The Copybook: Readings in history and literature

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Featured

Fashionable Freedom by Thomas Clarkson

Josiah Wedgwood’s promotional gift made Abolitionism fashionable.

1

The First Traffic Lights from The Express

The busy crossroads outside the Houses of Parliament was the testing ground for a new technology.

2

Chariots of Steam by Erasmus Darwin

Erasmus Darwin imagines how steam power will change the world.

3

Columbus by Arthur Hugh Clough

Arthur Clough marvels at the vision of a man who could cross the Atlantic without knowing there was a farther shore.

4

Brigands and Imbeciles by John Bright

John Bright dismissed fears that digging a tunnel under the English Channel would encourage a French invasion.

5

The Great Brassey Keeps his Word by Samuel Smiles

Once railway engineer Thomas Brassey made a promise he kept it — even if he wasn’t aware that he’d made one.

6

The Voyage of John Cabot by Edith Louise Marsh

On the Feast of St John the Baptist, June 24th, 1497, Venetian navigator John Cabot claimed North America for the King of England.

Discovery and Invention