Classics Books

Book SynopsisIllustrations by Hablot K. Browne (Phiz) and George Cattermole, with a new Introduction by Cedric Watts, Research Professor of English, University of Sussex. This vivid historical and political novel by Dickens is centred on the infamous 'No Popery' riots, instigated by Lord George Gordon, which terrorised London in 1780. Dickens' targets are prejudice, intolerance, religious bigotry and nationalistic fervour, together with the villains who exploit these for selfish ends. His intense account of the riots is interwoven with the mysterious tale of a long-unsolved murder and with a romance involving forbidden love, treachery and heroism. Barnaby Rudge abounds in memorably strange, comic and grotesque characters. Furthermore, recent historical events have renewed its political topicality.

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Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by Lionel Kelly, Senior Lecturer in English, University of Reading. Transplanted to Europe from her native America, Isabel Archer has candour, beauty, intelligence, an independent spirit and a marked enthusiasm for life. An unexpected inheritance apparently gives her freedom, but despite all her natural advantages she makes one disastrous error of judgement and the result is genuinely tragic. Her tale, told with James’ inimitable poise, is of the widest relevance. ‘The phase when his (Henry James’) genius functioned with the freest and fullest vitality is represented by The Portrait of a Lady’. (F.R. LEAVIS)

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Book SynopsisWith a new Introduction by Cedric Watts, Research Professor of English, University of Sussex. The diverse tales selected for this volume display the astonishing virtuosity of Rudyard Kipling's early writings. A Nobel prize-winner, Kipling was phenomenally productive and imaginative, displaying a literary mastery of idioms, technology and technical terms, exotic locations, and social range. He gained immense popularity, becoming (as these stories indicate) the knowledgeable spokesman for a wide public. Later, although Kipling's right-wing views increasingly incurred hostility, his creativity remained formidable. In this rich collection, we encounter bold realism, poignant nostalgia, dark comedy, the vividly horrific, the exuberantly fanciful and the disturbingly uncanny.

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Book SynopsisIntroduction and Notes by David Blair, Rutherford College, University of Kent. The Moonstone, a priceless Indian diamond which had been brought to England as spoils of war, is given to Rachel Verrinder on her eighteenth birthday. That very night, the stone is stolen. Suspicion then falls on a hunchbacked housemaid, on Rachel's cousin Franklin Blake, on a troupe of mysterious Indian jugglers, and on Rachel herself. The phlegmatic Sergeant Cuff is called in, and with the help of Betteredge, the Robinson Crusoe-reading loquacious steward, the mystery of the missing stone is ingeniously solved.

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Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by John M.L. Drew, University of Buckingham. Wilde's only novel, first published in 1890, is a brilliantly designed puzzle, intended to tease conventional minds with its exploration of the myriad interrelationships between art, life, and consequence. From its provocative Preface, challenging the reader to believe in 'art for art's sake', to its sensational conclusion, the story self-consciously experiments with the notion of sin as an element of design. Yet Wilde himself underestimated the consequences of his experiment, and its capacity to outrage the Victorian establishment. Its words returned to haunt him in his court appearances in 1895, and he later recalled the 'note of doom' which runs like 'a purple thread' through its carefully crafted prose.

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Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by Dr Claire Seymour, University of Kent at Canterbury. The Turn of the Screw is the classic ghost story for which James is most remembered. Set in a country house, it is a chilling tale of the supernatural told by a master of the genre. The Aspern Papers is a tale of Americans in Europe, a theme in which Henry James is at his most assured and accomplished. The author cleverly evokes the drama of comédie humaine against the settings of a Venetian palace.

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Book SynopsisWhether you're ready to sail the high seas with Sinbad the Sailor,or fight alongside brave warrior Hua Mulan, you're guaranteed tofind your favourite legends right here. And no matter how the story starts, you'll always find your happyending. Including: Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor, Hua Mulan and manymore.

