Regarded by many as the greatest of the Metaphysical poets, John Donne (1572-1631) was also among the most intriguing figures of the Elizabethan age. A sensualist who composed erotic and playful love poetry in his youth, he was raised a Catholic but…
Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), who led the Macedonian army to victory in Egypt, Syria, Persia and India, was perhaps the most successful conqueror the world has ever seen. Yet although no other individual has attracted so much speculation across…
In the twenty-one poems of the Heroides, Ovid gave voice to the heroines and heroes of epic and myth. These deeply moving literary epistles reveal the happiness and torment of love, as the writers tell of their pain at separation, forgiveness of inf…
A wonderful new selection of Henry James's short stories exploring the relationship between art and life, edited by Michael Gorra.This volume gathers seven of the very best of Henry James's short stories, all focussing the relationship between art a…
Described by a later Greek historian as "a man seriously committed to raising a laugh", Lucian exulted in the exposure of absurdity and the puncturing of pretension, and was capable of finding a comic angle on almost any subject. In this selection w…
C. P. Cavafy is one of the most singular and poignant voices of twentieth-century European poetry, conjuring a magical interior world through lyrical evocations of remembered passions, imagined monologues and dramatic retellings of his native Alexan…
Carpenter Adam Bede is in love with the beautiful Hetty Sorrel, but unknown to him, he has a rival, in the local squire's son Arthur Donnithorne. Hetty is soon attracted by Arthur's seductive charm and they begin to meet in secret. The relationship…
The stories in this collection were written mostly between 1888 and 1897, a time when Henry James's writing was concerned with the art of fiction and the position of the artist in society. The motif and title story, `The Figure in the Carpet', is an…
E. T. A. Hoffman's "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (1816)" is a fairy tale of a young girl's magical dream, filled with stories with dark undertone. In 1844, Dumas adapted the tale as a children's story, which is now well known as a ballet, chore…
The six sophisticated comedies by the Roman dramatist portray still-engaging domestic problems and romantic escapades of an upper-middle-class society
Karl Marx (1818-1883) is arguably the most famous political philosopher of all time, but he was also one of the great foreign correspondents of the nineteenth century. During his eleven years writing for the "New York Tribune", Marx tackled an abund…
In the seventeenth century, Moliere raised comedy to the pitch of great art and, three centuries later, his plays are still a source of delight. He created a new synthesis from the major comic traditions at his disposal. This collection demonstrates…
Selected Tales contains some of the most timeless and enchanting folk and fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm, translated with an introduction by David Luke in Penguin Classics.These folktales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are among t…
The Steppe and Other Stories 1887-91 is a collection that reveals Anton Chekhov's evolution from a novice writer to a master of short narrative form. This Penguin Classics edition is translated by Ronald Wilks with an introduction by Donald Rayfield…
In January 1850 Dostoyevsky was sent to a remote Siberian prison camp for his part in a political conspiracy. The four years he spent there, startlingly re-created in The House of the Dead, were the most agonizing of his life. In this fictionalized…
An enthralling work of Gothic fiction, modelled on the Arabian Nights, William Beckford's Vathek and Other Stories is edited with an introduction by Malcolm Jack in Penguin Classics.William Beckford was a novelist, travel writer, art critic and poli…
A masterpiece of Russian prose, Lermontov's only novel was influential for many later 19th century authors, including Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and Chekhov. Lermotov's hero, Pechorin, is a dangerous man, Byronic in his wasted gifts and his cynicism, and…
In the fourth of the 'Palliser' stories, Trollope follows Phineas Finn's return to the dangerous world of Westminster politics. When his political rival is murdered, Phineas is thrown under suspicion and eventually finds himself standing trial at th…
An enchanting collection of the very best of Russian poetry, edited by acclaimed translator Robert Chandler together with poets Boris Dralyuk and Irina Mashinski. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, poetry's pre-eminence in Russia…
Mrs Gereth is convinced that Fleda Vetch would make the perfect daughter-in-law. Only the dreamy, highly-strung young woman can genuinely appreciate, and perhaps eventually share, Mrs Gereth's passion for her 'things' - the antique treasures she has…
Contains the Spanish novelist's burlesque and chivalric romance, Don Quixote, plus 2 novels and Cervantes' Farewell to Life
On one level the novel is about the homecoming of Lavretsky, who, broken and disillusioned by a failed marriage, returns to his estate and finds love again - only to lose it. The sense of loss and of unfulfilled promise, beautifully captured by Turg…
Rich in drama and humour, they include the controversial Ion, a debate on poetic inspiration; Laches, in which Socrates seeks to define bravery; and Euthydemus, which considers the relationship between philosophy and politics.
Ernest Poole's bestselling, muckraking classic about the plight of the worker. The best-known novel by the winner of the first Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Ernet Poole's "The Harbor" was published in 1915 to instant acclaim and remains his most impo…
One of the earliest extant versions of the Tristan and Yseut story, Beroul's French manuscript of The Romance of Tristan dates back to the middle of the twelfth century. It recounts the legend of Tristan, nephew of King Mark of Cornwall, and the kin…
The collected short fiction of America's leading dramatist of the 20th century in a Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition Though best known for creating some of the greatest dramas of the twentieth century, Arthur Miller was also a master of the short st…
St Benedict's inspirational work has been guiding Benedictine monks for fifteen centuries, and the Penguin Classics edition of The Rule of Benedict is translated with an introduction and notes by Carolinne White.Founder of a monastery at Monte Cassi…
This selection of writings from the sixth and seventh century AD provides a powerful insight into the early history of the Christian Church in England and Ireland. From Bede's Life of Cuthbert and Lives of the Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow to the a…
