From Austen to Zola, from medieval to the modern day - all genres are catered for between the covers of these coveted classics.
Classics Books
Fingerprint! Publishing Les Misérables
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£35.16
Penguin Books Ltd The Turn of the Screw and Other Ghost Stories
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£15.29
Penguin Random House Children's UK Matilda
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£7.99
Scholastic Animal Farm
Book SynopsisWhen the ill-treated animals of Manor Farm rebel against their masterMr Jones and take over the farm, they believe that this meansfreedom and equality for all. But then a ruthless Napoleon takescontrol and the other animals soon realise that they are not allas equal as they thought.
£6.99
Scholastic African and Caribbean Folktales Myths and Legends
Book SynopsisFrom the trickster tale of Anansi the spider, to the story of howthe leopard got his spots; from the tale of the king who wantedto the moon, to Aunt Misery's magical starfruit tree. This book includestraditional favourites and classic folktales and mythology.
£7.59
Alma Books Ltd Orlando: Annotated Edition with the original 1928
Book SynopsisOrlando, a young nobleman and one of Queen Elizabeth I’s court favourites, is the object of many ladies’ attentions, but after suffering heartbreak he prefers literary pursuits to entertaining any thoughts of marriage. Having obtained an ambassadorial post in Constantinople, Orlando falls into a long sleep and wakes up suddenly transformed into a woman. Also blessed with the gift of never ageing, she embarks on adventurous travels throughout Europe and the following centuries, observing what it is like to be female. A “fantastical biography” inspired by the life of the flamboyant writer Vita Sackville-West, Orlando is an amusing and eccentric jeu d’esprit, as well as a groundbreaking exploration of gender issues.Trade ReviewShe was doing with language something like what Jimi Hendrix does with a guitar. -- Michael Cunningham
£7.59
Wordsworth Editions Ltd The Old Curiosity Shop
Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by Peter Preston, University of Nottingham. Illustrations by Hablot K. Browne (Phiz) and George Cruickshank. The Old Curiosity Shop (1840-41), with its combination of the sentimental, the grotesque and the socially concerned, and its story of pursuit and courage, which sets the downtrodden and the plucky against the malevolent and the villainous, was an immediate popular success. Little Nell quickly became one of Dickens' most celebrated characters, who so captured the imagination of his readers that while the novel was being serialised, many of them wrote to him about her fate. Dickens was conscious of the ‘many friends’ the novel had won for him, and ‘the many hearts it turned to me when they were full of private sorrow’, and it remains one of the most familiar and well-loved of his works.
£6.23
Little, Brown Book Group All Men Are Mortal
Book Synopsis'A writer whose tears for her characters freeze as they drop' SUNDAY TIMES'Vivid and moving and in combination with the existentialist panorama of history make the book well worth reading' KIRKUS REVIEWS 'Simone de Beauvoir has the true novelist's gift' A. S. BYATTWhen the beautiful, ambitious actress Regina takes Fosca into her life and learns his amazing truth, she is obsessed with the thought that in his memory her performances will live forever. But, as he recounts the story of his existence over more than six centuries, she learns of his involvement in some of the most significant events in history and how his humanity has withered away. Regina finally understands the implications for him to hope and love.All Men Are Mortal was adapted into a film released in 1994, starring Irene Jacob, Marianne Sagebrecht and Stephen Rea.Trade ReviewA writer whose tears for her characters freeze as they drop * Sunday Times *Vivid and moving and in combination with the existentialist panorama of history make the book well worth reading * Kirkus Reviews *Simone de Beauvoir is a writer whose every work I pounce on eagerly - her vision is so wide, the tale she tells is so interesting, her characterisation so psychologically profound * Yorkshire Post *Simone de Beauvoir has the true novelist's gift of selecting detail and creating individuals whilst refusing to sum up situations -- A. S. ByattProbably de Beauvoir's strangest and most compelling novel * Ingrams *Probably de Beauvoir's strangest and most compelling novel * Ingrams *A writer whose tears for her characters freeze as they drop * Sunday Times *
£13.49
Reader's Library Classics The Call of the Wild (Reader's Library Classics)
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£9.36
Prakash Books Heidi
£7.99
Fingerprint! Publishing Greatest Works of Charles Dickens, Vol.1
£18.66
Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc The Complete Tales & Poems of Edgar Allan Poe:
Book SynopsisPart of the Timeless Classics series, The Complete Tales & Poems of Edgar Allan Poe contains every known tale written by the famous gothic American writer. Poe’s often macabre and dark works, which span the years from 1827 to his death in 1849, include “The Raven,” “The Black Cat,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “Annabelle Lee.” For Poe fans worldwide, this stunning gift edition features a gorgeous deckled edge, ribbon marker, and foil and deboss details on a vibrantly colored case, and includes over 70 of Poe’s short stories, more than 40 melodious poems, and his only full-length novel, The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym. In addition, it also includes a compelling introduction by notable historian and biographer Daniel Stashower.Tales include: The Unparalleled Adventure Of One Hans Pfaall The Balloon-Hoax Mesmeric Revelation Ms. Found In A Bottle A