Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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667

Yoritomo and the Doves of War

Japan’s first Shogun owed his life and his rise to power to a spider and two harmless doves.

668

The Battle of Thermopylae

In 480 BC Leonidas, King of Sparta, frustrated the advance of Xerxes the Persian just long enough to change the course of the war — and history.

669

The Battle of Hastings

After King Edward the Confessor died childless, Europe’s princes stepped forward to claim the prize of England’s crown.

670

The Luck of the Draw

Harald Hardrada made sure that his fate was never out of his own hands.

671

Changing Times

The editor of the country’s most famous newspaper had to use a little sleight-of-hand to bring journalism to the people.

672

Borrowed Tools

Ethel Smyth encouraged writers to try to find their own words before deciding to borrow someone else’s.