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France

Stories about our friends across the Channel, from Roman times to the Hundred Years’ War, her bloody Revolution, and the giddying rise and fall of Emperor Napoleon.

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The Little Dog of Castiglione

By Helen Maria Williams

Nothing seemed likely to stop Napoleon Bonaparte from conquering Europe, but one little fellow slowed him up a bit.

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Picture: © Bwierc, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.. Source.

Posted March 15 2021

14

‘The Empire is Peace!’

By Guy de Maupassant

Guy de Maupassant reflects on the way that a statesman’s place in history has so often been defined not by deeds or character but by his one-liners.

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Picture: By Guillaume-Alphonse Harang Cabasson (1814-1884), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

Posted February 17 2021

15

A Common Duty

By Edith Helen Sichel

From the grateful solitude of his library in the Dordogne, Michel de Montaigne reflects on the companionship of his cat.

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Picture: By Loliloli, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

Posted January 25 2020

16

Costume Drama

By Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald

When Lord Cochrane went to a fancy dress ball in Valetta, his costume nearly got him killed.

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Picture: By Thomas Rowlandson (1756–1827), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

Posted September 26 2019

17

A Stitch in Time

By Jean-Baptiste Say

French economist Jean-Baptiste Say recalls a time when an ounce of prevention might have saved many pounds of cure.

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Picture: © Lisa Jarvis, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

Posted April 22 2019

18

The Disappearance of Arthur

In April 1203, a royal prince and heir vanished from Rouen at just the right moment for King John.

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Picture: From the Chroniques de St Denys (c. 1332-1350), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

Posted May 28 2018

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Film Video William Shakespeare: The Quality of Mercy (from ‘The Merchant of Venice’)

Posted Today

The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat In most contests the choices are win, lose or draw, but what happened here remains a mystery.

Posted Today • The Copy Book

How I Met Nastenka The story-teller recalls his first meeting with Nastenka, and the man who brought them together.

Posted Yesterday • The Copy Book

Scansion Turn these lines into well-punctuated lines of verse.

Posted February 3

Columbus Arthur Clough marvels at the vision of a man who could cross the Atlantic without knowing there was a farther shore.

Posted February 2 • The Copy Book

Loan Words Match each word to the language we have borrowed it from.

Posted February 2

Who’ll Turn the Grindstone? Whenever Charles Miner suspected an ulterior motive, he would say quietly ‘That man has an axe to grind!’

Posted February 1 • The Copy Book

Lap

Posted January 31 • Think and Speak

A Full Day’s Play It was one of those rare occasions when a game of cricket had not been interrupted by the weather, but would the Church be so forgiving?

Posted January 29 • The Copy Book

Grammar Examine these sentences, and say whether the word ‘up’ should be removed.

Posted January 29

Sunday in London Every Sunday, the Englishman is raised to heaven by the choir, and then taken to her bosom by Mother Earth.

Posted January 29 • The Copy Book

Music Video Ronald Binge: Concerto for Alto Saxophone: II: Andante espressivo

Posted January 28

Ye Children, Hearken Unto Me David, fresh from another close encounter with Saul’s men, shares his advice for living a charmed life.

Posted January 28 • The Copy Book

Look Upon This Picture Hamlet cannot understand what his mother could possibly see in his uncle Claudius.

Posted January 27 • The Copy Book

Metaphors Rewrite these sentences, substituting each metaphor with another of similar meaning.

Posted January 27

Vocabulary Compose sentences to illustrate the meaning of these words.

Posted January 27 • Think and Speak

Music Video Henry Purcell: Miserere Mei

Posted January 26

Outbreak John Galsworthy shared his unease at the rise of two competing forms of national speech.

Posted January 26 • The Copy Book

Verbs and Nouns Separate these words into two groups, nouns, and nouns that are also verbs. Which one’s the odd-one-out?

Posted January 26 • Think and Speak

The Peacock Throne The dazzling throne of the Mughal Emperors has vanished from history, but not before Abdul Hamid Lahori had seen it.

Posted January 25 • The Copy Book