Classics Books

Book SynopsisDiscover Thomas Mann's comic novel of deception and misplaced confidence - back in print for the first time in over twenty years. Waiter by day, man about Paris by night; the young and good looking Felix Krull has created for himself a personality to charm and deceive the world of wealth. When the Marquis de Venosta makes him a proposal that he can't refuse, the young Felix finds himself on the pathway that will elevate him into the world of riches.'The most astonishing work that Mann ever wrote and also one of the most perfect' Edwin Muir

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Book SynopsisThe second novel in Willa Cather’s Great Plains trilogy, is a lyrical coming-of-age story charting the struggles of an artists life. 'Lingers long in the memory' Joyce Carol Oates Thea Kronberg, gifted with a beautiful voice, defies her humble beginnings in Colorado and finds success far from her small hometown. But her achievements come with painful drawbacks. As the distance between Thea and her roots increases, she must fight to find her inner strength and reach her full potential. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY PENELOPE LIVELYTrade ReviewWilla Cather makes a world which is burningly alive, sometimes lovely, often tragic -- Helen DunmoreThe Song of the Lark illuminates all her work -- A. S. Byatt

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Book SynopsisRoger Chillingworth arrives in New England after two years' separation from his wife, Hester Prynne, to find her on trial for adultery. She refuses to reveal her lover and is sentenced to wear a scarlet letter 'A' sewn onto her clothes. Resolving to discover the man's identity, Roger sets out to destroy his rival, while Hester desperately tries to protect her illegitimate daughter from a society determined to condemn them both.A smash hit in its day, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is the gripping tale of three New England settlers at odds with the seventeenth-century Puritan society in which they live, and remains one of literature's most evocative portraits of a love triangle.This beautiful Macmillan Collector's Library edition of The Scarlet Letter features an afterword by broadcaster Jonty Claypole.

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Book SynopsisNostalgic and melancholy in equal measure, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a razor-sharp satire of the antebellum South that, despite beginning life as a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, is now seen in its own right as one of the most important of all American novels.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn features an afterword by playwright and screenwriter Peter Harness.Rather than be 'sivilized' by the Widow Douglas, Huckleberry Finn - the grubby but good-natured son of a local drunk - sets off with Jim, an escaped slave, to find freedom on the Mississippi river. With the law on their tail, they navigate a world of robbers, slave hunters and con men, and Huck must choose between what society says is 'right' and his own burgeoning understanding of Jim's friendship and humanity.

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Book SynopsisRollo Martins, a failing novelist, is invited to Vienna by his best friend, Harry Lime. The city he arrives in is unrecognizable – torn apart by the Second World War and shared between the occupying Allies. What’s more, Harry is dead, and the circumstances look suspicious . . . Determined to uncover the truth, Martins must pick through the rubble of this broken city in search of answers. Accompanied here by twelve further stories that exhibit the full range of Graham Greene’s masterly storytelling, The Third Man is an atmospheric noir that oozes with suspense. With an introduction by the biographer and editor Professor Richard Greene. Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector’s Library is a series of beautifully bound gift editions of much loved classic titles.

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Book SynopsisWhy has the mild mannered Dr Jekyll suddenly begun to associate with the ugly and violent Mr Hyde? And why are they never seen together? When Jekyll’s old friend Utterson tries to solve these mysteries he uncovers a horrific story of suffering and brutality that eventually leads to the terrible revelation of Mr Hyde’s true identity. Accompanied here by three other memorable stories of horror, murder and the supernatural, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a masterpiece of Victorian Gothic literature by Robert Louis Stevenson, and one of the most potent and enduring of modern myths. This beautiful edition of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde & Other Stories features an afterword by playwright and screenwriter Peter Harness. Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector’s Library is a series of beautifully bound gift editions of much loved classic titles.

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Book SynopsisThe four great comedies of Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest, were all written at the height of the controversial Irish author's powers in his last, doomed decade, the 1890s. They remain among the most-loved, and most-quoted, of all drama in the English language. Along with Salome, his darkly decadent dramatization of the Bible story, these immortal plays continue to pack theatres, and have been adapted for every kind of media. This Macmillan Collector's Library edition of The Importance of Being Earnest & Other Plays echoes the book form in which Wilde originally insisted his plays were published, and includes illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley and an afterword by Ned Halley.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover.