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Book SynopsisAfter being chased from the home of an upper-class young girl called Ellie, chimney-sweep Tom falls asleep and tumbles into a river. There he is transformed into a 'water-baby' and his adventures truly begin. Beneath the surface, he enters a magical world full of strange and wonderful creatures, where he must prove his moral worth in order to earn what he truly desires.One of the most unusual children's books ever written, The Water-Babies, subtitled 'A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby', was originally intended as a satire in support of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, and explores many of the issues at the forefront of biologists' minds at the time. First published as a complete novel in 1863, Charles Kingsley's classic tale also explores ideas about religion, the Victorian education system and the working conditions of children and the poor.With glorious black and white illustrations by W. Heath Robinson and an introduction by author and journalist Christina Hardyment.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 SynopsisAs the sensitive and delicate Gertrude begins to shrink from her drunken and violent husband, their marriage becomes a battleground. Gertrude turns increasingly towards her two eldest sons, William and Paul, and determines that they will not grow up to be coalminers living in poverty like their father. Yet soon William falls ill, and Paul seeks to escape his mother's suffocating influence through a series of relationships. Closely autobiographical, and widely considered to be the first English novel with a truly working-class background, Sons and Lovers is the affecting portrait of a mining family torn apart by class divisions and the conflict between filial love and the urge to follow one's own desires.Trade ReviewHas there ever been anyone like [Lawrence] for bringing places and people so vividly to life? -- Doris Lessing

