Wordsworth

Henry Morton Stanley, 2010

Henry Morton Stanley's greeting to the Scottish medical missionary David Livingstone — Dr Livingstone, I presume? — is to exploration what Holmes' Elementary, my dear Watson is to detective fiction. It took place in a remote African settlement when a travelling correspondent for the «New York Herald» successfully concluded an assignment to find the renowned explorer. But the meeting, and the events surrounding it, proved to be more than just a simple news story. Stanley's accounts of his expedition not only helped transform Livingstone into one of the great Victorian heroes, but were also the springboard from which Stanley himself became the most accomplished of all African explorers. «How I Found Livingstone» was written in six weeks, published in November 1872, and had sold through three printings by Christmas. For Stanley was not only a great explorer, he was also one of the most talented writers ever to tell the tale of travel and discovery in Africa. His account of his journey through East Africa, and his time spent investigating Lake Tanganyika with Livingstone, is one of the classics of African exploration. Подробнее

The Innocents Abroad

Mark Twain, 2010

'Who could read the programme for the excursion without longing to make one of the party'? So Mark Twain acclaims his voyage from New York City to Europe and the Holy Land in June 1867. His adventures produced The Innocents Abroad, a book so funny and provocative it made him an international star for the rest of his life. He was making his first responses to the Old World — to Paris, Milan, Florence, Venice, Pompeii, Constantinople, Sebastopol, Balaklava, Damascus, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem. For the first time he was seeing the great paintings and sculptures of the 'Old Masters'. He responded with wonder and amazement, but also with exasperation, irritation, disbelief. Above all he displayed the great energy of his humour, more explosive for us now than for his beguiled contemporaries. Подробнее

King Solomon's Mines: and Allan Quatermain

H. Rider Haggard, 2010

Sir Henry Curtis and Captain Good persuade Allan Quatermain to help them find Sir Henry's brother George, who has gone missing in the unexplored African interior while searching for the legendary treasure trove of a lost kingdom. Quatermain agrees to lead the expedition, though he has little hope they will return alive. Подробнее

The King in Yellow

Robert W. Chambers, 2010

Offers a series of vaguely connected stories that is linked by the presence of a monstrous and suppressed book which brings fright, madness and spectral tragedy to all those who read it. An air of futility and doom pervade these pages like a sweet insidious poison. Dare you read it? Подробнее

The Little Prince and Other Stories

Various, 2010

The Little Prince is a modern parable for our time, of equal appeal to children and adults. This much loved story is joined by the following classic titles, to give a collection that has something for everyone, whatever their age: Black Beauty Little Women Alice in Wonderland The Secret Garden Robin Hood The Wind in the Willows The Railway Children The Jungle Book Peter Pan. Подробнее

The Mystery of the Yellow Room

Gaston Leroux, 2010

Who could have tried to murder Mademoiselle Stangerson, beautiful daughter of a famous radium scientist? And how could they have entered and escaped from a completely locked and watched room? With the Surete's top sleuth vying against him, Rouletabille is determined to prove only he can solve the case. Подробнее

Christmas Books, Ghost Stories and Other Tales

Charles Dickens, 2011

Somehow, Christmas and ghost stories go well together, and here too Dickens was a master of the art. This title presents a collection of his supernatural tales, including such classics as «The Signalman» and «The Trial for Murder». Подробнее

The Collector's Book of Westerns

Various, 2010

Once they had settled the eastern seaboard, the founding fathers of the great North American continent encouraged others to follow them to the land of opportunity. So the refugees, the poor and the oppressed, the adventurous and the foolhardy packed their all, they left the old-world shadows and set out with their hopes and dreams. Подробнее

Sweeney Todd — The String of Pearls

James Malcolm Rymer, 2010

The exploits of Sweeney Todd, 'The Demon Barber of Fleet Street', have been recounted many times in plays, films and musicals. One great mystery that has surrounded the book is who the author was — or was it possibly the work of more than one man? The author has established finally the identity of the creator of this legendary figure. Подробнее

