Classics Books

Book SynopsisWith an Introduction by Anthony Briggs. Translated by Isabel F. Hapgood. Russia in the 1840s. There is a stranger in town, and he is behaving oddly. The unctuous Pavel Chichikov goes around the local estates buying up 'dead souls'. These are the papers relating to serfs who have died since the last census, but who remain on the record and still attract a tax demand. Chichikov is willing to relieve their owners of the tax burden by buying the titles for a song. What he does not say is that he then proposes to take out a huge mortgage against these fictitious citizens and buy himself a nice estate in Eastern Russia. Will he get away with it? Who will rumble him? Does this narrative contain a deeper message about Russia itself or the spiritual health of humanity? There is much interest and some suspense in considering these issues, but the real pleasure of this story lies elsewhere. It is an enjoyable comic romp through a retarded part of a backward country, a picaresque series of grotesque portraits, situations and conversations described with Gogolian humour based mainly on hyperbole. This is, quite simply, the funniest book in the Russian language before the twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisComposed in medieval Iceland, Hrolf's Saga is one of the greatest of all mythic-legendary sagas, relating half-fantastical events that were said to have occurred in fifth-century Denmark. It tells of the exploits of King Hrolf and of his famous champions, including Bodvar Bjarki, the 'bear-warrior': a powerful figure whose might and bear-like nature are inspired by the same legendary heritage as Beowulf. Depicting a world of wizards, sorceresses and 'berserker' fighters - originally members of a cult of Odin - this is a compelling tale of ancient magic. A work of timeless power and beauty, it offers both a treasury of Icelandic prose and a masterful gathering of epic, cultic memory, traditional folk tale and myths from the Viking age and far earlier.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throuTable of ContentsTranslated with an Introduction by Jesse L. ByockIntroductionThe Sagas of Ancient Times and Heroic LaysSkjold and the Skjoldung Dynasty: The Legendary PastArchaeology and the Legendary HleidargardThe Saga of King Hrolf Kraki and BeowulfBeowulf and Bodvar Bjarki: The Bear WarriorsBerserkersMyth in the SagaChristian InfluenceMap: The World of The Saga of King Hrolf KrakiNote on the TranslationThe Saga1. King Frodi Kills His Brother King Halfdan2. The Search3. The Boys Helgi and Hroar Revealed4. The Death of King Frodi5. King Helgi Rules Denmark and King Hroar Marries6. King Helgi Attempts to Marry Queen Olof7. King Helgi's Vengeance: The Girl Yrsa; The Ring8. Jarl Hrok Claims King Hroar's Ring9. Vengeance and King Hroar's Son Agnar10. King Helgi and Queen Yrsa11. The Elfin Woman and the Birth of Skuld12. King Adils and King Helgi Meet13. King Adils' Pride and Queen Yrsa's Displeasure14. Svipdag and the Berserkers15. Svipdag and His Brothers Join King Hrolf's Men16. King Hrolf Tricks King Hjorvard17. King Hring of Norway Marries Hvit18. The Love of Bera and Bjorn19. Bjorn Rejects Queen Hvit's Advances: The Curse20. Bjorn's Transformation into a Bear and the Birth of Bodvar21. Thorir Becomes King of the Gauts22. Bodvar's Vengeance23. Bodvar and His Brothers24. King Hrolf's Champions25. Bodvar Encourages King Hrolf to Recover His Inheritance26. Three Strange Nights with Hrani27. King Adils' Deceitful Welcome28. King Adils Attempts to Defeat King Hrolf29. Queen Yrsa Gives King Hrolf His Inheritance and More30. King Adils is Conquered by Gold and King Hrolf Angers Hrani31. Queen Skuld Incites King Hjorvard32. Queen Skuld Attacks King Hrolf at Yule33. The Great Battle34. The Death of King Hrolf KrakiNotesGenealogical Tables: The Family of King Hrolf Kraki; The Family of Bodvar Bjarki; The Family of SvipdagEquivalent Characters in Old Norse, Old English and Latin Accounts of King Hrolf KrakiGlossary of Proper Names

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Book SynopsisWith his trademark dry wit, Kurt Vonnegut''s Cat''s Cradle is an inventive science fiction satire that preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon - and, worse still, surviving it. This Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Benjamin Kunkel.Dr Felix Hoenikker, one of the founding ''fathers'' of the atomic bomb, has left a deadly legacy to humanity. For he is the inventor of ice-nine, a lethal chemical capable of freezing the entire planet. Writer Jonah''s search for his whereabouts leads him to Hoenikker''s three eccentric children, to an island republic in the Caribbean where the absurd religion of Bokononism is practised, to love and to insanity. Told with deadpan humour and bitter irony, Kurt Vonnegut''s cult tale of global destruction is a frightening and funny satire on the end of the world and the madness of mankind.Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) was born in Indianapolis. During the Second World War he was a prisoner in Germany and present at the bombing of Dresden, an experience he recounted in his famous novel Slaughterhouse Five (1969). His first novel, Player Piano, was published in 1951 and since then he has written many novels, including The Sirens of Titan, Jailbird, Deadeye Dick, Galapagos and Hocus Pocus. If you enjoyed Cat''s Cradle, you might like Philip K. Dick''s The Man in the High Castle, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.''One of the warmest, wisest, funniest voices to be found anywhere in fiction''Sam Leith, Daily Telegraph''A free-wheeling vehicle ... An unforgettable ride!''The New York Times''Vonnegut looked the world straight in the eye and never flinched''J.G. Ballard

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Book SynopsisWood Leighton is written by one of Victorian literature's most prolific authors, the writer and poet Mary Howitt.