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Book SynopsisThe plot of Charlotte Smith's autobiographical first novel Emmeline (1788) includes the usual thrills of the eighteenth-century courtship novel: abduction, duels, and a "fairy tale princess." At the same time, the novel satirically reworks such literary conventions by focusing on the dangers of early engagement and marriage, and challenges a social and legal system in which woment are inherently illegitimate subjects.The Broadview edition includes primary source material relating to the novel's reception; women, marriage and work; and landscape in eighteenth-century fiction. Mary Hays's biographical writing on Smith is also included, as is selected correspondence.Trade Review“Emmeline is one of the most delightful, absorbing English novels of the eighteenth century, at turns sentimental and hilariously comic. We are lucky to have Loraine Fletcher’s beautifully contextualized, well-annotated edition in print.” — Adela Pinch, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor“This is an exemplary edition. In her authoritative introduction, Loraine Fletcher contextualizes Emmeline as an early romantic work, influenced by Rousseau, contrasting with Fanny Burney and, surprisingly, repudiated as a bad example by Mary Wollstonecraft. The inclusion of Mary Hays’s account of the desperate but heroic author’s life is especially welcome.” — Sybil Oldfield, University of Sussex“One of the fascinations of Charlotte Smith is the way in which she epitomizes the political, cultural, economic, and literary cross-currents of the later eighteenth century, and Fletcher has done a masterful job of contextualizing Smith in all of these ways. With an introduction that touches upon all of the elements key to understanding the complexity of Smith’s work, and with the copious appendices characteristic of Broadview texts, this edition should prove an invaluable tool for scholars of all levels.” — Judith Davis Miller, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield“Fletcher includes contemporary reviews of the novel, portions of critical treatises on the position of women and marriage, and excerpts from Smith contemporaries such as Mary Collier, Edmund Burke, Hester Chapone, John Gregory, and Mary Wollstonecraft, making this an invaluable introduction to eighteenth-century feminine fiction.” — Mary Anne Schofield, Eighteenth-Century FictionTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionCharlotte Smith: A Brief ChronologyA Note on the TextEmmelineAppendix A: The Reception of Emmeline Anonymous, The Critical Review, June 1788 Mary Wollstonecraft, The Analytical Review, July 1788 Anonymous, The Monthly Review, September 1788 Anonymous, The European Magazine, November 1788 Jane Austen, “The History of England,” 1791 Walter Scott, The Lives of the Novelists, 1821 Egerton Brydges, “Memoirs of Mrs. Charlotte Smith,” January 1807 Appendix B: Women, Marriage, Work Mary Collier,“The Woman’s Labour: An Epistle to Mr Stephen Duck,” 1731 Edmund Burke,“On Delicacy,” 1757 Hester Chapone,“On Politeness and Accomplishments,” 1773 John Gregory,“Marriage,” 1774 Mary Wollstonecraft,“Matrimony,” 1787 Appendix C: Landscapes Thomas Gray, “Journal in the Lakes,” 8 October 1769 William Gilpin, Observations on the River Wye, 1770 Appendix D: Life Letter from Charlotte Smith to Thomas Cadell, 14 January 1788 Letter from Charlotte Smith to William Hayley, 1788-89 Mary Hays,“Mrs. Charlotte Smith,” British Public Characters, 1800-1801 Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisProlific even by eighteenth-century standards, Eliza Haywood was the author of more than eighty titles, including short fiction, novels, periodicals, plays, poetry, and a political pamphlet for which she was briefly jailed. From her early successes (most notably Love in Excess) to later novels such as Betsy Thoughtless (her best known work) she remained widely read, yet sneered at as a 'stupid, infamous, scribbling woman' by the likes of Swift and Pope.Betsy Thoughtless is the story of the slow metamorphosis of the heroine from thoughtless coquette to thoughtful wife. Ironically, the most decisive moment in this development may be when Betsy decides to leave her emotionally abusive and financially punishing husband; it is only after experiencing independence that she returns to her marriage and to what becomes her husbands deathbed. Betsy Thoughtless may be the first real novel of female development in English. In this edition the text is accompanied by appendices, including writings from the period that shed light on Haywood's life and work, and on her relationship with contemporaries such as Henry Fielding.Trade ReviewBoth scholarly and readable, Christine Blouch's edition of Eliza Haywood's The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless is a welcome addition to the expanding library of neglected and undervalued women novelists of the early eighteenth century that will contribute to the current re-assessment of Haywood's work." - John Richetti, University of Pennsylvania"Eliza Haywood transforms the familiar tale of the reformed coquette. A comic investigation of city morals and manners develops into a dark critique of women's vulnerability in bourgeois marriage. Christine Blouch's informative edition clarifies the contexts of Haywood's textual, political and personal relations." - Ros Ballaster, Mansfield College, Oxford University"Simply the best edition to date of Haywood's fiction. The text and apparatus are equally impressive." - Alexander Pettit, University of North TexasTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionA Note on the TextWorks of Eliza HaywoodThe History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless Appendix A: Haywood’s First BiographerAppendix B: Review of Betsy ThoughtlessMonthly Review (1751)Haywood’s response (from The History of Jenny and Jemmy Jessamy)Appendix C: Betsy Thoughtless on TrialProceedings at the Court of Censorial Enquiry, Etc. (1752)Appendix D: Reading Haywood in her own centuryClara Reeve, The Progress of Romance (1785)Appendix E: A Stage Adaptation of Betsy ThoughtlessRobert Hitchcock, The Coquette; or, The Mistakes of the Heart (1777) Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIn 1750 at the age of twenty-seven Sarah Scott published her first novel, a conventional romance. A year later she left her husband after only a few months of marriage and devoted herself thereafter to writing and to promoting such causes as the creation of secular and separatist female communities. This revolutionary concept was given flesh in Millenium Hall, first published in 1762 and generally thought to be the finest of her six novels.The text may be seen as the manifesto of the 'bluestocking' movement—the protean feminism that arose under eighteenth-century gentry capitalism (originating in 1750, largely under the impetus of Scott's sister Elizabeth Montagu), and that rejected a world which early feminists saw symbolized in the black silk stockings demanded by formal society. It is a comment on Western society as well as on the strengths of Scott's novel that the message of Millenium Hall continues to resonate strongly more than two centuries later.Trade Review“Scott’s novel of a female utopia and of the personal histories of the women who took refuge there is an unrivalled experiment in literary form. With its provocative introduction, this edition is a must for anyone interested in the Enlightenment, in Social Theory, in Women’s history, or in the development of the novel.” — Eve Tavor Bannet, University of Oklahoma“With this splendid edition Gary Kelly has recovered a central document of Enlightenment British feminism. Scott’s compelling utopia depicts a community of women who turn from the folly and vice of the world to create a rational paradise.” — Peter Walmsley, McMaster UniversityTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroductionList of Sarah Scott’s WorksNote on the TextA Description of Millenium HallFrom The History of Sir George Ellison

