Classics Books

Book SynopsisThis cult classic of working class life in post-war Nottingham follows the exploits of rebellious factory worker Arthur Seaton and is introduced by Richard Bradford.Working all day at a lathe leaves Arthur Seaton with energy to spare in the evenings. A hard-drinking, hard-fighting hooligan, he knows what he wants, and he''s sharp enough to get it.Before long, his carryings-on with a couple of married women become the stuff of local gossip. But then one evening he meets a young girl and life begins to look less simpleFirst published in 1958, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning' achieved instant critical acclaim and helped to establish Alan Sillitoe as one of the greatest British writers of his generation. The film of the novel, starring Albert Finney, transformed British cinema and was much imitated.Trade Review‘That rarest of all finds: a genuine no-punches-pulled, unromanticised working class novel. Mr Sillitoe is a born writer, who knows his milieu and describes it with vivid, loving precision.’ Daily Telegraph ‘His writing has real experience in it and an instinctive accuracy that never loses its touch. His book has a glow about it as though he had plugged it into some basic source of the working-class spirit.’ Guardian ‘Miles nearer the real thing than D.H.Lawrence's mystic, brooding working-men ever came.’ Sunday Express ‘Outspoken and vivid.’ Sunday Times ‘A refreshing originality.’ Times Literary Supplement

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Book SynopsisUniquely inventive and vivacious in style and with deep insight into children's points of view, Hans Christian Andersen established a new genre in literature.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 Best Fairy Tales uses the classic translation by Jean Hersholt and is illustrated by various artists, with an afterword by Ned Halley.Hans Christian Andersen was a profoundly imaginative writer and storyteller who gave us the now standard versions of some traditional fairy tales - with an anarchic twist - but many of his most famous tales sprang directly from his imagination. The thirty stories here range from exuberant early works such as 'The Tinderbox' and 'The Emperor's New Clothes' through poignant masterpieces such as 'The Little Mermaid', 'The Little Match Girl' and 'The Ugly Duckling', to more subversive later tales such as 'The Ice Maiden' and 'The Dryad'.Trade ReviewHans Christian Andersen's fairytales . . . have captivated generations with their blend of plain language, unbridled imagination and haunting strangeness * Guardian *Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales are not fairy tales at all; they're too bittersweet, too knowledgeable about the way of the world for that. What they've done is provide us with many of the archetypes that sustain our Western collective unconscious * Independent *

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Book SynopsisGeorge Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is one of the most famous and influential novels of the 20th century. This terrifying dystopia, which he created in a time of great social and political unrest, remains acutely relevant and influential to this day. 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. This edition features an introduction by writer, journalist and Orwell scholar Dorian Lynskey.The year is 1984. The country is impoverished and permanently at war, people are watched day and night by Big Brother and their every action and thought is controlled by the Thought Police. Winston Smith works in the department of propaganda, where his job is to rewrite the past. Spurred by his longing to escape, Winston rebels. He breaks the law by falling in love with Julia and, as part of the clandestine organization the Brotherhood, they attempt the unimaginable – to bring down the Party.Trade ReviewProbably the definitive novel of the 20th century, a story that remains eternally fresh and contemporary . . . Nineteen Eighty-Four has been translated into more than 65 languages and sold millions of copies worldwide, giving George Orwell a unique place in world literature. -- Robert McCrum * Guardian *It’s almost impossible to talk about propaganda, surveillance, authoritarian politics, or perversions of truth without dropping a reference to 1984 . . . It is both a profound political essay and a shocking, heartbreaking work of art. -- Atlantic * George Packer *[1984] does what every novel in the genre should do – combining the illumination of an intriguing idea and the telling of a cracking story . . . The book succeeds because it is no manifesto, but an absorbing, deeply affecting story. * Independent *I read it and found myself absolutely astonished at what I read. -- Isaac AsimovNineteen Eighty-Four is a work of pure horror, and its horror is crushingly immediate. * New York Times (original review) *

