Black Classics - Penguin Classics Australia

Penguin, from its very earliest days, had dabbled in what were regarded as classics. A batch of ten books published in 1935 had included Samuel Butler's Erewhon. Chekhov and de Maupassant translations also featured in the early lists. And in 1938 a series of ten Illustrated Classics had been published, starting with Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and finishing with Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

When asked during the 1960s which of his many publishing achievements he was most proud of, Allen Lane had no hesitation in nominating the Penguin Classics. Through half a century the series has grown and developed beyond its original conception, without changing beyond recognition, or compromising the ideals of the early translators and editors.

new this month

	The Agricola and the Germania by Tacitus Agricola is both a portrait of Julius Agricola – the most famous governor of Roman Britain and Tacitus' well-loved and respected father-in-law – and the first detailed account of Britain that has come down to us. It offers fascinating descriptions of the geography, climate and peoples of the country, and a succinct account of the early stages of the Roman occupation. The warlike Germanic tribes are the focus of Tacitus' attention in the Germania, which, like the Agricola, often compares the behaviour of 'barbarian' peoples favourably with the decadence and corruption of Imperial Rome.
	new last month
	The Persians and Other Plays by Aeschylus Aeschylus, often known as the father of tragedy, was the first to raise the drama of classical Athens to a high art. The Persians, his earliest surviving play, is unique in its depiction of contemporary events – the Battle of Salamis – rather than heroic myth. Seven Against Thebes is the story of two brothers paying a terrible price for their claim to the throne of their city, and The Suppliants, the oldest text that attests to the existence of the word 'democracy', presents the tale of the Danaids' plea for protection from forced marriage. Prometheus Bound, which may be a later work by Aeschylus' son, portrays the suffering of the Titan Prometheus at the hands of Zeus after he was caught giving fire to mankind.
	previous releases
	And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks by William S. Burroughs & Jack Kerouac 'An insight into Kerouac before he went on the road and Burroughs before his drug use spiralled out of control, this is a major literary event' GQ This is a hardboiled crime novel, and a true story. In 1944, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, then still unknown writers, were both arrested following a murder: one of their friends had stabbed another and then come to them for advice – neither had told the police. Later they wrote this fictionalised account of that summer – of a group of friends in wartime New York, moving through each other's apartments, drinking, necking, talking and taking drugs and haphazardly drifting towards a bloody crime. Unpublished for years, And the Hippos... is a remarkable insight into the lives and literary development of two great writers.
	A Modest Proposal and Other Writings by Jonathan Swift Here Swift unleashes the full power of his ironic armoury and corrosive wit, finding his targets – the British ruling class and avaricious landlords, and secondarily the brutalized Irish, complicit in their own oppression – with deadly precision. His masterly essay is accompanied by a generous selection of prose works, among them pamphlets attacking British rule in his native Ireland, periodical essays critiquing the new capitalist and military classes, a journal detailing his political activities in London, a loving tribute to his beloved 'Stella' after her death and pieces on such diverse subjects as the absurdities of astrology, the joys of punning and comical rules for servants. Ingenious and unconventional, Swift is revealed here as one of the greatest satirists in the English language.
	The Penguin Book of Japanese Verse by Geoffrey Bownas & Anthony Thwaite The Penguin Book of Japanese Verse contains over 700 poems from the third century to the twentieth, including both tanka ('short poem') and haiku, and covering such classic themes as nature, love, partings and time. Displaying the full wit, sadness and subtlety of Japanese poetry, this collection also illustrates the continued popularity of the poetic form in Japan. Introducing the more complex 'New-Style' verse, the anthology offers a complete picture of Japan and its culture through the centuries.
	On Architecture by Vitruvius The writings of the architect and engineer Vitruvius (c. 90–c. 20 BC) provide a fascinating picture of how the Romans planned and built their great structures and cities. His treatise, dedicated to Augustus, sets out all the information an architect of his day needed – from plans for temples, public baths, government buildings and private homes to the best materials and techniques for building – and no detail escapes his attention, whether the number of flutes in a column or the details of the construction of water clocks, sundials and catapults. His theories have remained influential for two millennia, especially those on the use of nature's harmonies in design and the ideal modular proportions of the human body, which later inspired Leonardo da Vinci.
