Wordsworth

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass

Lewis Carroll, 1992

This selection of Carroll's works includes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, both containing the famous illustrations by Sir John Tenniel. No greater books for children have ever been written. The simple language, dreamlike atmosphere, and fantastical characters are as appealing to young readers today as ever they were. Meanwhile, however, these apparently simple stories have become recognised as adult masterpieces, and extraordinary experiments, years ahead of their time, in Modernism and Surrealism. Through wordplay, parody and logical and philosophical puzzles, Carroll engenders a variety of sub-texts, teasing, ominous or melancholy. For all the surface playfulness there is meaning everywhere. The author reveals himself in glimpses. Подробнее

Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea

L.M. Montgomery, 1994

When the Cuthberts send to an orphanage for a boy to help them at Green Gables, their farm in Canada, they are astonished when a talkative little girl steps off the train. Anne, red-headed, pugnacious and incurably romantic, causes chaos at Green Gables and in the village, but her wit and good nature delight the fictional community of Prince Edward Island, Canada, and ensure that Anne of Green Gables continues to be a firm favourite with readers worldwide. Anne of Avonlea continues Anne’s story. Now half-past sixteen but as strong-headed and romantic as ever, Anne becomes a teacher at her old school and dreams of its improvement. But her responsible position and mature ambitions do not prevent her entanglement in the scrapes that still seem to beset her in spite of her best intentions. Thoroughly charming and amusing, with a supporting cast of colourful and endearing characters, both books will enchant and entertain readers, guaranteeing that Anne’s adventures capture their affections as well as their imaginations. Подробнее

Antony and Cleopatra

William Shakespeare, 1993

Antony and Cleopatra is one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies: a spectacular, widely-ranging drama of love and war, passion and politics. Antony is divided between the responsibilities of imperial power and the intensities of his sexual relationship with Cleopatra. She, variously generous and ruthless, loving and jealous, petulant and majestic, emerges as Shakespeare's most complex depiction of a woman: 'Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale / Her infinite variety.' Подробнее

The Art of War/The Book of Lord Shang

Sun Tzu, 1998

The two political classics in this book are the product of a time of intense turmoil in Chinese history. Dating from the Period of the Warring States (403-221BC), they anticipate Machiavelli's The Prince by nearly 2000 years. The Art of War is the best known of a considerable body of Chinese works on the subject. It analyses the nature of war, and reveals how victory may be ensured. The Book of Lord Shang is a political treatise for the instruction of rulers. These texts are anything but armchair strategy or ivory-tower speculation. They are serious, urgent and practical responses to the desperate situations in which they were written. They have been immensely influential both inside and outside China. Подробнее

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Memories and Adventures

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 2007

Arthur Conan Doyle is best remembered today as the creator of the world's most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. But he was much more than that. Apart from being a popular and prolific author — his literary output included historical novels, science fiction and histories of the Boer War and the First World War — his passion for a wide range of subjects make him a colourful and fascinating character in his own right. He was an early champion of the Channel Tunnel, he played cricket for the MCC, was a staunch advocate of Spiritualism, introduced cross country skiing to Switzerland and he was acquainted with many of the notable public figures of the late Victorian and Edwardian period. His fascinating account of his life is a wonderful record of a unique individual. This volume has the added bonus of a perceptive and illuminating introduction by David Stuart Davies who throws some light into the darker areas of Conan Doyle's life. Подробнее

As You Like It

William Shakespeare, 2008

As You Like It is one of Shakespeare's finest romantic comedies, variously lyrical, melancholy, satiric, comic and absurd. Its highly implausible plot generates a profusion of love-lorn men, a resourceful heroine in disguise, sexual ambiguity, melancholy philosophising and finally a multiplicity of marriages. The ironic medley of pastoral artifice, romantic ardour and quizzical reflection has helped to make As You Like It perennially popular in the theatre. Подробнее

