From Austen to Zola, from medieval to the modern day - all genres are catered for between the covers of these coveted classics.
Classics Books
HarperCollins Publishers Tales from the Perilous Realm
Book SynopsisAvailable for the first time in one volume, this is the definitive collection of Tolkien's five acclaimed modern classic 'fairie' tales in the vein of 'The Hobbit'.Trade 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
£56.25
Canongate Books Dubliners
Book SynopsisIn Dubliners, James Joyce takes us on an extraordinary journey with the ordinary men and women from the city of his birth. In 'Araby' a young boy struggles with everyday tasks in the face of a growing infatuation with his neighbour's sister; in 'The Boarding House' a single mother orchestrates a marriage proposal for her daughter; in 'The Dead' the ideas of birth and decay are played out over the course of a dinner. From short, lyrical stories to the novella-length masterpiece which concludes this collection, Dubliners is as alive with feeling as it was when first published.Trade ReviewIn Joyce's eyes, Dublin is the whole world -- J.G. BALLARDWith just one collection of stories, Joyce left his mark on almost every short-story writer who followed him * * Guardian * *At the root of Joyce's artistry is a radical uncertainty which allows multiple meanings and implications to live . . . but none to dominate except the idea of the many mysteries at the core of things -- COLM TÓIBÍNThe vernacular specificity of [Joyce's] prose, his profound understanding of the fallibilities of the human condition and his joyous recountings of his city's undercarriage at work, ensure that Dubliners retains a status that few have challenged and even fewer attained -- EIMEAR McBRIDEJoyce made me want to write. His use of language was dazzling, impressionistic but controlled, rhythmic, diverse, achingly lyrical. He made people live on the page. He was serious, hilarious, sensitively romantic, filthy and absolutely honest -- CAROL BIRCH
£8.54
Penguin Books Ltd Claudius the God
Book SynopsisContinuing the saga begun in I, Claudius, Robert Graves''s Claudius the God is a compelling fictional autobiography of the Roman emperor, published with an introduction by Barry Unsworth in Penguin Modern Classics.Claudius has survived the murderous intrigues of his predecessors to become, reluctantly, Emperor of Rome. Here he recounts his surprisingly successful reign: how he cultivates the loyalty of the army and the common people to repair the damage caused by Caligula; his relations with the Jewish King Herod Agrippa; and his invasion of Britain. But the growing paranoia of absolute power and the infidelity of his promiscuous young wife Messalina mean that his good fortune will not last forever. In this second part of Robert Graves''s fictionalized autobiography, Claudius - wry, rueful, always inquisitive - brings to life some of the most scandalous and violent times in history.If you enjoyed Claudius the God, you might like Marguerite Yource
£10.44
Flame Tree Publishing The Wind in The Willows
Book SynopsisA stunning new edition with 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. Kenneth Grahame’s treasured and perennially popular The Wind in the Willows follows the adventures of Mole, Rat, Toad and Badger as they spend their time ‘simply messing about in boats’, getting lost in the Wild Wood and getting Toad out of scrapes. The endearing characters, evocatively idyllic setting of the gentle Thames Valley and the message of friendship make this an enduringly heart-warming tale. The FLAME TREE COLLECTABLE CLASSICS are chosen to create a delightful and timeless home library.
£8.54
Penguin Books Ltd The Commodore
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
£10.44
Pan Macmillan Mrs Dalloway
Book SynopsisOn a perfect June morning, Clarissa Dalloway – fashionable, worldly, wealthy, an accomplished hostess – sets off to buy flowers for the party she will host that evening. She is preoccupied with thoughts of the present and memories of the past, and from her interior monologue emerge the people who have touched her life. On the same day, Septimus Warren Smith, a shell-shocked survivor of the Great War, commits suicide, and casual mention of his death at the party provokes in Clarissa thoughts of her own isolation and loneliness. Bold and experimental, Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway is a landmark in twentieth-century fiction and a book that gets better and better with every reading. This elegant Macmillan Collector’s Library edition of Virginia Woolf's modernist classic features an afterword by editor and publisher Anna South. 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.
£10.44
Alma Books Ltd The Canterville Ghost and Other Stories
Book SynopsisWhen the Americans Mr and Mrs Otis and their four children move into Canterville Chase, its previous occupant Lord Canterville warns them that the ghost of his ancestor still haunts the house. Their disbelief is soon shattered by the nightly sound of rattling chains in the hallways and the appearance of mysterious bloodstains in the living room. However, the ghost struggles to intimidate his new victims, as they counter his ghoulish behaviour with typically transatlantic pragmatism, offering lubricator for his chains and cleaning up the stains with detergent. As the spirit is deserted by his capacity to scare, Virginia, the Otises’ daughter, gets to know him and learns the tragic tale behind his sad fate. Sparkling with his trademark wit, this classic tale is one of Oscar Wilde’s finest stories and is presented here with three other comic mystery stories, ‘Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime’, ‘The Sphinx without a Secret’ and ‘The Model Millionaire’, all of which were first published together in 1891.Table of ContentsThe Canterville GhostLord Arthur Savile's CrimeThe Sphinx Without a SecretThe Model Millionaire
£6.99
Wordsworth Editions Ltd A Pair of Blue Eyes
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.
