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"A peculiarly thrilling and vigorous tale of adventure."  Andrew Lang "It goes and it grips and it moves with all the freshness of youth."  Rudyard KiplingWhen Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island was first published, H. Rider Haggard made a five-shilling bet that he could write a better adventure tale. In 1885, he created King Solomon's Mines, a story in which Allan Quatermain, a gentleman adventurer, is hired to locate a man who had disappeared into the heart of Africa while hunting for the legendary lost diamond mines of King Solomon. The book became an instant sensation and has remained popular ever since.Tales of adventure in exotic settings were the hallmark of Haggard's art; and King Solomons Mines was no exception. Here were all the elements for which his novels were famous: a gripping tale in a foreign setting, supernatural adventures, terror, passion, and discovery. Praised as "the most amazing story ever written," the book went on to become one of the bestselling novels of the 19th century.

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Rich with wisdom and gentle irony, Oliver Goldsmith's only novel is a charming comedy that tells of an unworldly and generous vicar who lives contentedly with his large family until disaster strikes. When his idyllic life is brutally interrupted by bankruptcy and his daughter's abduction, he lands in prison. Yet these misfortunes fail to conquer the vicar's spirit or cause him to lose sight of Christian morality.A delightful lampoon of such literary conventions of the day as pastoral scenes, artificial romance, and the hero's stoic bravery, The Vicar of Wakefield has remained a classic since its first publication in 1766.

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Renowned for his poetry, plays, essays, and conversational skills, Oscar Wilde also wrote scintillating works of short fiction. This volume includes four fine examples, including The Canterville Ghost, the comical tale of a spirit who terrorized the residents of Canterville Chase for three centuries. When the manor is acquired by a no-nonsense American family with no use for the supernatural, hilarity ensues.Three other stories feature "The Sphinx Without a Secret," a tale of an enigmatic woman who carries a mystery's key to her grave; "The Model Millionaire," recounting the exploits of a "delightful, ineffectual young man with a perfect profile and no profession"; and "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime," in which an aristocrat learns that he is destined to commit murder. Rounding out the volume are Wilde's lyrical Poems in Prose: "The Artist," "The Doer of Good," "The Disciple," "The Master," "The House of Judgment," and "The Teacher of Wisdom."

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Joseph Andrews refuses Lady Booby's advances, she discharges him, and Joseph  in the company of his old tutor, Parson Adams (one of the great comic figures of literature)  sets out from London to visit his sweetheart, Fanny. Along the way, the two travelers meet with a series of adventures  some hilarious, some heartstopping  in which through their own innocence and honesty they expose the hypocrisy and affectation of others. Joseph Andrews started out as a parody of Richardson's Pamela, but soon left that purpose behind and now is regarded as the first English realistic novel.

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A group of Utopians, dispirited by a mid-19th-century America they view as dissolute, takes to the pastoral life, but finds little satisfaction in its socialist living experiments. Little by little, the members' hypocrisies, contradictions, and ideological and economic paradoxes are exposed  even as they attempt to create the ideal community. Among the group are Hollingsworth, an idealistic but egotistical reformer; Zenobia, an ardent feminist and exotic beauty; Priscilla, her frail and mysterious sister; Old Moodie, the sisters' manipulative father; Westervelt, a demonic mesmerist; and Miles Coverdale, whose narrative of the Blithedale experiment reveals the sexist and classist oppression permeating the Utopian group. First published in 1852, The Blithedale Romance was based in part on Hawthorne's disillusioning experiences with the Brook Farm experimental community near Boston in 1841. An engrossing novel about love, idealism, and politics tragically gone amiss, this captivating work bristles with the author's perceptive wit and intelligence.

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Children will love this wonderful tale of Blacky the Crow, who has very sharp eyes, and who is often getting into trouble because he sees things he shouldn't. One day Blacky notices two fresh eggs in a nest belonging to Hooty the Owl and Mrs. Hooty. The eggs are a prize too delicious to pass up and Blacky devises a plan to snatch them. But does he succeed? Young readers will enjoy finding out in this charming tale by master storyteller Thornton W. Burgess.Reset in large, easy-to-read type, this book is filled with gentle humor and important lessons about nature and wildlife, and is further enhanced by four original Harrison Cady illustrations. Blacky the Crow is sure to captivate youngsters discovering the joy of reading and the pleasures of storytelling at its finest.