Descent Into The Maelström Von Kempelen And His Discovery The Gold-Bug The Facts In The Case Of M. Valdemar The Thousand-And-Second Tale Of Scheherazade The Murders In The Rue Morgue The Mystery Of Marie Rogêt The Fall Of The House Of Usher The Purloined Letter The Tell-Tale Heart The Black Cat The Imp Of The Perverse The Premature Burial The Island Of The Fay The Cask Of Amontillado The Pit And The Pendulum The Oval Portrait The Masque Of The Red Death The Assignation The System Of Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether Mystification How To Write A Blackwood Article A Predicament The Literary Life Of Thingum Bob, Esq. Diddling X-Ing A Paragrab The Angel Of The Odd Loss Of Breath The Business Man Mellonta Tauta The Man That Was Used Up Maelzel’s Chess-Player The Power Of Words The Conversation Of Eiros And Charmion The Colloquy Of Monos And Una Silence—A Fable Shadow—A Parable A Tale Of Jerusalem Philosophy Of Furniture The Sphinx The Man Of The Crowd “Thou Art The Man” Hop-Frog Never Bet The Devil Your Head Four Beasts In One Poems include: The Raven Lenore A Valentine Hymn The Coliseum Ulalume To Helen An Enigma Annabel Lee To One In Paradise The Bells To My Mother The Haunted Palace The Conqueror Worm To F—S S. O—D The Valley Of Unrest The City In The Sea The Sleeper A Dream Within A Dream Silence Dream-Land Ulalie To Zante Bridal Ballad Eldorado Israfel For Annie Scenes From “Politian” The Timeless Classics series from Rock Point brings together the works of classic authors from around the world. Complete and unabridged, these elegantly designed gift editions feature luxe, patterned endpapers, ribbon markers, and foil and deboss details on vibrantly colored cases. Celebrate these beloved works of literature as true standouts in your personal library collection. Trade ReviewMuch of Poe’s life — orphaned, debts, alcohol abuse and heartbreak — are encapsulated in his works — and well-archived in this Rock Point edition. * Mountain Times *
£17.99
Wordsworth Editions Ltd Persuasion
Book SynopsisWhat does persuasion mean - a firm belief, or the action of persuading someone to think something else? Anne Elliot is one of Austen's quietest heroines, but also one of the strongest and the most open to change. She lives at the time of the Napoleonic wars, a time of accident, adventure, the making of new fortunes and alliances.
£8.54
Wordsworth Editions Ltd Les Misérables Volume Two
Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by Roger Clark, University of Kent at Canterbury. Translation by Charles E. Wilbour (1862). One of the great Classics of Western Literature, Les Misérables is a magisterial work which is rich in both character portrayal and meticulous historical description. Characters such as the absurdly criminalised Valjean, the street urchin Gavroche, the rascal Thenardier, the implacable detective Javert, and the pitiful figure of the prostitute Fantine and her daughter Cosette, have entered the pantheon of literary dramatis personae. Volume 2 of 2
£6.23
Wordsworth Editions Ltd Mary Barton
Book SynopsisElizabeth Gaskell’s first novel depicts nothing less than the great clashes between capital and labour, which arose from rapid industrialisation and problems of trade in the mid-nineteenth century. But these clashes are dramatized through personal struggles. John Barton has to reconcile his personal conscience with his socialist duty, risking his life and liberty in the process. His daughter Mary is caught between two lovers, from opposing classes – worker and manufacturer. And at the heart of the narrative lies a murder which implicates them all. Mary Barton was published in 1848, at a time of great social ferment in Europe, and it reflects its revolutionary moment through an English lens. Elizabeth Gaskell wrote her first novel about the world in which she lived – Manchester at the height of the industrial revolution. As the wife of a Unitarian minister she was solidly middle-class; but she also had close contact with the working classes around her, sympathised with them, and represented their extreme distresses in her fiction. She is radical in taking on their dialect, imagining the realities of their lives, and placing a working woman at the centre of her fiction. If to our eyes her vision remains limited, it was an honest vision, for which she was much criticised in her own time, by her own class.
£6.23
Wordsworth Editions Ltd Lady Chatterley's Lover
Book SynopsisNotes and Introduction by David Ellis, University of Kent at Canterbury. With its four-letter words and its explicit descriptions of sexual intercourse, Lady Chatterley's Lover is the novel with which D.H. Lawrence is most often associated. First published privately in Florence in 1928, it only became a world-wide best-seller after Penguin Books had successfully resisted an attempt by the British Director of Public Prosecutions to prevent them offering an unexpurgated edition. The famous 'Lady Chatterley trial' heralded the sexual revolution of the coming decades and signalled the defeat of Establishment prudery. Yet Lawrence himself was hardly a liberationist and the conservativism of many aspects of his novel would later lay it open to attacks from the political avant-garde and from feminists. The story of how the wife of Sir Clifford Chatterley responds when her husband returns from the war paralysed from the waist down, and of the tender love which then develops between her and her husband's gamekeeper, is a complex one open to a variety of conflicting interpretations. This edition of the novel offers an occasion for a new generation of readers to discover what all the fuss was about; to appraise Lawrence's bitter indictment of modern industrial society, and to ask themselves what lessons there might be for the 21st century in his intense exploration of the complicated relations between love and sex.
