Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© Maurice Pullin, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.
Anne Elliot resents being expected to court the society of anyone simply because of social status.
Read
By an anonymous Indian artist c. 1765-70, via the Victoria and Albert Museum and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Robert Clive turned seven hundred frightened recruits into crack troops by sheer force of personality.
© Drow male, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
Despite setback after setback, Stanford was determined to hear his music played in public.
© David Dixon, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
King John promised his nobles respect, but he was not a man to regard his word as his bond.
© Stuart Fyffe-Collins, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.
There is an art to making one’s compliments seem artless.
© John Mavin, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.
Muddle-headed inventor Professor Cavor needs to think aloud, and for reasons of his own Mr Bedford is anxious to listen.