Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© Philip Halling, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.
In 655, the future of England as a Christian nation hung by the slenderest of threads.
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© Biswarup Ganguly, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
Sir Charles Lucas argued that the Industrial Revolution happened at just the right time for everyone in the British Empire.
Hastings County Archives, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Sir Charles Lucas looked back at the role of the Government, the military and private enterprise during three centuries of British adventure overseas.
© Sage Ross, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
An attempt to pay down the National Debt provoked a frenzy of financial speculation.
Allen &co. (1902), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
A good knowledge of history is essential if we are to understand words such as liberty and democracy.
© Chinmaya Panda, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
Charles II was thinking about handing Bombay back to the Portuguese, when an Indian rebel stepped in.