£6.23
HarperCollins Publishers 4.50 from Paddington
Book SynopsisTwo trainsSide by side for a brief momentIn that moment, a murderElspeth McGillicuddy is positive she witnessed a man strangling a woman to death.But it was only the merest glimpse through a carriage window as the trains drew parallel.She is the only witness, there are no suspects, and, most importantly, there is no corpse.Who, apart from her friend Jane Marple, would take her seriously?Never underestimate Miss MarpleAll crime writers around the globe owe Agatha Christie a massive debt.'Peter JamesNever a dull moment.'The TimesTrade Review‘Without a doubt, the greatest mystery writer of all time’ – Ragnar Jonasson ‘A hundred years after her first novel, and we are all still standing in her shadow’ – Andrew Taylor ‘She gives us an insight into human nature that few, if any, have surpassed’ – Susan Lewis ‘Dame Agatha has sold more books than all besides Shakespeare and the Bible’ – David Baldacci ‘All crime fiction writers around the globe owe Agatha Christie a massive debt’ – Peter James ‘Reading a perfectly plotted Agatha Christie is like crunching into a perfect apple: that pure, crisp, absolute satisfaction.’ – Tana French
£9.49
Wordsworth Editions Ltd Mansfield Park
Book SynopsisAdultery is not a typical Jane Austen theme, but when it disturbs the relatively peaceful household at Mansfield Park, it has quite unexpected results. The diffident and much put-upon heroine Fanny Price has to struggle to cope with the results, re-examining her own feelings while enduring the cheerful amorality, old-fashioned indifference and priggish disapproval of those around her.
£8.54
Wordsworth Editions Ltd Jude the Obscure
Book SynopsisIntroduction and Notes by Norman Vance, Professor of English, University of Sussex. Jude Fawley is a rural stone mason with intellectual aspirations. Frustrated by poverty and the indifference of the academic institutions at the University of Christminster, his only chance of fulfilment seems to lie in his relationship with his unconventional cousin, Sue Bridehead. But life as social outcasts proves undermining, and when tragedy occurs, Sue has no resilience and Jude is left in despair. Hardy’s portrait of Jude, the idealist and dreamer who is a prisoner of his own physical nature, is one of the most haunting and desperate of his creations. Jude the Obscure is a dark yet compassionate account of the insurmountable frustrations of human existence which reflect Hardy’s yearning for the spiritual values of the past and his despair at their decline.
£6.23
Wordsworth Editions Ltd The House of Mirth
Book SynopsisIntroduction and Notes by Janet Beer, Manchester Metropolitan University. The House of Mirth tells the story of Lily Bart, aged 29, beautiful, impoverished and in need of a rich husband to safeguard her place in the social elite, and to support her expensive habits - her clothes, her charities and her gambling. Unwilling to marry without both love and money, Lily becomes vulnerable to the kind of gossip and slander which attach to a girl who has been on the marriage market for too long. Wharton charts the course of Lily's life, providing, along the way, a wider picture of a society in transition, a rapidly changing New York where the old certainties of manners, morals and family have disappeared and the individual has become an expendable commodity. The House of Mirth was published in October 1905 to widespread critical acclaim. It became an instant bestseller and is regarded today as one of Edith Wharton’s most accomplished and compelling social satires.
£6.23
Faber & Faber They Faber Editions
Book SynopsisAs performed by Maxine Peake (''visionary''): the radical dystopian classic, lost for forty years: in a nightmarish Britain, THEY are coming closer''A creepily prescient tale ... Insidiously horrifying!'' Margaret Atwood''A masterpiece of creeping dread.'' Emily St. John MandelThis is Britain: but not as we know it. THEY begin with a dead dog, shadowy footsteps, confiscated books. Soon the National Gallery is purged; eerie towers survey the coast; mobs stalk the countryside destroying artworks - and those who resist.THEY capture dissidents writers, painters, musicians, even the unmarried and childless in military sweeps, curing' these subversives of individual identity.Survivors gather together as cultural refugees, preserving their crafts, creating, loving and remembering. But THEY make it easier to forget ...Lost for half a century, newly introduced by Carmen Maria Machado, Kay Dick''s They (1977) is a re
£9.49
Wordsworth Editions Ltd The Best Short Stories
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.
£6.23
HarperCollins Publishers PS I Love You The romantic emotional
Book SynopsisMeaningful and moving the classic million-copy bestselling love story from Cecelia Ahern.Some people wait their whole lives to find their soul mates. But not Holly and Gerry. Childhood sweethearts, they could finish each other's sentences. No one could ever imagine them without each other.When Gerry dies, Holly is devastated. But Gerry has left her a bundle of notes, one for each month of her year, each signed ''PS, I Love You''.As the notes are opened, the man who knows Holly better than anyone teaches her that life goes on. With some help from friends and family, Holly laughs, cries and finds that life is for living but it helps if there''s someone watching over you.Everyone LOVES PS, I Love You:Heartbreaking and uplifting'ExpressSensational'CosmopolitanGuaranteed to tug on your heartstrings'GlamourA moving, beautiful novel' Sunday TelegraphTrade Review ‘This exceptional novel about bereavement, friendship and lost love is both heartbreaking and uplifting’ Express ‘A sensational debut novel that proves true love never dies’ Cosmopolitan ‘Heartbreak, intrigue and love letters from beyond the grave – Ahern has a sure and sympathetic hand’Irish Times ‘A bittersweet storyline guaranteed to tug on your heartstrings’Glamour ‘A moving, beautiful novel’ Sunday Telegraph Acclaim for Cecelia Ahern:‘Bursting with narrative verve and ear for language…a writer hitting their prime’ Waterstones.com ‘Cleverly constructed, full of flavour and moving’ Daily Mail ‘Beautiful and unexpected … both thought-provoking and life-affirming’ Sunday Express ‘Intricate and emotional … really completely lovely’ Grazia
£9.49
Wordsworth Editions Ltd Selected Stories
Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by Joe Andrew, Professor of Russian Literature, Keele University. Anton Chekhov is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of short stories. He constructs stories where action and drama are implied rather than described openly, and which leave much to the reader's imagination. This collection contains some of the most important of his earliest and shortest comic sketches, as well as examples of his great, mature works. Throughout, the doctor-turned-writer displays compassion for human suffering and misfortune, but is always able to see the comical, even farcical aspects of the human condition. Chekhov sees and depicts life with unwavering honesty and truthfulness, although a clear moral sense can be detected beneath his apparent objectivity.
