The Copybook

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

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Photo by Tomwsulcer, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Top Banana Alicia Amherst

It was during the troubled reign of Charles I that the very first bananas seen in Britain went on display.

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476

By Louis-Philippe Crépin (1772–1851), via wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Battle of Trafalgar Jawaharlal Nehru

A year into his reign as Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte had much of Europe under his government but the United Kingdom still eluded him.

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477

© Yasir Hussein, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

‘Kings in Our Own Right’ Rudyard Kipling

Two former soldiers in India find British bureaucracy cramps their style, so they set off to become kings of their own land.

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478

© Adam D. Hope, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Two Lions Sir Walter Raleigh

Walter Raleigh had many grievances against James VI and I, but for peace with Scotland he was willing to forget them all.

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479

By George Arnald (1763–1841), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Battle of the Nile Jawaharlal Nehru

As Napoleon Bonaparte swept from victory to victory in Europe, he began to think he might add the East to the possessions of the French Republic.

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480

By Charles West Cope (1811-1890), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Arrest of the Five Members Edmund Ludlow

King Charles I ended two years of uneasy peace with his Parliament by bursting into the Commons with a heavily-armed tactical unit.

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