Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
By the Fairfax Corporation, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Amy Johnson of Hull had clocked only ninety hours of flying experience before taking off alone for Australia.
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By Hugh Charles McBarron, Jr. (1902-1992), via the US Army Center for Military History and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
On the evening of October 7th, 1777, as fighting on Bemis Heights subsided, Harriet Acland came to General Burgoyne with a startling request.
© Eric Cosmides, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
Peoples of another culture or region will not long tolerate a Government that uses guns and soldiers to secure their obedience.
, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
However grim and severe the thirteenth century baron might be in his public duties, at dinner-time it was all wine, laughter and song.
© Darren J. Prior, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
John Lynch, exiled to France by Cromwell’s men, lamented the way that Irish was being labelled as a language of sedition.
© Liam Murphy, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Lionel of Clarence, Edward III’s younger son, went to Ireland as his Lieutenant in order to stop English expats becoming like the Irish.