The surface of the muddy lagoons of Lagos appeared almost silken in the early dawn light. A mist had spread over the surface; it was...

“Can I get a donut, Gladys?” asked the customer with the black glasses. “And give me the one with lots of sugar!” “Comin’ up, honey. Say,...

The Tramp was born in London, into a sequined world of song and dance – both his parents were music-hall performers. They led a...

Worn until almost threadbare, these clothes had come into the possession of their final vendors: the rag-and-bone women who wandered on...

At the church in south-east London, Funke, the bride, kissed her mother on the forehead in accordance with Yoruba tradition. Tears flowed...

It was midnight, but in Greenwich Village the streets were lit up like the fourth of July. Car horns blared at one another under the...

Jenny went into her sister Margaret’s room, for their mother had gone out to “do the messages” and had told Jenny to keep an eye on her...

Who rightly could live in these conditions? Winters were cold in Liverpool, yet hardly a chimney was seen to smoke in these parts. Coal...

New York, that bustling, vibrant city, the metropolis of a thousand skyscrapers whose lofty peaks were its eternal pride. Its buildings...

Jenny was the daughter of a metalworker, and belonged to a generation that had never known Glasgow during its glorious industrial years....

Thomas, Paul and Matthieu were on cloud nine. Here in Aubervilliers, on the outskirts of Paris, they were surrounded by treasures, and...

Mary and Thomas were each thirteen years old, born and raised in the tenements of Glasgow. Here in Glasgow the children grew up playing...

They’d been a couple for over forty years, and were now retired. To keep their love tender, a walk in the woods was the best form of...

My oh my, that little granddaughter of mine is just the loveliest little thing in the world. She’s so sweet, and pays attention to every...

Our union has endured for fifty-five years, and now we are in our seventies, living happily without regrets, without remorse, without...

Grandma was spending the weekend with her grandchildren, here in the fine county of Surrey, and it was her full intent to get the most...

“This single is going to be a fiasco!” Queen’s agent had told the band’s lead singer, Freddie Mercury. The song was utterly fantastical,...

Farrokh Bulsara was born into a Farsi family, who traced their roots to the Zoroastrian communities of Iran. Once persecuted for their...

“Yet the vows of this Nation can only be fulfilled if we in this Nation are first, and, therefore, we intend to be first. In short, our...

“What happened to you, my son?” asked the nun. “We were ambushed by German forces. We’d taken cover behind a fort when the German planes...