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Book SynopsisDiscover the most popular of Woolf's books during her lifetime - a powerful portrait of a family coping with changes wrought by the new twentieth century. The Years follows the lives of the Pargiters, a large middle-class London family, from an uncertain spring in 1880 to a party on a summer evening in the 1930s. We see them each endure and remember heart-break, loss, radical change and stifling conformity, marriage and regret. Written in 1937, this was the most popular of Virginia Woolf's novels during her lifetime, and is a powerful indictment of 'Victorianism' and its values. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY SUSAN HILLTrade ReviewInspired throughout - a brilliant fantasia of all Time's problems, age and youth, change and permanence, truth and illusion * Times Literary Supplement *Lovely through The Waves was, The Years goes far beyond and beyond it-expressing Woolf's purpose in the novel more richly than it has ever been done before * New York Times Book Review *

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Book SynopsisThought-provoking, comforting and wise, the simple truths of The Prophet remain compelling and rewarding to this day.Complete & Unabridged. 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.Utterly unique and beloved around the world, The Prophet is a collection of twenty-six poetic essays by the Lebanese artist, philosopher and writer Khalil Gibran. Telling the story of the prophet Al-Mustafa and his conversations with various acquaintances as he returns home after a long absence, the book touches on subjects of universal concern, including love, friendship, passion, pain, religion and freedom.Trade ReviewI have loved many books over the years, but the one I would never be parted from and read again and again is The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran . . . Each time I open the book I find myself feeling that if the whole world was to read it, it would be a far better place -- Lesley Pearse * Independent *

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Book SynopsisThe Two Towers is the second part of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic adventure, The Lord of the Rings.Trade Review‘An extraordinary book. It deals with a stupendous theme. It leads us through a succession of strange and astonishing episodes, some of them magnificent, in a region where everything is invented, forest, moor, river, wilderness, town and the races which inhabit them.’The Observer ‘Among the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century.’Sunday Telegraph ‘The English-speaking world is divided into those who have read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and those who are going to read them.’Sunday Times ‘A story magnificently told, with every kind of colour and movement and greatness.’New Statesman ‘Masterpiece? Oh yes, I’ve no doubt about that.’Evening Standard

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Book SynopsisFeaturing 211 classic tales from the Brothers Grimm, including favorites such as "Hansel and Gretel," "Cinderella," "The Frog Prince," "Rapunzel," "Snow White," and "Rumpelstiltskin," The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales is accompanied by 40 color plates and 60 black-and-white illustrations from award-winning English illustrator Arthur Rackham, whose books and prints are now highly sought-after collectibles. Originally titled Children’s and Household Tales, The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales contains what have been the essential bedtime stories for children worldwide for over two centuries. The Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, were German linguists and cultural researchers who gathered legendary folklore and aimed to collect the stories exactly as they heard them. The fourth book in the Timeless Classics series from Rock Point has nearly 800 pages of classic fairy tales to enjoy and features a gorgeous deckled edge, ribbon marker, and foil and deboss details on a vibrantly colored case—a standout for your personal library collection. The Timeless Classics series from Rock Point brings together the works of classic authors from around the world. Complete and unabridged, these elegantly designed gift editions feature luxe, patterned endpapers, ribbon markers, and foil and deboss details on vibrantly colored cases. Celebrate these beloved works of literature as true standouts in your personal library collection. Other titles in the series include: The Complete Novels of Jane Austen, The Complete Sherlock Holmes, The Complete Tales & Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, The Complete Tales of H.P. Lovecraft, and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Trade ReviewAdults and young readers alike have enjoyed these stories for more than two centuries, and in this volume the 211 classic tales from the German linguists Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm include favorites such as “Hansel and Gretel” and “Cinderella,” and are accompanied by 40 color plates and 60 black-and-white illustrations from the English illustrator Arthur Rackham. * Mountain Times *

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Book SynopsisThis second posthumous collection from Charles Bukowski takes readers deep into the raw, wild vein of writing that extends from the early 70s to the 1990s.