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Book SynopsisThree adventurers set out to kill a sea monster, but all is not as it seems. Out in the vast expanse of the Pacific they find not a beast but a submarine - the Nautilus, an advanced craft captained by the enigmatic Captain Nemo. Captured and hauled aboard, they accompany him through coral reefs, shipwrecks, and ancient ruins. There they hunt sharks, and battle giant squid, not realising that the greatest danger is Nemo himself, who will stop at nothing in his quest for vengeance.Beautifully illustrated by the French painter Édouard Riou, who worked with Jules Verne on six of his novels, this Macmillan Collector's Library edition of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea also includes an afterword by author David Stuart Davies.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 SynopsisA novel of social and moral themes, Hard Times is the archetypal Dickens novel, filled with family difficulties, estrangement, rotten values and unhappiness. Published in 1854, it is set in the imaginary Coketown, an industrial city inspired by Preston, and tells the story of the family of Thomas Gradgrind, a man obsessed with misguided 'Utilitarian' values that make him trust facts, statistics and practicality over emotion. Based on James Mill (the Utilitarian leader), Gradgrind raises his own children, Louisa and Tom, in line with these same views, forcing an artless existence on them. Contemporary critics such as Macaulay savaged the book for its supposed 'sullen socialism' but it has become well regarded since earning the favour of George Bernard Shaw.This Macmillan Collector's Library edition is illustrated by Harry French, with an afterword by David Stuart Davies.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 SynopsisSet in the South of France in the decade after the First World War, Tender is the Night explores the new world of moneyed leisure found by the first generation of idle-rich Americans to take refuge in the French Riviera, bracketed between the horrors of the Great War and the Great Depression to come. It is the story of a brilliant and magnetic psychiatrist named Dick Diver; the bewitching, wealthy, and dangerously unstable mental patient, Nicole, who becomes his wife; and the beautiful, harrowing ten-year pas de deux they act out along the border between sanity and madness. F. Scott Fitzgerald deliberately set out to write the most ambitious and far-reaching novel of his career, experimenting radically with narrative conventions of chronology and point of view and drawing on early breakthroughs in psychiatry to enrich his account of the makeup and breakdown of character and culture.This stunning Macmillan Collector's Library edition of Tender is the Night features an afterword by Ned Halley.

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1914, Dubliners depicts middle-class Catholic life in Dublin at the start of the twentieth century. Themes within the stories include the disappointments of childhood, the frustrations of adolescence, and the importance of sexual awakening. James Joyce was twenty-five years old when he wrote this collection of short stories, among which 'The Dead' is probably the most famous. Considered at the time as a literary experiment, Dubliners contains moments of joy, fear, grief, love and loss, which combine to form one of the most complete depictions of a city ever written, and the stories remain as refreshingly original and surprising in this century as they did in the last.This Macmillan Collector's Library edition of Dubliners features an afterword by dramatist Peter Harness.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 SynopsisBeautiful Emma Bovary dreams of love and riches but her marriage to Charles, a dull country doctor, is far from satisfying. In an attempt to escape the narrow confines of her life, she embarks on a series of passionate affairs, hoping to find the romantic ideal she always dreamed about in the arms of other men, but it soon becomes clear that she is hurtling towards tragedy . . . Gustave Flaubert’s daring portrait of adultery caused a national scandal when Madame Bovary was first published, and this masterpiece of realist literature has lost none of its impact today. This beautiful Macmillan Collector’s Library edition of Madame Bovary is translated by Eleanor Marx Aveling and features an afterword by the playwright, screenwriter and actor, Peter Harness. 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 SynopsisA major TV series starring Olivia Cooke, Simon Russell Beale and Micheal Palin.Brilliant anti-heroine Becky Sharp will do anything to climb to society’s loftiest heights and couldn’t be more different from her rich, sweet-natured schoolmate, Amelia Sedley. Their parallel lives are marked by love, lust, marriage, fortune and loss, in all their different guises, as they navigate the corrupt circus of upper-class Regency England. Hailed as a literary masterpiece upon first publication, William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair has never waned in popularity and remains a highly entertaining satire of early nineteenth-century high society. This gorgeous edition includes an afterword by the prizewinning author and critic, Henry Hitchings. 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 SynopsisOne of the most widely read books of all time, Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio is a riotous, tragicomic tale that will charm young and old with its endearing blend of mischief and magic.Now a criticially acclaimed film, awarded the Golden Globe for Best Animated Film, directed by Guillermo del Toro.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition of Pinocchio features the charming illustrations of the classic British illustrator Charles Folkard and an afterword by Anna South.Geppetto, a poor woodcarver, crafts a marionette from a strange piece of talking wood and inadvertently brings the mischievous Pinocchio – a walking, talking, wooden boy – into the world. The naughty, selfish puppet heads off into the world and encounters all manner of unusual and dangerous characters on his adventures, undergoing a series of fiendishly imaginative trials – among them being swallowed by a giant dogfish and turned into a donkey – that will lead him to self-knowledge. Along the way he will be helped by a beautiful fairy, a talking cricket and his loving father as he learns how to become what he most longs to be – a real boy.

