia in 1740 plunged Europe into turmoil, and a French invasion of England became a very real threat.