The Copybook

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

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Hastings County Archives, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Three Ages of Empire Sir Charles Prestwood Lucas

Sir Charles Lucas looked back at the role of the Government, the military and private enterprise during three centuries of British adventure overseas.

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716

© Sage Ross, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

The South Sea Bubble D. H. Montgomery

An attempt to pay down the National Debt provoked a frenzy of financial speculation.

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717

Allen &co. (1902), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Popular Misconceptions John Buchan

A good knowledge of history is essential if we are to understand words such as liberty and democracy.

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© Chinmaya Panda, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Shivaji and the Battle of Surat Clay Lane

Charles II was thinking about handing Bombay back to the Portuguese, when an Indian rebel stepped in.

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719

By Thomas Rowlandson (1756–1827), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Costume Drama Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald

When Lord Cochrane went to a fancy dress ball in Valetta, his costume nearly got him killed.

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© Neil Reed, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Dissolution of the Monasteries Charles Dickens

Between 1536 and 1539, King Henry VIII’s government divided up the Church’s property amongst themselves and left a trail of devastation.

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