£6.23
Granta Books The Diary of Virginia Woolf: Volume 4: 1931-1935
Book SynopsisWith an introduction by Margo Jefferson Thursday 28 May 1931. On Whit Monday the sun blazed, making the grass semi-transparent. And space & leisure seemed to lie all about; & I said, not once in an exstasy, but frequently & soberly, This is happiness. Why should I feel now calmer, quieter than ever before? This volume of Virginia Woolf's diary has a slower pace: she is finishing The Waves and wrestling with the shape of her next novel (The Years). These years are marred by the death of many of the people in her circle, including her close friend Lytton Strachey. Woolf also reflects on the political situation in Britain, and the menacing rise of fascism abroad. The diary testifies to the sense of external threat, as well as the tension between her social and her writing life, but as she and Leonard embark on a series of foreign trips she also revels in the discovery of new places and the profound contentment of her marriage.
£24.00
Penguin Books Ltd A Mans Head
Book Synopsis''The father of contemporary European detective fiction'' Ann Cleeves ''Let''s be clear that it''s not your professionalism which I question. If you understand nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, it''s because from the very start you''ve been working with facts which had been falsified.''Maigret sets out to prove the innocence of a man condemned to death for a brutal murder. As his audacious plan to uncover the truth unfolds, he encounters rich American expatriates, some truly dangerous characters and their hidden motives.This novel has been published in previous translations as Maigret''s War of Nerves and A Battle of Nerves.''Maigret emerges as a master of intuition and imagination, who moves in a world rendered intensely real in Simenon''s incomparable prose'' Christopher Hirst, IndependentTrade ReviewPraise for Georges Simenon:“One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories.” —The Guardian “These Maigret books are as timeless as Paris itself.” —The Washington Post “Maigret ranks with Holmes and Poirot in the pantheon of fictional detective immortals.” —People “I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov.” —William Faulkner “The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature.” —André Gide “A supreme writer . . . Unforgettable vividness.” —The Independent (London) “Superb . . . The most addictive of writers . . . A unique teller of tales.” —The Observer (London) “Compelling, remorseless, brilliant.” —John Gray “A truly wonderful writer . . . Marvelously readable—lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the world he creates.” —Muriel Spark “A novelist who entered his fictional world as if he were a part of it.”lle —Peter Ackroyd “Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century.” —John Banville"Gem-hard soul-probes . . . not just the world's bestselling detective series, but an imperishable literary legend . . . he exposes secrets and crimes not by forensic wizardry, but by the melded powers of therapist, philosopher and confessor" ― Times (London)"Strangely comforting . . . so many lovely bistros from the Paris of mid-20th C. The corpses are incidental, it's the food that counts." ― Margaret Atwood"One of the greatest writers of the 20th century . . . no other writer can set up a scene as sharply and with such economy as Simenon does . . . the conjuring of a world, a place, a time, a set of characters - above all, an atmosphere." ― Financial Times"Gripping . . . richly rewarding . . . You'll quickly find yourself obsessing about his life as you tackle each mystery in turn."-- Stig Abell ― The Sunday Times (London)
£8.99
Penguin Books Ltd Liberty Bar Inspector Maigret 17
Book Synopsis“One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories.” —The GuardianInspector Maigret loses himself in coastal luxury—and danger—in this devastating mystery set on the French Riviera“It had a smell of holidays. The previous evening, in Cannes Harbour, with the setting sun, had also had the smell of holidays, especially the Ardena, whose owner swaggered in front of two girls with gorgeous figures...”Dazzled at first by the glamour of sunny Antibes, Maigret soon finds himself immersed in the less salubrious side of the Riviera as he retraces the final steps of a local eccentric.Trade ReviewPraise for Georges Simenon:“One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories.” —The Guardian “These Maigret books are as timeless as Paris itself.” —The Washington Post “Maigret ranks with Holmes and Poirot in the pantheon of fictional detective immortals.” —People “I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov.” —William Faulkner “The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature.” —André Gide “A supreme writer . . . Unforgettable vividness.” —The Independent (London) “Superb . . . The most addictive of writers . . . A unique teller of tales.” —The Observer (London) “Compelling, remorseless, brilliant.” —John Gray “A truly wonderful writer . . . Marvelously readable—lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the world he creates.” —Muriel Spark “A novelist who entered his fictional world as if he were a part of it.”lle —Peter Ackroyd “Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century.” —John Banville"Gem-hard soul-probes . . . not just the world's bestselling detective series, but an imperishable literary legend . . . he exposes secrets and crimes not by forensic wizardry, but by the melded powers of therapist, philosopher and confessor" ― Times (London)"Strangely comforting . . . so many lovely bistros from the Paris of mid-20th C. The corpses are incidental, it's the food that counts." ― Margaret Atwood"One of the greatest writers of the 20th century . . . no other writer can set up a scene as sharply and with such economy as Simenon does . . . the conjuring of a world, a place, a time, a set of characters - above all, an atmosphere." ― Financial Times"Gripping . . . richly rewarding . . . You'll quickly find yourself obsessing about his life as you tackle each mystery in turn."-- Stig Abell ― The Sunday Times (London)
£8.99
Oxford University Press The First Men in the Moon
Book Synopsis''My next clear recollection is that we were prisoners at we knew not what depth beneath the moon''s surface ... At the village of Lympne, on the south coast of England, the ''most uneventful place in the world'' the failed playwright Mr Bedford meets the brilliant inventor Mr Cavor, and together they invade the moon. Dreaming respectively of scientific renown and of mineral wealth, they fashion a sphere from the gravity-defying substance Cavorite and go where no human has gone before. They expect a dead world, but instead they find lunar plants that grow in a single day, giant moon-calves and the ant-like Selenites, the super-adapted inhabitants of the Moon''s utopian society. The First Men in the Moon is both an inspired and imaginative fantasy of space travel and alien life, and a satire of turn-of-the-century Britain and of utopian dreams of a wholly ordered and rational society.Trade Review[An] informative and enjoyable introduction... which sets the book in its historical and literary context. * Leah Galbraith, FictionFan *Very smart-looking new editions of SF classics. * David V Barrett, Fortean Times *
£8.54
Oxford University Press Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Book SynopsisEnormously influential in the development of American literature, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remains a controversial novel at the centre of impassioned critical debate. This edition discusses all the current issues and the evolution of Mark Twain's penetrating genius.