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A captured colonial leader, condemned to death by Indians, is saved by the brave and dramatic act of a lovely Indian princess. That exciting and memorable scene comes to life once more in this engrossing story of Pocahontas, the daughter of Chief Powhatan, who persuaded her father to spare the life of Captain John Smith.Also here are many other incidents and episodes in the short but eventful life of Pocahontas  her encounters with the settlers of Jamestown, her captivity on a British ship and her efforts to help the English.This newly illustrated edition, set in large, easy-to-read type, invites youngsters to relive the drama, adventure, and romance that characterized the life and times of an extraordinary Native American woman.

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When Poor Folk was first published in 1846, Dostoyevsky  one of nineteenth-century Russia's most important authors  was just twenty-four years old. The novel brought him immediate critical and public acclaim. A poignant societal and physiological sketch, Dostoyevsky's masterpiece is written in the form of letters of correspondence between two characters, both trapped within the poverty and circumstance of St. Petersburg's slums. Makar is a writer struggling to survive; Varvara, a low-paid seamstress. The two are in love, but too poor to marry. They long for respect, but can't even muster enough for themselves.Written during the initial stirrings of the Russian realism movement, Poor Folk is a vivid portrait of society's "everyman." A work that is both beautiful and tragic, it unravels an unforgettable tale of the human condition.

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A Pair of Silk Stockings and Other Short Stories

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Known for her vivid portrayals of Creole life in Louisiana, Kate Chopin (18511904) wrote, during her brief literary career, poignant and perceptive stories about the emotional lives of women. Bypassing many of the conventions of 19th-century realism, she won praise for her realistic portraits of the inhabitants of bayou and urban areas.This collection of nine stories contains one of her most famous works, "Desiree's Baby"  a haunting and ironic tale of miscegenation. Additional stories include "Madame Celestin's Divorce," "A Gentleman of Bayou Teche" and "At the 'Cadian Ball," from Bayou Folk; "A Respectable Woman," "A Night in Acadie" and Azelie" from A Night in Acadie; "The Dream of an Hour" and the title story. Written with grace, delicate humor and a keen understanding of the human  especially the female  psyche, these stories are a superb introduction to an important American writer whose literary career was cut short by the harsh criticism directed at her novel The Awakening (1899).

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Set in 18th-century Scotland, this brooding historical romance unfolds amid the Jacobite Rebellion. A struggle between good and evil begins in the old Scottish castle of Durrisdeer  the ancestral home of the Durie clan  where James Durie, Master of Ballantrae, persists in his lifelong rivalry with his younger brother as well as his relentless quest for the family fortune.From Durrisdeer, the fast-paced adventure shifts to sea voyages and encounters with pirates, intrigue at the French court and in India, and an attempt to recover buried treasure in New York's Adirondack Mountains  all leading to a shocking climax in the American wilderness. An engrossing tale played out against the backdrop of three continents, The Master of Ballantrae stands among the most vivid and exciting of Robert Louis Stevenson' tales.

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Generations of young readers have thrilled to the legend of the noble outlaw of Sherwood Forest. Now Robin Hood and his Band of Merry Men come to life again in this imaginative new retelling of the age-old tale. Youngsters will delight in the feats of valor and thrilling exploits of Robin, Little John, Friar Tuck, Allan a Dale, Maid Marian, and the other members of the band as they struggle for freedom and justice against the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. Six charming new illustrations enhance this edition.

