Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© Manojz Kumar, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
Anglo-Saxon abbot Elfric tentatively likened the new-born Jesus to an egg.
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From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Canadian sailor William Hall was summoned over to India to help face down the Indian Mutiny.
© Khalid Ahmed, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.
During the Indian Mutiny, over a thousand men, women and children were trapped in the Commissioner’s residence at Lucknow.
© Kenneth Allen, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.
King Louis XIV of France raised rebellion in Ireland to put his own man on the English throne.
© Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Austrian National Library), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Richard Hannay sees for himself how political activists trick decent people into supporting their quest for power.
Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
The Parliament of Scotland tried to liberate itself from London’s strangling single market.