Ten British POWs in German-occupied Poland decide to help a young Jewish woman escape the SS and a death march to the sea.

Samuel Smiles explains how Tudor England was transformed from sleepy backwater to hive of industry.

Sir Humphry Davy pleads with Britain’s scientists not to be bought by Napoleon’s gold.

The spread of Western civilisation must not be credited to European policy, but to a culture of curiosity, enterprise and defiance.

Edmund Burke takes time off from campaigning for liberty to reflect on the delights of captivity.

George Canning warned the Commons to be very careful about their plans for reform.