The Canterbury Tales, compiled in the late fourteenth century, isan incisive portrait, infused with Chaucer's wry wit and vibrant, poetical languauge. He evokes a spectrum of colourful characters, from the bawdy Wife of Bath to the gallant Knight, the fastidious Prioress and the burly, drunken Miller. As they wend their way from Southwark to Canterbury, tales are told to pass the time, and the stories are as diverse as the narrators, encompassing themes such as adultery, revenge, courtly love, lechery, avarice and penitence. As humorous today as when it was written over six centuries ago, The Canterbury Tales remains one of the most popular and enjoyable of the classic works of literature.

At twenty-seven, Anne Elliot is no longer young and has few romantic prospects. Eight years earlier, she had been persuaded by her friend Lady Russell to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a handsome naval captain with neither fortune nor rank. What happens when they encounter each other again is movingly told in Jane Austen's last completed novel. Set in the fashionable societies of Lyme Regis and Bath, Persuasion is a brilliant satire of vanity and pretension, but, above all, it is a love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities.

At twenty-seven, Anne Elliot is no longer young and has few romantic prospects. Eight years earlier, she had been persuaded by her friend Lady Russell to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a handsome naval captain with neither fortune nor rank. What happens when they encounter each other again is movingly told in Jane Austen's last completed novel. Set in the fashionable societies of Lyme Regis and Bath, Persuasion is a brilliant satire of vanity and pretension, but, above all, it is a love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities.

Peter Pan, the "boy who would not grow up", originally appeared as a baby living a magical life among birds and fairies in J.M. Barrie's sequence of stories, "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens". His later role as flying boy hero was brought to the stage by Barrie in the beloved play "Peter Pan", which opened in 1904 and became the novel "Peter and Wendy" in 1911. In a narrative filled with vivid characters, epic battles, pirates, fairies, and fantastic imagination, Peter Pan's adventures capture the spirit of childhood-and of rebellion against the role of adulthood in conventional society.

Filled with the colour and theatrical spectacle of the Paris Opera House at the turn of the century, and the ageless fascination of love transformed into murderous obsession, this is a classic work of mystery and suspense.

Oscar Wilde's classic tale in a bonded leather edition with gilded pages, a ribbon bookmark, and embossing on the front, back, and spine. Sure to become a classic in your library!

The portrayal of Stephen Dedalus' Dublin childhood and youth, his quest for identity through art and his gradual emancipation from the claims of family, religion and Ireland itself, is also an oblique self-portrait of the young James Joyce and a universal testament to the artist's 'eternal imagination'.

The portrayal of Stephen Dedalus' Dublin childhood and youth, his quest for identity through art and his gradual emancipation from the claims of family, religion and Ireland itself, is also an oblique self-portrait of the young James Joyce and a universal testament to the artist's 'eternal imagination'.

Rudolph Rassendyll's life is interrupted by his unexpected and personal involvement in the affairs of Ruritania whilst travelling through the town of Zenda. He is shortly on the way to Streslau, the capital, where he finds himself engaged in plans to rescue the imprisoned king.

Two children, Dan and Una, acting out their version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, miraculously conjure up Puck himself. Small and as old as time itself, he brings back the past for them to witness. He re-creates a Roman centurion, a Renaissance craftsman and the villages of time gone by.

When Father mysteriously goes away, the children andtheir mother leave their happy life in London to go and live in a smallcottage in the country. 'The Three Chimneys' lies beside a railway track - a constant source of enjoyment to all three. They make friends with the Station Master and Perks the Porter, as well as the jovial 'OldGentleman' who waves to them everyday from the train. But the mystery remains: where is Father, and will he ever return?

Henry Fleming, a raw Union Army recruit in the American Civil War, is anxious to confirm his patriotism and manhood-to earn his "badge of courage." But his dreams of heroism and invulnerability are soon shattered when he flees the Confederate enemy during his baptism of fire and then witnesses the horrible death of a friend. Plunged unwillingly into the nightmare of war, Fleming survives by sheer luck and instinct. This edition of Stephen Crane's poignant classic is supplemented by five of his acclaimed short stories as well as selected poetry, offering the full range of this great American author's extraordinary talent.

