Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© Simonchihanga, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Allan Quartermain goes in search of a lost tourist and a legendary hoard of diamonds.
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© Yuvral, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.
Elfric, the tenth-century English abbot, suggests a practical way of thinking about the Presentation of Christ in the Temple.
© State of Israel, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
The story of the once magnificent Temple in Jerusalem, the city God chose for Israel’s capital.
By D. M. Duggan Thacker, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
The invention of the steamboat was a formidable challenge not just of engineering, but of politics and finance.
Railway Clearing House (1914), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
All but forgotten today, the RCH was one of the most important steps forward in British industrial history.
From the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
The tenth-century King of Israel demonstrated his legendary wisdom in a delicate custody battle.