£6.23
Chiltern Publishing Peter Pan
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£14.25
Vintage Publishing Kafka on the Shore
Book SynopsisA beautifully packaged hardback edition of Haruki Murakami's mesmerizingly surreal classic, now with a new introduction by the authorKafka Tamura runs away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father's dark prophesy.The aging Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down.As their parallel odysseys unravel, cats converse with people; fish tumble from the sky; a ghost-like pimp deploys a Hegel-spouting girl of the night; a forest harbours soldiers apparently un-aged since World War II. There is a savage killing, but the identity of both victim and killer is a riddle - one of many which combine to create an elegant and dreamlike masterpiece.'Wonderful... Magical and outlandish' Daily Mail'Hypnotic, spellbinding' The Times'Cool, fluent and addictive' Daily TelegraphTrade ReviewWonderful... Magical and outlandish * Daily Mail *A magnificently bewildering achievement... Brilliantly conceived, bold in its surreal scope, sexy and driven by a snappy plot... Exuberant storytelling * Independent on Sunday *Cool, fluent and addictive * Daily Telegraph *Hypnotic, spellbinding * The Times *Addictive... Exhilarating... A pleasure * Evening Standard *
£17.00
Alma Books Ltd The Trial
Book SynopsisOn his thirtieth birthday, the bank clerk Josef K. is suddenly arrested by mysterious agents for an unspecified crime. He is told that he will be set free, but must make regular appearances at a court in the attic of a tenement building while his trial proceeds. Although he never comes to know the particulars of his case, Josef K. finds his life taken over by the opaque bureaucratic procedures and is tormented by the psychological pressures exerted by his legal nightmare. Published the year after the author's death, but written ten years earlier, The Trial is the most acclaimed of Kafka's three novels, and is both a haunting meditation on freedom and the powerlessness of the individual in the face of state power, and an ominous prefiguration of the totalitarian excesses of the twentieth century.Trade ReviewThose who defend the process... may offer absurd arguments, but they also state the case as clearly as it can be stated. All the humour of Kafka lies here, in the logical pursuit of absurd arguments. -- Zadie Smith
£6.99
Alma Books Ltd Mlle de Scuderi
Book SynopsisAs Paris is shaken by a spate of murderous robberies, the aristocratic Mademoiselle de Scuderi pens a poem to poke fun at the cowardly lovers who now fear to go out at night to see their mistresses. But when she receives an unexpected visit from a young man, who gives her a box of jewels with a note thanking her for supporting the robbers' cause, the elderly writer is plunged into a dangerous web of passion, intrigue and murder. First published in 1819 to great acclaim, and displaying all the author's trademark wit and ingenuity, E.T.A. Hoffmann's tale has inspired and delighted writers and readers ever since, and remains a benchmark for all modern crime novels.Trade ReviewReading Mademoiselle de Scudéri, one is astonished to discover that Hoffmann, yet again, was a precursor, the true inventor… of so much that makes literature pleasurable. -- Gilbert AdairE.T.A. Hoffmann belongs to the eternal guild of poets and visionaries who take revenge on the life that is tormenting them by showing it examples of forms more colourful and diverse than reality can manage to convey. -- Stefan Zweig
£5.99
Prakash Books Greatest Works of James Joyce
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£19.76
Wordsworth Editions Ltd The Last of the Mohicans
Book SynopsisIntroduction and Notes by David Blair. University of Kent at Canterbury. It is 1757. Across north-eastern America the armies of Britain and France struggle for ascendancy. Their conflict, however, overlays older struggles between nations of native Americans for possession of the same lands and between the native peoples and white colonisers. Through these layers of conflict Cooper threads a thrilling narrative, in which Cora and Alice Munro, daughters of a British commander on the front line of the colonial war, attempt to join their father. Thwarted by Magua, the sinister 'Indian runner', they find help in the person of Hawkeye, the white woodsman, and his companions, the Mohican Chingachgook and Uncas, his son, the last of his tribe. Cooper's novel is full of vivid incident- pursuits through wild terrain, skirmishes, treachery and brutality- but reflects also on the interaction between the colonists and the native peoples. Through the character of Hawkeye, Cooper raises lasting questions about the practises of the American frontier and the eclipse of the indigenous cultures.
