Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© NWalesWanderer, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
Richard Cobden saw Britain’s international standing in terms of peaceful trade rather than military interventions.
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By Nicholas Pocock (1740–1821), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Georgian Britain braced for war as relations with France in North America, India and mainland Europe took a turn for the worse.
© Christine Westerback, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.
Jane Loudon describes an moment of unexpected paternal affection from a Tom cat.
From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Emmeline Pankhurst recalls how she brought some much-needed reason into the operations at Chorlton workhouse.
By Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
The German Empire promised wonders to restless, grudging Europe, and not to let common sense wake us from our dreams.
By Joseph Nollekens (1737-1823), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Pubic domain.
William Pitt complained that European politics offers only a choice of inhospitable extremes.