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Book SynopsisThis is the definitive collection of Tolkien's five acclaimed modern classic fairie' tales in the vein of The Hobbit, fully corrected and reset for this edition and all beautifully illustrated in pencil by the award-winning artist, Alan Lee.The five tales are written with the same skill, quality and charm that made The Hobbit a classic. Largely overlooked because of their short lengths, they are finally together in a volume which reaffirms Tolkien''s place as a master storyteller for readers young and old.Roverandom is a toy dog who, enchanted by a sand sorcerer, gets to explore the world and encounter strange and fabulous creatures.Farmer Giles of Ham is fat and unheroic, but having unwittingly managed to scare off a short-sighted giant is called upon to do battle when a dragon comes to town;The Adventures of Tom Bombadil tells in verse of Tom''s many adventures with hobbits, princesses, dwarves and trolls;Leaf by Niggle recounts the strange adventures of the painter Niggle who setsTrade ReviewRoverandom:‘An old-fashioned story, yet it still speaks freshly today… would leap to life when read aloud to a child’ Independent Farmer Giles of Ham:‘A fabulous tale of the days when giants and dragons walked the kingdom’ Sunday Times Leaf by Niggle:‘A haunting and successful demonstration of the qualities of faerie’ New York Times The Adventures of Tom Bombadil:‘Something close to genius’ The Listener Smith of Wootton Major:‘Whoever reads it at eight will no doubt still be going back to it at eighty’ New Statesman

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Book SynopsisEditedand with an Introduction by David Stuart Davies. ‘Have you ever heard of the fascination of terror?’ This is a unique collection of strange stories from the cunning pen of Wilkie Collins, author of The Woman in White and The Moonstone. The star attraction is the novella The Haunted Hotel, a clever combination of detective and ghost story set in Venice, a city of grim waterways, dark shadows and death. The action takes place in an ancient palazzo coverted into a modern hotel that houses a grisly secret. The supernatural horror, relentless pace, tight narrative, and a doomed countess characterise and distinguish this powerful tale. The other stories present equally disturbing scenarios, which include ghosts, corpses that move, family curses and perhaps the most unusual of all, the Devil's spectacles, which bring a clarity of vision that can lead to madness.

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Book Synopsis'Zweig's fictional masterpiece' GUARDIAN 'An intoxicating, morally shaking read... A real reminder of what fiction can do best' ALI SMITH 'It's just a masterpiece. When I read it I thought, how is it that I don't already know about this?' WES ANDERSON _______________ The only novel written by one of the most popular writers of the twentieth century In 1913, young second lieutenant Hofmiller discovers the terrible danger of pity. He had no idea the girl was lame when he asked her to dance-so begins a series of visits, motivated by pity, which relieve his guilt but give her a dangerous glimmer of hope. Stefan Zweig's unforgettable novel is a devastating depiction of the betrayal of both honour and love, amid the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.Trade Review'It's just a masterpiece. When I read it I thought, how is it that I don't already know about this?' - Wes Anderson'Zweig's fictional masterpiece' - The Guardian'It really touched me. I'm not an easy crier, not at all. But this book was one of the few moments that I found myself sobbing. It was a knife to my heart' - Shira Haas, star of the Netflix hit series 'Unorthodox''The novel I'll really remember reading this year is Stefan Zweig's frighteningly gripping Beware of Pity, first published in 1939 ... and part of the ongoing, valiant reprinting by Pushkin Press of Zweig's collected oeuvre; an intoxicating, morally shaking read about human responsibilities and a real reminder of what fiction can do best' - Ali Smith'An unremittingly tense parable about emotional blackmail, this is a book which turns every reader into a fanatic' - Julie Kavanagh, Intelligent Life (The Economist)

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Book SynopsisThe narrator of Cold Nights of Childhood grows up in a rapidly changing Turkey, where the atmosphere is nationalist, patriarchal, technocratic. As a misfit in search of freedom, love and happiness, she escapes to Berlin, is overcome by depression on her return, and trapped in a psychiatry clinic for five years. After electroshock therapy and inhumane treatment, she is released into the care of friends and family, making tentative steps in a halting journey towards recovery. In her unique, unstructured style, Tezer Özlü explores the extremity of her inner life and the painful pleasures of memory. Translated into English for the first time by Maureen Freely, this novel is a classic akin to The Bell Jar and Good Morning, Midnight.Trade ReviewA remarkable account of mental breakdown and the long, dark road to recovery ... Maureen Freely as translator is particularly deft in capturing the beauties of Özlü's own writing * Irish Times *Packs a powerful punch ... there is a dreamlike quality to Özlü's lyrical prose -- Lucy Popescu, the TabletVirtuosic and elliptical ... this voice neither exalts itself nor judges itself. It's uncanny how clearly Özlü speaks of a different time yet, simultaneously, of this moment. -- Jonathan MacAloon * Financial Times *An incredible discovery for the English-speaking world, especially for women struggling to find their own place in an society that doesn't want to make them welcome... As a record of feelings, it's as pointed as an icicle, and as soothing as a cactus. It's a fantastic read. -- Sarah Manvel * BookMunch *A fragmentary, freewheeling novel about one woman's madness and resilience ... fierce and frightening but witty and deeply affecting too -- Lisa McInerney, author of The Rules of Revelation

