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.

Gerard Shelley

Wolves at the Gate

Gregory Rasputin is tricked into attending a dissolute Moscow soirée, and shares his sadness with Englishman Gerard Shelley.

Length: 115 words

Sir Stamford Raffles

A Highly Polished People

Stamford Raffles, Lieutenant-Governor of Java, urged London to bypass our European partners and trade directly with Japan.

Length: 114 words

Sport and Sportsmen

The Brighteners of Cricket

A. A. Milne warns that marketing cricket to people who don’t like the game must not spoil it for those who do.

Length: 118 words

Lives of the Saints

St George, Patron Saint of England

George served in the Roman army and lies buried in Israel, yet he makes an ideal patron for England.

Length: 117 words

Bible Stories Retold

Deborah and Sisera

The Israelites turn to Deborah for help after twenty years under the harsh rule of King Jabin and his stern general Sisera.

Length: 119 words

Anglo-Saxon Era

The Battle of the Winwaed

In 655, the future of England as a Christian nation hung by the slenderest of threads.

Length: 109 words