Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© Bahnfrend, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Victorian MP Richard Cobden pleaded for Britain to set the world an example as a nation open for business.
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© Kate Jewell, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.
An eccentric, self-made businesswoman, who ‘made three fortunes and spent five’ in the campaign against the death penalty.
© Adrian Platt, Geogaph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Alice was set a poetical test of wits by the kindly (but like all the other characters, utterly maddening) White Queen.
From the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
A young Jewish girl is chosen as the Queen of Persia, but quickly finds she has enemies.
© Gordon Elliott, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.
Jane Eyre meets a not very handsome stranger, and likes him all the better for it.
© Derek Harper, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.
Marianne Dashwood sprains an ankle, but help is at hand.