One of the most famous opening lines in English literature, the most compelling of stories, and a host of vivid characters, has won Pride and Prejudice its rightful pride-of-place on bookshelves throughout the world. For Mr Bennet, a quiet life is to be highly commended. For Mrs Bennet, finding eligible husbands for her five daughters is the most important of a mother's duties. For Elizabeth, marrying without affection is unthinkable. But for them...

"A Tale of Two Cities is one of the most thrilling narratives in the whole range of the literature of fiction. Considered apart from all the other works of Dickens, it would entitle him to a very high rank among romancers. The total effect of the novel, both in construction and content, is remarkably strong. A careful re-reading will convince one that no event is superfluous, that every scene pictured, every character introduced, every mysterious,...

"Mark Twain's classic The Adventures of Tom Sawyer has been enjoyed by generations of readers across the world since its publication in 1876. With its humorous glimpses into life in nineteenth-century, small-town America, this novel has provided unique social commentary that continues to be discussed in classrooms today. Tom Sawyer, a mischievous boy growing up in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, Missouri, is constantly getting in and out of...

"A beautifully illustrated version of the original 1925 edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic Great American novel. Widely considered to be the greatest American novel of all time, The Great Gatsby is the story of the wealthy, quixotic Jay Gatsby and his obsessive love for debutante Daisy Buchanan. It is also a cautionary tale of the American Dream in all its exuberance, decadence, hedonism, and passion. First published in 1925 by Charles Scribner's...

Classics. Mark Twain's tale of a boy's picaresque journey down the Mississippi on a raft conveyed the voice and experience of the American frontier as no other work had done before. When Huck escapes from his drunken father and the 'sivilizing' Widow Douglas with the runaway slave Jim, he embarks on a series of adventures that draw him to feuding families and the trickery of the unscrupulous 'Duke' and 'Dauphin'. Beneath the exploits, however, are...

The Scarlet Letter is the story of three New England settlers at odds with the puritan society in which they live. Roger Chillingworth, an ageing scholar, arrives in New England after two years separation from his wife Hester to find her on trial for adultery. For refusing to reveal her lover's identity, she is condemned to wear a letter °' sewn onto her clothes. Roger resolves to discover and destroy the man who has stolen his honour. For the next...

"This timeless tale of an arrogant miser's transformation into a paragon of warmhearted generosity, recounted by one of the English language's most popular authors, is as much a part of the season as holly and mistletoe. Lovers of fiction, Dickens novels, picture books, and the holiday itself will delight in this magnificent hardcover edition of A Christmas Carol, illustrated by Arthur Rackham. A dozen full-page color plates and 18 black-and-white...

After the death of his father, the seventeen-year-old orphan David Balfour discovers the existence of an uncle, and sets off in search of him. His uncle Ebenezer is far from welcoming, however, and David, after barely escaping with his life, finds himself kidnapped and bound for America, where he is to be sold into slavery. Yet when the hot-headed Jacobite rebel Alan Breck Stewart comes on board, David soon finds himself thrust into a perilous adventure,...

"Shakespeare everyone can understand—now in this new EXPANDED edition of MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM! Why fear Shakespeare? By placing the words of the original play next to line-by-line translations in plain English, this popular guide makes Shakespeare accessible to everyone. And now it features expanded literature guide sections that help students study smarter. The expanded sections include:  --Five Key Questions: Five frequently asked questions...

In medieval Paris, Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bellringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, struggles to save the gypsy dancer Esmeralda from being unjustly executed. Illustrated notes throughout the text explain the historical background of the story.