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.

Lives of the Saints

St Erkenwald, Light of London

The seventh-century Bishop of London helped kings and clergy to shine Christian light into the darkness of mere religion.

Length: 58 words

Extracts from Literature

Mr Ivery Gets Away

Richard Hannay tracks a German spy down to a French château, but Hannay’s sense of fair play gives his enemy a chance.

Length: 120 words

Discovery and Invention

Russia’s First Railway

Sixteen-year-old John Wesley Hackworth brought a locomotive over to St Petersburg, and Russia’s railway revolution was ready for the off.

Length: 113 words

Greek and Roman Myths

Heracles and the Mares of Diomedes

Eurystheus pits his cousin against a son of Ares and some man-eating horses.

Length: 56 words

Bible Stories Retold

Perilous Waters

King Saul’s jealousies drove those who loved him away, but David was a very different kind of leader.

Length: 59 words

Character and Conduct

The Price of Treachery

A Danish soldier in the seventeenth century imposes the severest sentence he can think of.

Length: 59 words