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Book SynopsisReading the stories of Somerset Maugham is rather like curling up and up listening to the delicious, risqué tales of an old, dear and rather wicked friend. You turn the pages and enter a magical world of fabulous characters, are transported to the very place, the villa, the street, the bar, of which he writes. This Macmillan Collector’s Library selection features ten of his finest and most vivid stories: 'The Letter', 'The Verger', 'The Vessel of Wrath', 'The Book-Bag', 'The Facts of Life', 'Lord Mountdrago', 'The Colonel's Lady', 'The Treasure', 'Rain' and 'P&O'.This elegant edition of W. Somerset Maugham's Best Short Stories features 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 SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by R.T.Jones, Honorary Fellow of the University of York. The novel follows the life of its eponymous heroine, Moll Flanders, through its many vicissitudes, which include her early seduction, careers in crime and prostitution, conviction for theft and transportation to the plantations of Virginia, and her ultimate redemption and prosperity in the New World. Moll Flanders was one of the first social novels to be published in English and draws heavily on Defoe’s experience of the topography and social conditions prevailing in the London of the late 17th century.

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Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by Professor Stephen Arkin, San Francisco State University. Katherine Mansfield is widely regarded as a writer who helped create the modern short story. Born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1888, she came to London in 1903 to attend Queen's College and returned permanently in 1908. her first book of stories, In a German Pension, appeared in 1911, and she went on to write and publish an extraordinary body of work. This edition of The Collected Stories brings together all of the stories that Mansfield had written up until her death in January of 1923. With an introduction and head-notes, this volume allows the reader to become familiar with the complete range of Mansfield's work from the early, satirical stories set in Bavaria, through the luminous recollections of her childhood in New Zealand, and through the mature, deeply felt stories of her last years. Admired by Virginia Woolf in her lifetime and by many writers since her death, Katherine Mansfield is one of the great literary artists of the twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisFar from fading with time, Kenneth Grahame's classic tale of fantasy has attracted a growing audience in each generation. Rat, Mole, Badger and the preposterous Mr Toad (with his ‘Poop-poop-poop’ road-hogging new motor-car), have brought delight to many through the years with their odd adventures on and by the river, and at the imposing residence of Toad Hall. Grahame's book was later dramatised by A. A. Milne, and became a perennial Christmas favourite, as Toad of Toad Hall. It continues to enchant and, above all perhaps, inspire great affection.

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Book SynopsisPart of a new series Legends from the Ancient North, The Saga of the Volsungs is one of the classic books that influenced JRR Tolkien''s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings''They summoned their friends, readiedtheir horses, and prepared their helmets,shields, swords, coats of mail'' J.R.R. Tolkien spent much of his life studying, translating and teaching the great epic stories of northern Europe, filled with heroes, dragons, trolls, dwarves and magic. He was hugely influential for his advocacy of Beowulf as a great work of literature and, even if he had never written The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, would be recognised today as a significant figure in the rediscovery of these extraordinary tales.Legends from the Ancient North brings together from Penguin Classics five of the key works behind Tolkien''s fiction.They are startling, brutal, strange pieces of writing, with an elemental power brilliantly preserved in these translations.They plunge the reader into a world of treachery, quests, chivalry, trials of strength.They are the most ancient narratives that exist from northern Europe and bring us as near as we will ever get to the origins of the magical landscape of Middle-earth (Midgard) which Tolkien remade in the 20th century.