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Book SynopsisShipwrecked off the coast of Trinidad, Robinson Crusoe – a young man with a thirst for adventure – finds himself washed up on a remote tropical island with nothing but a few tools and animals for company. Cast away for thirty years, he must battle cannibals, mutineers and the elements in a tale so convincing that many readers at the time believed it to be non-fiction. A true page-turner, Robinson Crusoe is one of the most enduring novels in the English language and its unique blend of extraordinary realism and brilliant drama continues to delight readers the world over.This Macmillan Collector’s Library edition of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe features illustrations by the celebrated Victorian caricaturist George Cruikshank, 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 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 SynopsisTrapped in a stifling marriage, Anna Karenina is swept off her feet by dashing Count Vronsky. Rejected by society, the two lovers flee to Italy, where Anna finds herself isolated from all except the man she loves, and who loves her. But can they live by love alone? In this novel of astonishing scope and grandeur, Leo Tolstoy, the great master of Russian literature, charts the course of the human heart.A masterpiece of realism and illuminated by irresistible characters, Anna Karenina is among the best-loved of all novels, penetrating to the heart of the ruling class in Tsarist Russia. This beautiful Macmillan Collector's Library edition of Anna Karenina is translated by Aylmer & Louise Maude, and features an afterword by 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 SynopsisA celebrated journalist in his lifetime, Ambrose Bierce’s began circulating his own sardonic, mischievous definitions of words in his various columns for San Francisco newspapers. Over several years these were then compiled and expanded into entries for a mock dictionary originally published as The Cynic’s Word Book. One of the most popular satirical works of American literature, The Devil’s Dictionary – here published in its most complete 1911 version – brilliantly lays bare the hypocrisies of American society and displays a razor-sharp wit to rival that of Bierce’s contemporary Mark Twain.Trade ReviewThe corrosive insights of Bierce seem as bitter and fresh as ever. He handles words with delicious precision. * The Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisComplete and unabridged.Three Men in a Boat remains one of the best-loved and most entertaining comic novels. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, unabridged, 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 features illustrations by A. Frederics and an afterword by David Stuart Davies.Join our young heroes J., George and Harris (not forgetting Montmorency, the mischievous, irascible fox terrier) as they take a boating holiday along the Thames. Their aim is to escape the weary workaday world and improve their health, but they are ill prepared for the various escapades, difficulties and vicissitudes that they encounter along the watery way. The adventures of these incompetent innocents abroad are magnified to epic proportions by the storyteller, J. His narration gives the book not only a wonderful endearing freshness but also a series of hilarious moments of timeless comedy.Trade ReviewThere are a few seriously funny books that remain great for all time. Three Men in a Boat is one of these. -- Robert McCrum * Guardian *Ultimately, Three Men in a Boat is a study of friendship, human foibles and forgiveness. Returning to the book is like settling in for a fireside chat with an eccentric great-uncle who has seen it all, done it all, but who's still more ready to mock himself than others. -- Mark Mills * Independent *

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Book SynopsisInspired by a grisly discovery in the nineteenth century, The King's General was the first of du Maurier's novels to be written at Menabilly, the model for Manderley in Rebecca. Set in the seventeenth century, it tells the story of a country and a family riven by civil war, and features one of fiction's most original heroines. Honor Harris is only eighteen when she first meets Richard Grenvile, proud, reckless - and utterly captivating. But following a riding accident, Honor must reconcile herself to a life alone. As Richard rises through the ranks of the army, marries and makes enemies, Honor remains true to him, and finally discovers the secret of Menabilly.Trade ReviewNo other popular writer has so triumphantly defied classification ... She satisfied all the questionable criteria of popular fiction, and yet satisfied the exacting requirements of "real literature", something very few novelists ever do -- Margaret Forster She wrote exciting plots, she was highly skilled at arousing suspense, and she was, too, a writer of fearless originality Guardian

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Book SynopsisWhen the descendant of an ancient aristocratic family moves from Massachusetts to Exham Priory, his ancestral home in the south of England, he is plagued by the constant noise of rats scurrying within its walls. As the sound begins to haunt his dreams, he investigates the house and discovers a horrific secret underneath, which will bring him to the point of madness. Considered one of the most accomplished examples of the horror genre, 'The Rats in the Walls' is presented here alongside other quintessentially Lovecraftian tales - such as 'The Dunwich Horror', 'At the Mountains of Madness', 'The Colour out of Space' and 'The Horror at Red Hook' - in a brand-new collection which will delight new readers and those familiar with the blood-curdling imaginary worlds of the twentieth century's master of terror.Trade ReviewThe most important US horror writer since Edgar Allan Poe and a big influence on nearly every major figure in the genre after his day. * Publishers Weekly *Table of ContentsContains: The Statement of Randolph Carter, Arthur Jermyn, The Rats in the Walls, The Horror at Red Hook, The Colour out of Space, The Dunwich Horror, The Strange High House in the Mist, The Dreams in the Witch House, The Quest of Iranon, At the Mountains of Madness, The Shunned House, The Thing on the Doorstep.