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Book SynopsisMansfield Park is Austen's darkest, and most complex novel. In contrast to the confident and vivacious heroines of Emma and Pride and Prejudice, its central character, Fanny Price, is a shy and vulnerable poor relation who finds the courage to stand up for her principles and desires. Fanny comes to live at Mansfield Park, the home of the wealthy Bertram family, and of Fanny's aunt, Lady Bertram. Though the family impresses upon Fanny her inferior status, she finds a friend in Edmund, the younger brother.Mansfield Park explores important issues such as slavery (the source of the Bertrams' wealth), the oppressive nature of idealized femininity, and women's education. This edition sheds light on these and other issues through its insightful introduction and wide-ranging appendices of contemporary documents.Trade Review“Unlike Jane Austen's earlier novels, Mansfield Park is embedded within a specific historical moment, and the Introduction to this Broadview edition splendidly brings out the novel's engagement with a range of contemporary controversies, from female education to the slave trade and the proper use of wealth. The appendices, too, offer readers a generous range of material, expertly selected and introduced. They extend our insight into what Sturrock shows is Austen's most discomforting—as well as engrossing—text.” - John Wiltshire, LaTrobe University, Australia“An excellent edition. Sturrock's introduction provides a nuanced view of Mansfield Park as well as judicious treatment of the critical debates the novel has prompted in recent years. Her annotations are genuinely helpful, and the appendices thought-provoking. With a sharp eye for the most relevant passages, Sturrock has assembled late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century writings on issues such as slavery, female education, and private theatricals. These writings create fascinating vantage points from which to view Austen's novel, and they make clear how profound a response it was to contemporary cultural concerns.” - Deborah Kaplan, George Mason UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionJane Austen: A Brief ChronologyA Note on the TextMansfield ParkAppendix A: The Theatricals at Mansfield Park August von Kotzebue, from Lovers’ Vows Austen family correspondence, from The Austen Papers Erasmus Darwin, from A Plan for the Conduct of Female Education in Boarding Schools Thomas Gisborne, from “On Amusements in General” Appendix B: Religion Jane Austen’s prayers, from The Works of Jane Austen Hannah More, Strictures on the Modern System of Female Education William Wilberforce, from A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians Dr. John Gregory, from “Religion” Appendix C: Ideals of Femininity Henry Austen, from “Biographical Notice” of Jane Austen Thomas Gisborne, from “On the Importance of the Female Character” Dr. John Gregory, from “Conduct and Behaviour” Hannah More, from “The Benefits of Restraint” Appendix D: “The Improvement of the Estate” William Cowper, from The Garden Humphry Repton, from Observations on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening Appendix E: The West Indian Connection A Permanent and Effectual Remedy Suggested for the Evils Under Which the British West Indies Now Labour Joseph Lowe, from An Inquiry into the State of the British West Indies Excerpt from Frank Austen’s notebook 1808, from Jane Austen’s Sailor Brothers Thomas Clarkson, from The History of the Rise, Progress, and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the AfricanSlave-Trade Hannah More, “The Sorrows of Yamba or the Negro Woman’s Lamentation” Appendix F: Women’s Education Thomas Gisborne, from “On Female Education” Thomas Gisborne, from “On Parental Duties” Hannah More, from “Comparison of the Mode of Female Education in the Last Age With That of the Present Age” Maria Edgeworth and Richard Lovell Edgeworth, from “Prudence and Economy” Mary Wollstonecraft, from “Introduction” to A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Appendix G: Contemporary Reception of Mansfield Park Richard Whateley, from Quarterly Review, January 1821 Excerpt from “Opinions of Mansfield Park: collected and transcribed by Jane Austen” Excerpt from “Opinions of Emma: collected and transcribed by Jane Austen” Appendix H: Jane Austen’s Letters and Mansfield Park Letter from JA to Cassandra Austen. January 1813 Letter from JA to Francis Austen. July 1813 Letter from JA to Francis Austen. September 1813 Works Cited and Recommended Reading

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Book SynopsisHow can I retrace today the strange steps of my obsession... The Turn of the Screw tells the tale of an unnamed governess who lives with her two charges in an isolated country house. After living for a while in blissful harmony, the governess begins to spy ghostly apparitions roaming the grounds. She becomes obsessed with these figures that only she can see, and strives to protect the children from their malevolent designs. But the situation soon begins to spiral out of control. This uneasy and sinister novella is a genius work of horror fiction, surrounding the terrors that emerge from everyday life.ABOUT THE SERIES: Arcturus Silhouette Classics are high-quality hardback editions with contemporary cover-designs. Presented with dust jackets and beautiful colour end-papers, the titles in this series make wonderful gifts or collectibles for any classic literature lover.

