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.

William Windham MP

A Tax on Companionship

William Windham MP was appalled at the idea of levying a tax on man’s best friend.

Length: 54 words

Discovery and Invention

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway

Businessmen in Liverpool engaged George Stephenson to build one of his new-fangled railways.

Length: 115 words

Abolition of Slavery

An Incorrigible Fanatic

William Wilberforce told Parliament that the more his opponents slandered him, the more he was sure he was winning.

Length: 57 words

Stuart Era

The Winter Queen

Conspiracies and dynastic expectations swirled around James I’s daughter from the age of nine.

Length: 108 words

The Second World War

The Outbreak of the Second World War

The only truly global conflict in history began when German troops crossed into Poland in September 1939.

Length: 110 words

Discovery and Invention

Abraham Darby I

To the poor of England, the Worcestershire man gave affordable pots and pans, and to all the world he gave the industrial revolution.

Length: 55 words