The Copybook

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

1333

© Jeff Buck, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Great Chessboard Adam Smith

If Britain is a chessboard, then politicians should remember that the ‘pieces’ are alive, and they generally play a better game.

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1334

Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Kate gets a Dressing-Down Charles Dickens

Kate Nickleby must bite her lip as she experiences snobbery for the first time.

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1335

From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Muzio Clementi Clay Lane

From performance and composition to instrument-making, Clementi left his mark on British and European classical music.

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1336

From the Walters Art Museum, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Wulfstan and the Seal of Approval Clay Lane

William the Conqueror’s purge of the English Church was halted by a humble bishop and a dead king.

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1337

© Martyn Gorman, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Sword of Damocles Clay Lane

A reminder that those with extreme wealth and power have everything but the peace to enjoy it.

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1338

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

Heracles and the Cerynaean Hind Clay Lane

Eurystheus sends his cousin on another labour, this time hoping the task is too delicate for the big man.

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