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Book Synopsis''I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world.''Mary Morstan receives a large pearl through the post once a year without any clue as to the sender. When her intriguing correspondent requests a meeting, Holmes and Watson take on the case. Together the trio race through London to uncover the secrets of the Sholto family, who hold the key to uncovering the whereabouts of Mary''s father and the existence of a treasure stemming from a crime committed years ago in India.The Sign of the Four has been a crucial part of the Sherlock Holmes canon since its first publication in 1890. It explores theft, betrayal, and murder in the larger context of the British Empire at a time of national upheaval, and the novel''s flashbacks to India during the ''Mutiny'' and its aftermath call into question the consequences of that imperial venture. Caroline Reitz''s new introduction and notes draws attention to sTable of ContentsIntroduction Note on the Text Select Bibliography Chronology The Sign of the Four Explanatory Notes

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Book SynopsisWe is in Dream Country,' the BFG said. This is where all dreams is beginning.'This beautiful edition of The BFG, part of The Roald Dahl Classic Collection, features official archive material from the Roald Dahl Museum and is perfect for Dahl fans old and new.So, enter a world where invention and mischief can be found on every page and where magic might be at the very tips of your fingers . . .The Roald Dahl Classic Collection reinstates the versions of Dahl's books that were published before the 2022 Puffin editions, aimed at newly independent young readers.

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Book SynopsisThe richness of Oscar Wilde's way with words and ideas is given full range in this sparkling collection of short stories written between 1887 and 1891. From the comic tales of The Canterville Ghost and Lord Arthur Savile's Crime to the marvelous fairy stories and fantasies of The Selfish Giant, The Happy Prince and The Star Child, we are treated to the extravagance and dexterity of Wilde's exceptional wit, in stories that will appeal to both adults and children. Beautifully illustrated by Charles Robinson and Walter Crane, this Macmillan Collector's Library edition of The Happy Prince & Other Stories also features 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 SynopsisInvited to an extravagantly lavish party in a Long Island mansion, Nick Carraway, a young bachelor who has just settled in the neighbouring cottage, is intrigued by the mysterious host, Jay Gatsby, a flamboyant but reserved self-made man with murky business interests and a shadowy past. As the two men strike up an unlikely friendship, details of Gatsby's impossible love for amarried woman emerge, until events spiral into tragedy. Regarded as Fitzgerald's masterpiece and one of the greatest novels of American literature, The Great Gatsby is a vivid chronicle of the excesses and decadence of the Jazz Age, as well as a timeless cautionary critique of the American dream.Trade ReviewIt seems to me the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James. -- TS Eliot He was better than he knew, for in fact and in the literary sense he invented a generation. * The New York Times *Table of ContentsContains notes and an extensive apparatus on Fitzgerald's life and works.

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Book SynopsisIn Bulgakov’s ‘Diaboliad’, the modest and unassuming office clerk Korotkov is summarily sacked for a trifling error from his job at the Main Central Depot of Match Materials, and tries to seek out his newly assigned superior, responsible for his dismissal. His quest through the labyrinth of Soviet bureaucracy takes on the increasingly surreal dimensions of a nightmare. This early satirical story, reminiscent of Gogol and Dostoevsky, was first published in 1924 and incurred the wrath of pro-Soviet critics. Along with the three other stories in this volume, which also explore the themes of the absurd and bizarre, it provides a fascinating glimpse into the artistic development of the author of The Master and Margarita.Trade ReviewOne of the great writers of the twentieth century. -- A.S. ByattOne of the greatest modern Russian writers, perhaps the greatest. * The Independent *A writer of fantastic genius. * The Sunday Times *Bulgakov is a wild, mobile, crafty devotee of ideas. * The Guardian *Table of ContentsContains: Diaboliad', No.13 - The Elpit, Workers' Commune Building, A Chinese Tale, The Adventures of Chichikov

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Book SynopsisA murderer is forced to reveal his crime by the sound of a beating heart, a mysterious figure wreaks havoc among a party of noblemen during the time of the plague, a grieving lover awakens to find himself clutching a box of his beloved blood-stained teeth, a man is obsessed with the fear of being buried alive – these are only some of the memorable characters and stories included in this volume, which exemplify Poe’s inventiveness and natural talent as a storyteller. Immensely popular both during and after his lifetime, and a powerful influence on generations of writers and film-makers to this day, Edgar Allan Poe is still counted among the greatest short-story writers of all time and seen as one of the initiators of the detective, horror and science-fiction genres.Table of ContentsMetzengerstein, MS Found in a Bottle, Berenice, Morella, Ligeia, The Devil in the Belfry, The Fall of the House of Usher, William Wilson, The Man of the Crowd, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, A Descent into the Maelstrom, Never Bet the Devil Your Head, Eleonora, The Masque of the Red Death, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, The Pit and the Pendulum, A Tale of the Ragged Mountains, The Premature Burial, The Oblong Box, The Purloined Letter, Some Words with a Mummy, The Oval Portrait, The Imp of the Perverse, The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, The Sphinx

