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Passages for reading. Read them out aloud. Paraphrase or précis them. Discuss them with friends. Does anything surprise or impress you? How does the author work your feelings? Would you use his words? How would you direct the scene in a movie — and who would your stars be?

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On This Day

Sunday September 8 ns August 26 os

For Church feasts falling on September 8 in the New Style calendar, see The Feast of Nativity of the Virgin Mary and Finding of the Kursk icon.

August 26, 1395 os

Meeting of the ‘Vladimir’ Icon (1)

The Theotokos of Vladimir

It is one of the world’s most recognisable works of art, and a symbol of God’s blessing on all Christian Rus’.

September 8, 1380

The Battle of Kulikovo (1)

Dmitri of the Don

Grand Duke Dmitri of Moscow loosened the grip of the Tartar Horde on the people of Russia, but treachery robbed him of triumph.

by Lucy Cazalet 1870-1956

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International Relations

A Credit to His Country

The diplomat’s task is to see the best in other peoples, not to scold them for their failings.

by François de Callières 1645-1717

Lives of the Saints

The Synod of Whitby

In 664, a council at Whitby decided to align the traditions of the Northumbrian Church with those of Rome and Constantinople.

by John Richard Green 1837-1883

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Magna Carta

The Signing of the Great Charter

King John promised his nobles respect, but he was not a man to regard his word as his bond.

Free Trade and Markets

‘Not to Exploit, Sir, but to Help’

Herbert Bury believed that it was the British way to profit with another country, not to profit from it.

by Herbert Bury 1854-1933

Character and Conduct

Up Before the Bench

As a young prince Henry V was ‘fierce and of wanton courage,’ Thomas Elyot tells us, but there was one man with courage to match his.

by Thomas Elyot ?1490-1546

Indian History

Zenana Mission

Hannah Mullens describes her battle to reach out to wealthy Indian ladies with nothing to do, nothing to think about and nowhere to go.

by Hannah Catherine Mullens 1826–1861

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Selected Authors

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Robert Louis Stevenson

The Missing Stair

Sydney Smith

War is Such a Taxing Business

Edmund Burke

English Spirit

Frederick Douglass

A Selfish Liberty

John Bright

The Righting of Wrongs

Richard Cobden

A Nation’s Greatness

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Selected Topics

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International Relations

Britain has always demanded respect, open seas, and to be left in peace to ‘work out our own salvation’ — a courtesy we should extend to others.

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Russia

Stories from our cousins in the East, from Rurik the Viking and the Baptism of Rus’ to trade with Ivan the Terrible, a visit from Peter the Great, and the last Emperor.

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Character and Conduct

Stories illustrating noble deeds in matters both great and small, such as the noble gesture of Sir Philip Sidney, and the determination of Benjamin Disraeli.

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Free Speech and Conscience

Passages defending the right and obligation of every citizen to judge whatever is good and true, and to talk back to those who govern him.

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Greece

Tales about the cradle of Western civilisation, from Socrates and the first democracies to the fall of the Roman Empire, the Ottoman yoke, and Britain’s part in the fight for independence.

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Poets and Poetry

Passages from English verse, from Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf to Shakespeare’s sonnets, Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade, Kipling’s If and many more.

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The Copy Book

Readings in history, society and literature

The Copy Book

Readings in history, society and literature