Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© Steve Fareham, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.
Thomas Wright never earned more than a foreman’s wage, but he helped hundreds of prisoners back into society.
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© wfmillar, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Charles Dickens rails at the way Parliament and do-gooders treat the public like an irresponsible child.
© David Quinn, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.
The Dublin to Dun Laoghaire line opened in 1834, and proved a remarkable testimony to the speed of technological progress.
Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
A Japanese swordsman confronts a Russian monk for... actually, he’s not really quite sure.
A young Indian student from Cambridge was selected for England’s cricket team after public pressure.
© Mick Garratt, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
One of England’s most precious artefacts, the Lindisfarne Gospels, was nearly lost at sea.