TEL's letter
T E Lawrence's famous letter has a 10/04/2004, Telegraph article by the British historian Niall Ferguson linked to it:
This Vietnam generation of Americans has not learnt the lessons of history
Islam
The side link to Islam Today explains clearly how Sunni differ from Shia. I think it helpful the way the Sunni are compared to the Protestant churches. For those like me who know only the basics of Islam, this piece is a good primer. To see the Ayatollah is elected like the Pope and is considered to be infallible in the same way, and have it explained that there are no clerics in the Sunni branches of the faith, makes things a lot clearer.