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Book SynopsisGeorge Bernard Shaw's Major Cultural Essays introduces readers to the wealth and diversity of Shaw's cultural writings from across the breadth of his professional life, beginning around 1890 and ending in 1950.Table of ContentsIntroduction Note on the Text Select Bibliography Chronology Major Cultural Essays The Quintessence of Ibsenism The Sanity of Art The Perfect Wagnerite A Preface Selections from the Preface to Three Plays by Brieux Shorter Essays and Reviews 11 June 1890 11 October 1893 1 August 1894 and 8 August 1894 The Case for the Critic-Dramatist The Late Censor Church and Stage Nietzsche in English Maddox Brown, Watts, and Ibsen The Board School Henry Irving and Ellen Terry Edgar Allen Poe Rodin Mr. Arnold Bennett Thinks Play-Writing Easier than Novel Writing Oscar Wilde Selections from Ruskin's Politics Keats Tolstoy: Tragedian or Comedian Beethoven's Centenary Am I an Educated Person? The Play of Ideas Explanatory Notes

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Book Synopsis“I’ve just read Marcel Schwob’s The Children’s Crusade twice over, with deep admiration and reverence. I am profoundly moved: what a work! And to think I’d never heard the name of Marcel Schwob. Who is he?”—Rainer Maria Rilke Marcel Schwob’s 1896 novella The Children’s Crusade retells the medieval legend of the exodus of some 30,000 children from all countries to the Holy Land, who traveled to the shores of the sea, which—instead of parting to allow them to march on to Jerusalem—instead delivered them to merchants who sold them into slavery in Tunisia or delivered them to a watery death. It is a cruel and sorrowful story mingling history and legend, which Schwob recounts through the voices of eight different protagonists: a goliard, a leper, Pope Innocent III, a cleric, a qalandar and Pope Gregory IX, as well as two of the marching children, whose naive faith eventually turns into growing fear and anguish. Though it is a tale drawn from the early 13th century, Schwob presents it through a modern framework of shifting subjectivity and fragmented coherency, and its subject matter and its succession of different narrative perspectives has been seen as an influence on and precursor to such diverse works as Alfred Jarry’s The Other Alcestis, Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s “In a Grove,” William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying and Jerzy Andrzejewski’s The Gates of Paradise. It is a tale told by many yet understood by few, a mosaic surrounding a void, describing a world in which innocence must perish.

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Book SynopsisChiltern Publishing creates the most beautiful editions of the World's finest literature. Your favourite classic titles in a way you have never seen them before; the tactile embossed layers, golden edges, fine details and beautiful colours of these remarkable covers make these titles feel extra special and will look striking on any shelf.

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Book Synopsis"Fresh, accurate, and engaging, this new translation of the Book of the City of Ladies helps us to understand what made Christine de Pizan so popular with her fifteenth-century contemporaries. The editors provide a rich historical and philosophical context that will be very useful to both students and scholars of the history of political ideas. The translations themselves gracefully navigate the fine line between accuracy and readability with considerable charm. Rounding out this portrait of the turmoil of fifteenth-century France, the volume is enriched by excerpts from other works, Christine's Vision, the Book of the Body Politic, and the Lamentation on France’s Ills." —Kate Forhan, Emeritus, Siena CollegeCONTENTS: Introduction A Note on Translating the Book of the City of Ladies Christine de Pizan: Her works, Her Times Suggestions for Further Reading From Christine's Vision (1405) The Book of the City of Ladies (1404–1405) From The Book of the Body Politic (1404–1407) From Lamentation on France's Ills (1410) Index Trade Review"I am thrilled with the quality of this volume. Translator Hardy has created a splendid modern translation of Christine’s difficult French, and editors Bourgault and Kingston offer readers an outstandingly comprehensive and helpful introduction. The notes and other critical apparatus have also been judiciously crafted. I can’t think of any other single edition of Christine’s work that offers readers such a concise point of entry to women’s history, late-medieval political thought, and for that matter the turmoil, both economic and political, in fourteenth- and early fifteenth-century France."—Sarah Gwyneth Ross, Boston College"This new English translation of Christine de Pizan's Cité des dames is accompanied by selections from her Advision Cristine (Christine's Vision), Corps de Policie (Book of the Body Politic) and Lamentation sur les maux de la France (Lamentation on France's Ills), all of which are a pleasure to read in Ineke Hardy's renderings. In a stimulating introductory essay, editors Sophie Bourgault and Rebecca Kingston argue that the Cité, a work generally read for its defense of women, also makes 'a worthy contribution' to 'traditions of political reflection' and to 'philosophical debates about the nature of the virtues and their place in the well lived life' (p. xviii). That welcome orientation takes us further into understanding the work of this brilliant fifteenth-century writer."—Thelma Fenster, Fordham University, in Modern Language Review"The quality of the translator’s work is indisputable—the text reads fluidly and is infused with energy, combining overall adherence to the original and readability for the modern audience. It is vibrant yet with sufficient gravitas to do the text justice. "The volume is a useful resource for readers at all levels. It is a welcome addition to the ever-expanding world of Christine studies, in which political thought and theory have grown more prominent of late. . . . This accessible, information-packed, and moderately priced book will have its place on the shelves of students and scholars of Christine and those interested in political theory and the development of western political thought.”—Geri L. Smith, University of Central Florida, in Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature"Hackett's new edition of The Book of the City of Ladies and Other Writings . . . features the most readable and engaging translation of the work on the American market today. The volume is an important contribution to Hackett's collection of philosophical works and will make teaching Christine as part of the canon of political science, ethics, and gender studies much easier than ever before."—Jennifer Hockenberry, St. Norbert College, in Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy

