Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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127

Dane-Geld

Three years before the Great War, Rudyard Kipling recalled how one English king simply paid his bullying neighbours to stay at home.

128

The First Steam Whistle

After an accident at a level crossing, the bosses of the Leicester and Swannington Railway acknowledged that drivers needed more than lung power.

129

The Surrender of Vercingetorix

As Rome’s grip on Gaul tightened, one man still dared to defy them.

130

Seeds of Empire

The British Empire may be said to have started when Elizabethan importers got into a fight with the Dutch over the price of pepper.

131

Sing Us a Song of Zion

The Sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra welcomed his guests from Christian England with an unexpected gesture of friendship.

132

Isabella Calls Time

The Despensers ensured that King Edward II never left their sight, but it was what Queen Isabella was doing that should have worried them.