Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
By Nikolai Nevrev (1830–1904), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Boris Godunov was crowned Tsar of All Russia in 1598 in the belief that Tsar Ivan’s son Dmitry was dead — but was he?
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By George Townshend (1724-1807), via the National Portrait Gallery and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: ? Public domain.
Following the disastrous Seven Years’ War, France agreed to quit Canada and leave it to the British, which was not at all what the local tribesmen wanted.
By an anonymous photographer, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Canada’s Hudson Bay has been a cause of war and an engine of prosperity, but long before that it was the scene of cold treachery.
Abigail Brodsky, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
John Clayton, a British colonial official lost in the African jungle, is caught unawares by Kerchak, the gorilla.
© MM, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
Pliny admired Julius Mauricus because he spoke his mind, and Emperor Nerva because he let him.
© Med, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
When Brennus the Gaul broke through the gates of Rome, Marcus Furius Camillus was far away in exile.