Sitting in an armchair beside a blazing fire in a community centre, Mr. Saakashvili rhymed off a list of his government's accomplishments.

He desperately tried anything to treat his cancer while avoiding surgery; every nonsurgical technique under the sun: chemotherapy, radiation, weird diets...

Even before the great sultan Mehmed II, known as El Fatih (the Conqueror), took power in Turkey, the Serbian despotate had become the booty of the invaders.

[A] delighted shout from the children swung him toward the door again. His sister, Mrs. Gerard, stood there in carriage gown and sables, radiant with surprise. Phil! You! Exactly like you, Philip, to come strolling in from the antipodes—dear fellow! recovering from the fraternal embrace and holding both lapels of his coat in her gloved hands.