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Book SynopsisThe captivating new novel from the international bestselling author of The Thorn Birds'.Innocence is no protectionIn Holloman, Connecticut, someone is preying on the innocent. At a prestigious research centre fondly known by its staff as the ''Hug'', parts of a mutilated body are found. Lieutenant Carmine Delmonico of the Holloman Police learns that a string of horrifying murders each with the same modus operandi as the one at the Hug have been commited throughout the state. When another body is found, the medical staff become prime suspects.With the powers that be in turmoil and every member of staff hiding something, Delmonico must delve into the lives of each and every Hug employee. This is the case of his career and he is determined to solve it. But how, when he is hunting a monster who leaves no clues and is always two steps ahead?Trade ReviewPraise for Colleen McCullough: 'Compelling, passionate and gritty.' She ‘Fast-moving and immensely readable…this book is a page turner from start to finish.’ Maeve Binchy 'Probes the depths of the human heart in a haunting, multi-layered novel.' Good Book Guide 'McCullough piles on the drama.' Daily Mail 'Sizzling family drama stuffed with passion, tragedy, love and sex.' More 'Absorbing.’ Sunday Telegraph 'Deliciously addictive…a classic tale of wealth and power–an engrossing read.' Sainsbury's magazine

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Book SynopsisA wonderful new collection of tales exploring Henry James''s favourite ''international theme'': the experiences of Americans in Europe, and the meeting of the old world and new. Daisy Miller is one of Henry James''s great heroines - a young, independent American travelling in Europe, whose flouting of social conventions has the potential to lead to disaster. Her story is here accompanied by six more set among English castles, Swiss hotels and French ports, and all riffing on a classic Jamesian theme: the clash between the old world and new, Europe and America.The tales included in this volume are ''Travelling Companions'', ''Madame de Mauves'', ''Four Meetings'', ''Daisy Miller'', ''An International Episode'', ''Europe'' and ''Fordham Castle'', and the collection has been edited by renowned scholar of Anglo-American literature, Stephen Fender, under the general editorship of Philip Horne. This is one of three new volumes of James''s greatest tales in Penguin C

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Book Synopsis“One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories.” —The GuardianMaigret’s past comes to life in this evocative novel, set in the Inspector’s hometown“Maigret savoured the sensations of his youth again: the cold, stinging eyes, frozen fingertips, an aftertaste of coffee. Then, stepping inside the church, a blast of heat, soft light; the smell of candles and incense.”The last time Maigret went home to the village of his birth was for his father’s funeral. Now, an anonymous note predicting a crime during All Souls’ Day mass draws him back there, where troubling memories resurface and hidden vices are revealed.Trade ReviewPraise for Georges Simenon:“One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories.” —The Guardian “These Maigret books are as timeless as Paris itself.” —The Washington Post “Maigret ranks with Holmes and Poirot in the pantheon of fictional detective immortals.” —People “I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov.” —William Faulkner “The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature.” —André Gide “A supreme writer . . . Unforgettable vividness.” —The Independent (London) “Superb . . . The most addictive of writers . . . A unique teller of tales.” —The Observer (London) “Compelling, remorseless, brilliant.” —John Gray “A truly wonderful writer . . . Marvelously readable—lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the world he creates.” —Muriel Spark “A novelist who entered his fictional world as if he were a part of it.”lle —Peter Ackroyd “Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century.” —John Banville"Gem-hard soul-probes . . . not just the world's bestselling detective series, but an imperishable literary legend . . . he exposes secrets and crimes not by forensic wizardry, but by the melded powers of therapist, philosopher and confessor" ― Times (London)"Strangely comforting . . . so many lovely bistros from the Paris of mid-20th C. The corpses are incidental, it's the food that counts." ― Margaret Atwood"One of the greatest writers of the 20th century . . . no other writer can set up a scene as sharply and with such economy as Simenon does . . . the conjuring of a world, a place, a time, a set of characters - above all, an atmosphere." ― Financial Times"Gripping . . . richly rewarding . . . You'll quickly find yourself obsessing about his life as you tackle each mystery in turn."-- Stig Abell ― The Sunday Times (London)