£6.23
Wordsworth Editions Ltd Lady Chatterley's Lover (Collector's Edition)
Book SynopsisTrapped in a marriage which has become sterile and joyless since her husband's return from the trenches of the First World War, partially paralysed and confined to a wheelchair, Connie seizes the chance of sexual fulfilment she had thought lost to her forever. First published privately in Florence in 1928, it only became a world-wide best-seller after Penguin Books had successfully resisted an attempt by the British Director of Public Prosecutions to prevent them offering an unexpurgated edition. The famous ‘Lady Chatterley trial’ heralded the sexual revolution of the coming decades and signalled the defeat of Establishment prudery.
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers The Mirror Crackd From Side to Side Book 9 Marple
Book SynopsisA movie starA deadly cocktailA murderWhen glamorous Marina Gregg came to live in St Mary Mead, tongues were sure to wag.But, with a local gossip's sudden death, has one tongue wagged a bit too much?As the police chase false leads, and two more victims meet untimely ends, Miss Marple starts to ask her own questions.What secrets might link a peaceful English village and a star of the silver screen?Never underestimate Miss MarpleChristie's ingenious plots and fiendish twists set the bar for all of us who follow in her footsteps.'Ruth WareThe pieces finally drop into place with a satisfying click.'Times Literary SupplementTrade Review‘Without a doubt, the greatest mystery writer of all time’ – Ragnar Jonasson ‘A hundred years after her first novel, and we are all still standing in her shadow’ – Andrew Taylor ‘She gives us an insight into human nature that few, if any, have surpassed’ – Susan Lewis ‘Dame Agatha has sold more books than all besides Shakespeare and the Bible’ – David Baldacci ‘All crime fiction writers around the globe owe Agatha Christie a massive debt’ – Peter James ‘Reading a perfectly plotted Agatha Christie is like crunching into a perfect apple: that pure, crisp, absolute satisfaction.’ – Tana French
£9.49
Renard Press Ltd The Yellow Wallpaper
Book SynopsisIn 1892 a furious Charlotte Perkins Gilman put pen to paper and created the avant-garde feminist work The Yellow Wallpaper as a warning – in this haunting Gothic tale, a woman is confined to a room and forbidden to do anything interesting – and she loses her mind. In 1887, following a severe nervous breakdown, Gilman had been sent to a leading neurologist, she explains in ‘Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper’, also included in this volume. He was a ‘wise man’ who ‘put me to bed and applied the rest cure… and sent me home with solemn advice to “live as domestic a life as far as possible”… and “never to touch pen, brush or pencil again” as long as I lived. I went home and obeyed those directions for some three months, and came so near the borderline of utter mental ruin that I could see over.’ The Yellow Wallpaper is both a haunting illustration of the treatment of mental health and a chilling Gothic tale, and this new edition makes it ready to enchant another generation of readers.Trade Review'Quite apart from its origins [it] is one of the finest, and strongest, tales of horror ever written.' (Alan Ryan)Table of ContentsThe Yellow Wallpaper; Note on the Text and Cover; Notes; Appendix: ‘Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper’
£8.21
Vintage Publishing The End of the Affair
Book SynopsisGraham Greene (Author) Graham Greene was born in 1904. He worked as a journalist and critic, and in 1940 became literary editor of the Spectator. He was later employed by the Foreign Office. As well as his many novels, Graham Greene wrote several collections of short stories, four travel books, six plays, three books of autobiography, two of biography and four books for children. He also wrote hundreds of essays, and film and book reviews. Graham Greene was a member of the Order of Merit and a Companion of Honour. He died in April 1991.Monica Ali (Introducer) Monica Ali was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and grew up in England. She is the author of Untold Story, In The Kitchen and Alentejo Blue. Her Sunday Times bestselling first novel Brick Lane was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the George Orwell Prize for political writing and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and has been made into an acclaimed film. Her latest Trade ReviewSingularly beautiful and moving -- Evelyn WaughOne of the most true and moving novels of my time, in anybody's language * William Faulkner *In a class by himself...the ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man's consciousness and anxiety -- William GoldingDevastating study of the collision of different kinds of faith, betrayal and commitment * The Times *Greene's novel of illicit love captures perfectly the atmosphere of rainy wartime London - try to read this in one sitting if you can * Express *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Johnny Got His Gun
Book SynopsisIt was the war to end all wars, the global struggle that would finally make the world safe for democracy - at any cost. But one American soldier has paid a price beyond measure. And within the disfigured flesh that was once a vision of youth lives a spirit that cannot accept what the world has become. An immediate bestseller upon its first publication in 1939, Trumbo''s stark, profoundly troubling masterpiece about the horrors of the First World War brilliantly crystallized the uncompromising brutality of war and became the most influential protest novel of the Vietnam era. As timely as ever.Trade Review'Powerful ... an eye-opener' - Michael Moore 'A book that can never be forgotten by anyone who reads it' Saturday Review
£9.49
Penguin Random House Children's UK Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Book Synopsis
£7.99
Little, Brown Book Group The Yellow Wallpaper And Selected Writings
It is stripped off - the paper - in great patches ...The colour is repellent ...In the places where it isn't faded and where the sun is just so - I can see a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to skulk about ...' Based on the author's own experiences, 'The Yellow Wallpaper' is the chilling tale of a woman driven to the brink of insanity by the 'rest cure' prescribed after the birth of her child. Isolated in a crumbling colonial mansion, in a room with bars on the windows, the tortuous pattern of the yellow wallpaper winds its way into the recesses of her mind. Charlotte Perkins Gilman was America's leading feminist intellectual of the early twentieth century. In addition to her masterpiece 'The Yellow Wallpaper', this new edition includes a selection of her best short fiction and extracts from her autobiography.
