Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© Lure, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
Leander recalls that first night when he dared the perilous waters of the Hellespont, and swam to meet his lover Hero.
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By Vasili Pukirev (1832-1890), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
As Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli stoked fears of Russian aggression, John Bright said that Russia was only threatening when she felt threatened.
© Jules Verne Times Two / julesvernex2.com / CC-BY-SA-4.0.
Employees are the key to any entrepreneur’s success, and he must know them intimately, trust them completely and pay them generously.
Pierre Louis (‘Henri’) Grevedon (1776-1860), via the National Portrait Gallery and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: ? Public domain.
Henry Maudslay, the great engineer, had seen enough apprentices to last him a lifetime.
John Neagle (1796–1865), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
A loyal Scotsman on the run from pro-English traitors disguised himself as a blacksmith’s apprentice, but soon gave himself away.
By Georg Balthasar Probst (1732-1801) 1750
Byron felt compelled to set the record straight after it was alleged that he had swum the Hellespont the easy way.