Classics World Literature

The Origin of Species sold out on the first day of its publication in 1859. It is the major book of the 19th century and one of the most readable and accessible of the great revolutionary works of the scientific imagination. Though, in fact, little read, most people know what it says—at least they think they do. The Origin of Species was the first mature and persuasive work to explain how species change through the process of natural selection. Upon its publication, the book began to transform attitudes about society and religion.

The story is told by a young 'unknown soldier' in the trenches of Flanders during the First World War. Through his eyes we see all the realities of war: under fire, on patrol, waiting in the trenches, at home on leave, and in hospitals and dressing stations. Although there are vividly described incidents which remain in the mind, there is no sense of adventure here, only the feeling of youth betrayed and a deceptively simple indictment of war—of any war—told for a whole generation of victims.

Saffron Sawyer is a faery on a mission. She may no longer have the same rose-tinted spectacles about her job as she once did, but she's still determined to be the best faery godmother that there is. And when she's given the role as leader of a taskforce designed to hunt down the elusive trolls, she knows it's her time to step up and be counted. Juggling her new responsibilities while dealing with difficult clients isn't easy, however. Danger lurks around every corner-and Jasper, the handsome and powerful Devil's Advocate, is continually looming over her shoulder in the office.

Take a thrilling whirlwind trip around the world with Phileas Fogg! When Fogg - a man of habit whose every day is just like the one before - makes a bet that he can circle the globe and be back in his men’s club in just 80 days, the race is on. Jules Verne’s classic tale bubbles with excitement, suspense, and colorful locations.

Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian is the unforgettable story of young Willie Beech, evacuated to the country as Britain stands on the brink of the Second World War. A sad, deprived child, he slowly begins to flourish under the unlikely care of grumpy old Tom Oakley. But then his new-found happiness is shattered by a summons from his mother to come back to London. As the weeks pass by, Tom begins to worry when William doesn't answer his letters, so he goes to London to find him, and there makes a terrible discovery.

The first set of an extraordinary collection of 10 sets of personal letters written by Lord Chesterfield to his illegitimate son, young Philip Stanhope, then living abroad with his tutor to further his education. His Lordship, later secretary of state, hoped that his son would follow in his footsetps and took endless pains to instruct him on the essential and finer beharioral traits of a the aristocracy, which might lead him to such dizzying heights.

This is the hauntingly romantic story of Marguerite Gautier, a Parisian courtesan who falls in love with a young man of modest means. Set in the glittering mid-19th century of the French Empire, it evokes scenes of sumptuous feasts and riotous entertainments amid the swirling milieu of sophisticated Parisian society. The story begins when the narrator, Armand Duval, tells how he met the beautiful young temptress at a theatrical performance.

Ramona Ortegna, the foster child of Señora Moreno, is much loved by all who live and work at the Moreno ranch, except Señora herself, who cannot bring herself to think of the girl as anything but a mixed-blood child. Half white, half Indian, Ramona had been adopted by the Senora’s sister who then entrusted the child to her upon her death. Already embittered by the loss to the Americans of much of her southern California land as the result of the 1846 Mexican-American War, the pious old woman is also distraught by the near destruction of California’s Catholic missions.

De Rabelais à Sartre, une exploration passionnée de la littérature française. À la fois écrivain, critique, universitaire, voyageur et poète, Michel Butor est l'auteur d'une œuvre littéraire dont la modernité reflète l'évolution extraordinaire du XXème siècle. Dans ces entretiens, menés avec Lucien Giraudo, il propose une histoire personnelle de la littérature française, ressaisie de l'intérieur par l'écrivain, mais présentée avec simplicité et passion par le professeur.

A tour de force of black humor and imaginary erudition, Nazi Literature in the Americas presents itself as a biographical dictionary of writers who espoused extreme right-wing ideologies in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Two Years Before the Mast is a book by the American author Richard Henry Dana, Jr., written after a two-year sea voyage starting in 1834 and published in 1840. While at Harvard College, Dana had an attack of the measles that affected his vision. Thinking it might help his sight, Dana, rather than going on a Grand Tour as most of his fellow classmates traditionally did (and unable to afford it anyway), and being something of a nonconformist, left Harvard to enlist as a common sailor.

The Ultimate Classics Collection: Volume One is a continent-hopping, century-spanning collection of 10 of the greatest classic novels ever written, from British, Irish, American, and German authors, read by a cast of incredible narrators including Joanne Froggatt, Stephen Fry, Jonathan Keeble, David Rintoul, and many more.

In his unforgettable first novel, Hemingway artfully illuminates the plight of the Lost Generation, weaving a poignant tale of love and loss in the aftermath of World War I. The story follows two expatriates living in Paris in the 1920s: Jake Barnes, an American war veteran and journalist, and Lady Brett Ashley, an independent Englishwoman exploring the opportunities afforded by a new era of liberated women and sexual freedom. Impotent due to an injury suffered during the war, Jake must navigate his hopeless love for Brett in a changed world of waning morality.

The Knight's Tale of medieval wars and chivalry is the first tale told to the pilgrims as they set out to Canterbury. It concerns Theseus, returning from fighting at Thebes, and two brother knights Palamon and Arcite, imprisoned but yearning for their loves. But the real hero of this recording is Richard Bebb who, with the help of Professor Derek Brewer, the leading expert on Chaucerian pronunciation, make the original Middle English not only comprehensible to the modern ear, but exciting.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in collaboration with his friend, William Wordsworth, revolutionized English poetry. In 1798 they produced their Lyrical Ballads, poems of imagination and reflection using "the language of men" - pointing the way forward for a generation of Romantic poets.

This Jules Verne Collection will carry you away to underwater adventures, will take you deep inside the earth, and pull you on a journey around the world. Are you ready to travel to faraway lands, to be tracked by the authorities, and to encounter prehistoric monsters? If you are ready for adventure, then join us along with the protagonists of each of the three stories in this collection of science fiction and surreal tales.

"Je veux vous expliquer comment une famille, un petit groupe d'êtres, se comporte dans une société, en s'épanouissant pour donner naissance à dix, à vingt individus, qui paraissent, au premier coup d'oeil, profondément dissemblables, mais que l'analyse montre intimement liés les uns aux autres. L'hérédité a ses lois, comme la pesanteur." Emile Zola.

Barchester Towers, the sequel to The Warden, is the second novel in Trollope's major series, the Chronicles of Barsetshire. It focuses on the power struggle between Archdeacon Grantly, Mr. Slope and the Proudies as they fight for control of the diocese of Barchester. Meanwhile, another struggle is taking place for the heart of Eleanor Bold. Who will win her? The vile Mr. Slope, the idling Bertie Stanhope or someone else entirely?

How to Win an Election is an ancient Roman guide for campaigning that is as up-to-date as tomorrow's headlines. In 64 BC when idealist Marcus Cicero, Rome's greatest orator, ran for consul (the highest office in the Republic), his practical brother Quintus decided he needed some no-nonsense advice on running a successful campaign.

A veteran of the Great War, Jake Barnes is both physically and emotionally wounded, leaving him unable to be intimate. Even so, he pines after Lady Brett Ashley, a promiscuous twice-divorced woman. As feelings are hurt and punches are thrown, their lives and the lives of their friends and lovers become tangled as they journey from Paris to Spain and struggle with the repercussions that come from surviving the First World War.