Minis
Mini Copy Book

Each post in this section is a short précis (summary) of a passage in The Copy Book. All of them are in modern English. They are intended for students of English as a Foreign Language at Elementary Level.

Homer

The Bag of the Three Winds

A weary King Odysseus dozes off on his voyage home to Ithaca, but his crew are wide awake, wondering what is in his bag.

Length: 120 words

Extracts from Literature

The Gossip in Gavrillac

The simple folk of Brittany know what it means when a nobleman calls himself godfather to an unknown infant.

Length: 59 words

Lives of the Saints

The Synod of Hatfield

The Roman Emperor offered to unite the world’s squabbling churches – but it was the kind of offer you can’t refuse.

Length: 118 words

The Hundred Years’ War

The Hundred Years’ War

King John had already lost most of the Crown’s lands in France, but when Aquitaine was threatened Edward III knew he must act fast.

Length: 118 words

Mediaeval History

Jack Cade’s Revolt

When Jack Cade told Henry VI to make peace with France and tackle corruption at court, the King really should have listened.

Length: 59 words

Mediaeval History

Perkin Warbeck

With the Lambert Simnel affair not yet forgotten, another boy claims to be the rightful King of England.

Length: 114 words