Her boyfriend said she was quirky but it was more than that. Some things were important in life. You had to fight for them. Helen was prepared for that - only she wasn't as strong as people thought. W
I'm the King of the Castle is Susan Hill's spellbinding novel of childhood cruelty. With an introduction by Esther Freud. Susan Hill's I'm King of the Castle was first published in 1970. Telling the s
This work includes Shakespeare's writing on power: in love, war, government and the family. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and
Don't Tell Alfred is the wickedly funny sequel to Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate. 'I believe it would have been normal for me to have paid a visit to the outgoing ambas
The Blessing by Nancy Mitford with an introduction by Alex Kapranos. It isn't just Nanny who finds it difficult in France when Grace and her young son Sigi are finally able to join her dashing aristoc
Annie's put fifteen years into safe, slightly obsessive Duncan, and now she's like her money back, please. It's time to move on. But she lives in Gooleness, the north's answer to a question nobody ask
Pioneering art historian Jacob Burckhardt saw the Italian Renaissance as no less than the beginning of the modern world. In this hugely influential work he argues that the Renaissance's creativity, co
Munich, 1936. She doesn't know it, but eighteen-year old Daphne Linden has a seat in the front row of history. Along with her best friend, Betsy Barton-Hill, and a whole bevy of other young English up
Shortlisted for the 2005 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, Elif Shafak's The Flea Palace is a moving and highly original novel about a group of individuals who live in the same building and who toget
A surreal work of psychological horror, Franz Kafka's The Castle is translated by J. A. Underwood with an introduction by Idris Parry in Penguin Modern Classics. The Castle is the story of K., the unw
In a moment of sudden inspiration Sarah Worth - S - has walked out on her husband to join the Ashram Arhat. Famous for his transcendent wisdom and divine immobility, the Arhat has transferred his ahra
Sensitive and book-loving Laura is born in the rural hamlet of Lark Rise, where life has followed an unchanging pattern for centuries and the days are governed by the rhythms of nature. This is the un
An academic and writer, during the Second World War John Stewart Collis was put to agricultural work. Clearing and thinning an Ash wood, he found a meditative peace and an earnest pleasure in the use
Since their first publication in 1821, de Maistre's dark writings have fascinated and appalled critics, with their relentless hatred of the Enlightenment and view of humans as murderous beasts who can
Martin Middlebrook's The First Day on the Somme is a compelling and intensely moving account of the blackest day in the history of the British army. On 1 July, 1916, a continuous line of British soldi
Argues that the ignorance and lethargy of the poor are the direct result of the whole economic, social and political domination. This book suggests that in some countries the oppressors use the system
Offers an introduction to the world of physics. In this title, the author guides the reader through the basics of physics, including atoms, energy, force, the relation of physics to other sciences, th
Based on the life of a young Australian woman who defied the conventions of her time. She had a stubborn streak and the courage to act out her convictions, in spite of the consequences. This story des
Wily Wolf is back in a third hilarious story! Wolf is, once again, extremely hungry, and decides he has to go to school - it's full of tasty children, ripe and ready for eating. But the children quick
'A hymn to good architecture, an ode to authentic domestic interiors ... buy, beg, borrow or steal a copy to keep in the car. No other book (apart from his 1,000 Churches) will prompt so many joyous d
In the summer of 1812 Napoleon, the master of Europe, marched into Russia with the largest army ever assembled, confident that he would sweep everything before him. Yet less than two years later his e
A tragedy of doomed love between an Egyptian queen and a ruler of Rome, William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra is edited by Emrys Jones with an introduction by René Weis in Penguin Shakespeare. 'E
A history play alternating between the high drama of court life and the earthy comedy of the Boar's Head Tavern in Eastcheap, William Shakespeare's Henry IV Part I is a masterful drama of a prodigal s
Examines the life of Winston Churchill through his military service as both a soldier and warlord. This book explores Churchill's strategies in both world wars - the disastrous failures as well as the
William Shakespeare's comic encore for one of his best-loved characters - the fat and foolish rogue Falstaff from Henry IV and Henry V - The Merry Wives of Windsor is edited by G.R. Hibbard with an in
Leaving behind both home and beloved, a young man travels to Milan to meet his closest friend. Once there, however, he falls in love with his friend's new sweetheart and resolves to seduce her. Love-c
Performed variously as escapist fantasy, celebratory fiction, and political allegory, The Tempest is one of the plays in which William Shakespeare's genius as a poetic dramatist found its fullest expr
It is the seventh year of the Trojan War. The Greek army is camped outside Troy and Achilles - their military hero - refuses to fight. Inside the city Troilus, the Trojan King's son, falls in love wit
William Shakespeare's Henry VIII is a compelling history play, recreating a crucial moment in the Tudor dynasty, and the events that marked the beginning of the English Reformation. This Penguin Shake
His extraordinarily gory and spectacularly violent revenge tragedy, William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus is edited by Sonia Massai, with an introduction by Jacques Berthoud in Penguin Shakespeare. '
Winston Churchill's declaration in W November 1942, just as the tide of the Second World War was beginning to turn, pugnaciously affirmed his loyalty to the worldwide institution that he had served fo
Alastair Cooke's Letter from America: 1946-2004 is a defining collection from his legendary BBC Radio broadcasts that guides us through nearly sixty years of changing life in the United States. Alista
At the terrible heart of the modern age lies Auschwitz. In a total inversion of earlier hopes about the use of science and technology to improve, extend and protect human life, Auschwitz manipulated t
A fun and pacy conspiracy thriller - featuring a feisty young heroine who has to protect mankind from the clutches of one of the most dangerous secret societies you will ever come across. In 530 BC
You only find true love once. When Werther dances with the beautiful Lotte, it seems as though he is in paradise. It is a joy, however, that can only ever be short-lived. Engaged to another man, she t
The ordinary folk of New Orleans seem to think he is unhinged as well. Ignatius ignores them as he heaves his bulk through the city's fleshpots in a crusade against vice, modernity and ignorance. But
Hugh Sebag-Montefiore's Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man tells the story of the rescue in May 1940 of British soldiers fleeing capture and defeat by the Nazis at Dunkirk. Dunkirk was not just about what
At 5.15 p.m. Harvey Ellis was trapped - stranded in a line of eight cars by a blizzard on a Norfolk coast road. At 8.15 p.m. Harvey Ellis was dead - viciously stabbed at the wheel of his truck. And hi
Remember the sexy shenanigans at St Benedict’s? The exclusive country club and spa with more millionaires per square foot than the Hamptons in midsummer? Well, the four gorgeous golfers’ girls are bac
