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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Speakers' Corner
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The northeast corner of *Hyde Park, which in the mid-19C became a favourite place for open-air public meetings and gatherings of protest. These were illegal until 1872, when this spot became recognized as a lawful place of free assembly where speakers would not be moved on unless their message transgressed the law (by being obscene, blasphemous or seditious). It is a right still energetically exercised every Sunday. Many of the soap-box orators and their hecklers are cranks, but the resulting confrontations provide very popular entertainment.
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