The Drug and Other Stories

Aleister Crowley, 2010

This title is edited with an introduction by William Breeze Foreword by David Tibet. This volume brings together the uncollected short fiction of the poet, writer and religious philosopher Aleister Crowley (1875-1947). Crowley was a successful critic, editor and author of fiction from 1908 to 1922, and his short stories are long overdue for discovery. Of the forty-nine stories in the present volume, only thirty were published in his lifetime. Most of the rest appear here for the first time. Like their author, Crowley's stories are fun, smart, witty, thought-provoking and sometimes unsettling. They are set in places he had lived and knew well: Belle Epoque Paris, Edwardian London, pre-revolutionary Russia and America during the first World War. The title story The Drug stands as one of the first — if not the first-accounts of a psychedelic experience. His Black and Silver is a knowing early noir discovery that anticipates an entire genre. Atlantis is a masterpiece of occult fantasy, a dark satire that can stand with Samuel Butler's Erewhon. Frank Harris considered The Testament of Magdalen Blair the most terrifying tale ever written. Extensive editorial end-notes give full details about the stories. Подробнее

The Dead of Night: The Ghost Stories of Oliver Onions

Oliver Onions, 2010

This title includes an introduction by David Stuart Davies. Oliver Onions is unique in the realms of ghost story writers in that his tales are so far ranging in their background and substance that they are not easily categorised. His stories are powerfully charged explorations of psychical violence, their effects heightened by detailed character studies graced with a powerful poetic elegance. In simple terms Oliver Onions goes for the cerebral rather than the jugular. However, make no mistake, his ghost stories achieve the desired effect. They draw you in, enmeshing you in their unnerving and disturbing narratives. This collection contains such masterpieces as The Rosewood Door, The Ascending Dream, The Painted Face, and The Beckoning Fair One, a story which both Algernon Blackwood and H. P. Lovecraft regarded as one of the most effective and subtle ghost stories in all literature. Long out of print, these classic tales are a treasure trove of nightmarish gems. Подробнее

In Ghostly Company

Amyas Northcote, 2010

This title features Introduction by David Stuart Davies. 'A grey cloud formed on the summit of the altar, diminishing, thickening and turning into a Shape, a shape of evil and fear. The silent group by the fire once more broke forth into wild gesticulations and cries, Stella prostrated herself, the Form on the altar grew clearer and with a cry of horror Mr Fowke turned away and rushed madly across the moor'. Amyas Northcote's In Ghostly Company is a rare and splendid collection of strange and disturbing tales from the golden age of ghost stories. His style is akin to that of the master of the genre M.R. James: it is measured and insidiously suggestive, producing unnerving chills rather than shocks and gasps. Northcote's tales make the reader unsettled and uneasy. This is partly due to the fact that the hauntings or strange occurrences take place in natural or mundane surroundings — surroundings familiar to the reader but never before thought of as unusual or threatening. Long out of print, this book remains an enthralling and chilling read. Подробнее

The Casefiles of Mr: J. G. Reeder

Edgar Wallace, 2010

Despite his insignificant appearance, Reeder is a cold and ruthless detective who credits his success to his 'criminal mind' which allows him to solve a series of complex and audacious crimes and outwit the most cunning of villainous masterminds. Подробнее

The Good Soldier

Ford Madox Ford, 2010

The Good Soldier is a masterpiece of twentieth-century fiction, an inspiration for many later, distinguished writers, including Graham Greene. Set before the First World War, it tells the tale of two wealthy and sophisticated couples, one English, one American, as they travel, socialise, and take the waters in the spa towns of Europe. They are 'playing the game' in style. That game has begun to unravel, however, and with compelling attention to the comic, as well as the tragic, results the American narrator reveals his growing awareness of the sexual intrigues and emotional betrayals that lie behind its facade. Подробнее

The Complete Richard Hannay Stories

John Buchan, 2010

Major General Sir Richard Hannay is the fictional secret agent created by writer and diplomat John Buchan, who was himself an Intelligence officer during the First World War. The strong and silent type, combining the dour temperament of the Scot with the stiff upper lip of the Englishman, Hannay is pre-eminent among early spy-thriller heroes. Caught up in the first of these five gripping adventures just before the outbreak of war in 1914, he manages to thwart the enemy's evil plan and solve the mystery of the 'thirty-nine steps'. In Greenmantle, he undertakes a vital mission to prevent jihad in the Islamic Near East. Mr Standfast', set in the decisive months of 1917-18, is the novel in which Hannay, after a life lived 'wholly among men', finally falls in love; later, in The Three Hostages, he finds himself unravelling a kidnapping mystery with his wife's help. In the last adventure, The Island of Sheep, he is called upon to honour an old oath. A shrewd judge of men, he never dehumanises his enemy, and despite sharing some of the racial prejudices of his day, Richard Hannay is a worthy prototype hero of espionage fiction. Подробнее

