Auden, Day, Lewis, Spender, MacNeice and the other key poets of the Thirties were children of the First World War, obsessed by war and by communalism, by the class-struggle and a passionate belief in
Using experimental montage techniques borrowed from the cinema, descriptions and bursts of overheard conversation, and jumbled case histories of a picaresque cast of characters from dockside crapshoot
Subtitled An Anglo-American Tragedy, Evelyn Waugh's The Loved One is a witty satirical novel on artistic integrity and the British expat community in Hollywood, published in Penguin Modern Classics. T
Brought to life with startling autobiographical detail, Jean Rhys's Good Morning Midnight is a poignant portrait of a woman fighting to retain her integrity after being set adrift in a foreign country
'We are Progress and the New Age. Nothing can stand in our way.' When Oxford-educated Emperor Seth succeeds to the throne of the African state of Azania, he has a tough job on his hands. His subjects
Both a gripping tale of adventure and a poetic meditation, Antoine de Saint Exupéry's Wind, Sand and Stars is the lyrical autobiography of an aviation pioneer, from the author of The Little Prince. Th
Brideshead Revisited is Evelyn Waugh's stunning novel of duty and desire set amongst the decadent, faded glory of the English aristocracy in the run-up to the Second World War. The most nostalgic and
Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie includes an introduction by Candia McWilliam in Penguin Modern Classics. Romantic, heroic, comic and tragic, unconventional schoolmistress Jean Brodie has
Often imitated but never bettered, it is in Marlowe's long shadow that every fictional detective must stand - and under the influence of Raymond Chandler's addictive prose that every crime author must
A powerful post-apocalyptic allegory of persecution and intolerance, the Penguin Modern Classics edition of John Wyndham's science fiction masterpiece The Day of the Triffids contains an introduction
Evelyn Waugh's acidly funny and formally daring satire, Vile Bodies reveals the darkness and vulnerability that lurks beneath the glittering surface of the high life. This Penguin Modern Classics edit
It is the fiesta Day of Death in Mexico and Geoffrey Firmin - ex-consul, ex-husband, an alcoholic and a ruined man - is living out the last day of his life.Drowning himself in mescal while his former
Like his Viennese contemporary Sigmund Freud, the doctor and dramatist Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931) was a bold pioneer in exploring the dark tangled roots of human sexuality.Arthur Schnitzler is prob
It is only James Joyce's towering genius as a novelist that has led to the comparative neglect of his poetry and sole surviving play. And yet, argues Mays in his stimulating and informative introducti
Out of his smoke-filled rooms in Baker Street stalks a figure to cause the criminal classes to quake in their boots and rush from their dens of inequity … The twelve mysteries gathered in this first c
A land before time - a journey beyond belief … Unlucky in love, but desperate to prove himself in an adventure, journalist Ed Malone is sent to test the infamous and hot-tempered Professor Challenger
The Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, made the historic pilgrimage to Palestine, found pieces of wood from the true Cross, and built churches at Bethlehem and Olivet. Her life coincided
These sumptuous new hardback editions mark the 70th anniversary of Fitzgerald's death. Their eyes 'met and tangled. For an instant they made love as no one ever dares to do after. Their glance was slo
When shy young heir Patrick is orphaned at the age of ten, the only family he has is his wealthy and eccentric aunt, a New York socialite named Mame. Prone to dramatic costumes, flights of fancy and e
Waugh's own unhappy experience of being a soldier is superbly re-enacted in this story of Guy Crouchback, a Catholic and a gentleman, commissioned into the Royal Corps of Halberdiers during the war ye
In this unique collection of Waugh's early short stories, some of which became the inspirations for his novels, Waugh displays his unique talent for comedy and narration. 'Mr Loveday's Little Outing'
Part of the fabulous new hardback library of 24 Evelyn Waugh books, publishing in chronological order over the coming year. The books have an elegant new jacket and text design. Evelyn Waugh chose the
Part of the fabulous new hardback library of 24 Evelyn Waugh books, publishing in chronological order over the coming year. The books have an elegant new jacket and text design. Perhaps the funniest t
Offers a collection of essays that covers the author's passion for poetry, his love of the Polish language that was so nearly wiped out by the violence of the twentieth century, and his happy childhoo
Lost during the author's lifetime, it is an intense portrait of friendship and brotherhood and a meditation on the desire to escape society, following the fortunes of two men as they impulsively decid
Introduced and selected by the poet-presenter Owen Sheers, A Poet's Guide to Britain is a major poetry anthology in its own right. Owen Sheers passionately believes that poems, and particularly poems
The only edition available of the otherworldy tales from a golden age of Indian civilization In India, Vikramaditya is held up as a model of kingly virtue, and his reign as a golden age of peace and
One of the most important works of Indian narrative fiction, passed down orally through the centuries and first recorded in medieval times, The Five-and-Twenty Tales of the Genie has at its center the
The Duke's Children is the last of Trollope's six Palliser novels and concludes the story of Plantagenet Palliser, former Prime Minister and latterly Duke of Omnium.Lady Glencora is dead and the Duke,
Katherine Mansfield's clear and perceptive short stories revolutionized the genre. This collection represents the whole range of her writing from short sharp studies to longer, richer tales, encompass
A real-life adventure that inspired countless travellers in fact and fiction, the Penguin Classics edition of Robert Byron's The Road to Oxiana includes an introduction by Colin Thubron. In 1933 Rober
The Penguin Book of Irish Poetry features the work of three Nobel laureates - W. B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney - as well as Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, Thomas Moore, Patrick Kavanagh, Lo
Strikingly contemporary-feeling poems about Buddhism and luxury from Wang Wei, one of the greatest poets in Chinese literature.Wang Wei, one of Chinese literature's greatest poets, divided his time b
Including works from Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Breton and Manx, this Celtic Miscellany offers a rich blend of poetry and prose from the eighth to the nineteenth century, and provides
Allen Ginsberg was one of the most influential cultural and literary figures of the 20th century, his face and political causes familiar to millions who had never even read his poetry. This book attem
TELEGRAPH BOOKS OF THE YEAR and OBSERVER BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2014 'This book is a record of what has moved me between Uxbridge and Dagenham. My hope is that it moves you, too.' Nairn's London is an idio
