Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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679

A Cavalier Attitude

Royalist soldier Sir Jacob Ashly exemplified a Christian gentleman in the heat of battle.

680

The Good Reign of Bad King John

Lord Macaulay believed that the disastrous reign of King John brought the country together.

681

The Spider and the King

Sir Walter Scott tells of the tale of how a little spider inspired Robert the Bruce to win his country’s sovereignty.

682

Rome, Ruin and Revenue

Rome’s greedy tax policy in Britain and Gaul left farmers with little to show for their labours but the stripes on their backs.

683

‘They Make a Desert and Call it Peace’

After the kingdoms of Great Britain were absorbed into the Roman Empire, the promises of prosperity and civilisation came only to a favoured few.

684

A Near Thing

During the Battle of Inkerman in 1854, one of Lord Raglan’s hospital sergeants had a close encounter with a Russian cannonball.