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Book SynopsisIntroduction and Notes by Dr Howard J. Booth, University of Kent at Canterbury. ‘When you have experienced Sons and Lovers you have lived through the agonies of the young Lawrence striving to win free from his old life’. Richard Aldington This novel is Lawrence’s semi-autobiographical masterpiece in which he explores emotional conflicts through the protagonist, Paul Morel, and his suffocating relationships with a demanding mother and two very different lovers. Lawrence’s novels are perhaps the most powerful exploration in the genre in English of family, class, sexuality and relationships in youth and early adulthood.

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Book SynopsisThe Return of the King is the third part of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic adventure, The Lord of the Rings.Trade Review‘The story moves on with a tremendous narrative rush to its climax… extraordinary imaginative work, part saga, part allegory, and wholly exciting.’The Times ‘A triumphant close… a grand piece of work, grand in both conception and execution. An astonishing imaginative tour de force.’Sunday Telegraph ‘His astonishing inventiveness remains to the end and is continued in a series of appendices.;The Guardian

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Book SynopsisGenerally considered to be F. Scott Fitzgerald's finest novel, The Great Gatsby is a consummate summary of the "roaring twenties", and a devastating expose of the ‘Jazz Age’. Through the narration of Nick Carraway, the reader is taken into the superficially glittering world of the mansions which lined the Long Island shore in the 1920s, to encounter Nick's cousin Daisy, her brash but wealthy husband Tom Buchanan, Jay Gatsby and the mystery that surrounds him. The Great Gatsby is an undisputed classic of American literature from the period following the First World War and is one of the great novels of the twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.Clarissa Dalloway is a woman of high-society vivacious, hospitable and sociable on the surface, yet underneath troubled and dissatisfied with her life in post-war Britain. This disillusionment is an emotion that bubbles under the surface of all of Woolf's characters in Mrs Dalloway.Centred around one day in June where Clarissa is preparing for and holding a party, her interior monologue mingles with those of the other central characters in a stream of consciousness, entwining, yet never actually overriding the pervading sense of isolation that haunts each person.One of Virginia Woolf's most accomplished novels, Mrs Dalloway is widely regarded as one of the most revolutionary works of the 20th century in its style and the themes that it tackles. The sense that Clarissa has married the wrong person, her past love for another female friend and the death of an intended party guest all serve to amplify this stultifying existence.

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Book SynopsisThe literary masterpieces of the three Brontë sisters in one volume: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.This handsome leather-bound edition includes the most acclaimed novels of each of the Brontë sisters: Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, Emily’s Wuthering Heights, and Anne’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Originally published under male pseudonyms in the 1840s, these three novels later helped give rise to the feminist literary movement of the late nineteenth century, in which women’s perspectives became more accepted by the mainstream reading public. A scholarly introduction provides an overview of the sisters’ childhood in northern England, their literary influences, and their enduring legacy.

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1859, Oblomov is an indisputable classic of Russian literature, comparable in its stature to such masterpieces as Gogol’s Dead Souls, Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov. The book centres on the figure of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, a member of the dying class of the landed gentry, who spends most of his time lying in bed gazing at life in an apathetic daze, encouraged by his equally lazy servant Zakhar and routinely swindled by his acquaintances. But this torpid existence comes to an end when, spurred on by his crumbling finances, the love of a woman and the reproaches of his friend, the hard-working Stoltz, Oblomov finds that he must engage with the real world and face up to his commitments. Rich in situational comedy, psychological complexity and social satire, Oblomov – here presented in Stephen Pearl’s award-winning translation, the first major English-language version of the novel in more than fifty years – is a timeless novel and a monument to human idleness.Trade ReviewPearl's approach is more adventurous than that of his predecessors. His text flows naturally, capturing Goncharov's carefully modulated tone, the gentleness of his humour, and the colloquial flavour of his dialogue…Stephen Pearl has indeed caught the very essence of Oblomov. * TLS *I am in rapture over Oblomov and keep rereading it. -- Leo TolstoyGoncharov is ten heads above me in talent. -- Anton Chekhov

