The Copybook

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

553

By Ernst Lissner (1874-1941), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Dmitri of the Don Lucy Cazalet

Grand Duke Dmitri of Moscow loosened the grip of the Tartar Horde on the people of Russia, but treachery robbed him of triumph.

Read

554

By Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873), via the Yale Center for British Art and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Rhetoric and the Beast Plato

God alone can save civilisation, said Socrates, when clever campaign strategists teach aspiring politicians how to play on the public’s hopes and fears.

Read

555

© Wolfgang Rieger, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son The Authorized Version

A young man abandons the family farm and goes looking for happiness in the pleasures of the city.

Read

556

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

David and Goliath Charlotte Yonge

Goliath, a giant of a man from Philistia, has challenged Israel’s warrior-heroes to meet him in single combat, but only a shepherd boy is brave enough to step up.

Read

557

© Birmingham Museums Trust, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Sword in the Stone Sir Thomas Malory

Sir Kay has left his sword at home, and his young brother Arthur is determined to find him a worthy blade for the New Year’s Day joust.

Read

558

From the National Museum of the US Navy, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Gift of Life A. G. Gardiner

When columnist ‘Alpha of the Plough’ was asked to select his most memorable moment of the Great War, he told the story of HMS Formidable.

Read