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Book SynopsisSet in fourth-century B.C. Greece, The Mask of Apollo is narrated by Nikeratos, a tragic actor who takes with him on all his travels a gold mask of Apollo, a relic of the theatre's golden age, which is now past. At first his mascot, the mask gradually becomes his conscience, and he refers to it his gravest decisions, when he finds himself at the centre of a political crisis in which the philosopher Plato is also involved. Much of the action is set in Syracuse, where Plato's friend Dion is trying to persuade the young tyrant Dionysios the Younger to accept the rule of law. Through Nikeratos' eyes, the reader watches as the clash between the two unleashes all the pent-up violence in the city.Trade ReviewMary Renault is a shining light to both historical novelists and their readers. She does not pretend the past is like the present, or that the people of ancient Greece were just like us. She shows us their strangeness; discerning, sure-footed, challenging our values, piquing our curiosity, she leads us through an alien landscape that moves and delights us. -- Hilary Mantel I never learned Latin or Greek; I wasn't raised on the classics, even in translation. So all my sense of the ancient world - its values, its style, the scent of its wars and passions - comes from Mary Renault. I turned to writing historical fiction because of something I learned from Renault: that it lets you shake off the mental shackles of your own era, all the categories and labels, and write freely about what really matters to you -- Emma Donoghue Mary Renault's portraits of the ancient world are fierce, complex and eloquent, infused at every turn with her life-long passion for the Classics. Her characters live vividly both in their own time, and in ours -- Madeline Miller There's much to say about her interweaving of myth and history and, just as interestingly, there's much to wonder at in the way she fills in the large dark spaces where we know next to nothing about the times she describes ... an important and wonderful writer ... she set a course into serious-minded, psychologically intense historical fiction that today seems more important than ever' -- Sam Jordison The Guardian

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Book SynopsisDmitry Rudin, a high-minded gentleman of reduced means, arrives at the estate of Darya Mikhailovna, where his intelligence, eloquence and conviction immediately make a powerful impression. As he stys on longer than intended, Rudin exerts a strong influence on the younger generation, and Darya's daughter, Natalya, falls in love with him. But circumstances soon will show whether Rudin has the courage to act on his beliefs, and whether he can live ip to the image he has created for himself.Trade ReviewThese two translations of Ivan Turgenev's earliest long fiction [Faust and Rudin] are a welcome sign of renewed interest in Russia's least-appreciated great nineteenth century novelist. * TLS *Rudin enters the familiar Turgenevan landscape of rustic tranquillity and well-bred, private contumely like a thunderbolt. * TLS *Turgenev’s little-known first novel Rudin, written in 1856, centres on an excessively self-indulgent man and his doomed relationship with the daughter of his aristocratic hostess. It’s an impressive debut, with complex psychology and subtle characterisation. * The Telegraph *Turgenev to me is the greatest writer there ever was. -- Ernest Hemingway

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Book SynopsisOn a crowded bus at midday, the narrator observes one man accusing another of jostling him deliberately. When a seat is vacated, the first man takes it. Later, in another part of town, the man is spotted again, while being advised by a friend to have another button sewn onto his overcoat. Exercises in Style retells this apparently unremarkable tale ninety-nine times, employing a variety of styles, ranging from sonnet to cockney to mathematical formula. Too funny to be merely a pedantic thesis, this virtuoso set of themes and variations is a linguistic rustremover, a guide to literary forms and a demonstration of imagery and inventiveness.Trade ReviewWitty, playful, ingenious, it manages to transcend its own sophistication by a sort of verbal slapstick which Miss Wright translated into pure Groucho Marxism. * The Guardian * Midway between Lewis Carroll and Jacques Derrida, in a deliriously witty dimension of its own, lies Queneau's Exercises in Style... Barbara Wright's dazzling translation matches this oddball classic step by step, pun by pun. * The Independent * A pointless anecdote told in 99 different ways, or a work of genius in a brilliant translation by Barbara Wright. In fact it's both. Endlessly fascinating and very funny. -- Philip Pullman I've loved Exercises in Style for years. This translation is impeccable, extraordinary. -- Philip Pullman

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Considered one of the most influential authors of twentieth century Russian Literature, Ivan Bunin's "Dark Avenues" is the culmination of a life's work which unrelentingly questioned of the political doxa whilst taking his poetic mastery of language to dark new heights. Written between 1938 and 1944 and set in the context of a disintegrating Russian culture, this collection of short fiction centres around dark, erotic liaisons told with a rich, elegaic poetics which probes the artistic limits of depicting desire.A prolific writer and fierce political activist, Bunin became the first Russian to win the Nobel prize for Literature in 1933 and was highly influential on his contemporary Russian emigres, Checkov and Nabokov. The "Dark Avenues" is the zenith of his work and one of the most important Russian texts to come out of the twentieth century.

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Book Synopsis"She looked so irresistibly beautiful as she said those brave words that no man alive could have steeled his heart against her." In love with the beautiful heiress Laura Fairlie, the impoverished art teacher Walter Hartright finds his romantic desires thwarted by her previous engagement to Sir Percival Glyde. But all is not as it seems with Sir Percival, as becomes clear when he arrives with his eccentric friend Count Fosco. The mystery and intrigue are further deepened by the ghostly appearances of a woman in white, apparently harbouring a secret that concerns Sir Percival’s past. A tale of love, madness, deceit and redemption, boasting sublime Gothic settings and pulse-quickening suspense, The Woman in White was the first best-selling Victorian sensation novel, sparking off a huge trend in the fiction of the time with its compulsive, fascinating narrative.Trade ReviewFor sheer plotting genius, Collins had no rival. If you’ve never read this, I can promise you one of the most gripping stories of all time. -- Philip Pullman

