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

The Holy Table of St Sophia

According to legend, when the Venetians tried to kidnap it the Holy Table of St Sophia in Constantinople made a dramatic escape.

Length: 57 words

Japanese History

Yoritomo and the Doves of War

Japan’s first Shogun owed his life and his rise to power to a spider and two harmless doves.

Length: 114 words

Classical History

The Battle of Thermopylae

In 480 BC Leonidas, King of Sparta, frustrated the advance of Xerxes the Persian just long enough to change the course of the war — and history.

Length: 116 words

Anglo-Saxon Era

The Battle of Hastings

After King Edward the Confessor died childless, Europe’s princes stepped forward to claim the prize of England’s crown.

Length: 114 words

Scandinavian History

The Luck of the Draw

Harald Hardrada made sure that his fate was never out of his own hands.

Length: 118 words

Discovery and Invention

Changing Times

The editor of the country’s most famous newspaper had to use a little sleight-of-hand to bring journalism to the people.

Length: 107 words