Wild passion leads to tragedy as love is perverted by marriage. But the concerns of mortals are belittled by the sombre, immemorial presence of Egdon Heath in perhaps Hardy's finest evocation of his native landscape. The text is accompanied by a critical introduction.

Childers' lone masterpiece, "The Riddle of the Sands", considered the first modern spy thriller, is recognizable as thebrilliant forerunner of the realism of Graham Greene and John le Carre. Its unique flavor comes from its fine characterization, richly
authentic background of inshore sailing and vivid evocation of the late 1890s - an atmosphere of mutual suspicion and intrigue that was soon to lead to war.

Who has not dreamed of life on an exotic isle, far away from civilization? Here is the novel which has inspired countless imitations by lesser writers, none of which equal the power and originality of Defoe's famous book. Robinson Crusoe, set ashore on an island after a terrible storm at sea, is forced to make do with only a knife, some tobacco, and a pipe. He learns how to build a canoe, make bread, and endure endless solitude. That is, until, twenty-four years later, when he confronts another human being. First published in 1719, "Robinson Crusoe" has been praised by such writers as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Samuel Johnson as one of the greatest novels in the English language.

A young man and woman meet by chance and fall instantly in love. But their families are bitter enemies, and in order to be together the two lovers must be prepared to risk everything. Set in a city torn apart by feuds and gang warfare, "Romeo and Juliet" is a dazzling combination of passion and hatred, bawdy comedy and high tragedy.

Set in the harsh Puritan community of seventeenth-century Boston, this tale of an adulterous entanglement thatresults in an illegitimate birth reveals Nathaniel Hawthorne's concerns with the tension between the public and the private selves. Publicly
disgraced and ostracized, Hester Prynne draws on her inner strength and certainty of spirit to emerge as the first true heroine of American fiction. Arthur Dimmesdale stands as a classic study of a seld divided; trapped by the rules of society, he suppresses his passion and disavows his lover, Hester, and their daughter, Pearl. As Nina Baym writes in her Introduction, "The Scarlet Letter" was not written as realistic, historical fiction, but as a 'romance', a creation of the imagination that discloses the truth of the human heart.

In the only novel Conrad set in London, "The Secret Agent" communicates aprofoundly ironic view of human affairs. The story is woven around an attack on the Greenwich Observatory in 1894 masterminded by Verloc, a Russian spy working for the police, and ostensibly a member of an anarchist group in Soho. His masters instruct him to discredit the anarchists in a humiliating fashion, and when his evil plan goes horribly awry, Verlac must deal with the repercussions of his actions.

After the death of her parents, Mary is brought back from India as a forlorn and unwanted child, to live in her uncle's great lonely house onthe moors. Then one day she discovers the key to a secret garden and, like magic, her life begins to brighten in so many ways.

A collection of poems by John Keats, which includes Isabella, The Eve of St Agnes and Hyperion.

This selection gives equal weight to the two aspects of Robert Burns' reputation, as a lyricist and as a much-loved Scottish poet. Placing works in probable order of composition, it includes lyrics to his most well known songs, such as the nostalgic Auld Lang Syne, the romantic A Red, Red Rose, and the patriotic Scots What Hae. As a poet, Burns wrote with deceptive simplicity and imaginative sympathy, and demonstrated enormous range - from comic dramatic monologues such as Holy Willie's Prayer, which mocks hypocrisy, to narratives including the celebrated Tam O' Shanter, about the ghostly visions of a drunk.

A low-priced collection of Wordsworth's poetry.

A selection of short stories by Guy de Maupassant which includes Boule de Suif, The Minuet, Madame Husson's May King, A Vendetta, A Deal, The Model, The Olive Grove, Rose, At Sea, The Capture of Walter Schaffs and The Piece of String.

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willougby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love - and its threatened loss - the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

Gentle linen weaver Silas Marner is wrongly accused of a heinous theft, and he exiles himself from the world-until he finds redemption and spiritual rebirth through his unselfish love for an abandoned child who mysteriously appears one day at his isolated cottage. Somber, yet hopeful, Eliot's realistic depiction of an irretrievable past, tempered with the magical elements of myth and fairytale, remains timeless in its understanding of human nature and is beloved by every generation.