£9.49
Classical Comics Jane Eyre: Original Text
Book SynopsisThis Charlotte Bronte classic is brought to vibrant life by artist John M. Burns. His sympathetic treatment of Jane Eyre's life during the 19th century will delight any reader with its strong emotions and wonderfully rich atmosphere. Travel back to a time of grand Victorian mansions contrasted with the severest poverty and immerse yourself in this love story. It is presented in full colour graphic novel format wonderfully illustrated by legendary artist John M. Burns. It meets UK curriculum requirements. Teachers notes/study guides for KS2/KS3 available.Trade ReviewThis comic adaptation of Jane Eyre belongs to an ambitious project carried out by Classical Comics whose aim is to bring to young people great works of British literature (following the guidelines of the UK syllabus) in a more attractive and exciting format. But we know what you are thinking - this is not the first time that we have heard of something similar. And you are right. However, this is not just one more honest (or not) effort. What Classical Comics is trying to do is not only entice young readers to read, giving them a glimpse of the classics, but trying to do all that with quality and high standards in the art department as well as in the scripts. All their releases appear at least in two versions: Original Text, where the original novel or play is abridged but most of the times quoted almost verbatim and a Quick Text version which might be more controversial in its editorial decisions(1).Focusing now on Jane Eyre, the first thing we realises as soon as we had the graphical novel in our hands was that this adaptation was one of the BrontA" events of the year. It is a long (long) way from other comic adaptations of Jane Eyre(2). Not only because the book is beautifully presented but also because, despite the unavoidable abridging, this adaptation is over 130 pages (which clearly shows the scope and ambition of this enterprise) divided into 38 chapters, exactly like the original novel(3).We have been pleasantly surprised by the Original Text script adaptation which manages to aptly quote not just dialogues but also several descriptions and as much of Charlotte BrontA"'s beautiful, unique prose as possible. Of course, this also constitutes one of our main concerns about the Quick Text version (and about many other juvenile/abridged adaptations). If you extirpate Charlotte's own memorable words from the story, what are you left with exactly? Only the bare bones of the story, which may retain some of the grace of the full body, but are not as exciting or interesting to look at and examine.Both the script adaptation by Amy Corzine and the artwork by John M. Burns are highly respectful to the original novel, something which was practically a must in a collection named Classical Comics. There is no trace of any of the many critical readings which the novel has known since its publication. There are no parallels between the Red Room scene (which is somewhat of a disappointment in the final version of the comic(4)) and Bertha's imprisonment, and Bertha is treated in a pre-Wide Sargasso Sea fashion. She's nothing but the mad woman in the attic, the maniac... even her character profile is nothing short of a beast. The absence of a personal reading of the novel should not be understood as a drawback but as a conscious choice. Nowadays we are so used to subjective interpretations in most adaptations that an objective one is quite a rara avis(5).As opposed to other comic adaptations of the novel meant for young readers (like the 1941 or 1962 Classics Illustrated versions) the structure of this version doesn't overdo Jane Eyre's childhood. For instance, Norbert Bachleitner shows in Jane Eyre For Young Readers. Three Illustrated Adaptations(6) how the 1941 Classics Illustrated version devotes 50% just to describe the childhood episodes. Classical Comics Jane Eyre devotes just 23% (as compared to 17% in the original novel). The other main stages of Jane Eyre's story are distributed like this: Thornfield Hall: 42% in the comic vs 51% in the novel, Moor House: 13% vs 22%, and probably the most relevant difference in this new version: the Ferndean Manor scenes represent 18% of the comic, whereas they are a mere 7% of the novel. This may be a conscious decision, taking into account that rushed endings are among the most common criticisms to different Jane Eyre adaptations.The watercolours by John M. Burns are completely in keeping with the script adaptation. His artwork is beautiful, clear and always illustrative(7). His choice of colours and general style evoke even a period-look not at all unrelated to the traditional kind of drawing and colouring used by Mr Burns as opposed to other more modern techniques, such as the one used by Dame Darcy in her illustrations of Jane Eyre. As Bear Alley has noticed in his review, Burns's work tries to bring to life not only the main events but also the imagery of fairies and green men with which Jane is associated by Rochester or the many bird metaphorical allusions of the novel(8) as well as Jane's drawings or dreams.We have noticed, however, that this Jane Eyre is somewhat beautified in some of the illustrations, but not so much so that it interferes with the narrative. Along this line, we have also observed that her eyes are depicted a la Rochester, that is, hazel rather than green(9). Like Jane, we also excuse the mistake.Both editions include a short but rather good biography on Charlotte BrontA"(10), a BrontA" family tree, a chronology and a letter from Charlotte to her publisher dated 24th September 1947, concerning the first part of Jane Eyre.It is said that a book review should judge the book for what it set out to achieve, not for what the reader expected of it. In this case, we can confidently say that Classical Comics have both achieved, by and large, what they aimed at when they conceived this project, and have earned - or should earn - any lover of Jane Eyre's respect by treating this well-loved novel with such respect and care. But it doesn't stop there: they are also paving the way for future lovers of Jane Eyre who will find - to their amazement, no doubt - that the classics in general and Jane Eyre in particular are not dead things of the past, but stories very much alive and enjoyable. For our part, what can we say? We are extremely looking forward to Classical Comics' forthcoming Wuthering Heights, but preferably in the Original Text edition.Notes(1) The Shakespeare adaptations are also published in plain text editions.