£7.44
Penguin Books Ltd Maigrets Revolver
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewOne of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories. -- GuardianA supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness. * Independent *
£8.99
Penguin Books Ltd The ThirtyNine Steps
Book Synopsis''My guest was lying sprawled on his back. There was a long knife through his heart which skewered him to the floor''Richard Hannay has just returned to England after years in South Africa and is thoroughly bored with his life in London. But then a murder is committed in his flat, just days after a chance encounter with an American who had told him about an assassination plot which could have dire international consequences. An obvious suspect for the police and an easy target for the killers, Hannay goes on the run in his native Scotland where he will need all his courage and ingenuity to stay one step ahead of his pursuers.The Penguin English Library - collectable general readers'' editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War.
£7.99
Penguin Random House Children's UK Revolting Rhymes
Book SynopsisAh-ha, you see, the plot grows thicker,And Cindy's luck starts looking sicker.This beautiful edition of Revolting Rhymes, 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.
£7.99
Penguin Random House Children's UK The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
Book SynopsisNo book ever ends when it's full of your friends.'This beautiful edition of The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, 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.
£7.99
Penguin Random House Children's UK The Magic Finger
Book SynopsisLast week, something very funny happened to the Gregg family.This beautiful edition of The Magic Finger, 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.
£7.99
Pan Macmillan The Sunset Limited A Novel in Dramatic Form
Book SynopsisDeft, spare, and full of artful tension, The Sunset Limited is a beautifully crafted play from the legendary Cormac McCarthy, author of No Country for Old Men and Blood Meridian.'The Sunset Limited grips from the very first page' – Financial TimesA startling encounter on a New York subway platform leads two strangers to a run-down tenement where a life or death decision must be made.In that small apartment the two men, known as 'Black' and 'White', begin a conversatino that leads each back through his own history.White is a professor whose seemingly enviable existence of relative ease has left him nonetheless in despair. Black, an ex-con in recovery for drug addiction, is the more hopeful of the men. He is, however, desperate to convince White of the power of faith – while White is desperate to deny it.Between them, they hope to discover the meaning of life itself.Trade ReviewThe Sunset Limited grips from the very first page. * Financial Times *The author at his best, meditating on life, suffering and religion. * Shortlist *It's remarkable that Cormac McCarthy could revive the antique genre of the philosophical dialogue as convincingly as he does here. His prose bites. * Evening Standard *
£8.99
British Library Publishing Glimpses of the Unknown
Book SynopsisFrom the vaults of the British Library comes a new anthology celebrating the best works of forgotten, never since republished, supernatural fiction from the early 20th century.Table of ContentsOn the Embankment - Hugh E. Wright; The Mystery of the Gables - Elsie Norris; The Missing Word - Austin Philips; Phantom Death - Huan Mee; The Wraith of the Rapier - Firth Scott; The Soul of Maddalina Tonelli - James Barr; Haunted! - Jack Edwards; Our Strange Traveller - Percy James Brebner; A Regent of Love Rhymes - Guy Thorne; Amid the Trees - Francis Xavier; The River's Edge - Mary Schultze; A Futile Ghost - Mary Reynolds; Ghosts - Lumley Deakin; Kearney - Elizabeth Jordan; When Spirits Steal - Philippa Forest; The House of the Black Evil - Eric Purves; The Woman in the Veil - E. F. Benson; The Treasure of the Tombs - F. Britten Austin
£9.49
Pan Macmillan Don Quixote
Book SynopsisWidely regarded as one of the funniest and most tragic books ever written, Don Quixote chronicles the famous picaresque adventures of the noble knight-errant Don Quixote de La Mancha and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza. Together they journey through sixteenth-century Spain in search of adventure, taking on spirits, evil enchanters and giants in a quest to perform acts of valour worthy of Dulcinea, his lady love. A masterpiece of world fiction and a brilliant satire on traditional romances, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes is not only the world’s first modern novel – it is also an uproarious comedy that continues to delight readers today. This Macmillan Collector’s Library edition of Don Quixote is translated by the acclaimed J. M. Cohen and 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.