The marriage of Gertrude and Walter Morel has become a battleground. Repelled by her uneducated and sometimes violent husband, delicate Gertrude devotes her life to her children, especially to her sons, William and Paul - determined they will not follow their father into working down the coal mines. But conflict is evitable when Paul seeks to escape his mother's suffocating grasp through relationships with women his own age. Set in Lawrence's native Nottinghamshire, "Sons and Lovers" (1913) is a highly autobiographical and compelling portrayal of childhood, adolescence and the clash of generations.

This is a unique one volume collection of all Poe's best tales and poems. Full of variety, entries include "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", "The Mystery of Marie Roget", "The Purloined Letter" - three classic detective stories - plus "The Raven", one of his greatest poems. This title includes a wonderful selection of tales and poems that are representative of every genre written by Poe, from the macabre and horrifying to the humorous and purely descriptive.

After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille the aging Dr Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil lanes of London, they are all drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror and soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.

This title presents beautifully told tales, a perfect introduction to Shakespeare's greatest plays. Charles and Mary Lamb's labour of love brings vividly alive the power of "Hamlet" and "Othello", the fun of "As You Like It" and "The Taming of the Shrew", the magic of "The Tempest" and the drama of "Pericles". Conveying all Shakespeare's wit, wisdom and humanity, and never losing the feel of his beautiful language, these tales are classic literature in their own right.

The most poetic and magical of Shakespeare's comedies, this play contrasts lyrical fantasy surrounding the spirit Ariel and the savage Calaban, with a tale of political intrigue focused around Prospero, the banished Duke of Milan, now a wizard living on a remote island.

The French Riviera in the 1920s was 'discovered' by Dick and Nicole Diver who turned it into the playground of the rich and glamorous. Among their circle is Rosemary Hoyt, the beautiful starlet, who falls in love with Dick and is enraptured by Nicole, unaware of the corruption and dark secrets that haunt their marriage. When Dick becomes entangled with Rosemary, he fractures the delicate structure of his relationship with Nicole and the lustre of their life together begins to tarnish. Tender is the Night is an exquisite novel that reflects not only Fitzgerald's own personal tragedy, but also the shattered idealism of the society in which he lived.

Tess, the eldest daughter of a poor carter in Marlott, goes to work for the rich d'Uberville family, where she becomes pregnant with the child of Alec, the d'Uberville's son. This action makes her a fallen woman, and leads to tragedy.

When Tess D'urbervilles is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future. With its sensitive depiction of the wronged Tess and powerful criticism of social convention, "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy's novels.

When Tess D'urbervilles is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future. With its sensitive depiction of the wronged Tess and powerful criticism of social convention, "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy's novels.

Adventurer Richard Hannay has just returned from South Africa and is thoroughly bored with his London life - until a murder is committed in his flat, just days after the victim had warned him of an assassination plot that could bring Britain to the brink of war. An obvious suspect for the police and an easy target for the killers, Hannay goes on the run in his native Scotland, where he must use all his wits to stay one step ahead of the game - and warn the government before it is too late. One of the most popular adventure stories ever written, The Thirty-Nine Steps established John Buchan as the original thriller writer and inspired many other novelists and filmmakers including Alfred Hitchcock.

Martyrs to hypochondria and general seediness, J. and his friends George and Harris decide that a jaunt up the Thames would suit them to a 'T'. But when they set off, they can hardly predict the troubles that lie ahead with tow-ropes, unreliable weather-forecasts and tins of pineapple chunks - not to mention the devastation left in the wake of J.'s small fox-terrier Montmorency. "Three Men in a Boat" was an instant success when it appeared in 1889, and, with its benign escapism, authorial discursions and wonderful evocation of the late-Victorian 'clerking classes', it hilariously captured the spirit of its age. In his introduction, Jeremy Lewis examines Jerome K. Jerome's life and times, and the changing world of Victorian England he depicts - from the rise of a new mass-culture of tabloids and bestselling novels to crazes for day-tripping and bicycling.

So popular did it prove that Jerome reunited his heroes for a bicycle tour of Germany. Despite some sharp, and with hindsight, prophetic observations of the country, Three Men on the Bummel describes an equally picaresque journey constrained only 'by the necessity of getting back within a given time to the point from which one started'.

