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?

More …

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

Recently Added

See all

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

From the Archive

See all

Extracts from Literature

One Last Question

English lawyer Sydney Carton goes to the guillotine in place of a French aristocrat.

by Charles Dickens 1812-1870

Stories in Short

The Selfish Giant

A giant gets angry when he finds children playing in his garden.

based on the short story by Oscar Wilde

Stuart Era

The Prisoner from Provence

When Saint-Mars arrived to take over as warden of the Bastille in 1698, staff at Paris’s most famous prison had eyes only for his prisoner.

by Tighe Hopkins 1856-1919

Stuart Era

A Corant On the Heath

Highwayman Claude Du Vall robbed a carriage on Hampstead Heath in the most courteous manner imaginable.

by Walter Pope ?-1714

See All Posts (1522)

Selected Authors

See all

Robert Louis Stevenson

Marooned!

W. Somerset Maugham

The Lessons of Empire

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Fact-Lovers

Benjamin Franklin

How I Learnt to Write

John Wesley

Wilberforce Contra Mundum

Adam Smith

Folly and Freedom

See all Posts by Author

Selected Topics

See all

Sport and Sportsmen

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

See all (27)

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.

See all (170)

Greece

Tales about the cradle of Western civilisation, from Socrates and the first democracies to the fall of the Roman Empire, the Ottoman yoke, and Britain’s part in the fight for independence.

See all (51)

Extracts from Fiction

Romance, adventure and comedy from the very best fiction writers, including Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, Charles Dickens, John Buchan, and many more.

See all (109)

Railways

Stories about the British transport revolution that changed the world, from the first locomotive and the first whistle to Flying Scotsman.

See all (38)

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.

See all (51)

See All Topics (A-Z)

The Copy Book

Readings in history, society and literature

The Copy Book

Readings in history, society and literature