The "Athenaeum" reviewer of "Armadale" (1866)was only one of many contemporary critics horrified by Lydia Gwilt, the bigamist, husband-prisoner and laudanum addict whose intrgues spur the plot of this
Hendrik Hofgen is a man obsessed with becoming a famous actor. When the Nazis come to power in Germany, he willingly renounces his Communist past and deserts his wife and mistress in order to keep on
The nine Lives in this selection trace a crucial phase in ancient history.Plutarch's Lives of the great Greek statesmen amd men of action were designed to pair with the now better-known Roman portrait
Set in familiar Steinbeck territory, To a God Unknown is a mystical tale, exploring one man's attempt to control the forces of nature and, ultimately, to understand the ways of God.
The acclaimed author of The Periodic Table and If Not Now, When? presents this impressive collection of stories that celebrate the spirit of having survived the horrors of Auschwitz.
Wilkie Collins's investigation of illegitimacy and 'the woman question' in No Name (1862) compels with a wholly different order of suspense from that of The Woman in White or The Moonstone. For its fa
In the final days of World War II, a courageous band of Jewish partisans makes its way from Russia to Italy, moving toward the ultimate goal of Palestine. Based on a true story, If Not Now, When? chr
In the mid-1960s, the publication of Pynchon's V and The Crying of Lot 49 introduced a brilliant new voice to American literature. Gravity's Rainbow, his convoluted, allusive novel about a metaphysica
Today, nearly forty years after his death, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck remains one of America?s greatest writers and cultural figures. We have begun publishing his many works for the first time
An historical novel as gripping as Scott's Ivanhoe. It is a tale of adventure in the 18th century, set in the Scottish highlands, whose hero is the legendary maverick outlaw Rob Roy Macgregor. Soon to
The teachings of the German-born Meister Eckhart (1260-1328), Dominican philosopher and spiritual master, are among the most daring and profound in the history of Western mysticism. From counsels on d
'The charm of certain vacant grassy spaces, in Italy, overfrowned by masses of brickwork that are honeycombed by the suns of centuries, is something that I hereby renounce once for all the attempt to
It is estimated that some three million people died in the Soviet forced-labour camps of Kolyma, in the north-eastern area of Siberia. Shalamov himself spent seventeen years there, and in these storie
Dating from the second century AD, this anthology is the second- oldest collection of Chinese poems in existence. The poems, originating from the state of Chu and rooted in Shamanism, are grouped und
The Street of Crocodiles in the Polish city of Drogobych is a street of memories and dreams where recollections of Bruno Schulz's uncommon boyhood and of the eerie side of his merchant family's life a
John Henry Newman (1801-90) described writing this account of his religious development as 'one of the most terrible trials that I have had'. Having inspired and led the Oxford or Tractarian Movemen
Lucretius' poem On the Nature of the Universe combines a scientific and philosophical treatise with some of the greatest poetry ever written. With intense moral fervour he demonstrates to humanity tha
First published in 1825, this book is a brilliant treatise on the pleasures of eating and the rich arts of food, wine, and philosophy, written by a famed French gastronome. Recipes are included.
This novel, regarded as one of Scott's finest, opens with the Edinburgh riots of 1736. The people have been infuriated by the actions of John Porteous, Captain of the Guard; when his life is saved by
Reprint of the Penguin edition of 1976 with notes & intro by Donald W. Faulkuer. This classic of the Lost Generation is cited in BCL3 . Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
I have accepted a commission from you... The agreement was that I should order my own execution if you proved to my satisfaction that the assassinations achieved by the Bureau were wrong. You have pro
Poems covering a wide range of topics, from images of animals to meditations on human nature, are accompanied by the author's notes revealing the inspiration for many of the poems
This cycle of coming-of-age stories tells of a spirited adolescent boy whose encounters with birth and death teach him about loss and profound emptiness, instead of giving him the more conventional he
These short fiction and prose pieces display the variety of Twain's imaginative invention, his diverse talents, and his extraordinary emotional range. Twain was a master of virtually every prose genre
'The whole story of this Lady is a romance, and all she doth is romantic' ?Pepys Flamboyant, theatrical, exuding ambiguous sexuality, Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, was one of the seven
Young Caroline Meeber leaves home for the first time and experiences work, love, and the pleasures and responsibilities of independence in late-nineteenth-century Chicago and New York
An early example of American realism, McTeague was considered truly shocking when first published at the turn of the century. This searing portrait of the downfall of a slow-witted dentist and his ava
First published in 1873, Alcott's semi-autobiographical novel follows the life experiences of Christie Devon, which begin before and conclude after the American Civil War. An enthusiastic, well-rounde
Bestselling series of gift-size anthologies. The series contains selected poetry and prose from some of the most famous English and Scottish poets. An attractive six-pocket display pack is also availa
Containing several of his well-known later short stories, this volume also includes tales from Tolstoy's early years in the Russian Army, a time of his life when he was already exploring the profound
In his best-known work, The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), Veblen appropriated Darwin's theory of evolution to analyze the modern industrial system.