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Book SynopsisH. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds, the first story to speculate about the consequences of aliens (from Mars) with superior technology landing on earth, is one of the most influential science fiction books ever written. The novel is both a thrilling narrative and an elaboration of Wells’s socio-political thought on the subjects of imperialism, humankind’s treatment of other animals, and unquestioning faith in military technology and the continuation of the human species.This edition’s appendices include other related writings by Wells; selected correspondence; contemporary reviews; excerpts from works that influenced the novel and from contemporary invasion narratives; and photographs of examples of Victorian military technology.Trade Review“Martin Danahay’s edition shows the extent to which The War of the Worlds draws on the biological and astronomical theories, political ideologies, and military technology of its time. Readers who want to appreciate this greatest of all alien narratives in its original Victorian context cannot do better than to consult this edition.” — Patrick Parrinder, University of Reading“One reads this edition with great pleasure. The novel is lightly and intelligently annotated, making concise sense of all the local allusions that make this remarkable fantasy so realistic. The appendices, which reprint portions of articles from the 1890s, suggest an intellectual context for the work and are often interesting in themselves, especially Percival Lowell’s meditation on how some form of life might develop on Mars. The pictures of the various guns, cannons, ships, and other machinery mentioned in the novel give a wonderful sense of the scale of the war.” — John Huntington, University of Illinois at ChicagoTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionH.G.Wells: A Brief ChronologyA Note on the TextThe War of the WorldsAppendix A: H.G. Wells on The War of the Worlds H.G. Wells, from Strand Magazine (1920) H.G. Wells, from “Preface to Volume III” (1924) Appendix B: Wells’s Publications Related to The War of the Worlds H.G. Wells, from “Zoological Retrogression” (1891) H.G. Wells, “On Extinction” (1893) H.G. Wells, from “The Advent of the Flying Man: An InevitableOccurrence” (1893) H.G. Wells, from “The Man of the Year Million” (1893) H.G. Wells, from “Another Basis for Life” (1894) H.G. Wells, “The Extinction of Man: Some SpeculativeSuggestions” (1894) H.G. Wells, from “The Stolen Bacillus” (1894) H.G. Wells, “Intelligence on Mars” (1896) H.G. Wells, “Through a Microscope” (1897) Appendix C: Extracts from Wells’s CorrespondenceAppendix D: Reviews of The War of the Worlds John St. Loe Strachey, from Spectator (29 January 1898) Academy (29 January 1898) R.A. Gregory, from Nature (10 February 1898) Basil Williams, from Athenaeum (5 February 1898) Appendix E: Influences on Wells Winwood Reade, from The Martyrdom of Man (1872, 1875) T.H. Huxley, from Evolution and Ethics (1893) H.G.Wells, from “Huxley” (1901) Appendix F: Invasion Narratives William Le Queux, from The Great War in England in 1897 (1894) “Grip” (pseudonym), from How John Bull Lost London (1882) Appendix G: Mars in 1898 Nature (2 August 1894) Percival Lowell, from Mars (1895) Appendix H: Woking and Surrey A.R. Hope Moncrieff, from Black’s Guide to Surrey (1898) Eric Parker, from Highways and Byways in Surrey (1908) Appendix I: The Victorian Military, 1890s Field Artillery Gunners of Field Artillery High-Angle Firing Machine Gun Detachment Heliograph Operators 1st Dragoons H.M.S.Thunderer H.M.S. Ramilles Selected Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThis fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller's masterpiece with a new introduction; critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos; and much more. Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read. Now a Hulu limited series starring Christopher Abbott, George Clooney, Kyle Chandler, and Hugh Laurie.Fifty years after its original publication, Catch-22 remains a cornerstone of American literature and one of the funniestand most celebratedbooks of all time. In recent years it has been named to best novels lists by Time, Newsweek, the Modern Library, and the London Observer. Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemyit is his own