Barnaby Rudge

Charles Dickens, 1998

Dickens' first historical novel is set against the infamous 'No Popery' riots that were instigated by Lord George Gordon in 1780, and terrorised London for days. prejudice, intolerance, misplaced religious and nationalistic fervour, together with the villains who would exploit these for political ends, are Dicken's targets. His vivid account of the riots at the heart of the novel is interwoven with the mysterious tale of a long unsolved murder, and a romance that combines forbidden love, passion, treachery and heroism. A typically rich cast of characters, from the snivelling Mrs Miggs and the posturing Simon Tappertit to the half-witted Barnaby Rudge of the title, ensures high entertainment. Подробнее

Ben Hur

Lew Wallace, 1996

An immediate best-seller on publication, Ben Hur remains a dazzling achievement by any standards. A thoroughly exhilarating tale of betrayal, revenge and salvation, it is the only novel that ranks with Uncle Tom's Cabin as a genuine American folk possession. Wallace writes with a freshness and immediacy that brings every action-packed scene to life and illuminates the geography, ethnology and customs of the ancient world. Подробнее

Beowulf Beowulf is the longest surviving poem of Anglo-Saxon England. Beowulf, a young warrior of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, king of the Danes, in his time of need. He first fights the hellish Grendel, then struggles with Grendel's no less fearsome mother in her hall beneath the cold waters of the mere. More than fifty years later Beowulf, now king of the Geats, must face his final challenge in the shape of a huge and terrifying dragon. But Beowulf is not just an adventure story. Other tales of war, feuding, and loss in less mythical worlds are interwoven with the main plot in such a way as to force readers to ask questions about the heroic code; equally thought-provoking are the juxtaposition of virtuous and vicious characters, the presence of some women who are helpless victims and others who exert a strong influence on men, and above all the fact that the characters are pagan while the poet is clearly (though not insistently) Christian. Marc Hudson's thoughtful modern English version combines readability with detailed attention to both the spirit and the meaning of the original poem. Подробнее

Best Ghost Stories

Charles Dickens, 1998

Interest in supernatural phenomena was high during Charles Dickens lifetime. His natural inclination towards drama and the macabre lead him into the telling of ghost tales. Twelve ghosts stories are presented here, and the full range of Dickens' gothic talents can be seen. Подробнее

The Best Short Stories

Rudyard Kipling, 1998

This is a fascinating selection of Kipling's most famous short stories, bringing together the very best of his work. Life's Handicap reflects his experiences of India, and contains two horror stories which permeate the collection with an air of haunted destinies. Delusions and obsessions, past lives and the slums of London in 1890 are the diverse topics featured in Many Inventions. While Traffics and Discoveries is Kipling's well-loved story about a polo pony. Подробнее

The Best of Sherlock Holmes

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1998

The Best of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of twenty of the very best tales from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fifty-six short stories featuring the arch-sleuth. Basing his selection around the author’s own twelve personal favourites, David Stuart Davies has added a further eight sparkling stories to Conan Doyle’s ‘Baker Street Dozen’ creating a unique volume which distils the pure essence of the world’s most famous detective. Подробнее

Billy Budd and Other Stories

Herman Melville, 1998

Melville's short stories are masterpieces. The best are to be appreciated on more than one level and those presented here are rich with symbolism and spiritual depth. Set in 1797, Billy Budd, Foretopman exploits the tension of this period during the war between England and France to create a tale of satanic treachery, tragedy and great pathos that explores human relationships and the inherently ambiguous nature of man-made justice. Tales such as Bartleby, Benito Cereno, The Lightning Rod Man, The Tartarus of Maids or I and My Chimney, show the timeless poetic power of Melville's writing as he consciously uses the disguise of allegory in various ways and to various ends. Подробнее

Black Beauty

Anna Sewell, 1993

Black Beauty had a fine, soft black coat, one white foot and a silver star on his forehead. This tale tells of the horse's adventures and the disappointments and joys that surround him. Подробнее

