Clay Lane › The Copy Book

Passages for reading. Read them out aloud. Paraphrase or précis them. Discuss them with friends. Does anything surprise or impress you? How does the author work your feelings? Would you use his words? How would you direct the scene in a movie — and who would your stars be?

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On This Day

Sunday September 8 ns August 26 os

For Church feasts falling on September 8 in the New Style calendar, see The Feast of Nativity of the Virgin Mary and Finding of the Kursk icon.

August 26, 1395 os

Meeting of the ‘Vladimir’ Icon (1)

The Theotokos of Vladimir

It is one of the world’s most recognisable works of art, and a symbol of God’s blessing on all Christian Rus’.

September 8, 1380

The Battle of Kulikovo (1)

Dmitri of the Don

Grand Duke Dmitri of Moscow loosened the grip of the Tartar Horde on the people of Russia, but treachery robbed him of triumph.

by Lucy Cazalet 1870-1956

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International Relations

A Credit to His Country

The diplomat’s task is to see the best in other peoples, not to scold them for their failings.

by François de Callières 1645-1717

Lives of the Saints

The Synod of Whitby

In 664, a council at Whitby decided to align the traditions of the Northumbrian Church with those of Rome and Constantinople.

by John Richard Green 1837-1883

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Music and Musicians

How to Impress the English

Leopold Mozart was eager to win the hearts of the English, and thought he knew just the way to do it.

by Leopold Mozart 1719-1787

Discovery and Invention

The Spinning Mule

It was not just his own family that wanted to know what Samuel Crompton was doing by night in his quaint Bolton workshop.

by Robert Chambers 1802-1871

French Revolutionary Wars (1793-1802)

The Battle of the Nile

As Napoleon Bonaparte swept from victory to victory in Europe, he began to think he might add the East to the possessions of the French Republic.

by Jawaharlal Nehru 1889-1964

Anecdotes

Tough Customer

A little anecdote about a schoolmaster who wasn’t as much of a Wackford Squeers as he appeared to be.

by Anonymous

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William Cobbett

Free Trade, Free Peoples

Samuel Pepys & King Charles II

The Royal Oak

William Ewart Gladstone

An Exceptional Nation

William Cowper

The Jackdaw

William Paley

Who Can Refute a Sneer?

William Cullen Bryant

Statesman vs Politician

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Sport and Sportsmen

Stories from the world of cricket, football and other sports, and the men and women who have played them.

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Discovery and Invention

Tales of scientific innovation and merchant enterprise, from steam power and life-saving medicines to new trade partners far away, and new ways to reach them.

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International Relations

Britain has always demanded respect, open seas, and to be left in peace to ‘work out our own salvation’ — a courtesy we should extend to others.

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Liberty and Prosperity

Stories from Britain and elsewhere confirming the social and economic benefits of keeping Governments and their cronies out of the trade and business of ordinary people.

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Free Speech and Conscience

Passages defending the right and obligation of every citizen to judge whatever is good and true, and to talk back to those who govern him.

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Russia

Stories from our cousins in the East, from Rurik the Viking and the Baptism of Rus’ to trade with Ivan the Terrible, a visit from Peter the Great, and the last Emperor.

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The Copy Book

Readings in history, society and literature

The Copy Book

Readings in history, society and literature