(2) An incomplete list would include such titles as Classics Illustrated, No 39, Illustrated by Harley M. Griffiths, 1947; Classics Illustrated No 39, Illustrated by H.J. Kihl, 1962; Jane Eyre, Limewire Graphics, Ed. Philip Page & Marilyn Petit, Hodder & Staughton, 2003.(3) Except for the prologue (not in the original novel) which recounts the facts pertaining to Jane Eyre's parents and Mrs Reed's promise to keep her as her own daughter.(4) Somewhat unexpected because the scene both visually and dramatically leaves a lot to the imagination. (5) We are aware that this is a naive interpretation because even an objective reading is a reading of sorts. Furthermore, the script - consciously or unconsciously - excises some of the best-known quotations from the novel. The comic doesn't begin with the famous There was no possibility of taking a walk that day... and, though rephrased, the Quick Text version is more similar to the original opening than the Original Text version. The women feel just as men feel speech is absent as well. There isn't even a Reader, I married him -it has been subsituted by a more laconic I married him in the Original Text version and by a more to-the-point We had a quiet wedding in the Quick Text version. Also on the negative side we can quote several French typos in Adele's speeches (p. 40). By the way, in the Quick Text version Adele's French becomes a laughable parody of English with French accent.(6) A Breath of Fresh Eyre. Intertextual and Intermedial Reworkings of Jane Eyre. Edited by Margarete Rubik and Elke Mettinger-Schartman, Rodopi, Amsterdam/New York, NY, 2007.(7) Curiously enough this wasn't the first BrontA" experience of John M Burns in his long career in the comics world. He adapted Wuthering Heights for the comic publication Diana for Girls (No 42. 7th December 1963).(8) Interestingly, the famous I'm no bird... quotation has been left out.(9) As Rochester says in the novel (ch. XXIV): "... This little sunny-faced girl with the dimpled cheek and rosy lips; the satin-smooth hazel hair, and the radiant hazel eyes?" (I had green eyes, reader; but you must excuse the mistake: for him they were new-dyed, I suppose.) (10) Curiously, and although it is stated that Charlotte BrontA" was pregnant when she died, her death is attributed to tuberculosis, thus overlooking other, most probable causes, particularly hypemeresis gravidarum.Table of ContentsDramatis Persona 4The Birth of Jane Eyre 6Jane EyrePrologue 8Chapter I 9Chapter II 12Chapter III 14Chapter IV 17Chapter V 23Chapter VI 27Chapter VII 29Chapter VIII 33Chapter IX 34Chapter X 37Chapter XI 39Chapter XII 43Chapter XIII 45Chapter XIV 50Chapter XV 56Chapter XVI 60Chapter XVII 62Chapter XVIII 66Chapter XIX 68Chapter XX 69Chapter XXI 73Chapter XXII 75Chapter XXIII 76Chapter XXIV 80Chapter XXV 80Chapter XXVI 82Chapter XXVII 85Chapter XXVIII 92Chapter XXIX 93Chapter XXX 95Chapter XXXI 97Chapter XXXII 99Chapter XXXIII 101Chapter XXXIV 104Chapter XXXV 107Chapter XXXVI 109Chapter XXXVII 117Chapter XXXVIII 131Charlotte BrontA" 134BrontA" Family Tree 137Chronology 138A Letter from Charlotte BrontA" 139Page Creation 140
£9.49
Pan Macmillan Collected Poems
Book SynopsisAs well as being one of the major literary figures of the twentieth century and the recipient of the 1923 Nobel Prize for Literature, William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) is the greatest lyric poet that Ireland has produced.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 illuminating introduction by author and academic Dr Robert Mighall.Yeats’ early work includes the beguiling 'When You are Old', 'The Cloths of Heaven' and 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' but, unusually for a poet, Yeats's later works, including 'Parnell's Funeral', surpass even those of his youth. All are present in this volume, which reproduces the 1933 edition of W. B. Yeats's Collected Poems.Trade ReviewIt is universally agreed that Yeats became a great poet -- Denis Donoghue * The Irish Times *“The Second Coming” is proof that a perfect poem can still go viral in a distinctly predigital way: that it’s become a part of the culture’s water supply -- Nick Tabor * The Paris Review *
£10.44
Wordsworth Editions Ltd Vanity Fair
Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by Owen Knowles, University of Hull. Thackeray's upper-class Regency world is a noisy and jostling commercial fairground, predominantly driven by acquisitive greed and soulless materialism, in which the narrator himself plays a brilliantly versatile role as a serio-comic observer. Although subtitled A Novel without a Hero, Vanity Fair follows the fortunes of two contrasting but inter-linked lives: through the retiring Amelia Sedley and the brilliant Becky Sharp, Thackeray examines the position of women in an intensely exploitative male world. When Vanity Fair was published in 1848, Charlotte Brontë commented: ‘The more I read Thackeray’sworks the more certain I am that he stands alone – alone in his sagacity, alone in his truth, alone in his feeling… Thackeray is a Titan.’
