(Paperback)

Contains tales that tenderly re-create a vanishing rural world and scrutinise the repressions of fin-de-siecle bourgeois life. This book contains tales and sketches that possess the wealth of description, the portrayal of the quaint lore of Wessex, the 'Chaucerian' humour and characterisation, the shrewd and critical psychology.

(Paperback, New edition)

Presenting a tale of imprisonment, both literal and metaphorical, this novel highlights its concern with personal responsibility in private and public life.

(Paperback)

Includes two American classics that are sequels to Little Women and its continuation, Good Wives. Little Men takes up the story of the everyday dramas and exploits of the naughty but easy-going boys at Plumfield, a boarding-school run by Professor Bhaer and his lovable madcap wife Jo, the most fiery and free-spirited of the four March sisters.

(Paperback, New edition)

Presents Little Women which describes the family life of the four March sisters living in a small New England community, and Good Wives which is the story of March sisters, some three years later, when, as young adults, they must face up to the inevitable trials and traumas of everyday life in their search for individual happiness.

(Paperback)

An account of life below the margins in the greatest Metropolis in the world and a portrait of the habits, tastes, amusements, appearance, speech, humour, earnings and opinions of the labouring poor at the time of the Great Exhibition.

(Paperback)

Set in the Malay Archipelago, this novel not only provides a gripping account of maritime adventure and romance, but also an exotic tale of the East. It explores the dilemmas of conscience, of moral isolation, of loyalty and betrayal confronting a sensitive individual whose romantic quest for an honourable ideal are tested to the limit.

(Paperback, New edition)

An historical novel of high adventure set in the South West of England during the turbulent time of Monmouth's rebellion (1685). It is also a love story told through the life of the young farmer John Ridd, as he grows to manhood determined to right the wrongs in his land, and to win the heart and hand of the beautiful Lorna Doone.

(Paperback, Annotated edition)

Encompasses witchcraft, bloody murder, and ghostly apparitions. This work tells the tragedy of a good, brave and honourable man turned into the personification of evil by the workings of unreasonable ambition.

(Paperback, New edition)

Flaubert's meticulous approach to the craft of fiction, his portrayal of contemporary reality, his representation of an unforgettable cast of characters make Madame Bovary one of the major landmarks of modern fiction.

(Paperback, New edition)

Old Martin Chuzzlewit, tormented by the greed and selfishness of his family, effectively drives his grandson, young Martin, to undertake a voyage to America. It is a voyage which will have crucial consequences not only for young Martin, but also for his grandfather and his grandfather's servant, Mary Graham with whom young Martin is in love.

(Paperback)

Elizabeth Gaskells first novel depicts the great clashes between capital and labour, which arose from rapid industrialisation and problems of trade in the mid-19th century. Mary Barton was published in 1848, at a time of great social ferment in Europe, and it reflects its revolutionary moment through an English lens.

(Paperback, New edition)

Although this play ends like a comedy, with reconciliations, forgiveness and marriages, it has often been regarded as one of Shakespeare's problem plays. It shows the difficulty of effecting an appropriate balance between judicial severity and mercy, between sexual repression and decadence, and between political vigilance and social manipulation.

(Paperback)

Moby Dick is the story of Captain Ahab's quest to avenge the whale that 'reaped' his leg. The quest is an obsession and the novel is a diabolical study of how a man becomes a fanatic. But it is also a hymn to democracy.

(Paperback, New edition)

Follows the life of the heroine through her many vicissitudes, which include her early seduction, careers in crime and prostitution, conviction for theft and transportation to the plantations of Virginia, and her ultimate redemption and prosperity in the new World.

(Paperback, New edition)

Society hostess, Clarissa Dalloway is giving a party. Her thoughts and sensations on that one day, and the interior monologues of others whose lives are interwoven with hers gradually reveal the characters of the central protagonists. Clarissa's life is touched by tragedy as the events in her day run parallel to those of Septimus Warren Smith.

(Paperback, New edition)

This book has long been celebrated as one of Shakespeare's popular comedies. It describes the central relationship, between Benedick and Beatrice, which is combative until love prevails.

(Paperback, New edition)

Features characters that range from the iniquitous Wackford Squeers and his family, to the delightful Mrs Nickleby, taking in the eccentric Crummles and his travelling players, the Mantalinis, the Kenwigs, and many more.

(Paperback, New edition)

Follows the story of the heroine's movement from the tranquil but moribund ways of southern England to the north. This book uses a love story to show how personal and public lives were woven together in a industrial society. It traces the origins of problems and possibilities which are still challenging a hundred and fifty years later.

(Paperback)

A collection of Dostoevsky's short stories, including Notes From The Underground which is considered to be one of the first works of existential literature.

(Paperback)

Contains many Dickensian themes - poverty, desperation, fear, temptation and the eventual triumph of good in the face of adversity. This book features some of the characters, such as Oliver himself (Who dares to ask for more), the tyrannical Bumble, the diabolical Fagin, the menacing Bill Sikes, Nancy and 'the Artful Dodger'.

(Paperback, Abridged edition)

In both a philosophical and a practical work, Clausewitz defines the essential nature of war, debates the qualities of a great commander, assesses the relative strengths of defensive and offensive war, and - in highly controversial passages - considers the relationship between war and politics.

(Paperback, New edition)

Orlando, a young nobleman in Elizabeth's England, awaits a visit from the Queen. Now, an ambassador in Costantinople, awakes to find that he is a woman.

(Paperback, Annotated edition)

Desdemona's love for Othello, the Moor, transcends racial prejudice; but the envious Iago conspires to devastate their lives. This novel renders racism, sexism, contested identities, and the savagery lurking within civilisation.

(Paperback, New edition)

John Harmon returns to England as his father's heir. He is believed drowned under suspicious circumstances - a situation convenient to his wish for anonymity until he can evaluate Bella Wilfer whom he must marry to secure his inheritance.