The Copybook

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

409

© BT2_AbhishekDey, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.

The Black Hole of Calcutta by Edward Fraser

In 1756, the Nawab of Bengal allowed his frustration with British merchants in Calcutta to get the better of him.

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410

© Amitabha Gupta, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0.

The Battle of Plassey by Hari Chahan Das

Before Siraj ud-Daulah became Nawab of Bengal in 1756, his grandfather begged him to keep the English sweet, and put no trust in Jafar Ali Khan. If he had only listened...

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411

© Шухрат Саъдиев (Shukhrat Sadiev), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

A Conqueror Has No Friends by Quintus Curtius Rufus

When Alexander the Great threatened the people of Scythia, their ambassadors reminded him that a conqueror has many more burdens to carry than an ally has.

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412

© Sergio bellavista, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

Caesar Crosses the Rubicon by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus

When Julius Caesar defied the Senate’s explicit order to resign his military command, he knew there could be no turning back.

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413

© Anupamg, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0.

The Desolation of Delhi by Ziauddin Barani

In 1327, Mohammad bin Tughluq gave every man, woman and child in Delhi just three days’ notice to quit.

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414

© Hermann Luyken, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain

Sunspots and Wheat Prices by James Sime

William Herschel showed that variations in the brightness of the sun were causing climate change, but hardly anyone believed him.

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© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

April 23 NS

April 10 OS

St George, Patron Saint of England : George served in the Roman army and lies buried in Israel, yet he makes an ideal patron for England.
The Day of Resurrection : An eighth-century hymn of the Greek Church, for Easter Day
Approachable : Replace the verb ‘can’ with these alternatives, and explain how the meaning of the sentence has changed.
The First Easter : In a translation from the Authorized Version of the Bible, published in 1611, St Mark recounts the discovery of Christ’s empty tomb.
A Collect for Easter Day : A short prayer from the Book of Common Prayer, for the day of Christ’s resurrection.
The Gambler : Which well-known expression is Dr Johnson talking about here?
If I Had But Two Little Wings : Samuel Taylor Coleridge holds on to those precious moments when loneliness is a problem for tomorrow.
Red Eye : Reconstruct the speaker’s original words from these reports.
Responsible : Combine each group of ideas into a single sentence, in as many ways as you can.
Opposites : Suggest words that seem opposite in meaning to the words in this list.
Three of a Kind : For each of these things, think of three different varieties of it.
The Son of God Goes Forth to War : A hymn in praise of St Stephen, the first Christian martyr.
Peace Plan : Report this brief exchange between Anna and M. Pierre and Tolstoy’s War and Peace
Metaphors : Choose one of these words and use it metaphorically, not literally.
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