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Book SynopsisA Room of One’s Own (1929) has become a classic feminist essay and perhaps Virginia Woolf’s best known work; The Voyage Out (1915) is highly significant as her first novel. Both focus on the place of women within the power structures of modern society. The essay lays bare the woman artist’s struggle for a voice, since throughout history she has been denied the social and economic independence assumed by men. Woolf’s prescription is clear: if a woman is to find creative expression equal to a man’s, she must have an independent income, and a room of her own. This is both an acute analysis and a spirited rallying cry; it remains surprisingly resonant and relevant in the 21st century. The novel explores these issues more personally, through the character of Rachel Vinrace, a young woman whose ‘voyage out’ to South America opens up powerful encounters with her fellow-travellers, men and women. As she begins to understand her place in the world, she finds the happiness of love, but also sees its brute power. Woolf has a sharp eye for the comedy of English manners in a foreign milieu; but the final undertow of the novel is tragic as, in some of her finest writing, she calls up the essential isolation of the human spirit.

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Book SynopsisWith an Introduction by A. M. de Medeiros, University of Kent at Canterbury. A year after the publication of The Three Musketeers,/em>, Alexandre Dumas produced a sequel worthy in every respect of the original. In Twenty Years After the much beloved D'Artaganan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis reunite to fight the forces of evil. In the original novel they defeated Milady, a formidable foe; now they need to face her vengeful son Mordaunt, as well as countering the machinations of the sinister Cardinal Mazarin. Their adventures also take them to England, where Cromwell is about to topple Charles I. Meanwhile, they must overcome the obstacles which the passing of time has placed between them. Rediscovering strength in unity, they fight for Queen and country. The Musketeer novels were a huge success in Dumas' own lifetime, and have lost none of their original appeal. Translated into many languages and adapted for cinema and television, they have helped to make Dumas arguably the most successful exporter of French culture to the wider world. Our edition is based on the William Robson translation first published by Routledge in 1856.

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Book SynopsisA tense, evocative, portrait of love and deceit set during one long hot summer in France, The Greengage Summer is a hauntingly beautiful coming-of-age story by from Rumer Godden, the author of Black Narcissus, now a major BBC drama series.When their mother is suddenly taken ill on holiday, five siblings are left to fend for themselves at the elegant, faded hotel, Les Oeillets. Under the increasingly jealous gaze of the glamorous patronne, Mademoiselle Zizi, the children gravitate towards her mysterious and charming lover, Eliot, for comfort. And, amongst the gnarled trees of the old orchards, thirteen-year-old Cecil watches from the sidelines as her achingly beautiful sister, Joss, is drawn into the heart of a toxic affair.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 book which inspired the creation of the NHS introduced by bestselling writer, Adam Kay.By former doctor A. J. Cronin, The Citadel is a moving story of tragedy, triumph and redemption. With a foreword by Adam Kay, the bestselling author of This is Going to Hurt.When newly qualified doctor Andrew Manson takes up his first post in a Welsh mining community, the young Scot brings with him a bagful of idealism and enthusiasm. Both are soon strained to the limit as Andrew discovers the reality of performing operations on a kitchen table and washing in a scullery, of unspeakable sanitation, of common infantile cholera and systemic corruption. There are no X-rays, no ambulances – nothing to combat the disease and poverty.It isn’t long before Andrew’s outspoken manner wins him both friends and enemies, but he risks losing his idealism when the fashionable, greedy world of London medicine claims him, with its private clinics, wealthy, spoilt patients and huge rewards.Trade ReviewA.J. Cronin was perhaps the most successful novelist of the 1930s … probably as significant a figure as J.B. Priestley * The English Historical Review *Immensely successful, utterly ruthless * The Spectator *Cronin was a master of melodrama * The Herald *One of the most popular authors in the English speaking world * New York Times *A grand story, well told, and better balanced than anything else he has done * Kirkus *