£13.49
Manchester University Press Hartly House, Calcutta: Phebe Gibbes
Book SynopsisThis novel is a designedly political document. Written at the time of the Hastings impeachment and set in the period of Hastings’s Orientalist government, Hartly House, Calcutta (1789) represents a dramatic delineation of the Anglo-Indian encounter. The novel constitutes a significant intervention in the contemporary debate concerning the nature of Hastings’s rule of India by demonstrating that it was characterised by an atmosphere of intellectual sympathy and racial tolerance. Within a few decades the Evangelical and Anglicising lobbies frequently condemned Brahmans as devious beneficiaries of a parasitic priestcraft, but Phebe Gibbes’s portrayal of Sophia’s Brahman and the religion he espouses represent a perception of India dignified by a sympathetic and tolerant attempt to dispel prejudice.Trade Review‘An entertaining account of Calcutta … These letters indeed are written with a degree of vivacity which renders them very amusing’ Mary Wollstonecraft‘one of the earliest British novels of India of a transcultural love affair between the heroine Sophia Goldborne and a young Brahman. Although positively reviewed by Mary Wollstonecraft, as “an animated picture of Eastern manners”, it soon vanished from literary history; only recently has it begun to arouse the interest of students of 18th-century colonial literature … Michael Franklin has done a splendid job editing the novel, with a full introductory essay and explanatory notes, thereby making it available to researchers, students, and the general reader. The republication of Hartly House, Calcutta will add a new dimension to our understanding of 18th-century literature and early British India.’ Nigel Leask, Regius Professor of English, University of Glasgow'The explanatory notes and introduction are both valuable for contextualizing the novel for casual readers, as well as providing pedagogical resources for classroom use.’The Early Modern Women Journal -- .Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsNote on the TextIntroductionHARTLY HOUSE, CALCUTTAVolume IVolume IIVolume IIIExplanatory NotesSelect Bibliography
£25.00
The New York Review of Books, Inc Doll
Book SynopsisBołeslaw Prus is often compared to Chekhov, and Prus’s masterpiece might be described as an intimate epic, a beautifully detailed, utterly absorbing exploration of life in late-nineteenth-century Warsaw, which is also a prophetic reckoning with some of the social forces—imperialism, nationalism, anti-Semitism among them—that would soon convulse Europe as never before. But The Doll is above all a brilliant novel of character, dramatizing conflicting ideas through the various convictions, ambitions, confusions, and frustrations of an extensive and varied cast. At the center of the book are three men from three different generations. Prus’s fatally flawed hero is Wokulski, a successful businessman who yearns for recognition from Poland’s decadent aristocracy and falls desperately in love with the highborn, glacially beautiful Izabela. Wokulski’s story is intertwined with those of the incorrigibly romantic old clerk Rzecki, nostalgic for the revolutions of 1848, and of the bright young scientist Ochocki, who dreams of a future full of flying machines and other marvels, making for a book of great scope and richness that is, as Stanisław Barańczak writes in his introduction, at once “an old-fashioned yet still fascinating love story . . . , a still topical diagnosis of society’s ills, and a forceful yet subtle portrayal of a tragically doomed man."
£20.70
Profile Books Ltd The Signalman: A Ghost Story
Book SynopsisOn the 9th of June 1865, Charles Dickens was travelling aboard the Folkestone to London Boat Train with his mistress and her mother, when it derailed while crossing a viaduct near Staplehurst in Kent. The train plunged down a bank into a dry river bed, killing ten passengers, and badly wounding forty. Dickens was profoundly affected by the disaster, and a year later, he published The Signalman, a supremely atmospheric ghost story in which the narrator, while investigating a dank and lonely railway cutting, meets the signalman who works there. His new acquaintance appears to live under the shadow of an unbearable secret, haunted by an apparition whose appearance prefigures terrible rail accidents. Drawing on Dickens own experiences, and introduced by Simon Bradley, author of The Railways, The Signalman is both an important piece of rail history, and a sinister tale which will make you think twice next time you enter the quiet carriage.