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Book SynopsisAn inspired and urgent prose retelling of the Maya myth of creation by acclaimed Latin American author and scholar Ilan Stavans, gorgeously illustrated by Salvadoran folk artist Gabriela Larios and introduced by renowned author, diplomat, and environmental activist Homero Aridjis.The archetypal creation story of Latin America, the Popol Vuh began as a Maya oral tradition millennia ago. In the mid-sixteenth century, as indigenous cultures across the continent were being threatened with destruction by European conquest and Christianity, it was written down in verse by members of the K'iche' nobility in what is today Guatemala. In 1701, that text was translated into Spanish by a Dominican friar and ethnographer before vanishing mysteriously.Cosmic in scope and yet intimately human, the Popol Vuh offers invaluable insight into the Maya way of life before being decimated by colonizationtheir code of ethics, their views on death and the afterlife, and their devotion to passion, courage, and the natural world. It tells the story of how the world was created in a series of rehearsals that included wooden dummies, demi-gods, and eventually humans. It describes the underworld, Xibalbaa place as harrowing as Dante's helland relates the legend of the ultimate king, who, in the face of tragedy, became a spirit that accompanies his people in their struggle for survival.Popol Vuh: A Retelling is a one-of-a-kind prose rendition of this sacred text that is as seminal as the Bible and the Qur''an, the Ramayana and the Odyssey. Award-winning scholar of Latin American literature Ilan Stavans brings a fresh creative energy to the Popol Vuh, giving a new generation of readers the opportunity to connect with this timeless story and with the plight of the indigenous people of the Americas.

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Book SynopsisOne of BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World.Jane Austen's best-loved novel is an unforgettable story about the inaccuracy of first impressions, the power of reason and, above all, the strange dynamics of human relationships and emotions.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful hardbacks make perfect gifts for book lovers, or wonderful additions to your own collection. Gorgeously illustrated by the celebrated Hugh Thomson, this edition also includes an afterword by author and critic, Henry Hitchings.A tour de force of wit and sparkling dialogue, Pride and Prejudice shows how the headstrong Elizabeth Bennet and the aristocratic Mr Darcy must have their pride humbled and their prejudices dissolved before they can acknowledge their love for each other.Trade ReviewAn unputdownable read that challenges perceptions, and subtly marks a line in feminist history and thought -- Victoria Lambert * The Telegraph *Jane Austen’s self-enclosed world enveloped me, soothing in its contours and assumptions . . . irresistible -- Susan Chira * The New York Times *

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Book SynopsisJane Austen's wickedly satirical final novel, and the inspiration for a major motion picture starring Dakota Johnson, Henry Golding and Richard E. Grant.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful hardbacks make perfect gifts for book lovers, or wonderful additions to your own collection. Gorgeously illustrated by the celebrated Hugh Thomson, this edition also includes an afterword by author and critic Henry Hitchings.Persuasion follows the story of Anne Elliott who, as a teenager, was engaged to a seemingly ideal man, Frederick Wentworth. But after being persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that he is too poor to be a suitable match, Anne ends their engagement. When they are reacquainted eight years later, their circumstances are transformed: Frederick is returning triumphantly from the Napoleonic War, while Anne's fortunes are floundering. Will their past regrets prevent them from finding future happiness?Trade ReviewPersuasion seems to be the Jane Austen novel that has most touched our readers’ hearts -- Sam Jordison * Guardian *Persuasion is Austen’s most mature and melancholic novel, a frost-tipped exploration of the meaning of love and a quietly savage critique of Regency England’s obsessions with money and class -- Claire Allfree * Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisAfter enlisting in a revolutionary terrorist organization, the university student Nikolai Apollonovich Ableukhov is entrusted with a highly dangerous mission: to plant a bomb and assassinate a major government figure. But the real central character of the novel is the city of Petersburg at the beginning of the twentieth century, caught in the grip of political agitation and social unrest. Intertwining the worlds of history and myth, and parading a cast of unforgettable characters, Petersburg is a story of apocalypse and redemption played out through family dysfunction, conspiracy and murder.Trade ReviewThe most important, most influential, and most perfectly realized Russian novel written in the 20th century The New York Times Book Review This modernist novel, rightly regarded as one of the pinnacles of twentieth-century Russian literature, presents great challenges to the translator. With unswerving loyalty to the original, Elsworth has succeeded in capturing its idiosyncratic rhythms and elusive layers of meaning, producing a masterful translation that reads like a work of art in its own right 2012 Rossica Prize Judging Panel One of the four most important works of twentieth century literature -- Vladimir Nabokov

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Book SynopsisDickens's tale of reform in the boys' schools of Northern England. Classics Illustrated tells this wonderful tale in colourful comic strip form, providing an excellent introduction for younger readers. Also includes theme discussions and study questions.

