The Copybook

Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.

May 3 ns April 20 os

Read short passages similar to those NL Clay collected in his anthologies, to gain a feeling for the language, history and culture of the English-speaking world.

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By George Cruikshank (1792–1878), from the Bodleian Libraries via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Bungling Tinkers! Sir Sidney Low

Sir Sidney Low blamed the recent catalogue of war and revolution on out-of-touch diplomats who had tried to hammer the peoples of Europe into artificial unity.

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1

By Alfred Wordsworth Thompson (1840-1896), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

She was a Phantom of Delight William Wordsworth

Mary Wordsworth wasn’t pretty or bookish, but she was kind and vital, and William loved her.

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2

By Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

The Death of Julius Caesar Plutarch

When Julius Caesar entered the Senate that day, a note warning him of treachery was clutched in his hand — unread.

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3

© Brian Deegan, Geograph. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Two Letters Home Sir Edward Hamilton Westrow Hulse

A German soldier stopped the Great War so he could ask Captain Hulse to post a letter for him.

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4

© Vladimir Kosov (2018), via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Zheng He and the Rise of Malacca Jawaharlal Nehru

Malacca became a refuge from the overbearing empires of the Far East, thanks to a celebrated Chinese admiral.

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5

From the Lindisfarne Gospels, ca. AD 700, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

The Making of Mark Eusebius of Caesarea

St Mark wrote his Gospel as a summary of the preaching of St Peter.

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6

By Yevgeny Khaldei (1916-1997), viua Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Russia’s Heroic Stand Compton’s Encyclopedia

In 1941, with much of the West subdued, Adolf Hitler bent the full force of his hatred on Moscow.

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