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Book SynopsisDorian Gray is having his picture painted by Basil Hallward, who is charmed by his looks. But when Sir Henry Wotton visits and seduces Dorian into the worship of youthful beauty with an intoxicating speech, Dorian makes a wish he will live to regret: that all the marks of age will now be reflected in the portrait rather than on Dorian's own face. The stage is now set for a masterful tale about appearance, reality, art, life, truth, fiction and the burden of conscience. Oscar Wilde's only full-length novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray is a lasting gem of sophisticated wit and playfulness, which brings together all the best elements of his talent in a reinterpretation of the Faustian myth.Trade ReviewReading and rereading Wilde throughout the years, I noticed something that his panegyrists had not, it seems, suspected: namely the verifiable, elementary fact that Wilde was virtually always right. -- Jorge Luis Borges Wilde stood for art. He stood for nothing less all his life... He is still enormously underestimated as an artist and thinker... Wilde was a great writer and a great man. -- Stephen Fry Every line that Wilde ever wrote affected me so enormously. -- Morrissey I think The Picture of Dorian Gray stands as high as it ever has. -- Will Self A heady late-Victorian tale of double-living, in which Dorian's fatal, corruptive influence over women and men alike is left suggestively indistinct. -- Sarah Waters

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Book SynopsisWhile enjoying a six weeks' stay in fashionable Bath, the young and callow Catherine Morland is introduced to the delights of high society. Thanks to a new literary diet of the sensational and the macabre, Catherine travels to Northanger Abbey fully expecting to become embroiled in a Gothic adventure of intrigue and suspense - and, once there, soon begins to form the most gruesome and improbable theories about the exploits of its occupants. An early work, but published posthumously, Northanger Abbey is a parody of the Gothic genre typified by the novels of Ann Radcliffe, as well as a witty comedy of manners in the style of Jane Austen's later novels and, ultimately, an enchanting love story.Trade ReviewAs a creative realist, giving to her characters the very body and pressure of actual life, no writer, living or dead, has surpassed her. -- John Cowper Powys

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Book SynopsisOn his way back to Russia after some years spent in the West, Grigory Mikhailovich Litvinov, the son of a retired official of merchant stock, stops over in Baden-Baden to meet his fiancee Tatyana. However, a chance encounter with his old flame, the manipulative Irina - now married to a general and a prominent figure in aristocratic expatriate circles - unearths feelings buried deep inside the young man's heart, derailing his plans for the future and throwing his life into turmoil.Trade ReviewTurgenev to me is the greatest writer there ever was. -- Ernest Hemingway

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Book SynopsisChris Guthrie, torn between her love of the land and her desire to escape the narrow horizons of a peasant culture, is the thread that links these three works. In them, Gibbon interweaves the personal joys and sorrows of Chris' life with the greater historical and political events of the time.Sunset Song, the first and most celebrated book of the trilogy, covers the early years of the twentieth century, including the First World War. Chris survives, with her son Ewan, but the tragedy has struck and her wild spirit is subdued. In Cloud Howe, as the minister's wife, Chris learns to love again, and we witness the cruel gossip and high comedy of small village life until, once again, Chris suffers a terrible loss. Grey Granite focuses on her son Ewan and his passionate involvement with justice for the common man. For Chris, with her intuitive strength, nothing lasts - only the land endures.Trade ReviewThis book may be read with delight the world over. * * New York Times * *It would be impossible to overestimate Lewis Grassic Gibbon's importance . . . A Scots Quair is a landmark work; it permeates the Scottish literary consciousness and colours all subsequent writing of its kind. -- David Kerr CameronA Scots Quair is a lyrical achievement still unparalleled in British writing. -- Ali SmithGibbon's style is one of the great achievements of the trilogy and should be seen . . . in the context of mordernist innovators such as James Joyce, Gerturde Stein and William Faulkner. -- Tom Crawford

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Book SynopsisIn The Sketch-Book Washington Irving explores the uneasy relationship of an American writer to English literary traditions. He sketches a series of encounters with the cultural shrines of the parent nation, and in two brilliant experiments with tales transplanted from Europe creates the first classic American short stories, `Rip Van Winkle' and `The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow'.

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Book SynopsisOne night in the depths of winter, a bizarre and sinister stranger wrapped in bandages and eccentric clothing arrives in a remote English village. In this pioneering novella, Wells combines comedy, both farcical and satirical, and tragedy - to superbly unsettling effect.Trade Review[An] informative introduction... reading these OWC editions has enhanced my pleasure hugely; the introductions are always well written and give just the right amount of information to inform without overloading the reader with lots of irrelevant detail or academic jargon. * Leah Galbraith, FictionFan *Very smart-looking new editions of SF classics. * David V Barrett, Fortean Times *The ideas that Wells explores are as relevant as ever * Desperate Reader *

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Book SynopsisOne of the first great spy novels, The Riddle of the Sands is set during the long, suspicious years leading up to the First World War. In spite of good prospects in the Foreign Office, sardonic civil servant Carruthers is finding it hard to endure the boredom of his life in London. He accepts an invitation from a college friend, Davies, a shyly intrepid yachtsman, and joins him on a sailing holiday in the Baltic, and there, amidst the sunshine and bright blue seas, they discover a German plot to invade England . . . Like much contemporary British spy fiction, The Riddle of the Sands reflects the Anglo-German rivalry of the early twentieth century, and the intricacy of the book’s conception and its lucid detail make it a classic of its genre. This Macmillan Collector’s Library edition of Erskine Childers' The Riddle of the Sands features maps drawn from Childers’ originals and an afterword by writer and journalist Ned Halley. Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