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Book SynopsisClark's elegiac tale of vigilante justice. Classics Illustrated tells this wonderful tale in colourful comic strip form, providing an excellent introduction for younger readers. Also includes theme discussions and study questions.

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This is the classic novel that brought to life in full colour! From his barber shop in Fleet Street, Sweeney Todd murders selected customers to steal their money and valuables. Some suspect he is up to no good, but no one knows how he actually kills his victims. How does he dispose of the bodies? And what is his connection with Mrs. Lovett who runs a popular pie shop nearby? Will Colonel Jeffery discover what happened to his friend Thornhill after he visited Todd for a shave? And will the heartbroken Johanna Oakley ever find out what happened to her beloved Mark Ingestrie? Perhaps Todd's shop boy Tobias Ragg will uncover the barber's dark secrets - "Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street" is a tale that has become part of London folklore. Adapted from the original serialised story "The String of Pearls", published in weekly instalments in "The People's Periodical" from November 1846 to March 1847, this graphic novel breathes new life into the legendary barber who "polished 'em off".

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Book SynopsisFeaturing the world-famous characters Phileas Fogg and Passepartout, Around the World in Eighty Days is the exciting, fun story of Phileas Fogg, an English gentleman, who makes a fantastic trip as a bet. His adventures, with his French manservant Passepartout, by railway, steamship and elephant, see him travel around the world pursued relentlessly by a detective who mistakes him for a notorious criminal. This edition is retold by John Kennett, and contains the key elements of the story using the author's language. Whether you are a student, or an English language learner, or just looking for something great to read in English, the Word Power English Readers are a series of novels with retold text that captures the best and key elements of the novels they are based on. They come with a free audio CD, character notes, a biography of the author, details about the time in which the book was written, and a glossary of the less familiar words in each book. The level of the Readers is B2 and they are suitable for age 10+ because of the content of the novels.Table of ContentsContents; Introduction; Summary of plot; Characters; List of characters; explanation of the time the novel was written in; the novel; Glossary.

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Book SynopsisInspired by real events and centring on the figure of Pelageya Vlasova – the mother of the title – and her son Pavel, Gorky’s masterpiece describes the brutal life of ordinary Russian factory workers in the years leading to the 1905 Revolution and explores the rise of the proletariat, the role of women in society and the lower classes’ struggle for self-affirmation. A book of the utmost importance, in the words of Lenin, and a landmark in Russian literature, The Mother – here presented in a brilliant new version by Hugh Aplin, the first English translation in almost a century – will enchant modern readers both for its historical significance and its intrinsic value as a work of art.Trade Review“Rereading The Mother in Hugh Aplin’s new translation, I found it surprisingly topical.” – The Spectator

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Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by Dr John Bowen, Department of English, University of Keele. Illustrations by Hablot K. Browne (Phiz). Martin Chuzzlewit is Charles Dickens' comic masterpiece about which his biographer, Forster, noted that it marked a crucial phase in the author's development as he began to delve deeper into the 'springs of character'. Old Martin Chuzzlewit, tormented by the greed and selfishness of his family, effectively drives his grandson, young Martin, to undertake a voyage to America. It is a voyage which will have crucial consequences not only for young Martin, but also for his grandfather and his grandfather's servant, Mary Graham with whom young Martin is in love. The commercial swindle of the Anglo-Bengalee company and the fraudulent Eden Land Corporation have a topicality in our own time. This strong sub-plot shows evidence of Dickens' mastery of crime where characters such as the criminal Jonas Chuzzlewit, the old nurse Mrs Gamp, and the arch-hypocrite Seth Pecksniff are the equal to any in his other great novels. Generations of readers have also delighted in Dickens' wonderful description of the London boarding-house - 'Todgers'.

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Book SynopsisWith a new Introduction by Cedric Watts, Research Professor of English, University of Sussex. A Pair of Blue Eyes, though early in the sequence of Hardy's novels, is lively and gripping. Its dramatic cliff-hanging episode, for example, is at once tense, ironic, feministic and erotic. With settings in Wessex and London, the novel also has some strongly autobiographical features, as the blue-eyed heroine, Elfride Swancourt, is based largely on Emma Gifford, who became Thomas Hardy's first wife. Elfride's vivacious nature attracts several lovers, but she is beset by sexual prejudice, and the ensuing ironies reveal the constraints of her times. A Pair of Blue Eyes provides an engaging and moving experience for today's readers.

