Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
By Richard Caton Woodville (1856-1927), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s famous poem about a suicidal cavalry charge during the Battle of Balaclava on October 25th, 1854.
Read
© LMarianne, via the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
Richard Cobden deplored the way that politicians in Britain justified their wars abroad by portraying other countries as barbarous and backward.
By Elizabeth Thompson (1846-1933), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Britain’s fear of Russia led her to attempt regime change in Afghanistan, but it cost many lives and damaged the army’s reputation.
By William Daniell (1769-1837), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Richard Cobden wanted to know why British policy towards China was so different to our policy towards the USA and European powers.
By Georgios Jakobides (1853-1932), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Ordinary people put too much faith in the judgment of experts, which is bad for us and bad for the experts.
By an anonymous artist of the British school, via Dulwich Picture Gallery and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: public domain.
Michael Drayton’s lady friend breaks up with him, and really it’s a relief, absolutely the best thing to do. Unless...