The Copy Book

The Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Photo by Michael D. Beckwith. Public domain image. Source
Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

November 24 November 11 OS

The Copy Book is an ever-growing library of short passages from history and literature, intended for practice in paraphrase and précis or simply for reading pleasure. They include brief summaries and eyewitness accounts of major events in our national history, and extracts from fables, poetry, plays, novels, political speeches and biography. Many were included by NL Clay in his anthologies of ‘straightforward English’.

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On This Day

November 24 ns

November 11 os

We keep civil anniversaries on the New Style date, and Church events on the Old Style. See About our calendars.

November 11 os

Feast of St Menas 1 post

The Miracle of El Alamein

Under a moonlit sky in October 1942, Allied and Axis forces met in battle on the sands of the Egyptian desert.

Archive

What follows is an index to all 1585 posts in The Copy Book. You can keep up-to-date with new posts, and discover old posts you may have missed, with the Clay Lane Blog, where you will also find a selection of word games and exercises in grammar and composition.

The posts are currently listed most recent first. Use the buttons below to sort the posts alphabetically, or shuffle the list so you can find posts from right across the collection.

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1

The New Broom

Godfrey Bertram found that being a zealous social reformer didn’t make him as popular as he was expecting.

2

Three Poems of Po Chu-i

One of China’s greatest poets reflects on silence, on speech, and on a song in the heart of a friend.

3

The Oath of Harold Godwinson

William the Conqueror’s chaplain used to tell this story to those who doubted his master’s claim to the English crown.

4

The Dignities of God and Man

The honours that come from God and those that come from men need to be put in the right order.

5

The Commons Versus the People

The Peasants’ Revolt was a turning point in the relationship between the people and their elected representatives.

6

The Peasants’ Revolt

In 1381, young King Richard II was faced with a popular uprising against tax rises.