Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
Thomas Pennant (1726-1798), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
It rankled with Henry II that Wales did not pay to him the honour she had paid to his great-grandfather, William the Conqueror.
Read
By Ernest Goupil (1814-1841), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Charles Darwin was on hand in 1836 to witness the catastrophic effects of a series of earthquakes in Chile.
By Edwin Landseer (1802–1873), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Vige was the inseparable companion of swashbuckling Viking warlord Olaf Tryggvason, who picked him up in Ireland.
By Richard Burchett (1815–75), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
On the night when Edward IV won his crown back from Henry VI, he had to decide how to deal with those who had still been backing Henry during the day.
By Ary Scheffer (1795-1858), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Richard Cobden told an Edinburgh peace conference that the biggest threat to the United Kingdom’s security was her own foreign policy.
By Joseph Edgar Boehm (1834-1890), photographed by Simon Speed, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
As Christian is making his way along the highway that leads to the Celestial City, he finds his way barred by a foul fiend.