The Black Veil and Other Tales of Supernatural Sleuths

Mark Valentine, 2008

The Gateway of the Monster… The Red Hand… The Ghost Hunter To Sherlock Holmes the supernatural was a closed book: but other great detectives have always been ready to do battle with the dark instead. This volume brings together sixteen chilling cases of these supernatural sleuths, pitting themselves against the peril of ultimate evil. Here are encounters from the casebooks of the Victorian haunted house investigators John Bell and Flaxman Low, from Carnacki, the Edwardian battler against the abyss, and from horror master Arthur Machen’s Mr Dyson, a man-about-town and meddler in strange things. Connoisseurs will find rare cases such as those of Allen Upward’s The Ghost Hunter, Robert Barr’s Eugene Valmont (who may have inspired Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot) and Donald Campbell’s young explorer Leslie Vane, the James Bond of the jazz age, who battles against occult enemies of the British Empire. And the collection is completed by some of the best tales from the pens of modern psychic sleuth authors. Подробнее

Bleak House

Charles Dickens, 1993

Bleak House is one of Dickens' finest achievements, establishing his reputation as a serious and mature novelist, as well as a brilliant comic writer. It is at once a complex mystery story that fully engages the reader in the work of detection, and an unforgettable indictment of an indifferent society. Its representations of a great city's underworld, and of the law's corruption and delay, draw upon the author's personal knowledge and experience. But it is his symbolic art that projects these things in a vision that embraces black comedy, cosmic farce, and tragic ruin. In a unique creative experiment, Dickens divides the narrative between his heroine, Esther Summerson, who is psychologically interesting in her own right, and an unnamed narrator whose perspective both complements and challenges hers. Подробнее

The Wordsworth Book of First World War Poetry

Marcus Clapham, 1995

The First World War was one of seemingly endless and unremitting waste and sacrifice. Who will remember, passing through this Gate, The unheroic Dead who fed the guns? was Siegfried Sassoon's anguished cry for those whose sacrifice seemed futile. Yet eighty years later it is because of Sassoon and his fellow poets — Owen, Rosenberg, Sorley and many others — that we do remember. This new anthology will serve as an introduction to the poetry of that great conflict, and the inclusion of a number of rarely anthologised poets, many from the ranks, as well as anonymous poems and songs, serves to bring a quality of freshness to the selection. Подробнее

Book of Humorous Quotations

Connie Robertson, 2004

From Oscar Wilde's witty observation in Lady Windermere's Fan that 'I can resist everything except temptation', to Zsa Zsa Gabor's admission that 'I know nothing about sex, because I was always married', and by way of Woody Allen's numerous bon mots to the anonymous definition of psychiatry as being 'the care of the id by the odd', Connie Robertson has woven together a hilarious, stimulating and thought-provoking collection of the best humorous quotations which will provide the reader with much to ponder over long after the book has been put aside. The Wordsworth Book of Humorous Quotations will delight the browser and the simply curious while also providing the student, journalist and after-dinner speaker with a wealth of valuable material. Подробнее

The Book of Hymns

Martin Manser, 2008

The Wordsworth Book of Hymns is a fresh anthology of favourite hymns. This inspiring selection has such time-honoured favourites as the harvest 'We plough the fields and scatter', the Christmas 'O come all ye faithful', as well as hymns suitable for weddings 'Love divine, all loves excelling' and even funerals 'The Lord's my Shepherd'. Hymns have always played a significant role in our cultural heritage and this new selection is ideal for use both in planning services and also personal devotion. Подробнее

Book of Limericks

Linda Marsh, 1997

While no collection of limericks can claim to be ‘complete', The Wordsworth Book of Limericks contains an astonishing collection of over 1,800 verses — all of them comical, and a great number so far from cleanliness as to verge on the obscene. This is not a book for the prurient, but it will give enormous pleasure to all who relish the unique art-form of the limerick. Whether this book is kept by the bed or by the loo, perhaps buyers should ask themselves the question that Mervyn Griffith-Jones QC put to the Lady Chatterly jury in 1960: 'Is this a book you would even wish your wife or your servants to read?' Подробнее

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