£6.83
Granta Books Job: The Story of a Simple Man
Book Synopsis'Many years ago there lived in Zuchnow, in Russia, a man named Mendel Signer. He was pious, God-fearing and ordinary, an entirely commonplace Jew...' So Roth begins his novel about the loss of faith and the experience of suffering. His modern Job goes through his trials in the ghettos of Tsarist Russia and on the unforgiving streets of New York. Mendel Singer loses his family, falls terribly ill and is badly abused. He needs a miracle...Trade ReviewExtraordinary... A powerful work by a titan of early 20th-century literature -- Alistair Mabbott * Herald *[A] tender fable.... Dorothy Thompson's translation is enthralling -- Max Lui * Independent *One of the great European novelists of the century * Sunday Times *Roth... can pack more into a few pages than lesser writers can do in a few hundred. But his lightness of touch has a deceptive historical weight * Times Literary Supplement *Roth is one of those rare and welcome talents whose concision and deceptive simplicity send the cogs of the imagination whizzing into overdrive * Sunday Telegraph *Enthralling... Roth's most perfect book * Independent *One of the great writers of the century * The Times *'It is not possible to do justice to Job's poetic subtlety, but I can vouch for its extraordinary merits * Thomas Mann *Roth's philosophical acuity is matched by his deep compassion for the frailty of the human condition * Sunday Times *There are some books that seem sacrosanct and one of them is Job * Independent *Roth, above all, is a consistently magnificent writer of prose * Guardian *
£8.54
Vintage Publishing The Iliad
Book SynopsisRead this stunning translation of Homer's great war epic, the legendary tale of honour, love, loss and revenge during the fall of the city of Troy.High on Olympus, Zeus and the assembled deities look down on the world of men, to the city of Troy where a bitter and bloody war has dragged into its tenth year, and a quarrel rages between a legendary warrior and his commander. Greek ships decay, men languish, exhausted, and behind the walls of Troy a desperate people await the next turn of fate.This is the Iliad: an ancient story of enduring power; magnetic characters defined by stirring and momentous speeches; a panorama of human lives locked in a heroic struggle beneath a mischievous or indifferent heaven. Above all, this is a tale of the devastation, waste and pity of war.Caroline Alexander's virtuoso translation captures the rhythms and energy of Homer's original Greek while making the text as accessible as possible to a modern reader, accompanied by extensive extra material to provide a background to the poem.The result of 3,000 years of story-telling, Homer’s epic tale of the fall of Troy has resonated with every age and every human conflict: this is the Iliad at its most electrifying and vital.Trade ReviewVirtuoso * New York Review of Books *Caroline Alexander's Iliad is miraculous. It has the rhythms and even the lineation of the original Homeric text. Its language conveys the precise meaning of the Greek in a sinewy yet propulsive style that drives the reader inexorably forward. In my judgement, this new translation is far superior to the familiar and admired work of Lattimore, Fitzgerald and Fagles -- G.W. Bowersock, Institute for Advanced Study, PrincetonOf the many new translations of Homer’s poem that have come out in the past two or three years, perhaps the most highly readable is Caroline Alexander’s. Thought to be the first woman to have Englished the poem, Alexander embraces Matthew Arnold’s four essential Homeric qualities: rapidity, plainness of style, simplicity of ideas and nobility of manner, in lines that ebb and flow with the tide of battle. The book wears its learning lightly, the introduction pitching the Iliad as the ultimate anti-war poem. * Times Literary Supplement *The Homeric Iliad originates from a rich tradition of performing song. It was meant to be heard. True to the living word of the original Greek, Caroline Alexander’s new translation invites us to engage directly with this tradition. When I read her verses I can almost hear the music of Homeric performance. -- Professor Gregory Nagy, Professor of Classical Greek Literarture, Harvard UniversityCaroline Alexander has done admirably in rendering the meaning of the Homeric text faithfully and suitably dignified language. The format gives a genuine sense of reading a verse epic. Her line-numbers match the Greek, which will make this version convenient for use by college teachers and students -- Martin West, Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Marriage: Vintage Minis
Book SynopsisWhy do we set so much store by marriage? Jane Austen was fascinated by this question, subjecting it to her forensic eye and wonderfully ironic wit again and again. Here are stolen glances and nervous advances, meddling parents and self-important cousins, society whisperings and the fluttering hearts of young lovers. All of them have their own views and expectations of marriage, and Austen’s are the wisest of all. Selected from the novels Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion by Jane Austen. VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS. A series of short books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us human
£6.83
Arcturus Publishing Ltd The Odyssey
Book SynopsisHomer''s Odyssey is the Ancient Greek tale of Odysseus and his eventful voyage home after the Trojan War. His many adventures on his 10-year journey are the subject of this famous prose translation by T.E. Lawrence, which was the first to be aimed at a general readership.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Arcturus Classics series brings together high-quality paperback editions of classics works, presented with contemporary graphic cover designs. Together they make a wonderful collection which is perfect for any home library.
£999.99
Arcturus Publishing Ltd Grimms Fairy Tales: A Selection
Book Synopsis
£6.99
Vintage Publishing Nineteen Eighty-Four
Book SynopsisIt was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.The year is 1984, and life in Oceania is ruled by the Party. Under the gaze of Big Brother, Winston Smith yearns for intimacy and love - "thought crimes" that, if uncovered, would mean imprisonment, or death. But Winston is not alone in his defiance, and an illicit affair will draw him into the mysterious Brotherhood and the realities of resistance. Nineteen Eighty-Four has been described as chilling, absorbing, satirical, momentous, prophetic and terrifying. It is all these things, and more.The Authoritative Text. With an introduction by Robert Harris.*The jacket of this stunning hardback edition features period artwork by Elizabeth Friedlander, one of Europe's pre-eminent 20th-century graphic designers. Look out for complementary editions of Orwell's essential works Animal Farm and Down and Out in Paris and London.*Trade ReviewThe book of the twentieth century...haunts us with an ever-darker relevance * Independent *His final masterpiece... Enthralling and indispensable for understanding modern history * New York Review of Books *Orwell remains the most indispensable English writer of his period * Observer *Matchlessly sharp and fresh... The clearest and most compelling English prose style this century -- John Carey * Sunday Times *Many writers and journalists have tried to imitate his particular kind of clarity without possessing anything like his moral authority -- Peter Ackroyd * The Times *