	A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov A masterpiece of Russian prose, Lermontov's only novel was influential for many later nineteenth-century authors, including Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky and Chekhov. Lermontov's hero, Pechorin, is a dangerous man, Byronic in his wasted gifts and his cynicism, and desperate for any kind of action that will stave off boredom. In five linked episodes, Lermontov builds up a portrait of a man caught in and expressing the sickness of his times.
	The Condition of the Working Class in England by Friedrich Engels Written when Engels was only twenty-four, and inspired in particular by his time living amongst the poor in Manchester, this forceful polemic explores the staggering human cost of the Industrial Revolution in Victorian England. Engels paints an unforgettable picture of daily life for workers – depicting overcrowded housing, abject poverty, child labour, sexual exploitation, dirt and drunkenness – in a savage indictment of capitalism's greed and social injustices. His fascinating later preface, written for the first English edition of 1892 and included here, brought the story up to date in the light of forty years' further reflection. A masterpiece of committed reportage and an impassioned call to arms, this is one of the great pioneering works of social history and an economic critique of unfettered markets that still resonates today. Based on the original translation by Florence Wischnewetzky, this volume is edited by Victor Kiernan, with a new introduction by historian Tristram Hunt discussing Engel's life and the book's position as a defining text of the British industrial experience. Also included are notes, a chronology and an updated further reading.
	So Bright and Delicate: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne by John Keats John Keats died aged just twenty-five. He left behind some of the most exquisite and moving verse and love letters ever written, inspired by his great love for Fanny Brawne. Although they knew each other for just a few short years and spent a great deal of that time apart – separated by Keats' worsening illness, which forced a move abroad – Keats wrote again and again about and to his love, right until his very last poem, called simply 'To Fanny'. She, in turn, would wear the ring he had given her until her death. So Bright and Delicate is the passionate, heartrending story of this tragic affair, told through the private notes and public art of a great poet.
	The State and Revolution by Vladimir Lenin In July 1917, when the Provisional Government issued a warrant for his arrest, Lenin fled from Petrograd; later that year, the October Revolution swept him to supreme power. In the short intervening period he spent in Finland, he wrote his impassioned, never-completed masterwork The State and Revolution. This powerfully argued book offers both the rationale for the new regime and a wealth of insights into Leninist politics. It was here that Lenin justified his personal interpretation of Marxism, savaged his opponents and set out his trenchant views on class conflict, the lessons of earlier revolutions, the dismantling of the bourgeois state and the replacement of capitalism by the dictatorship of the proletariat. As both historical document and political statement, its importance can hardly be exaggerated. This translation by acclaimed historian Robert Service is faithful to the style of Lenin's original work, while his introduction discusses the writing and publication of The State and Revolution and the many interpretations of it since. This edition also contains a glossary.
	The Playboy of the Western World and Two Other Irish Plays by John M Synge et al Riots greeted the first performance of The Playboy of the Western World at Dublin's Abbey Theatre on 26 January 1907 for its perceived attack on the Irish people, and eggs, potatoes and even a slice of fruit cake were hurled at the actors during subsequent performances. Yet now Synge's comedy centring around an apparent parricide and its cover-up is considered his masterpiece. Also containing Yeats's The Countess Cathleen (1892) and O'Casey's Cock-a-doodle Dandy (1949), this collection of three plays shows a vital stage in the rich explosion of Irish drama that first made itself heard at the turn of the twentieth century, and gathered momentum during the Easter Rising of 1916 and beyond.

	Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne *'The two beasts pass within a hundred yards of the raft and, with a fury that blinds them to our presence, hurl themselves upon each other'* Jules Verne's pioneering science fiction classic tells the story of the distinguished but eccentric Professor Lidenbrock, who finds a scrap of parchment in an old manuscript. A cipher written in runes, it tells of an entrance to another world – a world hidden beneath our own. So with his nephew reluctantly in tow, the Professor follows this cryptic clue down into a dormant volcano, and the further they descend, the more extraordinary the discoveries and creatures that they encounter, the greater the dangers, and the more ancient the living past that surrounds them.
	The Alexiad by Anna Komnene Anna Komnene (1083–1153) wrote The Alexiad as an account of the reign of her father, the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I. It is also an important source of information on the Byzantine war with the Normans, and on the First Crusade in which Alexios participated, offering a startlingly different perspective to that of Western historians. For this new edition E. R. A. Sewter's renowned translation has been brought up to date and clarified to ensure it reflects the original Greek as faithfully as possible. This volume also includes an introduction by Peter Frankopan examining the importance of The Alexiad and its author, with notes, biographies, a bibliography, maps, family trees, a glossary and topography.
	The Qur'an Considered in Islam to be the infallible word of God, the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel in a series of divine revelations over many years. In 114 chapters, or suras, it provides the rules of conduct that remain fundamental to Muslims – most importantly the key Islamic values of prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and absolute faith in God, with profound spiritual guidance on matters of kinship, marriage and family, crime and punishment, rituals, food, warfare and charity. Here too we find Adam, Moses, Abraham, Jesus, John the Baptist and other people familiar to fellow 'People of the Book'. This milestone translation by acclaimed Muslim scholar Tarif Khalidi retains the rhythms and structures of the original Arabic's exquisite poetry, bringing this holy book to life for readers in English. This edition also contains an introduction discussing the interpretation, history and style of the Qur'an, with further reading and a glossary.
	The Histories by Tacitus In AD 68 Nero's suicide marked the end of the first dynasty of imperial Rome. The following year was one of drama and danger. In the surviving books of his Histories the barrister-historian Tacitus, writing some thirty years after the events he describes, gives a detailed account of the 'long but single year' when four emperors emerged in succession: Galba, the martinet; Otho, conspirator and dandy; Vitellius, the unambitious hedonist; and the ultimate victor, Vespasian, who established the Flavian dynasty. With great vividness and emotional power, Tacitus' gripping narrative lays bare corruption, injustice and folly, and sheds lasting light on the nature of power. This revised version of Kenneth Wellesley's translation has sensitively updated it to render it more accessible to the modern reader. This edition contains a new introduction by Rhiannon Ash discussing Tacitus' life and his contemporary audience, a note on the text, further reading, a glossary of place and peoples, expanded notes and a chronology.
	The Golden Bowl by Henry James Maggie Verver, a young American heiress, and her widowed father Adam, a billionaire collector of objets d'art, lead a life of wealth and refinement in London. They are both getting married: Maggie to Prince Amerigo, an impoverished Italian aristocrat, and Adam to the beautiful but penniless Charlotte Stant, a friend of his daughter. But both father and daughter are unaware that their new conquests share a secret – one for which all concerned must pay the price. Henry James's late, great work is a highly charged study of adultery, jealousy and possession that both continues, and challenges, his theme of confrontation between American innocence and European experience.
	Stung with Love: Poems and Fragments by Sappho By turns subversive, erotic and poignant, Sappho is one of the most versatile and exquisite poets in Classical literature. Invoking female deities, Sappho summons the Muses for inspiration and beseeches Aphrodite's allegiance in a battle of the heart, while episodes from the Trojan War are told from a woman's perspective as Helen makes her fateful choice between family and love, and Andromache arrives in Troy to marry Hector. Here, too, Sappho sings of the lives of mortals, as a lover describes the torments of unrequited lust, a mother speaks tenderly to her daughter, and young brides leave their homes to meet their new husbands. Ranging from Homeric narratives to depictions of intense personal experience, the songs of Sappho are elegant, subtle evocations of love and passion.
	Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy Serving on the jury at a murder trial, Prince Dmitri Nekhlyudov is devastated when he sees the prisoner – Katyusha, a young woman he seduced and abandoned years before. As Dmitri faces the consequences of his actions, he decides to give up his life of wealth and luxury to devote himself to rescuing Katyusha, even if it means following her into exile in Siberia. But can a man truly find redemption by saving another person? Tolstoy's most controversial novel, Resurrection (1899) is a scathing indictment of injustice, corruption and hypocrisy at all levels of society. Creating a vast panorama of Russian life, from peasants to aristocrats, bureaucrats to convicts, it reveals Tolstoy's magnificent storytelling powers.
	The Art of War by Sun-Tzu 'Ultimate excellence lies not in winning every battle but in defeating the enemy without ever fighting.' For more than two thousand years, Sun-Tzu?s The Art of War has provided military leaders with essential advice on battlefield tactics, managing troops and terrain, and employing cunning and deception. An elemental part of Chinese culture, it has also become a touchstone for the Western struggle for survival and success, whether in battle, in business, or in relationships.
	The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Briggs by Rainer Maria Rilke While his old furniture rots in storage, Malte Laurids Brigge lives in a cheap room in Paris, with little but a library reader's card to distinguish him from the city's untouchables. Every person he sees seems to carry their death with them, and he thinks of the deaths, and ghosts, of his aristocratic family, of which only he remains. The only novel by one of the greatest writers of poetry in German, the semi-autobiographical Notebooks is an uneasy, compelling and poetic book that anticipated Sartre and is full of passages of lyrical brilliance.
	The Penguin Book of Gaslight Crime ed by Michael Sims An exclusive collection—the first- ever gathering of rogues from the gaslight era Collected here for the first time: the best crime fiction from the gaslight era. All the legendary thieves are present—Arsène Lupin and A. J. Raffles, Colonel Clay and Simon Carne, Romney Pringle, Get Rich Quick Wallingford, and the Infallible Godahl—burgling London and Paris, conning New York and Ostend, laughing all the way to the bank. Also featured are stories by distinguished writers from outside the mystery and detective genres, including Sinclair Lewis, Arnold Bennett, H. G. Wells, and William Hope Hodgson.
	The Mahabharata by John D Smith (Trans) 'The three worlds are set shaking, great one, to see this wonderful, terrible form of yours' The Mahabharata is the story of two warring factions of cousins – 100 demons in human form against five sons of gods. Woven into this martial epic tale of great and bloody battles are numerous narrative digressions and much religious instruction – including the wisdom of Bhisma [accent note: there should be a dot beneath the s of 'Bhisma'], given from a deathbed of arrows, and the legendary 'Bhagavadgita', spoken by Krsna [accent note: there should be a dot beneath the r, s and n of 'Krsna'] at the very verge of war. An enactment of eternal conflicts, it is also a vital Hindu text on the nature of dharma – the right way for each person to live his or her life, and the only way to secure an improved lot in future births.
	Poems of John Keats by John Keats John Keats (1795-1821) asked that his gravestone carry only the phrase 'Here lies one whose name was writ in water.' But although his life was short, he left work that sets his name among the greatest in English poetry, and the most admired by other poets. This pocket-sized selection for general readers includes the six great odes, 'The Eve of St Agnes', the most colourful passages from 'Lamia', fifteen of the sonnets and also the light-hearted and nonsense verses Keats loved to write for his younger sister and friends - for although his life ended untimely, he was a high-spirited young man who enjoyed jokes and relished the pleasures and beauties of the world. Claire Tomalin has also included extracts from Keats's letters, in which he shows how deeply he pondered the nature of the poetic mind and the processes of poetry, and how entertainingly he could express complex ideas. To this she adds a short biographical section.
	Faust, Part II by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe After the sorrowful loss of his beloved Gretchen, the soul-sold Faust is tempted by the demon Mephistopheles with the grandest distractions of politics and power. Eager for new sensations, Faust calls for a vision of the unsurpassed beauty of Helen of Troy, and then, overwhelmed, for her to be brought back from the underworld and delivered to him bodily. But even this does not bring contentment, or satisfy his appetite for fresh experience. Completed a few months before Goethe's death, the concluding part of his masterpiece is a rich and allusive work, weaving together a wealth of diverse philosophical ideas and influences, reworking the medieval myth of Dr Faustus and speculating upon the search for truth in the Age of Enlightenment.