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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 SynopsisRead Elizabeth Bowen's accessible feminist take on the Irish aristocracyWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY VICTORIA GLENDINNINGThe Irish troubles rage, but up at the ''Big House'', tennis parties, dances and flirtations with the English officers continue, undisturbed by the ambushes, arrests and burning country beyond the gates. Faint vibrations of discord reach the young girl Lois, who is straining for her own freedom, and she will witness the troubles surge closer and reach their irrevocable, inevitable climax.Trade ReviewA book I read only some years ago, and was astonished by its modernity, its formidable intelligence and its punk sensibility, was The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen -- Sebastian Barry * Guardian *A strongly autobiographical portrait of a lost class marking out its final moments - every garden party, every house guest and every flirtation is touched by a sense of impending extinction * Guardian *When I read [The Last September] I was knocked out by the sheer magnificence of her writing, the cinematic possibilities, and her obsession with the minutiae and the detail of life... I was totally gripped by the story * Glasgow Herald *Posterity will one day return to Miss Bowen's novels as a repository of clues to the inner life of our times * Sunday Telegraph *A combination of social comedy and private tragedy...brilliant description of Anglo-Irish life at the troublesome time of 1920 * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisSherman McCoy is a WASP, bond trader and self-appointed 'Master of the Universe'. He has a fashionable wife, a Park Avenue apartment and a Southern mistress. His spectacular fall begins the moment he is involved in an accident in the Bronx. Prosecutors, newspaper hacks, politicians and clergy close in on him, determined to bring him down.Trade ReviewA noisy satire on Manhattan’s Wall Street cash-bloated plutocracy… Hugely readable. -- John Sutherland * The Times *If there is a set-book of the Eighties, it is Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities. No other novel has achieved such a precise place in the imagination of the reading classes. With his first attempt at fiction Wolfe has become the 'Dickens or Balzac of his age'; the dandy journalist has become the towering genius * The Times *Wolfe's modern morality tale displays the sardonic humour and sharp appreciation of the grotesque familiar to admirers of his non fiction... Savagely funny and compelling * Guardian *The air of New York crackles with an energy that causes the adrenalin to pump, until one has the illusion that this is where the whole of life is taking place. The feeling is perfectly reproduced in Wolfe's novel, which opens such cans of worms as racial hostility, dress codes, political labelling and the cynical opportunism that governs every action. It's, well, electric * Sunday Times *It's witty, sprawling and ambitious * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisThis new collection of fifteen short stories, six folk tales and four poems ranging from 1789 to 1933 offers a chilling literary tour of the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man, including haunting pieces by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Bram Stoker and Charlotte Riddell.

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Book SynopsisSherlock star Mark Gatiss selects and introduces chilling tales by the unsung master of the classic ghost story - E.F. Benson. There's nothing sinister about a London bus. Nothing supernatural could occur on a busy Tube platform. There's nothing terrifying about a little caterpillar. And a telephone, what could be scary about that? Don't be frightened of the dark corners of your room. Don't be alarmed by a sudden, inexplicable chill. There's no need for a ticking clock, a limping footstep, or a knock at the door to start you trembling. There's nothing to be scared of. Nothing at all.Trade ReviewThis collection, selected by that connoisseur of the eldritch, Mark Gatiss, contains enough nastiness to give you just the right kind of frisson for the time of year. -- Nicholas Lezard * Guardian Review *Ghost Stories collects nine of his most gruesome stories… Impressively shocking. -- Tim Martin * Daily Telegraph *Spooks galore in E.F. Benson’s nightmare-inducing stories. -- Val Hennessy * Daily Mail *[A] master ghost story teller. * Choice *

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Book SynopsisThese inventive and entertaining pieces display the early sparkles of wit and imagination of Jane Austen’s mature fiction. Written when she was only in her teens, they are by turns amusing, acerbic and occasionally downright silly. ‘Love and Friendship’ and ‘Lesley Castle’ provide parodies of the gentry and the fashionable idea of sensibility of the time. ‘A History of England’ supplies us with a lively chronicle of English monarchic history. Also included in this collection are ‘The Three Sisters’, ‘Catharine’, the series of vignettes known as ‘A Collection of Letters’ and ‘Lady Susan’, an epistolary story which was recently adapted for the cinema. Taken together, these pieces display all the wry humour, shrewd observation and satirical insight of Emma or Pride and Prejudice.Trade Review“Jane Austen is one of my favourite writers... very acute, very perceptive, and writing in close and honest detail about the tiny preoccupations of women’s lives – preoccupations which speak of much larger social and human issues. -- Helen Fielding

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