£14.24
Little, Brown Book Group Their Eyes Were Watching God
ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL NOVELS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 'This novel is a packet of surprises as we have no idea what's going to happen next' GUARDIAN 'One of the greatest writers of our time' TONI MORRISON 'Devilishly funny and academically solid: delicious mixture' MAYA ANGELOU'There is no novel I love more' ZADIE SMITHWhen, at sixteen, Janie is caught kissing shiftless Johnny Taylor, her grandmother swiftly marries her off to an old man with sixty acres. Janie endures two stifling marriages before meeting the man of her dreams - who offers not diamonds, but a packet of flowering seeds.With a cover design by Harlem renaissance artist, Lois Mailou Jones
£13.49
Little, Brown Book Group The Soul Of Kindness
Book SynopsisINTRODUCED BY PHILIP HENSHER'Elizabeth Taylor is finally being recognised as an important British author: an author of great subtlety, great compassion and great depth. As a reader, I have found huge pleasure in returning to Taylor's novels and short stories many times over. As a writer I've returned to her too - in awe of her achievements, and trying to work out how she does it' SARAH WATERSA brilliant novel about the damage caused by relentless 'niceness'. Uncritical, encouraging, 'the soul of kindness', Flora's help is the cruelest hindrance to those who love her most.'Here I am!' Flora called to Richard as she went downstairs. For a second, Meg felt disloyalty. It occurred to her of a sudden that Flora was always saying that, and that it was in the tone of one giving a lovely present.Elegant, blonde and beautiful, Flora has everything under control: her perfect home, her husband Richard, her friend Meg, adoring Kit, and the writer Patrick. Flora entrances everyone, dangling visions of happiness and success before their spellbound eyes. All are bewitched by this golden tyrant. Except, that is, for the clear-eyed painter, Liz, who can see that Flora's kindness is the sweetest poison of them all.Trade ReviewThe Soul of Kindness, like many of Elizabeth Taylor's novels, is so expert that it seems effortless. As it progresses, it seems as if the cast are so fully rounded that all the novelist had to do was place them, successively, in one setting after another and observe how they reacted to each other ... Taylor is one of the hidden treasures of the English novel -- Philip Hensher * Daily Telegraph *Elizabeth Taylor is finally being recognised as an important British author: an author of great subtlety, great compassion and great depth. As a reader, I have found huge pleasure in returning to Taylor's novels and short stories many times over. As a writer I've returned to her too - in awe of her achievements, and trying to work out how she does it * Sarah Waters *Always intelligent, often subversive and never dull, Elizabeth Taylor is the thinking person's dangerous housewife. Her sophisticated prose combines elegance, icy wit and freshness in a stimulating cocktail - the perfect toast to the quiet horror of domestic life * Valerie Martin *
£9.49
Alma Books Ltd Jane Eyre
Book SynopsisA novel of high romance and great intensity, Jane Eyre has enjoyed popular success and critical acclaim ever since its first publication in 1847. Jane's journey from a troubled childhood to independence - and her turbulent love affair with the enigmatic Mr Rochester - electrified Victorian readers with its narrative power. With characters that are as unforgettable as the story they enact, and a striking use of language that amazed the readers of the day, Jane Eyre ranks among the most influential English novels ever written.Trade ReviewOne of the most perfectly structured novels of all time. -- Sarah Waters My all-time favourite classic is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. -- Jacqueline Wilson Jane Eyre is the first fictional heroine to give women permission, as it were, to have an intense inner life. -- Joanna Trollope At the end we are steeped through and through with the genius, the vehemence, the indignation of Charlotte Bronte... It is the red and fitful glow of the heart's fire which illuminates her page. -- Virginia Woolf
£6.99
Alma Books Ltd Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Annotated Edition
Book SynopsisWidely considered one of the greatest American novels, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn tells the story of Huck Finn and his companion, the slave Jim, as they journey down the Mississippi river after running away from Huck’s alcoholic father and Jim’s owners. As they travel, they encounter a floating house, feuding families and cunning grifters, but more importantly Huck gets to know Jim and regard him as a friend and equal, overcoming the racial prejudices of the time, in a landmark narrative which poignantly addresses the issues of growing up and finding freedom.Trade ReviewThe father of American literature. -- William Faulkner
£6.99
Wordsworth Editions Ltd Tom Jones
Book SynopsisIntroduction and Notes by Doreen Roberts, Rutherford College, University of Kent at Canterbury. Tom Jones is widely regarded as one of the first and most influential English novels. It is certainly the funniest. Tom Jones, the hero of the book, is introduced to the reader as the ward of a liberal Somerset squire. Tom is a generous but slightly wild and feckless country boy with a weakness for young women. Misfortune, followed by many spirited adventures as he travels to London to seek his fortune, teach him a sort of wisdom to go with his essential good-heartedness. This ‘comic, epic poem in prose’ will make the modern reader laugh as much as it did his forbears. Its biting satire finds an echo in today’s society, for as Doris Lessing recently remarked ‘This country becomes every day more like the eighteenth century, full of thieves and adventurers, rogues and a robust, unhypocritical savagery side-by-side with people lecturing others on morality’.
£6.23
Dedalus Ltd T Toomas Nipernaadi
Book Synopsis
£11.78
Fingerprint! Publishing Arabian Nights
Book SynopsisArabian Nights is a classic collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folktales, compiled and translated into English by the British explorer, translator, and writer Richard F. Burton.First published in 1885, the collection contains some of the most popular and well-known tales from Arabic and Persian literature, such as Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and Sinbad the Sailor. Burton's translation is notable for its frankness and attention to detail, as well as its attempts to capture the original Arabic and Persian language and cultural nuances.
