For a country with a rich history of victories, Britain has a curious tendency to celebrate the defeats.Boris Johnson, the runaway favorite to succeed Theresa May as prime minister, sparked controversy this week following a pledge to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union by October 31 “do or die.” Rory Stewart, one of more than a dozen candidates who challenged Johnson for the leadership, pointed out that the phrase “do or die” came from The Charge of the Light Brigade, a poem by Alfred Tennyson, honoring Britain’s defeat in the Battle of Balaclava in 1854 during the …read more
Source: The Atlantic
