Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© David Dixon, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.
Lady Blakeney agrees to spy for the French Revolutionary government in return for her brother’s life.
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© Carole Raddato, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.
British sympathy for Roman imperial progress evaporated when officials began asset-stripping the country.
© Wellcome Trust, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0.
The Scottish missionary and medic believed that slavery could better be eradicated by trade than by force.
© Sarah Charlesworth, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.
A young George Stephenson takes responsibility for the team spirit at Black Callerton mine.
Photo by RKO Radio Pictures, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Howard gave his life to saving the ‘great gifts and strange inconsistencies’ of Britain’s unique democracy.
In a Christmas broadcast in 1940, actor Leslie Howard explained why British sovereignty was worth fighting for.