£13.29
Arcturus Publishing Ltd The H. P. Lovecraft Collection
Book Synopsis
£39.99
Bodleian Library Alice in Wonderland Journal - 'Too Late,' said
Book SynopsisInvented to entertain Alice Liddell on boat-trips down the river Thames in Oxford, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has become one of the most famous and influential works of children’s literature of all time. It is hard to imagine Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland without picturing the illustrations made by Sir John Tenniel for the first edition of the story. Sir John Tenniel (1820–1914) was the principal satirical cartoonist for Punch magazine for over fifty years and much in demand as an illustrator in Victorian Britain. At Lewis Carroll’s request, he illustrated the first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, published by Macmillan in 1865. In 1889, he made coloured versions of the drawings for The Nursery Alice, an adaptation of the story created especially for 0-5 year-olds. Ten years later, Gertrude E. Thompson modified Tenniel’s illustrations for a card entitled ‘The New and Diverting Game of Alice in Wonderland’. These unforgettable illustrations, including the Mad Hatter, the Mock Turtle and the Queen of Hearts, among many others, are featured in these special journals. Beautifully produced in hardback with lined paper, coloured page edges, ribbon marker and printed endpapers, this Alice in Wonderland journal is the perfect gift for Wonderland fans.
£12.50
Orion Publishing Co Time and the Gods
Book SynopsisDreamworlds, magic; faerie - an entrancing collection from ''One of the greatest writers of this century'' Arthur C ClarkeOf all the weavers of magic, there is none like Lord Dunsany. During his long lifetime he wrote more than sixty books including novels, plays, poetry collections most memorably, innumerable exotic and fantastical short stories. Here is the very best of Dunsany''s extraordinarily evocative tales of Faerie, of dreamworlds and of magic. Considered a major influence on J R R Tolkien and Ursula Le Guin, these are some of the most beguiling fantasies in the English language, including the complete contents of Time and the Gods, The Book of Wonder, The Sword of Welleran and The Last Book of Wonder.''To the truly imaginative he is a talisman and a key unlocking rich storehouses of dreams'' H P LovecraftTrade ReviewTo the truly imaginative he is a talisman and a key unlocking rich storehouses of dreams -- H P LovecraftLord Dunsany's work is immensely significant as well as enjoyable even today -- Katharine KerrOne of the greatest writers of this century -- Arthur C ClarkeIt's not simply the beauty of the language, the astute eye for character, the hint of humor, or even the spell of legendry and wonder, but Dunsany's unique combination of all of the above. Even read today, with all the fantasy novels I've read, his work remains fresh and exuberant * Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction *A delicate ear for speech rhythms and a brilliantly exact imagination -- Ursula K Le GuinNo amount of mere description can convey more than a fraction of Lord Dunsany's pervasive charm -- H P Lovecraft
£12.34
Pan Macmillan Sanditon, Lady Susan, & The History of England:
Book SynopsisSanditon, Lady Susan, & The History of England: The Juvenilia and Shorter Works of Jane Austen is a rare collection and a must for all Jane-ites.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 features an introduction by Kathryn White.Representing what Richard Church regarded as Jane Austen's literary work-basket, this collection contains not only her hilarious History of England, illustrated by her favourite sister Cassandra, but the unfinished Sanditon, the novel of her maturity on which she was working at her death, aged forty-two. Also included are the two epistolary novels, Lady Susan and Love and Friendship [sic], and other, shorter works: ‘The Watsons’, ‘Catharine’, ‘Lesley Castle’, ‘Evelyn’, ‘Frederic and Elfrida’, ‘Jack and Alice’, ‘Edgar and Emma’, ‘Henry and Eliza’ and ‘The Three Sisters’.Trade ReviewWe will all die, though probably not from the thing that we feared or foresaw. That certainty haunts the book, sharpens the pitch of its comedy, and sets it apart from her earlier works. -- Anthony Lane * The New Yorker *
£10.44
Pan Macmillan North and South
Book SynopsisForced to move from the rural tranquillity of southern England to the turbulent northern mill town of Milton, Margaret Hale takes an instant dislike to the dirt and noise that seems to characterize her new home and its inhabitants - even the handsome and charismatic cotton mill owner, John Thornton. But as she begins to settle in, and to understand the nature of the surrounding poverty and injustice, events conspire to throw her and Thornton together. Amidst the chaos of industrial unrest, they must learn to overcome the prejudices of class and circumstance and admit their feelings for one another.One of literature's greatest romances, North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell is both an incisive social commentary and an electric portrayal of all-conquering love.This Macmillan Collector's Library edition of North and South features an afterword by Kathryn White.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.