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Like Sleeping Beauty awakening from her 100-year nap, the old childhood favorites arise fresh and blooming every time they're read. This handsome new compilation of some of the world's greatest fairy tales abounds in timeless stories of the struggle of good against evil, bravery in the face of overwhelming danger, and virtue rewarded with everlasting love. Recounted to Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm almost two centuries ago by European storytellers, the tales possess all of the most engaging elements of folklore  from magic spells and enchanted frogs to a colorful cast of noble princes, lovely maidens, giants, witches, and other fantastic characters. These 21 unabridged tales, selected from the more than 200 collected by the Brothers Grimm, include such unforgettable classics as "Snow White," "The Elves and the Shoemaker," "The Brave Little Tailor," "The Golden Goose," "Hansel and Gretel," "Little Red Riding Hood," "Rumpelstiltskin," "Rapunzel," and "Tom Thumb."

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The Adventure of the Dancing Men and Other Sherlock Holmes Stories

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Undoubtedly the world's best-known fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, with his faithful sidekick, Dr. Watson, is the scourge of London's underworld, sallying forth from his rooms at 221B Baker Street to solve crimes and bring evildoers to justice. Now four of the best Holmes stories have been collected in this volume, offering a superb sampler of the great sleuth's fascinating adventures. Included are "The Adventure of the Dancing Men," in which the sudden appearance of mysterious stick-figure drawings proves disastrous to a country squire and his bride; "The Adventure of the Dying Detective," in which Holmes appears to have contracted a mysterious Asian disease that leaves him at death's door; and two other celebrated stories: "The Musgrave Ritual" and "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans." In this inexpensive collection, these stories represent a wonderful introduction to the larger body of Holmes stories, as well as a delightful pocket-sized treat for any mystery lover.

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One of the most important and popular American poets of the 20th century, e. e. cummings is best known for his brilliant and innovative verse and its distinctive lack of uppercase letters and conventional grammar. He was also a Cubist painter and a World War I veteran. At the age of 23, he abandoned his artistic pursuits for voluntary service as an ambulance driver in France. His military career culminated in a comedy of errors leading to his arrest and imprisonment for treason, as he memorably recounts in The Enormous Room. Cummings transforms a tale of unjust incarceration into a high-energy romp and a celebration of the indomitable human spirit that ranks with the best of its contemporaries, including the works of Hemingway and Dos Passos. This edition restores a significant amount of material deleted from the book's initial publication in 1922.

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Acclaimed as one of Conrad's finest literary achievements, this gripping novel deftly depicts the political turmoil of nineteenth-century Russia and follows the dramatic developments in the life of a student, Razumov, as he prepares for a career in the czarist bureaucracy.In a plot that twists and turns, Razumov unwittingly becomes embroiled in a revolutionary conspiracy when he gives refuge to a fellow student who assassinated a public official. Increasingly enmeshed in the radical's political intrigue, he betrays the anarchist who had placed blind faith in him. The authorities then dispatch Razumov on a mission to spy on the revolutionary's sister and mother.A fascinating character study, Under Western Eyes hauntingly reveals Razumov's preoccupation with questions of decency and accountability when confronted by the equally powerful values of human integrity and moral strength.

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Often ranked as the greatest of Plato's many remarkable writings, this celebrated philosophical work of the fourth century B.C. contemplates the elements of an ideal state, serving as the forerunner for such other classics of political thought as Cicero's De Republica, St. Augustine's City of God, and Thomas More's Utopia.Written in the form of a dialog in which Socrates questions his students and fellow citizens, The Republic concerns itself chiefly with the question, "What is justice?" as well as Plato's theory of ideas and his conception of the philosopher's role in society. To explore the latter, he invents the allegory of the cave to illustrate his notion that ordinary men are like prisoners in a cave, observing only the shadows of things, while philosophers are those who venture outside the cave and see things as they really are, and whose task it is to return to the cave and tell the truth about what they have seen. This dynamic metaphor expresses at once the eternal conflict between the world of the senses (the cave) and the world of ideas (the world outside the cave), and the philosopher's role as mediator between the two.High school and college students, as well as lovers of classical literature and philosophy, will welcome this handsome and inexpensive edition of an immortal work. It appears here in the fine translation by the English classicist Benjamin Jowett.