The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes and His Last Bow

Conan Doyle Arthur, 2009

This volume completes the canon of the illustrated Sherlock Holmes stories, reprinted from «The Strand Magazine». It contains «The Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes», «The Valley of Fear», «His Last Bow» and the last 12 stories of «The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes». Wordsworth Classics covers a huge list of beloved works of literature in English and translations. This growing series is rigorously updated, with scholarly introductions and notes added to new titles. Подробнее

Pride and Prejudice

Austen Jane, 2007

The garrulous and empty-headed Mrs Bennet has only one aim — that of finding a good match for each of her five daughters. In this, she is mocked by her cynical and indolent husband. This is an ironic novel of manners. «Pride and Prejudice», which opens with one of the most famous sentences in English Literature, is an ironic novel of manners. In it, the garrulous and empty-headed Mrs Bennet has only one aim — that of finding a good match for each of her five daughters. In this, she is mocked by her cynical and indolent husband. With its wit, its social precision and, above all, its irresistible heroine, «Pride and Prejudice» has proved one of the most enduringly popular novels in the English language. Подробнее

Lady Chatterley's Lover

Lawrence D.H., 2005

Lawrence's uncompromisingly candid novel deals in poetic and sexually explicit language with the passionate relationship between Lady Constance Chatterly and her husband's forthright and powerfully masculine gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors. Trapped in a marriage which has become sterile and joyless since her husband's return from the trenches of the First World War, partially paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair, Connie seizes the chance of sexual fulfilment she had thought lost to her forever. Подробнее

George Bernard Shaw

Frank Harris, 2008

This work starts with an introduction by J.H. Stape, St Mary's University College, Strawberry Hill. Written in 1930, Bernard Shaw: An Unauthorised Biography (1930) appeared shortly after Frank Harris' death. Shaw read the revised proofs, also making a few corrections and adding a short postscript. With the help of an American journalist and an anarchist of European reputation, Harris managed to finish his last completed work. Like much of his biographical writing, this work offers an impressionistic and unconventional portrait of a man of genius — or, rather, of qualified genius (as Harris sees Shaw) — and a man of talent, Harris himself.Eschewing conventional chronology, although Harris begins with Shaw's family background and ends with a chapter on the future, this kaleidoscopic attempt to pin Shaw down succeeds mainly by indirection, in its casual insights and off-the-cuff observations. A portrait with Shaw's warts unflinchingly in place, it is only partly an assessment of a social critic and playwright, with Harris on the loose, seeking to get his word out, one last time, on dramatic censorship, the First World War or on sex and religion. Подробнее

The Italian

Ann Radcliffe, 2011

With an Introduction by Kathryn White. 'He saw her wounded, and bleeding to death; saw her ashy countenance, and her wasting eyes... turned piteously on himself, as if imploring him to save her from the fate that was dragging her to the grave...' Ann Radcliffe, author of The Romance of the Forest and The Mysteries of Udolpho, is the high priestess of the gothic novel. In The Italian, first published in 1797, she creates a chilling, atmospheric concoction of thwarted lovers, ruined abbeys, imprisonment and dark passages, with an undercurrent of seething sexuality and presents us with a cunning villain in the sinister monk Schedoni. A contemporary review commented on, 'Radcliffe's uncommon talent for exhibiting, with picturesque touches of genius, the vague and horrid shapes which imagination bodies forth...' Radcliffe's work was hugely influential and H.P. Lovecraft, early twentieth century master of the uncanny, was impressed by the, 'eerie touch of setting and action contributing artistically to the impression of illimitable frightfulness which she wished to convey.' The novel remains a fascinating, engrossing and unnerving masterpiece of gothic fiction. Подробнее

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