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Book SynopsisThe Aeneid is Virgil's Masterpiece. His epic poem recounts the story of Rome's legendary origins from the ashes of Troy and proclaims her destiny of world dominion. This optimistic vision is accompanied by an undertow of sadness at the price that must be paid in human suffering to secure Rome's future greatness. The tension between the public voice of celebration and the tragic private voice is given full expression both in the doomed love of Dido and Aeneas, and in the fateful clash between the Trojan leader and the Italian hero, Turnus. Hailed by T.S. Eliot as 'the classic of all Europe', Virgil's Aeneid has enjoyed a unique and enduring influence on European literature, art and politics for the past two thousand years.

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Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by Joe Andrew, Professor of Russian Literature, Keele University. Anton Chekhov is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of short stories. He constructs stories where action and drama are implied rather than described openly, and which leave much to the reader's imagination. This collection contains some of the most important of his earliest and shortest comic sketches, as well as examples of his great, mature works. Throughout, the doctor-turned-writer displays compassion for human suffering and misfortune, but is always able to see the comical, even farcical aspects of the human condition. Chekhov sees and depicts life with unwavering honesty and truthfulness, although a clear moral sense can be detected beneath his apparent objectivity.

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Book SynopsisSaddened with his country’s loss of freedom, disillusioned with life and racked with loneliness and ennui, university student Jacopo Ortis can only find some comfort in the company of his friends and in his love for Teresa. But when his studies call him back to Padua and he is separated from her, Jacopo’s torments become unbearable, and he feels that there is only one way out of his misery – a symbolic gesture against fate, God and all the tyrants of this world. Allegedly based on the real-life tragic story of the Italian student Girolamo Ortis, and suffused with the author’s own autobiographical experiences, Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis is a masterly prose work by one of Italy’s most celebrated poets, and perhaps the greatest Italian novel of the Romantic movement.Trade ReviewFoscolo’s social sensitivity is unexpectedly apparent in the pages of this novel, and leaves one amazed by its almost anarchic lucidity. -- Valerio Massimo Manfredi

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Book SynopsisLittle treasures, the FLAME TREE COLLECTABLE CLASSICS are chosen to create a delightful and timeless home library. Each stunning, gift edition features deluxe cover treatments, ribbon markers, luxury endpapers and gilded edges. The unabridged text is accompanied by a Glossary of Victorian and Literary terms produced for the modern reader. Mischievous and smart, Tom Sawyer, is one of American literature’s most beloved literary characters. Originally published in 1876, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer chronicles the exploits of Tom and his friends – including Twain’s other lovable rogue, Huckleberry Finn – as they witness a murder, play at being pirates along the Mississippi River, hunt for treasure and even attend their own funeral. Inspired by Twain’s own boyhood, this spirited classic is full of hi-jinks, not to mention a good deal of suspense. The FLAME TREE COLLECTABLE CLASSICS are chosen to create a delightful and timeless home library.

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Book SynopsisFollowing their acclaimed graphic novel version of 'Kidnapped', Alan Grant and Cam Kennedy turn their attention to another Stevenson story. John Utterson notices that his friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, has been acting very strangely. As he investigates, Utterson uncovers a terrifying and horrific story.

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Book SynopsisOne of the very best must-read novels of all time - with a new introduction by Roddy Doyle''A well told tale signifying a good deal; one to be read again and again'' THE TIMES''The book I wish I had written ... It''s so far away from my own imagination, I''d love to sit at my desk one day and discover that I could think and write like Ursula Le Guin'' Roddy Doyle''Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power'' OBSERVER''There was a wall. It did not look important - even a child could climb it. But the idea was real. Like all walls it was ambiguous, two-faced. What was inside it and what was outside it depended upon which side of it you were on...''Shevek is brilliant scientist who is attempting to find a new theory of time - but there are those who are jealous of his work, and will do anything to block him. So he leaves his homeland, hoping to find a place of more liberty and tolerance. Initially feted, Shevek soon finds himseTrade ReviewThe book I wish I had written ... It's so far away from my own imagination, I'd love to sit at my desk one day and discover that I could think and write like Ursula Le Guin -- Roddy Doyle * THE TIMES *An extraordinary work ... [Le Guin] created a working society in exquisite detail ... a fully realised hypothetical culture [as well as] living breathing characters who are inevitable products of that culture -- Baird SearlesA well told tale signifying a good deal; one to be read again and again * THE TIMES *A deeply imagined work of art * Encyclopedia of Science Fiction *Le Guin's book ... is so persuasive that it ought to put a stop to the writing of prescriptive Utopias for at least 10 years * NEW YORK TIMES *[Le Guin had] the heart of a poet who knew all too well the difference between miracle and eureka, revelation and revolution * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *Le Guin's storytelling is sharp, magisterial, funny, thought-provoking and exciting, exhibiting all that science fiction can be * Empire *Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power * OBSERVER *

