Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© Michael Garlick, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
In January 1807, newspapers breathlessly reported that Napoleon Bonaparte’s rampage across Europe was at an end — but was it true?
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© mags, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
When Saint-Mars arrived to take over as warden of the Bastille in 1698, staff at Paris’s most famous prison had eyes only for his prisoner.
Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov (1848–1926)
The interminable squabbling among the Slavic peoples around the southeast Baltic prompted their leaders to drastic action.
By Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Trapped in Crete with his son Icarus, the craftsman and inventor Daedalus realises a bold and desperate plan to get away.
By Hans Holbein the Younger (?1497-1543), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus urged Fausto Andrelini not to miss out on England’s enchanting contribution to good manners.
By Peter Monamy (1681–1749), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
There are solid reasons why countries with lower taxes and less regulation tend to be more prosperous.