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Book SynopsisThe labyrinthine, ingenious plot of Bleak House focuses on the seemingly endless lawsuit Jarndyce and Jarndyce, an inheritance dispute that has been moving through the courts for years. Dozens of characters, including the innocent young narrator Esther Summerson, her friends Richard Carstone and Ada Clare, and the jaded aristocrats Sir Leicester and Lady Honoria Dedlock, are directly or indirectly caught up in the case. Written in bold and inventive language, Bleak House is Dickens’s epic vision of Victorian society.The critical introduction and extensive appendices to this edition focus on the novel’s social context and reception, Dickens’s treatment of his women characters and the working class, and the inequalities of the Victorian legal system.Trade Review“Patricia Ingham’s edition of Bleak House is a model of clear thinking, scrupulous editing, and critical acumen. The contextual documents have been selected with a keen eye for what modern readers need to know if they are to appreciate this wonderful novel in all its complexity. The edition will be an invaluable resource for those studying or teaching Dickens, but in addition will stimulate new thinking even among established Dickens scholars. It is an excellent addition to the Broadview list.” - Penny Boumelha, Victoria University of Wellington“In this splendid new edition of Charles Dickens's Bleak House, Patricia Ingham brings her fine critical intelligence to bear on a novel that treats the city of London as a historical reality and as a haunting metaphor. Professor Ingham's wide-ranging erudition—her expertise as a linguist, social historian, editor, and literary theorist—allows her to provide a framework that does full justice to Dickens's multi-layered narrative. Her introduction contextualizes the novel in pertinent ways, the notes are helpful, and rich appendices provide a wide array of nineteenth-century documents necessary to grasp how the novel is both representative and highly original.” - Linda M. Shires, Yeshiva UniversityTable of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Charles Dickens: A Brief Chronology A Note on the Text Bleak House Appendix A: Dickens’s Working Notes for Bleak House Appendix B: The Reception of Bleak House Appendix C: The Role and Status of Women Appendix D: The Court of Chancery Appendix E: Attitudes to Religious and Other Proselytizing Appendix F: Contemporary Attitudes to Class Inequality Appendix G: Conditions of the Working Class Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisAmong Dostoevsky’s later novels, The Adolescent occupies a very special place: published three years after The Devils and five years before his final masterpiece, The Karamazov Brothers, the novel charts the story of nineteen-year-old Arkady – the illegitimate son of the landowner Versilov and the maid Sofia Andreyevna – as he struggles to find his place in society and “become a Rothschild” against the background of 1870s Russia, a nation still tethered to its old systems and values but shaken up by the new ideological currents of socialism and nihilism. Both a Bildungsroman and a novel of ideas, dealing with themes such as the relationship between fathers and sons and the role of money in modern society, The Adolescent – here presented in a brand-new translation by Dora O’Brien – shows Dostoevsky at his finest as a social commentator and observer of the workings of a young man’s mind.Trade ReviewThe Adolescent really is an unjustly neglected book. As a study of the coming of age of a confused young man, it couldn’t be bettered for capturing his mindset; and as the saga of a truly dysfunctional Russian family it can’t be faulted. * Shiny New Books *

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Book Synopsis'June 18. Began my ghost story after tea. Twelve o' clock, really began to talk ghostly. [Lord Byron] repeated some verses of Coleridge's Christabel, of the witch's breast; when silence ensued, and Shelley, suddenly shrieking and putting his hands to his head, ran out of the room with a candle.' (from the Diary of Dr John William Polidori, 1816). So John William Polidori (1795-1821) records one of the most famous storytelling evenings in English literature, the stormy night at the Villa Diodati that was the source of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and his own tale "The Vampyre", as well as his Gothic novel "Ernestus Berchtold". Polidori's still compelling works, included here in full, created figures of seductive evil that continue to exert a powerful hold over literature and popular culture. In addition, this collection makes available some of Polidori's fascinating lesser-known works such as his medical thesis on nightmares, his pamphlet on the death penalty, his poetry and diary. Many of these have not been republished since the nineteenth century. Now Polidori emerges from the shadows, an impetuous, sensitive writer with a sometimes fierce talent.His encounters with Byron, Shelley and their circle contributed to his fame and notoriety, and to his neglect, since they outshone him. Here he can be read by his own mysterious taper. Franklin Bishop's introduction describes the context in which The Vampyre was written and deepens our understanding of Romanticism and the Gothic.Table of ContentsIntroduction Further Reading The Vampyre:A Tale from A Medical Inaugural Dissertation which deals with the disease called Oneirodynia,for the degree of Medical Doctor, Edinburgh 1815 from On the Punishment of Death from An Essay Upon the Source of Positive Pleasure Ernestus Berchtold; or,The Modern Oedipus: A Tale from Ximenes,The Wreath and Other Poems from The Fall of the Angels:A Sacred Poem from The Diary of Dr John William Polidori from Letters of John Polidori Appendix:Four Letters about Polidori

