The Copybook

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

1039

© Bikashrd, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

Srinivasa Ramanujan Clay Lane

A maths prodigy from Madras became so wrapped up in his sums that he forgot to pass his examinations.

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1040

Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

An Avoidable Tragedy Adam Smith

Adam Smith argued that the Bengal Famine of 1769 would have been much less of a tragedy under a free trade policy.

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1041

© Abhijit Kar Gupta, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Great Bengal Famine Clay Lane

The Governor of Bengal accused the East India Company of turning a crisis into a humanitarian catastrophe.

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1042

From the Imperial War Museums, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Englishman George Santayana

George Santayana had the chance to observe our national character at the height of Empire.

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1043

© Manojz Kumar, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Christmas Egg Elfric of Eynsham

Anglo-Saxon abbot Elfric tentatively likened the new-born Jesus to an egg.

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1044

From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

William Hall VC Clay Lane

Canadian sailor William Hall was summoned over to India to help face down the Indian Mutiny.

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