	The Pit and the Pendulum: The Essential Poe by Edgar Allan Poe This selection of Poe's critical writings, short fiction and poetry demonstrates an intense interest in aesthetic issues and the astonishing power and imagination with which he probed the darkest corners of the human mind. The Fall of the House of Usher describes the final hours of a family tormented by tragedy and the legacy of the past. In The Tell Tale Heart, a murderer's insane delusions threaten to betray him, while stories such as The Pit and the Pendulum and The Cask of Amontillado explore extreme states of decadence, fear and hate.
	The Talmud: A Selection trans & ed by Norman Solomon The Talmud is one of the most significant religious texts in the world, second only to the Bible in its importance to Judaism. As the Bible is the word of God, the Talmud applies that word to the lives of its followers. In a range of styles including commentary, parables, proverbs and anecdotes, it provides guidance on all aspects of everyday life, from ownership to commerce to relationships. This selection of its most illumination passages makes accessible the centuries of Jewish thought with the Talmud.
	John Milton: Selected Poems by John Milton The poems of John Milton (1608-74) have inspired readers for generations and the selection in this new edition spans his entire career, from his earliest works to the magnificent epics of his later life. This volume includes considerable selections from Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained – Milton's late epics on the Fall of Man and Christ's temptation in the wilderness – and the complete Samson Agonistes, in which the great hero undergoes a profound crisis of faith in his final hours.
	The Penguin Henry Lawson Short Stories by Henry Lawson One of the great observers of Australian life, Henry Lawson looms large in our national psyche. He is too often regarded as a legend rather than a writer to be enjoyed. In this selection Lawson is revealed as an author whose delightful, humorous, wry and moving short stories continue to delight generations of readers. This is the essential Lawson collection – the classic of Australian classics.
	The Anger of Achilles: The Iliad translated by Robert Graves Robert Graves's gripping retelling of The Iliad uses dark, satirical humour to take a revered epic back to its roots as popular entertainment, portraying a world of quarrelling kings and tarnished heroes, who leave suffering women behind them and are watched over by cunning gods and goddesses. This brilliantly readable translation is accompanied by an introduction discussing The Iliad as part of the bardic tradition and shedding light on Homer's cynical view of power. This edition also contains a map of the Ancient Mediterranean world.
	Notes From Underground and the Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Alienated from society, the anonymous narrator of Dostoyevsky's groundbreaking Notes from Underground tells the story of his tortured life. With bitter irony, he describes his refusal to become a worker in the 'anthill' of society and his gradual withdrawal to an existence 'underground'. The seemingly ordinary world of St Petersburg takes on a nightmarish quality in the The Double when a government clerk encounters a man who looks exactly like him – his double perhaps, or possibly the darker side of his own personality. Like Notes from Underground, this is a masterly tragi-comic study of human consciousousness. Ronald Wilks's extraordinary new translation is accompanied here by an introduction by Robert Louis Jackson discussing these pivotal works in the context of Dostoyevsky's life and times. This edition also contains a chronology, bibliography, table of ranks and notes on each work.
	Democracy: An American Novel by Henry Adams *'[One] of the most perceptive books ever written about Washington.' - Maureen Dowd, The New York Times* An instant bestseller when first published anonymously in 1880, Democracy is the quintessential American political novel, an incisive and entertaining caricature of corruption-in individuals and in government-by a descendant of a prominent political family.