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Book SynopsisVerne's classic tale of Captain Nemo and the submarine the Nautilus has left a profound mark on the twentieth century. Its themes are universal, its style humorous and grandiose, its construction masterly.Trade ReviewThis truly is the edition that serious SF readers will want. Indeed, given its rigour is at the academic level (such is the quantity and detail of ancillary information provided), it is surprising that this book is priced at the level of an average fiction paperback: it is extremely good value. * Jonathan Cowie, Concatenation.org *Review from previous edition 'stands head and shoulders above the other English translations of Verne I have seen.' * Nineteenth-Century French Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsIntroductionNote on the Text and TranslationSelect BibliographyChronologyTWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEASAppendix: Sources of ideas on submarine navigationExplanatory notes

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Book SynopsisDoctor Thomas Thorne is guardian to his beautiful but impecunious niece, Mary, whose parentage he has always kept secret. Mary falls in love with Frank Gresham, heir to the dwindling Greshamsbury estate, but when Frank proposes, his parents insist that he must marry for money to restore his family's fortunes. Frank is torn between his love for Mary and his sense of familial duty, whilst Doctor Thorne must decide whether to reveal the secret he has kept for so long.In Doctor Thorne Trollope explores themes of money and society and the conflict between tradition and the need for change. Part of the 'Chronicles of Barsetshire' series on which Trollope's reputation primarily rests, it outsold all of his other novels during his lifetime.This gorgeous edition features an afterword by Ned Halley.Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

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Book SynopsisRoland, a young student at a new university, meets an inspirational teacher who sweeps him into his world of literature and learning. When the boy moves into the same building as the teacher and his wife, he becomes ever closer to this remarkable man, though he also senses his mentor pulling away from him - sometimes even seeming to hate him. But the truth about these feelings is something that will shape both men for the rest of their lives.

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Book Synopsis“Funny, human, highly learned and literary, sexy, and filled with psychological nuances that remain unrivaled at the hands of any other psychological writer.” —André AcimanA Penguin ClassicA Sentimental Journey is a novel without a plot, a journey without a destination. It records the adventures of the amiable Parson Yorick, as he sets off on his travels through France and Italy, relishing his encounters with all manner of men and women—particularly the pretty ones. Sterne's tale rapidly moves away from the narrative of travel to become a series of dramatic sketches, ironic incidents, philosophical musings, reminiscences, and anecdotes; sharp wit is mixed with gaiety, irony with tender feeling. With A Sentimental Journey, as well as his masterpiece, Tristram Shandy, Sterne forged a truly original style and established himself as the first of the stream-of-consciousness writers. This Penguin Classics

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Book SynopsisThe Emperor Hadrian writes a valedictory letter to Marcus Aurelius, his future successor. The Emperor meditates on his past, describing his accession, military triumphs, love of poetry and music, and the philosophy that informed his powerful and far-flung rule. This work recreates the life and death of one of the great rulers of the ancient world.

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Book SynopsisThe last Isaac Asimov science fiction collection which contains all of his previously uncollected stories.Gold is Isaac Asimov''s last science fiction collection one containing all of his uncollected SF stories that had never before appeared in book form. Gold is the final and crowning achievement of the fifty-five year career of science fiction''s transcendent genius the world-famous author who defined the field of SF for its practitioners for its millions of readers and for the world at large.The stories collected here for the first time range from the humorous to the profound for Asimov was engaged until the end of his days in the work of redefining and expanding the boundaries of the literature he loved and indeed helped create. And there is more. For at the heart of this extraordinary compendium is the title story Gold a moving and revealing drama about a writer who gambles everything on a chance at immortality-a gamble Asimov himself made. And won.Trade Review‘Isaac Asimov was one of the great explainers of the age…It will never be known how many practicing scientists today, in how many countries, owe their initial inspiration to a book, article, or short story by Isaac Asimov’Carl Sagan ‘Asimov displayed one of the most dynamic imaginations in science fiction’Daily Telegraph ‘Asimov’s career was one of the most formidable in science fiction’The Times

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Book SynopsisThe new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Josephine Cox gets straight to the hope and heartbreak of family drama.One fateful night changes the course of a child's life foreverRosie's mother is a cruel woman and has Rosie's kind and loving father wrapped around her finger. Though John Tanner does his best to protect her, Rosie often bears the brunt of her mother's rage.And his protection can't last forever.In one tragic moment Rosie's fragile world is shattered. Grieving and alone, Rosie is thrust into a harsh reality, and she must face the obstacles that fate has set in her path.But secrets will out, and Rosie must uncover the shocking truth behind her mother's cruelty before she can hope for the love and happiness she deserves.Trade ReviewPraise for Josephine Cox: ‘Written from the heart’ Daily Mail ‘Cox's talent as storyteller never lets you escape the spell' Daily Mail 'Another masterpiece' Best ‘Another beautifully spun family epic' Scottish Daily Echo 'A born storyteller' Bedfordshire Times ‘A surefire winner' Woman's Weekly 'Thanks to her near faultless writing, sympathies will lurch from one character to another, and as events reach their dramatic conclusion readers will find it impossible to tear themselves away.' News of the World 'Another hit for Josephine Cox' Sunday Express

