Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

← Page 1

1555

Somerset’s Case

After James Somerset was loaded onto a British slave-ship bound for Jamaica, Granville Sharp and other committed Christians turned to the courts for justice.

1556

The Speech of King Caratacus

A proud British king, taken to Rome as a trophy of Empire, refused to plead for his life.

1557

The Star that Winked

John Goodricke’s observations of Algol won him the Copley Medal while still in his teens, despite his disability.

1558

The Story of Handel’s ‘Water Music’

Handel’s German boss fired the composer for spending all his time in London. When they met again, it was... rather awkward.

1559

The Story of ‘Messiah’

The first thing George Frideric Handel’s oratorio ‘Messiah’ did was to set a hundred and forty-two prisoners free.

1560

The Story of ‘Oliver Twist’

Fate and a vicious professional thief named Fagin conspire to trap orphan Oliver Twist into a life of crime.