'I had sent my heroine straight down a rabbit-hole ...without the least idea what was to happen afterwards,' wrote Charles Dodgson, describing how Alice was conjured up one 'golden afternoon' in 1862 to entertain his child-friend Alice Liddell. His dream worlds of nonsensical Wonderland and the back-to-front Looking-Glass kingdom depict order turned upside-down: a baby turns into a pig; time is abandoned at a disordered tea-party; and a chaotic game of chess makes a seven-year-old girl a Queen. But amongst the anarchic humour and sparkling word play, puzzles, paradoxes and riddles, are poignant moments of elegiac nostalgia for lost childhood. Startlingly original and experimental, the Alice books provide readers with a double window on both child and adult worlds.

Written by the author of "Amelia", this novel takes its wide-eyed hero from innocence to experience through inns and bedrooms from Somerset to London and back, while at the same time continuing a farcical debate about the true nature of the novelist's art.

The story grew out of a map that led to imaginary treasure, devised during a holiday in Scotland by Stevenson and his nephew. The tale is told by an adventurous boy, Jim Hawkins, who gets hold of treasure map and sets off with an adult crew in search of the buried treasure. Among the crew, however, is the treacherous Long John Silver who is determined to keep the treasure for himself. Stevenson's first full-length work of fiction brought him immediate fame and continues to captivate readers of all ages.

Anne Garland lives with her widowed mother in a mill, owned by Miller Loveday. She is wooed by three men: the stupid, coarse Festus Derriman; John Loveday, the quiet, thoughtful trumpet-major; and Bob, John's brother. Anne has to overcome many
obstacles before she marries the man of her choice.

Separated from her twin brother Sebastian after a shipwreck, Viola disguises herself as a boy to serve the Duke of Illyria. Wooing a countess on his behalf, she is stunned to find herselfthe object of his beloved's affections. With the arrival of Viola's brother, and a trick played upon the countess' steward, confusion reignsin this romantic comedy of mistaken identity.

Separated from her twin brother Sebastian after a shipwreck, Viola disguises herself as a boy to serve the Duke of Illyria. Wooing a countess on his behalf, she is stunned to find herselfthe object of his beloved's affections. With the arrival of Viola's brother, and a trick played upon the countess' steward, confusion reignsin this romantic comedy of mistaken identity.

"Vanity Fair", Thackeray's panoramic, satirical saga of corruption at all levels of English society, was published in 1847 but set during the Napoleonic Wars. It chronicles the lives of two women who could not be more different: Becky Sharp, an orphan whose only resources are her vast ambitions, her native wit, and her loose morals; and her schoolmate Amelia Sedley, a typically naive Victorian heroine, the pampered daughter of a wealthy family. Critics of the time misunderstood the book, decrying it as (among other things) vicious, vile, and odious. But "Vanity Fair" has endured as one of the great comic novels of all time, and a landmark in the history of realism in fiction.

When John Bold decides to challenge corruption in the Church of England he sets the whole town of Barchester ablaze with the consequences. This book is the study of conflicting loyalties and principles in a cathedral city where the gentle warden becomes an unwilling focus of national controversy.

When Tom, an ill-treated little chimney-sweep, jumps into a clear, cool stream to clean himself, something fantastical happens; he is turned into a tiny water baby by the fairies, and he enters a strange, magical underwater world.

This is a title in an inexpensive range of classics in the Penguin Popular Classics series.

Butler began writing the first draft of "The Way of All Flesh," but put it aside after realizing that the scathing, autobiographical nature of the story would deeply hurt other family members (as he was originally studying for the clergy). "The Way of All Flesh" was eventually published in 1903. It tells the story of Ernest Pontifex, based upon Butler himself, and his struggles with Victorian mores, his restrictive, highly-religious family, and Victorian society itself. Butler is remembered as one of the greatest of the anti-Victorians, whose ideas reflected accurately the new, more liberal society that was to come following the death of England's great Queen, and the beginning of a new era.

Gangly, quick-tempered Katy always means to be beautiful and beloved and as good as an angel one day, but meanwhile her resolutions somehow get forgotten or go horribly wrong. One day she falls off a swing and faces possible paralysis. She begins to learn from her invalid cousin Helen.

This is the complete and unabridged story in which Dorothy, together with her companions the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow and the cowardly Lion, makes her journey along the Yellow Brick Road in search of the wonderful wizard.