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Book SynopsisThe lost classic masterpiece of magical realms, admired by Tolkien and the great prototype for The Lord of the Rings and modern fantasy fiction.On the far side of darkness lies a world where two mighty forces are making ready for a war of kingdom against kingdom, warrior against witch, and honour against treachery. It is a world that beckons Edward Lessingham and is totally at odds with his Edwardian background. Torn by greater passions than mere mortals can know, the adventure-loving lords of Demonland are pitted against the cruel enchantments of the witch-king Gorice XII. As swords cross with clash of steel, they begin their odyssey in glory and terror.E.R. Eddison's masterpiece stands as one of the great prototypes of modern fantasy fiction. The intricately woven themes of high adventure, sorcery and the conflict between good and evil transport the reader to epic worlds beyond imagination.Trade Review‘The greatest and most convincing writer of invented worlds that I have read.’ – J.R.R. Tolkien ‘A new literary species, a new rhetoric, a new climate of the imagination. Every episode, every speech, helps to incarnate what the author is imagining.’ – C.S. Lewis ‘An eccentric masterpiece. Eddison is unequalled in the vigour, the vividness, the passionate intensity of his imagining, the brooding sadness that underlies it, and the cockeyed magnificence of his language.’ – Ursula K. Le Guin ‘A fantasy epic written in a lush, thick, cod-Elizabethan style that started off irritating and then became part of the fun.’ – Neil Gaiman ‘The greatest high fantasy of them all.’ – Robert Silverberg ‘A grand fantasy adventure.’ – Piers Anthony ‘Authentic dream, fantastic far beyond invention and natural beyond all possibility of unbelief.’ – Arthur Ransome ‘A romance of a world that never was … its landscapes are magnificent. One lives in it.’ – Hilaire Belloc

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Book SynopsisThis collection is stormy, romantic, strong the Full Brontë' The TimesA collection of short stories celebrating Charlotte Brontë, published in the year of her bicentenary and stemming from the now immortal words from her great work Jane Eyre.The twenty-one stories in Reader, I Married Him one of the most celebrated lines in fiction are inspired by Jane Eyre and shaped by its perennially fascinating themes of love, compromise and self-determination.A bohemian wedding party takes an unexpected turn for the bride and her daughter; a family trip to a Texan waterpark prompts a life-changing decision; Grace Poole defends Bertha Mason and calls the general opinion of Jane Eyre into question. Mr Rochester reveals a long-kept secret in Reader, She Married Me, and The Mirror boldly imagines Jane's married life after the novel ends. A new mother encounters an old lover after her daily swim and inexplicably lies to him, and a fitness instructor teaches teenage boys how to handle a pit bull terrTrade Review‘Dazzling’ DAILY MAIL ‘The success of this book owes much to [Chevalier’s] enthusiasm … it’s quite amazing to see the quality of work on show’ EVENING STANDARD ‘These stories will enrich and complicate future readings of Jane Eyre, as the best fan fiction should … If Brontë was going to drop in on any of the celebrations for her bicentenary, I can’t help but think she would get a kick out of this collection’ GUARDIAN ‘A terrific set of stories by some of our leading novelists, each of whom engages with a chosen aspect of Jane Eyre’ THE NEW STATESMAN ‘This collection is stormy, romantic, strong – the Full Brontë’ The Times ‘A clever idea well-executed; a treat for fans of short fiction and for Brontë's many ardent fans’ KIRKUS REVIEWS ‘Exemplary…written by some of today's best female writers’ THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE ‘Absorbing and entertaining, READER, I MARRIED HIM is an inventive and a satisfying tribute to a great novel’ Book Reporter ‘These pieces create a beguiling picture of women and men and desire, in which everyone is searching, like Jane, for happiness and wondering whether marriage is really an answer. The book acts as a prism spreading all kinds of literary and historical refractions, and it’s a reminder that Charlotte Brontë, too, has many sides’ GLOBE AND MAIL

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Book SynopsisPart of the Penguin Orange Collection, a limited-run series of twelve influential and beloved American classics in a bold series design offering a modern take on the iconic Penguin paperbackWinner of the 2016 AIGA + Design Observer 50 Books 50 Covers competition For the seventieth anniversary of Penguin Classics, the Penguin Orange Collection celebrates the heritage of Penguin?s iconic book design with twelve influential American literary classics representing the breadth and diversity of the Penguin Classics library. These collectible editions are dressed in the iconic orange and white tri-band cover design, first created in 1935, while french flaps, high-quality paper, and striking cover illustrations provide the cutting-edge design treatment that is the signature of Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions today.We Have Always Lived in the Castle Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is perhaps the crowning achievement of Shirley Jackson?s brilliant career: a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the dramatic struggle that ensues when an unexpected visitor interrupts their unusual way of life.

