Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© Basile Morin, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Revd Edmund Dixon urged young people to think about what a little politeness could do for them.
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© Victor Michailovich Semernev, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0. Detail, cropped.
The Nika Rebellion drew a rising Roman general against some rioting sports fans, and it was a tense game.
© Roman Boldyrev, Wikimedia Commons. CC Attribution 4.0.
A half-starved cat is recruited by the Allies in the fight against Hitler.
© Peter O’Connor aka anemoneprojectors, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.0.
Some years before the Elgin marbles were put on display in the British Museum, rising artist Benjamin Haydon got a sneak preview.
By Alexander Hesler (1823-1895). Public domain.
Fame found Abraham Lincoln before he was ready for the scrutiny of the camera.
By W. Trier, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
John Buchan, who was as close as anyone to the events, gave his assessment of how all Europe was plunged into war in 1914.