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Gerald of Wales, also called Giraldus Cambrensis or Gerald De Barri ( c. 1146-c. 1223), was the archdeacon of Brecknock and a historian whose accounts of late 12th century Britain and France contain vivid anecdotes about the Christian church, the universities of Paris and Oxford, and about notable clerics. His work, Topographia Hiberniae, is an arresting account of his travels in Ireland, with vivid descriptions of the island’s fauna and flora and its natural beauty.

The Gallic War is Julius Caesar's autobiographical diary of the wars in what is now France, Belgium, and parts of Britain, Germany, and Switzerland, in which he describes the battles that took place from 58 to 51 BCE when he fought the Germanic and Celtic peoples that opposed Roman conquest. Modern-day Provence and Languedoc-Roussillon were already under Roman control, so Caesar’s Gaul referred to the regions that the Romans had not yet conquered. The book comprises seven parts and chronicles the wars against the Helvetii, Belgae, Britons, Eburones, Suebi, Veneti, and more.

An inter-dynastic dispute lead to an invitation to the English king Henry II to intervene in Ireland, and an invasion followed through the east coast town of Wexford. This intervention was the first step in the colonization of Ireland by the Anglo-Normans of the English crown. Gerald’s account of the coming of the Normans in AD 1166-1185 was the first history book on Ireland penned by a non-Irish author. Most historians of the British Isles do not considered the book as accurate, truthful history, but rather as a poetical fiction motivated by family concerns.

Virginia Woolf's second novel is both a love story and a subversive comedy which questions the role of women in society. Contemplating their futures, five single people in their late 20s and early 30s are immobilized by indecision. Questions like who, when, and whether to marry, the changing roles of men and women in a rapidly changing world, and matters of independence versus family obligations come to the fore.

Assyria was a Mesopotamian kingdom which became a brutal empire of the ancient Near East and the Levant. This encyclopaedic text covers the lay of the land, the capital, and other cities, plus the language, cuneiform writing, customs, religion, arts, and architecture of Assyria. The city state of Ashur dates back to about the 25th century BCE. The history deals with the Assyrian conquests of Anatolia, Babylonia, the Iranian plateau, and the Levant, until it suffered a series of defeats at the hand of the Medes, Persians, and Babylonians.

This best-selling novel by Hannah Webster Foster (1758-1840) is a fictionalized account of the death of an upper class woman after giving birth to a stillborn, illegitimate child at a tavern. Published anonymously in 1797, it did not appear under Foster’s name until after her death. It was a huge success in its time and had eight reprints between 1824 and 1828.

The British advocate for women’s rights Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928), was the founder of the Women's Social and Political Union. In this 1913 speech in the US, Pankhurst expresses her thoughts about attaining women’s suffrage. Her main point is that a militant element was necessary to persuade the British Parliament to act.