£10.79
Cornerstone A Clockwork Orange
Book SynopsisAnthony Burgess was born in Manchester in 1917 and educated at Xaverian College and Manchester University. He served in the British army from 1940 to 1946 and was a schoolteacher in England before becoming a colonial education officer in 1954. His Malayan trilogy of novels and a history of English literature were published while he was living in Malaya and Brunei.He became a full-time writer in 1959 and achieved a worldwide reputation as one of the most versatile novelists of his day. His writings include biographies of Shakespeare and Hemingway, critical studies of James Joyce, stage plays, and two volumes of autobiography. His work as a composer and librettist includes the Broadway musical, Cyrano, and Blooms of Dublin, an operetta based on Joyce's Ulysses.His 33 novels continue to be published all over the world. They include A Clockwork Orange, Nothing Like the Sun, The Complete Enderby, Earthly Powers, NapoleonTrade ReviewA terrifying and marvellous book. -- Roald DahlA brilliant novel . . . a tour-de-force in nastiness, an inventive primer in total violence, a savage satire on the distortions of the single and collective minds. -- The New York TimesI do not know of any other writer who has done as much with language as Mr Burgess has done here - the fact that this is also a very funny book may pass unnoticed. * William Burroughs *Burgess’s dystopian fantasy still fascinates as it clocks up 50 years * The Times *The 50th anniversary of Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange is celebrated this weekend with the publication of a handsome new hardback edition (the edges of its paper are orange!) by Random House (£20). It is compiled and edited by Andrew Biswell – Burgess's biographer – and has a foreword by Martin Amis, as well as unpublished material including a 1972 interview with Burgess, the prologue to his 1986 A Clockwork Orange: A Play With Music, and his annotated 1961 typescript of the novel, complete with his doodles in the margins. His picture of an orange with a spring poking out of it is particularly special * Independent *
£21.25
Penguin Books Ltd Njals Saga
Book SynopsisWritten in the thirteenth century, Njal''s Saga is a story that explores perennial human problems-from failed marriages to divided loyalties, from the law''s inability to curb human passions to the terrible consequences when decent men and women are swept up in a tide of violence beyond their control. It is populated by memorable and complex characters like Gunnar of Hlidarendi, a powerful warrior with an aversion to killing, and the not-so-villainous Mord Valgardsson. Full of dreams, strange prophecies, violent power struggles, and fragile peace agreements, Njal''s Saga tells the compelling story of a fifty-year blood feud that, despite its distance from us in time and place, is driven by passions familiar to us all. This Penguin Classics edition includes an introduction, chronology, index of characters, plot summary, explanatory notes, maps, and suggestions for further reading.
£10.44
Pan Macmillan Grimms' Fairy Tales
Book SynopsisFor the past two centuries these delightful stories, gathered together and written down by brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, have entertained and frightened children and adults alike. The lives of Tom Thumb, Cinderella, Rumplestiltskin and the Frog Prince form part of our common heritage: they stimulate the imagination and the heart, and linger at the back of our minds for a lifetime. They are funny, disturbing, wise and compassionate. They speak of joy and terror, happiness and revenge, love and violence.Designed to appeal to the booklover, 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. This edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales is complete and unabridged, and features Arthur Rackham's masterly illustrations, all hand-coloured by Barbara Frith, one of Britain's leading colourists.
£10.79
Little, Brown Book Group The Last of the Wine: A Virago Modern Classic
Book SynopsisAthens and Sparta, the mighty city states of ancient Greece, locked together in a quarter century of conflict: the Peloponnesian War. Alexias the Athenian was born, passed through childhood and grew to manhood in those troubled years, that desperate and dangerous epoch when the golden age of Pericles was declining into uncertainty and fear for the future. Of good family, he and his friends are brought up and educated in the things of the intellect and in athletic and martial pursuits. They learn to hunt and to love, to wrestle and to question. And all the time his star of destiny is leading him towards the moment when he must stand alongside his greatest friend Lysis in the last great clash of arms between the cities.Trade ReviewThe most vivid and convincing reconstruction of ancient Greek life that I have ever seen. Sunday Times I never learned Latin or Greek; I wasn't raised on the classics, even in translation. So all my sense of the ancient world - its values, its style, the scent of its wars and passions - comes from Mary Renault. Her Theseus novels are perhaps the most exciting of her Greek fictions, and The Last of the Wine the most moving. I turned to writing historical fiction because of something I learned from Renault: that it lets you shake off the mental shackles of your own era, all the categories and labels, and write freely about what really matters to you. Emma Donoghue Not since Robert Graves' I, Claudius has there been such an exciting, living image of the ancient world on this grand scale. It is a glowing work of art New York Times Book Review Mary Renault is a shining light to both historical novelists and their readers. She does not pretend the past is like the present, or that the people of ancient Greece were just like us. She shows us their strangeness; discerning, sure-footed, challenging our values, piquing our curiosity, she leads us through an alien landscape that moves and delights us -- Hilary Mantel
£9.49
Chiltern Publishing Cranford
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, fine details, gold edges and beautiful colours of these remarkable covers make these titles feel extra special and will look striking on any shelf.
£17.00
Pan Macmillan Greyfriars Bobby
Book SynopsisThe moving story of a little dog with a huge heart and of the unbreakable bond between an animal and his owner.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 features an introduction by Mary Paulson-Ellis.When Auld Jock, a shepherd, loses his job, he moves to Edinburgh in search of work. But the city isn’t kind to him and he falls into a life of poverty. Lonely, old and ill, his only companion is a plucky little Skye terrier named Bobby, who belonged to the farmer that dismissed Jock. When the farmer tries to take the dog back, Bobby escapes and finds his way back to town. From that day on, he stays devoted to Auld Jock, even guarding the old man’s grave in Greyfriars kirkyard for many years. Inspired by true events, Eleanor Atkinson's Greyfriars Bobby is the deeply touching story of an inseparable bond and a wonderful evocation of Edinburgh in the late nineteenth century.
£9.49
