The Copybook

Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.

217

© Joseph Mischyshyn, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Dane-Geld Rudyard Kipling

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

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218

By Henri-Paul Motte (1846–1922), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Surrender of Vercingetorix Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall

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

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219

© BazzaDaRambler, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

The First Steam Whistle Clement Edwin Stretton

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

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220

© Nick Allen, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Seeds of Empire Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall

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

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221

By Johannes Vingboons (1616–1670), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Sing Us a Song of Zion Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall

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

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222

© Tilliebean, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Isabella Calls Time H. W. Dulcken

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

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