Retold Classics

The Great Charter of 1215, cornerstone of constitutional law, retold with retired words replaced. Witness how English has changed — and what remains.

The 1776 founding document of the United States, retold with retired words replaced. Jefferson’s prose, stripped of its 18th-century legalisms.

The first ten amendments to the US Constitution (1791), retold with retired words replaced. Legal English, updated.

An excerpt from Pearl S. Buck’s “The Good Earth” (1931), retold with retired words replaced. A Pulitzer-winning novel that introduced China to the English-speaking world — but in a language frozen in its colonial moment.

An excerpt from Edgar Snow’s “Red Star Over China” (1937), retold with retired words replaced. The first Western account of the Chinese Communist movement — frozen in the Wade-Giles romanization of its time.

An excerpt from the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West” (16th century), as translated by Arthur Waley (1942). Retold with Wade-Giles romanizations replaced.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic 1963 speech at the March on Washington, retold with retired words replaced. The dream does not change — only the language that carries it.

King George VI’s 1939 radio address to the British Empire at the outbreak of World War II, retold with retired words replaced. A message of courage, now in living language.

The 1620 founding document of Plymouth Colony, retold with retired words replaced. Witness how even the most archaic English can be made to breathe again.