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Book SynopsisThe narrator and protagonist of Dostoevsky’s novel The Adolescent (first published in English as A Raw Youth) is Arkady Dolgoruky, a na•ve 19-year-old boy bursting with ambition and opinions. The illegitimate son of a dissipated landowner, he is torn between his desire to expose his father’s wrongdoing and the desire to win his love. He travels to St. Petersburg to confront the father he barely knows, inspired by an inchoate dream of communion and armed with a mysterious document that he believes gives him power over others. This new English version by the most acclaimed of Dostoevsky’s translators is a masterpiece of pathos and high comedy.

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Book SynopsisIs a tower block, your unmade bed, your lavatory basin, or the bicycle chained to the gate next door a work of art? Why should a novel have a beginning, a middle, and an end; or even a story? Whether we recognise it or not, virtually every aspect of our life today has been influenced in part by the aesthetic legacy of Modernism. In this Very Short Introduction Christopher Butler examines how and why Modernism began, explaining what it is and showing how it has gradually informed all aspects of 20th and 21st century life. Butler considers several aspects of modernism including some modernist works; movements and notions of the avant garde; and the idea of ''progress'' in art. Butler looks at modernist ideas of the self, subjectivity, irrationalism, people and machines, and political definitions of modernism as a whole. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewA useful introduction, as lucid and engaging as it is concise. / Peter Blair, University of ChesterTable of Contents1. The Modernist work ; 2. Modernist movements and cultural tradition ; 3. The Modernist artist ; 4. Modernism and politics

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Book SynopsisIndulging in the strangest eddies of literary love, this new anthology bids you enter a doom-laden yet irresistibly seductive corner of the Weird.

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Book Synopsis"The Story of Sapho" makes available for the first time in modern English a self contained section from Scudery's novel "Artamene ou le Grand Cyrus". This edition also includes a translation of an oration in which Sapho extols the talents of women to persuade them to write.

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Book SynopsisThe granddaughter of a poor ferryman, Cuicui grows up in Chadong, a small town in China's exotic southwestern frontier, where she is sheltered from the warlord fighting that was prevalent in China in the 1920s. She's caught up in the spell of the local custom of nighttime serenades, but she is also haunted by her grandfather's imminent death.

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Book SynopsisA stunningly creepy deluxe hardcover edition with spot gloss, black sprayed edges, black-stained pages, and black endpapers.Part of a six-volume series of the best in classic horror, selected by Academy Award-winning director of The Shape of Water Guillermo del Toro. Filmmaker and longtime horror literature fan Guillermo del Toro serves as the curator for the Penguin Horror series, a new collection of classic tales and poems by masters of the genre. Included here are some of del Toro?s favorites, from Mary Shelley?s Frankenstein and Ray Russell?s short story ?Sardonicus,? considered by Stephen King to be ?perhaps the finest example of the modern Gothic ever written,? to Shirley Jackson?s The Haunting of Hill House and stories by Ray Bradbury, Joyce Carol Oates, Ted Klein, and Robert E. Howard. Featuring original cover art by Penguin Art Director Paul Buckley, these stunningly creepy deluxe hardcovers will be perfect additions to the shelves of horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and paranormal aficionados everywhere.The Haunting of Hill HouseThe classic supernatural thriller by an author who helped define the genre. First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson''s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a ?haunting;'' Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers?and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.Trade ReviewPraise for Penguin Horror Classics:“The new Penguin Horror editions, selected by Guillermo del Toro, feature some of the best art-direction (by Paul Buckley) I've seen in a cover in quite some time.” – Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing"Each cover does a pretty spectacular job of evoking the mood of the title in bold, screenprint-style iconography." – Dan Solomon, Fast Company

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Book SynopsisSir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles gripped readers when it was first serialised and has continued to hold its place in the popular imagination to this day. Could the sudden death of Sir Charles Baskerville have been caused by the gigantic ghostly hound that is said to have haunted his family for generations? Arch-rationalist Sherlock Holmes characteristically dismisses the theory as nonsense. And, immersed in another case, he sends Dr Watson to Devon to protect the Baskerville heir and observe the suspects at close hand. With its atmospheric setting on the ancient, wild moorland and its savage apparition, The Hound of the Baskervilles is one of the greatest crime novels ever written. Rationalism is pitted against the supernatural and good against evil as Sherlock Holmes sets out to defeat a foe almost his equal. This edition contains a full chronology of Arthur Conan Doyle's life and works, an introduction by renowned horror scholar Professor Trade Review“The whole Sherlock Holmes saga is a triumphant illustration of art’s supremacy over life.” —Christopher Morley

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Book SynopsisSybil, or The Two Nations is one of the finest novels to depict the social problems of class-ridden Victorian England. The book''s publication in 1845 created a sensation, for its immediacy and readability brought the plight of the working classes sharply to the attention of the reading public. The ''two nations'' of the alternative title are the rich and poor, so disparate in their opportunities and living conditions, and so hostile to each other. that they seem almost to belong to different countries. The gulf between them is given a poignant focus by the central romantic plot concerning the love of Charles Egremont, a member of the landlord class, for Sybil, the poor daughter of a militant Chartist leader.Trade Reviewperfect timing for this new edition ... with a brilliant introduction that throws fresh light on Disraeli's views, explains the novel's culutural roots and defends its place as an accomplished work of fiction in its own right * The Lady *Table of ContentsIntroduction Note on the Text Select Bibliography Chronology SYBIL Explanatory Notes

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