All Articles

The Kayan women are famous all over the world because they wear metal rings around their necks which make their necks seem like giraffes. This article explores why they do this. (590 words)

The kidnapping and murder of the two-year old son of Colonel Lindbergh, the first man to fly across the Atlantic from the U.S. to France and a national hero, was a very big story in 1932. Someone was executed for the crimes but there are still many unanswered questions in this sad story. (1,820 words)

A man must make his way with his dog to safety across a frozen Alaskan wasteland but the temperature is dropping fast and he must stay dry and warm. Disaster strikes and the man and the dog must fight to survive. (4660 words)

Thomas Hardy's many short stories are not much read nowadays, which is a shame because they are very good. This one makes fun of some of the most important social conventions of Hardy’s time. (2,445 words)

Less people where hats nowadays but at one time nobody went out without one. This article looks at the incredible hats that people have worn in European history and asks why the hat became less popular. (680 words)

Oscar Wilde is possibly, after Shakespeare, the most famous dramatist in the English language. This is not due of the quality of his plays, although they are very clever and funny, but because of the scandal his relationship with a young aristocrat caused and his imprisonment. Despite his fame, he died poverty-stricken, alone and unable to see his children. (1,750 words)

Pushkin’s ‘The Shot’ is set at a time when a man would fight to the death if he thought he’d been insulted, just as the author did twenty-nine times until he was killed. The story revolves around an expert shot who refuses to take part in a duel to save his honour. Is it cowardice or is there some hidden reason? (4,200 words)

Fitzgerald knew the disorder that drink can cause in life from personal experience and it was a theme he returned to again and again. Here, a recovering alcoholic is fighting for the only thing he really loves as he attempts to get his daughter back from his unsympathetic sister-in-law. (5,040 words)

A family struggling with poverty places its hopes in an uncle who left his home country many years before. Although he had always been the black sheep of the family, he sends news that he is now a successful businessman and will soon return to make the family rich again. But when they see him… (2,000 words)

Voodoo is the subject of many films and the origin of zombies, the ‘undead’ who walk the land after they have been buried. It demands human blood and includes strange rituals. Even now, it has more followers than ever. (1,320 words)

In this very short story, van Dyke analyses the terrible misery of war. He describes a road from the Belgian city of Antwerp, crowded with people trying to escape the German invasion but, at the same time, there are thousands returning to their broken homes because they are tired of being strangers away from everything they know (420 words).

This story is based on a real case, it's about a young man who falls madly in love with the innocent daughter of a wealthy man who never likes to spend a penny. It soon becomes clear though, that the young is not what he seems to be. (1,680 words)

It was not many years ago that a doctor had to decide between operating to save a person’s life but perhaps killing him from the pain or leaving him to die. For this reason, the most important part of the operation was speed. Anaesthesia was, therefore, necessary not just to save a patient’s life but also to allow for longer and more difficult operations. But the development of this science reads like a horror story (1,750 words).

The rose is the symbol of love in many western countries and it grows all over the world. In the ancient world, roses were so important that Rome suffered food shortages because too much land was used to grow the flowers. But the red rose has only been with us for just over 100 years. This is the history of this fascinating flower (925 words).

Lord Lucan went to the best schools and universities in England, got a well-paid job as a banker, was married and had much-loved children. But he became addicted to gambling and lost interest in everything except cards and drink. One night, he went home and tried to kill his wife. He was never seen again. People reported seeing him in Africa and many other places but he had simply disappeared. (956 words)