There are many anthologies of love poems but friendship has proved a more elusive theme. Yet it is no less important. This selection draws on the literature of many periods and languages to illuminate
Features a collection of well-known tales, as well as British variants of stories common to many cultures. In this book, the author collects stories from oral sources and includes scholarly notes on t
This most beloved of all fairy tales is told in many versions and found in many different cultures - from the Italian CENERANTOLA to the Russian CHERNUSHKA For this edition, first published in 1919, C
Stevenson's great adventure story, set in the 18th century, was conceived in the Scottish Highlands, where the author and his 12-year-old stepson amused themselves by making a map that showed the loca
Set in the Caucasus, the scene of Russia's military campaigns in the 19th century, this is both an adventure story and a sardonic look at the heroic ideals of the author's contemporaries - which makes
A tale of quiet lives in an early 19th-century English provincial town which engages the reader at every level, from the author's chronicle of everyday details to the most exacting philosophical and m
Set in Lombardy during the Spanish occupation of the late 1620s, this title tells the story of two young lovers, Renzo and Lucia, prevented from marrying by the petty tyrant Don Rodrigo, who desires L
The 'Beckford College' is a private school for boys. A mischievous young boy called Farnie, who turns out to be the uncle of the older 'Bishop' Gethryn, a prefect, cricketer and popular figure in the
The Frozen Assets belong to Edmund Biffen Christopher and they are the legacy of his Godfather which he will receive if he manages to avoid been arrested, something of a habit of Biffen's, until after
Sam Shotter settles in the sleepy suburb of Valley Fields. His pastoral peace is short-lived, however, when Soapy Molloy, Dolly the Dip, and Chimp Twist arrive on the scene looking for two million dol
From the lover's famous admonition, "Had we but World enough, and Time, / This coyness, Lady, were no crime," to the image of the solitary poet "Annihilating all that's made / To a green Thought in a
This collection includes, of course, such celebrated poems as "The Lady of Shalott" and "The Charge of the Light Brigade." Finally, there are many of the short lyrical poems, such as "Come into the Ga
One of the founding documents of Western culture and the only surviving ancient Greek trilogy, this is one of the great tragedies of all time. The three plays portray the bloody events that follow the
When the eminent naturalist Charles Darwin returned from South America on board the H.M.S Beagle in 1836, he brought with him the notes and evidence which would form the basis of his landmark theory o
Closely linked to the Arthurian legends - King Arthur himself appears in one of the stories - they summon up a world of mystery and magic which is still evoked by the landscape so vividly described in
Gussie Fink-Nottle simply must marry Madeline Bassett or Bertrand Wooster will be obliged to proffer the ring in his stead. In a daring attempt at securing the engagement, Jeeves and Bertie visit a ru
Originally produced to bolster the Tudor secession from Catholicism, the Pray Book rapidly took on a life of its own. It invaded the style of 17th-century poets and even 19th century novelists like Ge
Originally published in 1902, a novel which takes passionate love as its central theme and focuses on a young woman with a terminal illness whose last gesture will serve either as a deed of selflessne
This edition of the King James Bible of 1611 is designed for the general reader, uncluttered by footnotes and set in full pages rather than the usual narrow columns. The introduction aims to show this
A romantic story with descriptions of working people and their lives, as the author encountered them in northern mills. Despite this grim setting, the book has the power to involve the reader in the l
Burnt-out at twenty-three, Rimbaud has become a model for the poet as wayward genius. Nevertheless, he wrote a substantial amount of lyric and dramatic verse in his few years of activity. This volume
This is the prose masterpiece of the Heian era of the 10th and 11th centuries, which is recognized as a great period in Japanese literature. It is an account of the intricate, exquisite, highly ordere
An account of a man haunted by the Devil in the form of his own evil double. Hogg's 1824 novel, set in 17th century Scotland, anticipates Dostoevsky's great dramas of sin, self-accusation and damnatio
These tales bring together a band of pilgrims who represented most of the occupations and social groups of the time. The diversity of the narrators in turn made possible a varied collection of tales i
One of the most "modern" of 18th-century novels, this book tells the story of two libertines and the innocent characters they plot to destroy. When their plans go astray they turn against one another
Set in British India in the 1920s, this book looks at racial conflict. The characters struggle to overcome their own differences and prejudices, but when the Indian Dr Aziz is tried for the alleged as
On the hottest day of the summer of 1934, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching her
Sally leaves her boarding-house at last, and looks forward to a quiet life in a small apartment. Instead, she finds herself swept up in a series of adventures with her ambitious brother, an accident-p
On the day of his wedding, Edmond Dantes, master mariner, is arrested in Marseille on trumped-up charges and spirited away to the cellars of the Chateau d'If, an impregnable sea fortress in which he i
When Sam Marlowe falls in love with his cousin's sparky ex-fiancee, he finds himself up against stiff opposition from her father, her father's best friend and the best friend's son for whom she is des
A sanitorium in the Swiss Alps reflects the societal ills of pre-twentieth-century Europe, and a young marine engineer rises from his life of anonymity to become a pivotal character in a story about h
Larger than life - like his massive works - Berlioz was a seminal figure in the Romantic movement. This book is both a personal testament and an account of his role in that movement. It tells the stor
When Psmith finds himself working in the City for the pompous Mr Bickersdyke, he makes it his mission to bring a little sweetness and light into the bank manager's life. The monocled wit with the suav
For Bertie Wooster's old friend has fallen in love with Madeline Bassett and, as usual, makes a hash of the affair until Jeeves comes to the rescue. In the meantime, Jeeves must also solve the mystery
An autobiographical volume covering Nabokov's first 40 years up to his departure from Europe for America at the outset of World War II, telling of his emergence as a writer, his early loves and his ma
A short novel based on Tolstoy's early life as a soldier in the Caucusus. It has the energy and poetry of youth while at the same time foreshadowing the great themes of Tolstoy's later years. Tolstoy
It has often been said that love, both sacred and profane, is the only true subject of the lyric poem. Nothing better justifies this claim than the splendid poems in this volume, which range from the
ON WAR is the most significant attempt in Western history to understand war, both in its internal dynamics and as an instrument of policy. Since the work's first appearance in 1832 it has been read th
Tells the story of Basil Ransom, a bemused and handsome lawyer from the American South who battles with the earnest feminists of Boston for the soul of the beautiful Verena Tarrant, whom he hopes to m
John Keats began writing at the age of 18, and by the time he died, seven years later in 1821, he had produced a substantial number of poems. This collection contains his work - his narratives, sonnet
