Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
By Eastman Johnson (1824-1906), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
John Bunyan’s ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ opens with Christian wondering how to convince his wife that their town and their family are in immediate danger.
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From the British Library, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Edmond Holmes, a former inspector of schools, reported back to the Board of Education on a pioneering system being developed in Italy.
© CowieJemma, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
Norman Leys complained that policymakers in Africa were interested more in training loyal and industrious workers than in nurturing free peoples.
Inspired by an avid interest in English warrior heroes, the fifteen-year-old Guthlac recruited a band of freebooting militiamen.
© Adrian Cable, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
St Pega welcomed a royal servant with a serious eye condition to the monastery founded by her brother, St Guthlac.
© Clément Bardot, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0.
The villagers of Mabutso in Southern Africa begged Dr David Livingstone to rid them of a menacing pride of lions.