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The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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1477

The Fleming Valve

By Clay Lane

A Victorian children’s book inspired the birth of modern electronics.

Sir Ambrose Fleming (1849-1945) was a Lancashireman who invented the vacuum-tube diode or ‘valve’, for fifty years the essential component of modern electronics.

Posted November 18 2015

1478

Treasure Island

Based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson

An excited English gentleman hires a ship for a treasure-hunt, but doesn’t check his crew’s credentials.

When a treasure-map falls into his excited hands, Squire Trelawny can’t wait to go treasure-hunting on distant seas. So he hires a crew of experienced sailors, without asking what kind of ship they gained their experience on...

Posted November 16 2015

1479

The Alleluia Victory

Based on an account by St Bede of Jarrow

How hard-pressed Christians on the Welsh border won a battle without bloodshed.

In the 5th century, the spread of Christianity was a growing threat to the pagans’ hold of fear and ignorance over ordinary people. The pagans’ answer was (as always) violence.

Posted November 15 2015

1480

Byron and Hercules

By Clay Lane

Lord Byron could not have hoped for a better omen in his support for the oppressed people of Greece.

George Gordon Byron, one of the greatest of all English romantic poets, died in 1824, aged just 36, in Missolonghi, Greece. Yet he played a key part in liberating Greece from almost four hundred years of oppression by the Ottoman Empire.

Posted November 14 2015

1481

Edith and Edward

Based on an account by Charlotte Yonge

A King and Queen gentler than the times in which they lived.

The powerful Earl Godwin, a rough Saxon and an ambitious man, gave his support to King Edward the Confessor on condition that he marry Godwin’s daughter Edith.

Posted November 14 2015

1482

The Gift Thrice Given

Based on an account by Charlotte Yonge

A story about William the Conqueror’s father, Robert the Magnificent.

Robert the Magnificent (1000-1035) was Duke of Normandy, and the father of King William I of England. His nickname referred in part to his legendary generosity.

Posted November 14 2015

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★ The Dove and the Flame Elfric, Abbot of Eynsham in the reign of Æthelred the Unready, reflects on two appearances of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament.

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A European Fraud

Posted Today • The Copy Book

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Sentegrams Unjumble these sentences from the novels of George Eliot.

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Music Video Alexander Borodin: Petite Suite: VI. Rêverie

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Person, Object, Action! Make up sentences using these phrases, making sure you put plenty of action in.

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Rhymes Suggest words that rhyme with ‘love’.

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Music Video Orlando Gibbons: Thus Angels Sung

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Music Video Sir Charles Villiers Stanford: Symphony No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 28 (Irish): II. Allegro molto vivace

Posted January 10

Vocabulary Express each of these phrases in a single word.

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Music Video Henry Purcell: Rejoice in the Lord Alway (‘the Bell Anthem’)

Posted January 1

Homonyms Show that each of these words might mean different things to different people.

Posted January 1 • Think and Speak