“... to the Assembly to be held by the end of March 2002, and the presidential election in April-May, so reversing the intended scheme of things, and introducing the possibility that the vote for the legislature would determine the vote for the executive, rather than the other way round. Jospin, confident that he enjoyed the esteem of the electorate, rammed ...”

“... 7-Eleven could knock out 30 Iraqi stores. A Wal-Mart could take over the country.’ On 1 May 2003, I heard the president, dressed up as a pilot, under a banner that read ‘Mission Accomplished’, declare that combat operations were over: ‘The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on 11 September 2001.’ I heard him ...”

“... ago this was the most advanced technology for conducting judicial proceedings in the world, and may still be – at least until the many foreign lawyers who have come to study it can produce their own versions, minus, of course, the late-imperial splendour of the Guildhall. My evidence and cross-examination concerned the unpublished article and memo ...”

“... he moved to his mother, then contacted me to say he could come in, but –’‘I appreciate you may be having difficulties at home,’ the judge interrupted, addressing the defendant. ‘But the charge is of unlawfully having a weapon.’At issue was the question of whether the boy could stay on release pending his trial. The judge expressed concern about ...”

“... friaries in 1538, removing at a stroke a host of mainly conservative pulpits. Closing monasteries may have been Cromwell’s downfall, because almost the last to go in 1540 (even later than Durham) was Thetford Cluniac Priory in Norfolk, mausoleum for the Howard family. It is clear that the Duke of Norfolk was battling to save Thetford and turn it into a ...”

“... of Florence is a fake after all, three-quarters Western and not at all royal, while his mother may be imaginary too. It’s no surprise that a novel by Salman Rushdie should finally depend on the transposable beauty of two virtually identical women, nor is it any surprise that the book should take away from its readers the pleasures of credulity on which ...”

“... off. Moving off, away, out of mindfulness. Leaving behind. Relaxing into hypnagogia (a condition I may always have known about and desired, if not been able to name), anticipating the blurring of consciousness. It must have been a familiar routine, because I was so filled with confident pleasure of what was to come. Daydreaming a story ...”

“... discovery was made by natives, to which fact the unfortunately mutilated condition of the papyrus may be ascribed. Most of the fractures are recent.’ The Egyptologist Sir Wallis Budge, writing in 1920, remembered that he bought the papyrus ‘at a preposterous price’ from an Egyptian dealer, who said it had been found in a ransacked tomb between the feet ...”

“... and gladiatorial contests, but there is little chance of the same happening here. In practice, one may be sure, it will be the new elite who will flock to the games in their Mercs and BMWs. It is quite common in South Africa for higher civil servants or mayors and councillors from poor areas to award themselves trips to the Olympics or other such international ...”

“... fad for furry things burst Petrus Gonzales. It is not clear whether he was actually a Guanche. He may have been the son of Spanish settlers, or of mixed ancestry, but his association with the vanquished natives of the Canaries was certainly part of his exotic appeal. He was said to be about ten years old when he arrived at the court of the recently crowned ...”

“... justifies slavery in general; the second specifies who should be enslaved. Aristotle’s argument may be taken as paradigmatic: slavery is a natural condition of human society, but only some people are born slaves. The first proposition – that slavery is justified in the abstract – comes in several familiar forms: slavery, it’s said, was ordained by the ...”

“... much like our own, Shapiro quotes the sonneteer Giles Fletcher, who wrote in 1593 that ‘A man may write of love, and not be in love, as well as of husbandry, and not go to the plough, or of witches and be none.’ ‘If Giles Fletcher could compose sonnets to “try” his “humour”,’ Shapiro says, ‘Shakespeare could have done so too.’ True, and ...”

“... along the way, the blisters, or having to rise early in the morning. (The modern reader may not feel much sympathy, for the servants do all the work and she is hardly over-burdened with responsibilities.) She is short with her fellow travellers and refuses the mount that has been allotted to her. Along with Nicolson, whose attire suggests he’s out ...”

“... done, not what they really feel. For all anyone knows, a person’s commitment to a given cause may be hesitant or vacillating. It is the appearance of wholeheartedness that makes a difference because it has the ability to engage thousands of others – perhaps in their hearts equally hesitant – in collective action. Even the politics of hope requires a ...”

“... rowing. Her father retires to his tent. Layton gropes her, and it seems for a moment as if he may be going to rape her, but he lets her go. In the morning everyone behaves as if nothing has happened. Almost the worst thing about it is the uncertainty as to how far Sam’s father and uncle were complicit. Pimping Sam to ensure Layton’s co-operation in ...”