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Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.

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535

By Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827), via the Wellcome Collection and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Imperfect Government by Algernon Sidney

Politicians who demand that everyone in the country unite behind their vision of society are standing in the way of real progress.

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536

© Julian Paren, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Land of Opportunity by Thomas Fuller

Edward III enticed over-regulated Dutch textile workers across the Channel with the promise of English beef and English beauties.

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537

By an Anonymous artist (British School), via the National Trust and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Walter Hartright tried to help a distressed woman find her way into London, but the incident has left him with nagging doubts.

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538

By Alexei Kondratievich Savrasov (1830–1897), via the Russian Museum and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Grendel’s Mother by Zenaide Alexeievna Ragozin

After driving the man-eating ogre Grendel from Hrothgar’s hall, Beowulf must now deal with Grendel’s anguished and vengeful mother.

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539

By a follower of Francisco Goya, via the Museo del Prado and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Death Grip by Zenaide Alexeievna Ragozin

The terrible monster Grendel, secure in the knowledge that no blade can bite him, bursts into Hrothgar’s hall expecting another meal of man-flesh.

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540

Anonymous (British School), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Fly on the Wall by Sir Francis Bacon

Henry VII made sure that he had eyes and ears wherever they were needed to put an end to thirty years of political conspiracy.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 21 NS

May 8 OS

The Spy : In 1910, Constantine Zervakos, a young monk from the Greek island of Paros, found himself charged with espionage.
The Miracle of St John of the Caves : The story of an unexpected escape through the heart of a hill.
The Peninsular War : Napoleon’s six-year-long campaign (1808-1814) to bring Spain and Portugal into his united Europe was frustrated by Arthur Wellesley.
Thick and Thin : Express each of these ideas as a single word.
Break : Explain what each of these common expressions means, and give examples.
Blind Guide : William Wirt recalls an overpowering sermon from a blind man in a little wooden chapel.
It’s All in the Delivery : Aeschines paid tribute to the oratory of his greatest rival — whether he meant to or not.
The Road to Ruin : George Berkeley warned that industry, not financial speculation, was the guarantee of a nation’s wealth.
Signs of Command : Suggest publicly-displayed commands, and say how many of them are sentences.
My Native Notes : Scotsman James Boswell always spoke good English when in England, but he was careful to leave a little Scots in.
Hidden Message : Reveal the hidden message in a letter, and write a coded letter of your own.
The Great and the Good : Daniel Defoe wondered whether goodness was not preferable to greatness.
Statements, Questions and Commands : Choose a word from our list, and then use it in any one of the three basic types of sentence — if possible.
Sentegrams : These sentences, taken from English literature, have been jumbled up like an anagram; see if you can piece them back together.
Good Sense : Rewrite these sentences so that the word ‘unless’ is not used.
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