Classic fiction: literary and general

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Book SynopsisIn 1852, young Walt Whitman – a down-on-his-luck housebuilder in Brooklyn – was hard at work writing two books. One would become one of the most famous volumes of poetry in American history, a free-verse revelation beloved the world over, Leaves of Grass. The other, a novel, would be published under a pseudonym and serialized in a newspaper. A short, rollicking story of orphanhood, avarice, and adventure in New York City, Life and Adventures of Jack Engle appeared to little fanfare. Then it disappeared. No one laid eyes on it until 2016, when literary scholar Zachary Turpin, University of Houston, followed a paper trail deep into the Library of Congress, where the sole surviving copy of Jack Engle has lain waiting for generations. Now, after more than 160 years, the University of Iowa Press is honored to reprint this lost work, restoring a missing piece of American literature by one of the world's greatest authors, written as he verged on immortality.

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Book SynopsisSelections from one of the great classics of literature--now part of the Shambhala Pocket Library.In July 1845, Henry David Thoreau built a small cottage in the woods near Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, and began to write Walden, a chronicle of his communion with nature. Since its first publication in 1854, the work has become a classic, beloved for its message of living simply and in harmony with nature. This abridged edition of Walden features exquisite wood engravings by Michael McCurdy and a foreword by noted author and environmentalist Terry Tempest Williams, who reflects upon Thoreau’s message that as we explore our world and ourselves, we draw closer to the truth of our connectedness.This book is part of the Shambhala Pocket Library series.The Shambhala Pocket Library is a collection of short, portable teachings from notable figures across religious traditions and classic texts. The covers in this series are rendered by Colorado artist Robert Spellman. The books in this collection distill the wisdom and heart of the work Shambhala Publications has published over 50 years into a compact format that is collectible, reader-friendly, and applicable to everyday life.

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Book SynopsisTowards the end of the war as the Germans are in their final retreat in November 1918, a British raiding party stumbles across a strange and eerie scene in a ruined chateau, under fire. Following the strains of a familiar tune, and understandably perplexed as to who would be playing the piano in the midst of shellfire, they discover a German officer lying dead at the keys, next to a beautiful woman in full evening dress, also deceased. But the officer is the spitting image of G B Bretherton, a British officer missing in action…. So follows a tale of mystery and identity, first published in 1930, which is not only an authentic account of conditions at the Front, but also a remarkable thriller, with a highly unusual plot, which won Bretherton comparisons to John Buchan and the best of the espionage writers. John Squire, the influential editor of the London Mercury said ‘of the English war-books, undoubtedly the best is Bretherton.’ The Morning Post thought it ‘one of the best of the English war novels. I do not expect anything much better.’ The Sunday Times pinpointed its dual attraction: it was both ‘a mystery as exciting as a good detective story and an extraordinarily vivid account of trench-warfare’.

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Book Synopsis‘Already loose sand had drifted over the stamped-down square which momentarily had distinguished the subaltern’s grave: no there was no sign, no mark, no indication whatsoever. There had been, here, eleven men. Now ten rode away’ In the Mesopotamian desert during World War I, the leader of a British patrol is shot and killed, by an unseen enemy. The officer is the only one who knows their orders and has not told anyone else where they are located. From then on the sergeant has to try to lead the men through a hostile desert landscape which is full of invisible Arab snipers. One by one they are picked off, and the group of diverse characters from different backgrounds has to try to come together in order to survive. The decision making process proves far from easy as tensions and prejudices from their former lives come to the fore. This thrilling tale of suspense goes right to the last page and was a best seller in the 1920s. The novel was filmed twice, by Walter Summers (as Lost Patrol in 1929) and by John Ford (as The Lost Patrol in 1934).Trade ReviewThe basis for films by Walter Summer and John Ford, this bestselling novel is a suspenseful tale of the Great War for readers of Robert Graves or Ford Madox Ford—or anyone who enjoys an action-packed war story. Author Philip MacDonald, who served in Mesopotamia with the British cavalry, went on to become one of the most popular writers of thrillers and detective fiction. * Books Monthly *It works perfectly well as a suspense-driven thriller, but it also tells us something as a historical document. Written in 1927 by Philip MacDonald, one of the most popular authors of inter-war potboilers, it has the whiff of authenticity about it, and with good reason. MacDonald served in Britain’s largely calamitous Mesopotamian campaign during WW1 and Patrol (with its story of a directionless, doomed mission) seems to be his angry response to that military misadventure. * History of War Magazine *

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Book Synopsis

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