£6.23
Wordsworth Editions Ltd Black Beauty
Book SynopsisAnna Sewell’s Black Beauty was an immediate success on its publication in 1877, and has gone on to sell an estimated 50 million copies. Black Beauty is a horse with a fine black coat, a white foot and a silver star on his forehead. Seen through his eyes, the story tells of his idyllic upbringing and the hardship and cruelty he suffers subsequently, before finding security and happiness in a new home. Black Beauty is one of the most popular children’s books ever written.
£4.99
Wordsworth Editions Ltd De Profundis, The Ballad of Reading Gaol & Others
Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by Anne Varty, Royal Holloway, University of London. De Profundis is Wilde's eloquent and bitter reproach from prison to his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. He contrasts his behaviour with that of his close friend Robert Ross who became Wilde's literary executor. The Ballad of Reading Gaol is a deeply moving and characteristically generous poem on the horrors of prison life, which was published anonymously in 1898. This collection also includes the essay The Soul of Man under Socialism and two of his Platonic dialogues, The Decay of Lying and The Critic as Artist.
£6.23
Alma Books Ltd Hadji Murat: New Translation
Book SynopsisHadji Murat, one of the most feared and venerated mountain chiefs in the Caucasian struggle against the Russians, defects from the Muslim rebels after feuding with his ruling imam, Shamil. Hoping to protect his family, he joins the Russians, who accept him but never put their trust in him – and so Murat must find another way to end the struggle. Tolstoy knew as he was writing this, his last work of fiction, that it would not be published in his lifetime, and so gave an uncompromising portrayal of the Russians’ faults and the nature of the rebels’ struggle. In the process, he shows a mastery of style and an understanding of Chechnya that still carries great resonance today.Trade ReviewMy personal touchstone for the sublime of prose fiction, to me the best story in the world. -- Harold BloomAs I read Hadji Murat again, I thought: this is the man one should learn from. Here the electric charge went from the earth, through the hands, straight to the paper, with no insulation, quite mercilessly stripping off any and all outer shrouds with a sense of truth – a truth, furthermore, which was clothed in garments both transparent and beautiful. -- Isaac Babel
£7.99
Wordsworth Editions Ltd The Good Soldier
Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by Sara Haslam, Department of English, The Open University. The Good Soldier is a masterpiece of twentieth-century fiction, an inspiration for many later, distinguished writers, including Graham Greene. Set before the First World War, it tells the tale of two wealthy and sophisticated couples, one English, one American, as they travel, socialise, and take the waters in the spa towns of Europe. They are 'playing the game', in style. That game has begun to unravel, however, and with compelling attention to the comic, as well as the tragic, results the American narrator reveals his growing awareness of the sexual intrigues and emotional betrayals that lie behind its façade.
£6.23
HarperCollins Publishers The Prince Collins Classics
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.We have declared before that it is not only expedient but necessary for a prince to take care his foundations be good, otherwise his fabric will be sure to fail.'Considered one of the first works of modern philosophy, Machiavelli's The Prince is an intense study on the nature of power and the course it should take when ruling a country and expresses the author's strong and unyielding ideals and beliefs on using force rather than law to achieve your aims.Responsible for the widely-used phrase Machiavellian', with all of its negative connotations, his extreme treatise remains a classic text to this day.
£5.62
Bonnier Books Ltd Enemies to Lovers
Book SynopsisIt is a truth universally acknowledged that you will go from enemies to lovers...Meet Elizabeth Bennet. Otherwise known as Eden Blake the understudy in Liz and Darcy, the musical adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Eden has toiled away for years as a working actress in terrible commercials. While she's not guaranteed a spot on stage, this production is one step on the road to her dreams.Until Brennon Thorne, their new Mr Darcy, and all-round theatre god joins the next leg of their tour. Brennon can't hide his contempt for Eden and anyone who isn't a classically trained actor. And he doesn't care who knows it.But at least they don't need to spend that much time together.Until the actress playing Elizabeth drops out last minute and suddenly the spotlight is on Eden. Opposite Brennon. On stage. Every night. Which always ends with a kiss.Brennon's arrogance and disdain is almo
£11.39
Chiltern Publishing Tess of the d'Urbervilles
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, gold edges, fine details and beautiful colours of these remarkable covers make this feel extra special and will look striking on any shelf.
£17.00
Dover Publications Inc. Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time
Book SynopsisWhen James Gurney''s Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time first appeared in 1992, it was immediately hailed as a fully imagined world of the caliber of J. R. R. Tolkien''s. Gurney''s premise ? of an undiscovered island where a race of mystical humans co-exists in harmony with intelligent dinosaurs ? has been since reiterated over and over in numerous films and by scores of other writers. Now, Calla Editions brings Gurney''s spectacular artistry to a new generation in this 20th anniversary edition. Digitally re-rendered from the original transparencies, Gurney''s dramatic panoramas of Dinotopia and close-up character studies of its inhabitants ? both human and saurian ? take on new vitality. And as a tale of high adventure and discovery told as entries and sketches in journal form, Dinotopia presents a shipwrecked visitor''s glimpse into an imagined social order, a culture, and even a cooperative interspecies technology that will satisfy lovers of fantasy and science fiction of all persuasions. This edition includes a new Afterword written by author James Gurney as well as a special section of behind-the-scenes studies and maquettes he used in developing his paintings.
£23.59
