These controversial epic poems demonstrate Milton's genius for fusing sense and sound, classicism and innovation, narrative and drama in profound explorations of the moral problems of God's justice-a
A tale of an evil house, cursed through the centuries by a man who was hanged for witchcraft, haunted by ghosts of its dead and the terror of its living. Nathanial Hawthorne's works are imbued with a
A Science Fiction Classic From the twentieth century's first great practitioner of the novel of ideas comes a consummate masterpiece of science fiction about a man trapped in the terror of his own cre
Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera, first published in 1910, remained a perennial favorite throughout the twentieth century and into the early 2000s. It was adapted to several popular moti
Two classic stories-one indispensable volume. Timeless tales of wolves, dogs, men, and the wild, The Call of the Wild and White Fang are two of the world's greatest adventure stories.
The author, a distinguished Oxford scholar, brilliantly recreates Napoleon's life and legend through the personal letters of Marie-Louise and the decoded diaries of Grand Marshal Bertrand, who accompa
Over 175 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French nobleman and an astute political scientist, came to the United States to evaluate the meaning and actual functioning of democracy. His brilli
The epic poem of honor and bravery Written by an anonymous fourteenth-century poet, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is recognized as an equal to Chaucer’s masterworks and to the great Old English poem
With a new introduction by Robert B. Parker He is the Virginian-the first fully realized cowboy hero in American literature, a near-mythic figure whose idealized image has profoundly influenced our
In a firsthand look at the events and personalities of the American battle for independence, an American colonial soldier presents an account of his experiences fighting for freedom during the Revolut
Belonging in the company of the works of Homer and Virgil, The Inferno is a moving human drama, a journey through the torment of Hell, an expression of the Middle Ages, and a protest against the ways
A bold young English sailor has despised himself ever since an impulsive moment of cowardice. Jim moves East to Patusan, where natives worship himA-and he may be able to find redemption...
A collection of stories features the author's posthumously published novella, Billy Budd, which traces the violent rivalry between a young sailor and a demonic superior, and an afterword by best-selli
A masterwork From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Nineteenth-century New England villager Ethan Frome is tormented by his love for his ailing wifeA's cousin. Trapped, he may ultimately be destroyed
Lush with imagery, this is the story of three generations of Brangwen women living during the decline of English rural life. Banned upon publication, it explores the most taboo subjects of its time: m
The Moonstone was published in 1868 and concerns the huge yellow diamond of the title that was once stolen from an Indian shrine. Rachel Verrinder receives the stone as a gift and does not realize tha
In AristophanesA' most popular play, sex is a powerful agent of reconciliation. As war ravages ancient Greece, a band of women, led by Lysistrata, promise to deny their husbands all sex until they st
At once a romantic history of a mighty river, an autobiographical account of TwainA's early steamboat days, and a storehouse of humorous anecdotes and sketches, here is the raw material from which Mar
DickensA' epic literary MasterpieceFrom the agony of Charles DickensA' disenchantment with the Victorian middle class comes a novel of spellbinding mystery and a profound examination of moral valuesA-
The Underdogs Mariano Azuela Ten years after its publication in a small El Paso paper, The Underdogs achieved worldwide renown as the greatest novel of the Mexican Revolution. It tells the sto
A classic tour of the wild west In 1861, young Mark Twain found himself adrift as a tenderfoot in the Wild West?and Roughing It is his hilarious record of his travels come to life with his inimitable
A classic collectionFrom the exquisite lyric A"To Helen,A" to the immortal masterpieces A"Annabel Lee,A" A"The Bells,A" and A"The Raven,A" The Complete Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe demonstrates the autho
The master of wit and irony Published here alongside their evocative original illustrations, these fairy tales, as Oscar Wilde himself explained, were written A"partly for children, and partly for th
Two of ConradA's BEST-KNOWN worksA-in a single volumeIn this pair of literary voyages into the inner self, Joseph Conrad has written two of the most chilling, disturbing, and noteworthy pieces of fict
Reason, Facts, and statistics... DickensA' scathing portrait of Victorian industrial society and its misapplied utilitarian philosophy, Hard Times features schoolmaster Thomas Gradgrind, one of his
Master of the macabre Edgar Allan Poe brings his nightmare visions to vivid, dramatic life in this definitive collection of 14 of his classic stories, including The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale
The provocative masterpieceSinclair LewisA's Main Street is notable for shattering the uniquely American myth of the open, progressive-minded small town. Its incisive attack on the provincial mentali
Describes the adventures of Tom Sawyer, a young boy growing up in a nineteenth-century Mississippi River town, as he has many adventures with his friends Huck and Becky, including playing hookey on an
The classic tale of a man shipwrecked on a remote island, and his struggle to retain his humanity against the forces of nature, as well as do battle with his own fears and loneliness.
Adopted at more than 1,000 colleges and universities, Bedford/St. Martin’s innovative Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism series has introduced more than a quarter of a million students to li
With an introduction by W.H. Auden and commentary from Helen Vendler, among others, this volume presents all of Shakeseare's non-dramatic poetry in one place.
Engaged to marry socialite May Welland, Newland Archer meets Countess Ellen Olenska, a woman unbound by convention and surrounded by scandal, and is forced to decide between happiness and the social c
A sparkling love story set at a seaside resort-now in a new package When the man whose proposal she rejected returns from his long military tour at sea, Anne Elliot is forced to face the decision she
Possibly the best student of hypocrisy since Voltaire This portrait of a golden-tongued evangelist-who lives a life of hypocrisy, sensuality, and self-indulgence-is also the chronicle of a reign of
A rare look at the hidden side of Victorian life From his precocious childhood to the end of what he calls his "amatory career," an adventurous Victorian known only as "Walter" records a breathtakin
Two classic science fiction novels in one handsome volume. Here are two masterpieces of irony and imaginative vision from the father of science fiction. The Time Machine propels the Time Traveller int
The original vampire Since its publication in 1897, Dracula continues to terrify readers with its depiction of a vampire with an insatiable thirst for blood and the group of hunters determined to end
Six classic stories-one volume This indispensible anthology collects the short novels of Henry James, offering readers the full range of his skill and vision-the singular art and imagination of an aut