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Book SynopsisStep into a story of life and love in Kyoto's 10th century royal court.Tale of Genji, the world's oldest known novel, tells the story of Prince Genji and his adventures in life, love, and power within the halls of the Chrysanthemum Royal Court. Handsome, romantic, and talented in the art of seduction, Prince Genji skillfully navigates the court and all its intrigues—always in search of love and often finding it. His story is the oldest and most famous tale of romance in the annals of Japanese literature and, as a representation of passion and romance, remains beyond compare.In this beautifully illustrated edition, Genji's story comes alive as readers experience: His birth in the royal court to Kiritsubo, who comes to represent Genji's ideal of female beauty and grace. His lifelong obsession with Fujitsubo, one of the emperor's lovers and mother to Genji's son Ryozen. His romantic life with Murasaki, Fujitsubo's beautiful niece and Genji's favored lover. Though wary of his motivations at first, she becomes the true love of Genji's life. Lady Murasaki Shikibu wrote this story some 500 years before Shakespeare put pen to paper. It is acknowledged to be the world's very first novel, and English-speaking readers can now experience the story in manga style for the first time.Superbly illustrated and retold, this visual take on Japan's most important classic offers an intimate look at the social mores and intrigues in the Heian-era court of medieval Japan, and Prince Genji's representation as the ideal male courtier.Trade Review"The Tale of Genji…is written with an almost miraculous naturalness, and what interests us is not the exoticism--the horrible word--but rather the human passions of the novel. Such interest is just: Murasaki's work is what one would quite precisely call a psychological novel…I dare to recommend this book to those who read me." --Jorge Luis Borges…an interesting achievement and worth taking a look at for adult readers who enjoy manga and are familiar with the source material. --ICv2.com

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Book SynopsisHaving firmly established the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson in the novels A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of the Four, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was retained by The Strand Magazine to contribute a series of twelve short stories, which began with 'A Scandal in Bohemia' in 1891 and were published monthly for the next year. The stories, in which the master sleuth receives a stream of clients presenting him with baffling and bizarre mysteries in his consulting room at 221B Baker Street, were instantly popular and by the time of the publication of the final story, 'The Copper Beeches', they had become the mainstay of the magazine. They included such classic tales as 'The Five Orange Pips' and 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band', and were gathered together in a collection known as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, representing some of the finest detective stories ever written.

