The tales told by Scheherazade over a thousand and one nights to delay her execution by the vengeful King Shahryar have become among the most popular in both Eastern and Western literature. From the epic adventures of 'Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp' to the farcical 'Young Woman and her Five Lovers' and the social criticism of 'The Tale of the Hunchback', the stories depict a fabulous world of all-powerful sorcerers, jinns imprisoned in bottles and enchanting princesses. But despite their imaginative extravagance, the Tales are also anchored to everyday life by their bawdiness and realism, pro... View More...
This is the moving story of the unforgettable Rosa Burger, a young woman from South Africa cast in the mold of a revolutionary tradition. Rosa tries to uphold her heritage handed on by martyred parents while still carving out a sense of self. Although it is wholly of today, Burger's Daughter can be compared to those 19th century Russian classics that make a certain time and place come alive, and yet stand as universal celebrations of the human spirit. Nadine Gordimer, winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature, was born and lives in South Africa. View More...
" Zamyatin's] intuitive grasp of the irrational side of totalitarianism-- human sacrifice, cruelty as an end in itself--makes We] superior to Huxley's Brave New World]."--George Orwell Translated by Natasha Randall - Foreword by Bruce Sterling Written in 1921, We is set in the One State, where all live for the collective good and individual freedom does not exist. The novel takes the form of the diary of mathematician D-503, who, to his shock, experiences the most disruptive emotion imaginable: love. At once satirical and sobering--and now available in a powerful new translation--We is both... View More...
"Backgrounds" relies entirely upon Machiavelli's other writings to place this central Florentine in his proper political and historical context. Included are excerpts from The Discourses, a report from a diplomatic mission, a collection of private letters, and two poems from Carnival Songs."Interpretations" retains three of the previous edition's seminal essays while adding five selections by Felix Gilbert, Federico Chabod, J. H. Whitfield, Isaiah Berlin, and Robert M. Adams."Marginalia" is an eclectic collection of writings germane to both Machiavelli and The Prince. Of the eight selections r... View More...
When Marlow mistakes Kate's house for an inn and treats her father like an inn-keeper, things are not going to go smoothly for him. With her brother causing mischief, her father insulted and her mother plotting a marriage nobody wants, it is no wonder Kate has to stoop to conquer. View More...
This anthology contains five of the most important short works of Elizabethan prose fiction: George Gascoigne's The Adventures of Master F.J., John Lyly's Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit, Robert Greene's Pandosto: The Triumph of Time, Thomas Nashe's The Unfortunate Traveller, and Thomas Deloney's Jack of Newbury. Paul Salzman has modernized the texts for easier comprehension. View More...
Nobel Laureate Pearl S. Buck's epic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and Oprah Book Club selection about a vanished China and one family's shifting fortunes. Though more than seventy years have passed since this remarkable novel won the Pulitzer Prize, it has retained its popularity and become one of the great modern classics. In The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck paints an indelible portrait of China in the 1920s, when the last emperor reigned and the vast political and social upheavals of the twentieth century were but distant rumblings. This moving, classic story of the honest farmer Wang Lung and hi... View More...
With an Introduction and Notes by Dr Pamela Knights, Department of English Studies, Durham University. Lorna Doone, a Romance of Exmoor is 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 moving 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. Continuously in print since its first publication in 1869, Lorna Doone has remained perennially popular with a wide reade... View More...
Ranald Macdonald's roots are in the forest of Ontario's easternmost county and his character was forged in the small Presbyterian church near his home. When he leaves to test his idealism and faith in the rough world of the lumber business, he brings pride to the minister's wife who was the model for his life. Met with international acclaim when published in 1901, "The Man from Glengarry" is a tale of courage and an exciting portrait of life in 19th-century Canada. View More...