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A Smorgasbord of Tasty and Delicious Poems for Young Readers

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Focusing on popular verse from the nineteenth century through today, this anthology invites young readers to sample a taste of irresistible poems that will nourish their minds and spirits. Selected for both popularity and literary quality, seventy charming poems cover a wide range of subjects: poetry, books, words, and imagination; the beauty of the natural world; travel, adventure, sports, and play; love, friendship, sadness, hope, and other emotions. Included are:"Prickled Pickles Don't Smile," Nikki Giovanni"W. D., Don't Fear that Animal," W. D. Snodgrass"A Jelly-Fish," Marianne Moore"The Porcupine," Ogden Nash"Annabel Lee," Edgar Allan Poe"The Falling Star," Sara Teasdale"Sick," Shel Silverstein"Casey at the Bat," Ernest Lawrence Thayer"With Kitty, Age Seven, At the Beach," William Stafford"Hope is the Thing with Feathers," Emily Dickinson. . . . and sixty other notable works.Chosen by the American Poetry & Literacy Project and the Academy of American Poets, two of the nation's most respected nonprofit poetry organizations, these much-loved and highly readable poems promise young readers and poetry lovers of all ages hours of reading pleasure.

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American Poetry & Literacy Project, Academy of  American Poets, Ted Kooser

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A sensitive and moving portrait of a Victorian town, captured at a transitional period in English society, Cranford first appeared serially in Charles Dickens's magazine Household Words from 1851 to 1853, and in book form in 1853. Author Elizabeth Gaskell situated her stories in a hamlet very like the one in which she grew up, and her affectionate but unsentimental portraits of the residents of Cranford offer a realistic view of life and manners in an English country village during the 1830s.Cranford recounts the events and activities in the lives of a group of spinsters and widows who struggle in genteel poverty to maintain their standards of propriety, decency, and kindness. Tales of the heroism and self-sacrifice of Captain Brown, the surprising betrothal of Lady Glenmire, and the future for pretty but poor Miss Jessie support a web of subtle but serious themes that include the movement from aristocratic to middle-class values, the separate spheres and diverse experiences of men and women, and the curious coexistence of customs old and new in a changing society. Often referred to as Mrs. Gaskell, the author preferred Cranford to all her other works, which include a popular biography of her friend Charlotte Bronte. Praised by Charles Dickens as "delightful, and touched with the most tender and delicate manner," the novel remains a favorite with students and aficionados of nineteenth-century literature.     

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Recognized today as the undisputed master of the American Gothic horror story, Edgar Allan Poe (18091849) revealed his genius in tales of death, terror, evil, and perversity. Highly skilled in achieving a calculated psychological effect, Poe created chilling fictional nightmares permeated by mysterious forces, grotesque creatures, and improbable hallucinations. Poe's immense powers as a storyteller are at their peak in this anthology containing nine of his best-known short stories. Among them are "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," a gripping 19th-century detective story that provided a model for future mystery writers; "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Masque of the Red Death," pervaded with eerie thoughts, impulses, and fears; "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado," masterpieces of wickedness and crime; "The Pit and the Pendulum," with its agonizing specter of imminent and horrifying death; and "The Gold-Bug," a fascinating detective story that combines romance and adventure in an absorbing tale of buried treasure. Mystery lovers and horror story enthusiasts will find this inexpensive collection, by one of the great masters of the form, an exciting addition to their personal libraries.

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Discussed and debated from time immemorial, the concept of personal liberty went without codification until the 1859 publication of On Liberty. John Stuart Mill's complete and resolute dedication to the cause of freedom inspired this treatise, an enduring work through which the concept remains well known and studied.The British economist, philosopher, and ethical theorist's argument does not focus on "the so-called Liberty of the Will...but Civil, or Social Liberty: the nature and limits of the power which can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual." Mill asks and answers provocative questions relating to the boundaries of social authority and individual sovereignty. In powerful and persuasive prose, he declares that there is "one very simple principle" regarding the use of coercion in society  one may only coerce others either to defend oneself or to defend others from harm.The new edition offers students of political science and philosophy, in an inexpensive volume, one of the most influential studies on the nature of individual liberty and its role in a democratic society.