Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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517

Brought to their Knees

Agricola, tasked with subduing the people of Britain to Roman colonial government, persuaded them to wear servitude as a badge of refinement.

518

Prav’, Britaniya!

Herbert Bury’s duties took him back to St Petersburg after the Russian revolution of 1917, but all he could think of was how it used to be.

519

Exit Lord Pudding

Piqued by the way French and German literati mocked the English, Charles Dickens urged his compatriots to be the better men.

520

On Falling in Love

Shortly after meeting Fanny Osbourne, Robert Louis Stevenson reflected on the different ways in which falling in love affects a man.

521

‘Tremblingly Obey!’

Following a historic embassy in 1792-93, Chien Lung, the Emperor of China, despatched a haughty letter rebuffing King George III’s offer of trade.

522

A Very Rapid Promotion

Aeneas Anderson, who accompanied Lord Macartney on Britain’s first embassy to China, shared a tale illustrating the Qianlong Emperor’s notion of fair play.