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Book SynopsisThe explosive and highly controversial new film of The Crime of Father Amaro is set in Mexico, in a material and religious culture of this century not unlike the provincial Portugal where, as a young man, de Queiros was despatched to train for the consular service. The Crime of Father Amaro is set in Leiria, a provincial cathedral city, in which the hypocrisies of churchmen were not far to seek. Father Amaro, a young man like himself, with a priestly rather than a diplomatic vocation, falls into a relationship with a woman, and their tragic story unfolds with a harsh relentlessness. The situation of women, tightly swaddled in conformities yet fevered in their illusions of romance, much troubled the young author in this and later books

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Book SynopsisThis is the only novel that Conrad set in London, and it communicates a profoundly ironic view of human affairs. The story is woven around an attack on the Greenwich Observatory in 1894. Verloc, (a Russian spy who is also working for the police) is ostensibly a member of an anarchist group in Soho.

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Book SynopsisPresented as a collection of confessional letters written by the eponymous protagonist, The Sorrows of Young Werther charts the emotional journey of a young man who, during a stay in a picturesque German village, falls in love with Lotte, a local woman engaged to another man. As he realizes that his passion is doomed to failure and constant pain, Werther contemplates taking the most drastic measures. Partly autobiographical, and the prototype for many later Romantic works in its depiction of the sensitive, tortured hero, Goethe's seminal classic is a timeless masterpiece of world literature.Trade ReviewI categorically say: read The Sorrows of Young Werther! -- Franz Kafka

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Book SynopsisStevenson published this collection of his early fiction in 1882, after the pieces had appeared in various magazines. The first half features two popular detective-story cycles, The Suicide Club and The Rajah’s Diamonds, which deal with a macabre secret society and the intrigues and escapades involving exotic jewels. The second half brings together unrelated pieces, including the seminal ‘The Pavilion on the Links’ – described by Conan Doyle as the first short story in the world – which is set in a cottage surrounded by quicksand and tells the story of two old friends who become rivals for the affection of a woman. An eclectic, entertaining compilation, New Arabian Nights represented a milestone in Stevenson’s creative development and confirmed his reputation as one of the finest storytellers in the English language.Trade ReviewFrom my very childhood Robert Louis Stevenson was an incarnation of happiness for me. -- Jorge Luis BorgesTable of ContentsContains: The Suicide Club, Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts, Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk, The Adventure of the Hansom Cabs, The Raja's Diamond, Story of the Bandbox, Story of the Young Man in Holy Orders, Story of the House with the Green Blinds, The Adventure of Prince Florizel and a Detective, The Pavilons on the Links, A Lodging for the Night, The Sire de Maletroit's Door, Providence and the Guitar.

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Book SynopsisOne of Tolstoy’s last published works of fiction, The Devil revolves around the young landowner Yevgeny’s irrepressible lust for Stepanida, a sensual peasant woman. Even when he gets married to a respectable upper-class lady, he finds himself unable to put an end to his encounters with Stepanida, and becomes increasingly consumed by guilt and helplessness in the face of his urges. In some ways comparable to the controversial Kreutzer Sonata, The Devil shows Tolstoy at his most salacious, and addresses the conflicts between desire, social norms and personal conscience. Also included in this volume is Family Happiness, one of Tolstoy’s earliest works, an entertaining and cynical account of marriage from the perspective of a disillusioned wife, and A Landowner’s Morning.

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Book SynopsisHadji Murat, one of the most feared and venerated mountain chiefs in the Caucasian struggle against the Russians, defects from the Muslim rebels after feuding with his ruling imam, Shamil. Hoping to protect his family, he joins the Russians, who accept him but never put their trust in him – and so Murat must find another way to end the struggle. Tolstoy knew as he was writing this, his last work of fiction, that it would not be published in his lifetime, and so gave an uncompromising portrayal of the Russians’ faults and the nature of the rebels’ struggle. In the process, he shows a mastery of style and an understanding of Chechnya that still carries great resonance today.Trade ReviewMy personal touchstone for the sublime of prose fiction, to me the best story in the world. -- Harold BloomAs I read Hadji Murat again, I thought: this is the man one should learn from. Here the electric charge went from the earth, through the hands, straight to the paper, with no insulation, quite mercilessly stripping off any and all outer shrouds with a sense of truth – a truth, furthermore, which was clothed in garments both transparent and beautiful. -- Isaac Babel

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