Blog
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Why great men (or women) are almost always bad men (or women)
Lord Acton (1834-1902) was one of the great historians of the Victorian period and one of the greatest classical liberal historians of all time. His theme was “the history of liberty”. He wrote to Bishop Creighton in a series of...
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Memories of a visit to the House of Terror, Budapest
Friday 7 October 2011 Perhaps the most vivid and moving memory of our visit to Budapest last week was that to the House of Terror just down the road from our hotel in Andrassy Street. It contains exhibits related to...
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Next stage with rogersteer.com
Wednesday 5 October 2011 You will see that my website has a new look. We are still working to iron out some teething problems. When we have got it right, you, the welcome visitor to this site, and I will...
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How are things down Maggie Burleigh way?
The Tamar Belle nosed out of its moorings at the Barbican, Plymouth, with my wife and me aboard, bound for Cotehele Quay. Our skipper told us about Drake's Island, Plymouth Breakwater, German frigates and atomic submarines berthed in the Hamoaze...
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From the hedgerows of Devon to the Foreign Office
The earliest known photograph of Ernest Bevin shows him as a little boy of three wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat and sailor suit at a Sunday-school treat in 1884. He was born in Winsford, Somerset, on 7 March 1881. His...
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What Edward taught me the hard way
On 26 July 1972, as a young man of 27, I walked into the old Warwick Lane headquarters of Hodder and Stoughton in the shadow of St Paul’s cathedral. I had fallen in love with the story of George Müller,...
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20 Secrets of Good Writing
Here's one example of a piece of writing: Ecclesiastes 9:11: I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to...
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How to be a great writer
'How can I be a great writer?' I asked. 'Write what is new, you and true,' the wise man replied. 'How can fiction be true?' I asked. 'Make it believable,' he said. 'Sounds easy,' I said. 'It will take a lifetime,' he said. 'And it...
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Benedictine and Presbyterian: a shared delight
Friday 16 September 2011 I am just leaving for a meeting of Christian writers at Buckfast Abbey. Since time immemorial, deer have been drawn to graze in the sheltered meadows which line the banks of the river Dart in this...
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Stott on fundamentalist, liberal, evangelical
Friday 29 July 2011 In his debate with the distinguished liberal thinker, David Edwards, John Stott developed a little parable. It used flight as a picture of freedom and sought to characterise (but not he hoped caricature) the essential difference between...
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