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Book Synopsis' … once again Mr Sherlock Holmes is free to devote his life to examining those interesting little problems which the complex life of London so plentifully presents.'. Evil masterminds beware! Sherlock Holmes is back! Ten years after his supposed death in the swirling torrent of the Reichenbach Falls locked in the arms of his arch enemy Professor Moriarty, Arthur Conan Doyle agreed to pen further adventures featuring his brilliant detective. In the first story, 'The Empty House', Holmes returns to Baker Street and his good friend Watson, explaining how he escaped from his watery grave. In creating this collection of tales, Doyle had lost none of cunning or panache, providing Holmes with a sparkling set of mysteries to solve and a challenging set of adversaries to defeat. The potent mixture includes murder, abduction, baffling cryptograms and robbery. We are also introduced to the one of the cruellest villains in the Holmes canon, the despicable Charles Augustus Milverton. As before, Watson is the superb narrator and the magic remains unchanged and undimmed.

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Book SynopsisInspired by a box of wooden toy soldiers given as a present to her elder brother Branwell in 1826, Charlotte Brontë created, together with her siblings, a series of tales set in the imaginary realm of Glass Town. In ‘The Green Dwarf’, against the backdrop of war, the arrogant aristocrat Colonel Percy and the enigmatic Mr Leslie are vying for the affections of the beautiful Lady Emily. Soon, with the rivals both on the front line, and with the scheming Percy hatching a plot that involves the mysterious Green Dwarf, Leslie finds himself facing danger on all sides… Full of tragedy and passion, love and rivalry, the five sweeping tales contained in this volume display the precocious talent, lively imagination and flair for storytelling of the young Charlotte Brontë.Trade ReviewWho that has known her books has not admired the artist’s noble English, the burning love of truth, the bravery, the simplicity, the indignation at wrong, the eager sympathy, the pious love and reverence, the passionate honour, so to speak, of the woman? -- William Makepeace ThackerayIt's a cracker… It is novelettish. It is Gothic. It is funny… -- Libby PurvesTable of ContentsContains: 'The Green Dwarf’, 'The Foundling’, 'The Secret’, 'Lily Hart’, 'The Spell’ and 'Tales of the Islanders’

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Book SynopsisDriven to his deathbed by an incurable disease, the thirty-year-old impoverished gentleman Chulkaturin decides to write a diary looking back on his short life. After describing his youthful disillusionment and his family’s fall from grace and loss of status, the narrative focuses on his love for Liza, the daughter of a senior civil servant, his rivalry with the dashing Prince N. and his ensuing humiliation. These pages helped establish the archetype of the “superfluous man”, a recurring figure in nineteenth-century Russian literature. First published in 1850, ‘The Diary of a Superfluous Man’ was initially censored by the authorities, as some of its passages were deemed too critical of Russian society. This volume also includes two other masterly novellas, also touching on the theme of disappointed love: ‘Asya’ and ‘First Love’.Trade ReviewTurgenev to me is the greatest writer there ever was. -- Ernest Hemingway

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Book SynopsisCandide is an innocent young nobleman who leads an idyllic, sheltered life and has adopted the optimistic mindset promoted by his tutor Dr Pangloss. But after committing an indiscretion and being expelled from his family home, Candide finds himself on a journey that will take him to Portugal, Argentina, Britain and Turkey and expose him to torture, war, shipwreck and natural disasters, leading him to question whether he is really living in the "best of possible worlds". Published in 1759, when it became a best-seller and stirred up much controversy, Candide is an exhilarating picaresque romp and a biting satire by one of the Enlightenment's major figures that still resonates to this day.Trade ReviewVoltaire will always be regarded as the biggest name of recent literature, and perhaps throughout all the centuries. -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Book Synopsis1812 and the fate of Europe lies in the hands of newly appointed Commodore Hornblower . . .Dispatched to northern waters to protect Britain''s Baltic interests, Horatio Hornblower must halt the advance of Napoleon''s empire into Sweden and Russia. But first he must battle the terrible Baltic weather: fog, snow and icebound waterways; overcome Russian political and commercial intrigues; avoid the seductive charms of royalty as well as the deadly reach of assassins in the imperial palace; and contend with hostile armies and French privateers. With the fate of Europe balanced on a knife edge, the responsibility lies heavy on a Commodore''s shoulders ...This is the eighth of eleven books chronicling the adventures of C. S. Forester''s inimitable nautical hero, Horatio Hornblower.''A recipe for pure pleasure'' Bernard Cornwell

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Book SynopsisOffers a wide range of philosophical speculations and it descants on a variety of styles. This book draws together the Czechoslovakia of the Prague Spring and the Russian invasion, the philosophy of Nietzsche, and the love affairs of a number of heartbreakingly familiar characters.

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Book Synopsis

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