	The Tibetan Book of the Dead by Graham Coleman The Tibetan Book of the Dead is overwhelmingly the most influential of all Tibetan Buddhist texts in the West and one of the greatest works created by any culture. Offering one of the most detailed and compelling portrayals of the after-death state in world literature, it contains comprehensive guidance and practices related to transforming our daily lives, on preparing to use death as a means of liberation, on recognizing death when it comes and on how to help those who are dying or bereaved. Created in close co-operation with a remarkable range of contemporary Tibetan masters, this first complete and unabridged English translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead remains entirely faithful to the breathtaking beauty and clarity of the original text.
	The Kabbalistic Tradition by Alan Unterman The Kabbalah is the general term for Jewish mysticism, specifically that which has been learned from a 'living master'. Not merely the passing on of mystical teachings, Kabbalistic thought has long been open to evolutionary developments and new breakthroughs between students and teachers. The writings of the Kabbalistic Tradition collected here feature texts from a variety of literary forms, ranging from biblical sources through to twentieth century studies, as well as practical knowledge and procedure for the modern reader. The selection in this edition concentrates on the three main areas of Kabbalistic creativity - the literature of the Zohar, the Lurianic corpus and the Chasidic mystical tradition.
	The Savoy Operas: The Complete Gilbert and Sullivan ed. Ed Glinert, introduction by Mike Leigh *'Life's a pudding full of plums'* Together, librettist W.S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan created some of the best-loved musical works in the world, with a finely honed yet anarchic sensibility that found its expression in upturned logic and extravagant wordplay. This collection brings together all of their operatic collaborations, from their first joint venture, Thespis, the music of which is now largely lost, to the triumphant comic romps of The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado, to less frequently performed gems such as the fanciful The Sorcerer and the acerbic lampoon Patience. The fourteen Savoys Operas show Gilbert as a great poet as well as a humourist, and illustrations from his Bab Ballads reveal an entertaining comic artist.
	The Poems of Robert Burns selected by Ian Rankin The farmer's boy from Ayrshire who went on to be the most acclaimed of all Scottish poets, celebrated around the world, Robert Burns is a greater and more varied artist than those that know him only through annual Burns' Suppers and choruses of his 'Auld Lang Syne' at New Year could imagine. This new selection by Ian Rankin of verses and lyrics from Scotland's national poet, the 'Heaven-taught ploughman', reveals a writer capable of evoking tremendous sympathetic power from his readers and with an easy, astonishing command of the sounds and rhythms of both standard English and the evocative Scots tongue. It also reveals an artist of incredible range. His 'Tam O' Shanter', with its midnight pursuit of witches from a grisly graveyard dance, is gripping, fantastical and funny in equal measure, 'Is there for honest poverty' beautifully expresses the egalitarian spirit by which Burns became a political hero for so many, and sentiments both romantic ('Ae Fond Kiss') and bawdy ('The Fornicator') co-exist in this canny selection of the best of the Scottish Bard.
	Chronicles of the Crusades by Joinville & Villehardouin 'I will not for any price leave the kingdom of Jerusalem to be lost, since I came to conquer and defend it' The Conquest of Constantinople by Geoffrey of Villehardouin and The Life of Saint Louis by John of Joinville are eye-witness accounts of going to war in the service of God. In the first years of the thirteenth century Villehardouin served as an envoy in the Fourth Crusade, at the very heart of a campaign that veered from its aim of conquering Muslim Egypt to the sacking of Greek Orthodox Constantinople. Half a century later, Joinville accompanied the French king, Louis IX, on crusade to Egypt and the Near East. The Chronicles of the Crusades are invaluable first-hand narratives of these campaigns and provide vivid insights into the characters and beliefs of the crusaders. This edition has a new clear, accessible translation form the Old French by Caroline Smith, and introduction on the history of the crusades and the different approaches of the two authors, a chronology, maps, further reading, appendices of extra material, a glossary, notes and indexes.
	Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales from Burns to Buchan ed. Gordon Jarvie *'Now chap off my head, my hinnie, my heart, Now chap off my head, my ain true love'* A nation rich with superstitions and storytellers, Scotland has a grand tradition of folk and fairy tales, and this collection provides an insight into the curses, blessings and creatures - both widely recognisable and peculiarly Scottish - that populate it. It includes the great Scottish writers and collectors of fables, from Robert Burns' supernatural masterpiece 'Tam o' Shanter' in which a man interrupts a midnight dance of witches; Arthur Conan Doyle's 'Through the Veil', a glimpse across lives previously lived; and the classic Victorian fairy tale 'The Gold of Fairnilee' in which fairies are both an excuse for cowardice and a real, sometimes sinister presence; as well as tales by John Buchan, Robert Louis Stevenson and James Hogg, among others.
	Humphry Clinker by Tobias Smollet *'My confinement is the more intolerable, as I am surrounded with domestic vexations'* Squire Matthew Bramble, a gout-ridden misanthrope, travels around Britain with his nephew, niece, spinster sister and manservant, the trusty Humphry Clinker. In poor health, Bramble sees the world as one of degeneracy and raucous overcrowding, and will not hesitate to let his companions know his feelings on the matter. Peopled with pimps, drunkards, decadents and con-men, Humphrey Clinker displays Smollett's ferociously pessimistic view of mankind, and his belief that the luxury of eighteenth-century England was the enemy of sense and sobriety. Presented in the form of letters from six very different characters, and full of joyful puns and double entendres, Humphrey Clinker is now recognised as a boisterous and observant masterpiece of English satire.
	The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Young D'Artagnan arrives in Paris to join the King's elite guards, but almost immediately finds he is duelling with some of the very men he has come to swear allegiance to - Porthos, Athos and Aramis, inseparable friends: the Three Musketeers. But D'Artagnan's loyalty to his new allies puts him in the deadly path of Cardinal Richlieu's machinations, and when the young hero falls in love with the beautiful but inaccessible Constance, he finds himself in a world of murder, conspiracy and lies, with only the Musketeers to depend on. A stirring tale of friendship and adventure, The Three Musketeers continues to be one of the most influential and popular pieces of French literature. In this acclaimed new translation, Richard Pevear's introduction investigates the controversy of Dumas' literary collaborators, and how important serialisation was to the book's success. This edition also includes notes on the text.
	Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin Tired of the glitter and glamour of St Petersberg society, aristocratic dandy Eugene Onegin retreats to the country estate he has recently inherited. With the arrival of the idealistic young poet Vladimir Lendsky he begins an unlikely friendship, while the poet welcomes this urbane addition to his small social circle – and is happy to introduce Onegin to his fiancée Olga and her family. But when Olga's sister Tatiana becomes infatuated with Onegin, his cold rejection of her love brings about a tragedy that engulfs them all. Unfolding with dream-like inevitability and dazzling energy, Pushkin's tragic poem is one of the great works of Russian literature. In this new translation, Stanley Mitchell captures the cadences and lightness of the original poem, and discusses in his introduction Pushkin's life, writings and politics, as well as previous translations of the work. This edition also contains a chronology and suggested further reading.
	Three Tales from The Arabian Nights Once upon a time, the name Baghdad conjured up visions of the most magical, romantic city on earth, where flying carpets carried noble thieves off on wonderful adventures, and vicious viziers and beautiful princesses mingled with wily peasants and powerful genies. This is the world of the Arabian Nights, a magnificent collection of ancient tales from Arabia, India, and Persia. The tales - often stories within stories - are told by the sultana Scheherazade, who relates them as entertainments for her jealous and murderous husband, hoping to keep him amused and herself alive. Three fantastic tales have been chosen from our new translation to introduce readers to the delights of the Arabian Nights: 'Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves Killed by a Slave Girl' is a well-known and well-loved classic, placed alongside the equally enchanting 'Judar and His Brothers' and 'Ma'rus the Cobbler'.
	The Arabian Nights: Tales of the 1001 Nights Gift Set Though early Islamic critics condemned the tales' 'vulgarity' and worldliness, the West has admired their robust, bawdy humour and endless inventiveness since the first translations appeared in Europe in the eighteenth century. Today these stories stand alongside the fables of Aesop, the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, and the folklore of Hans Christian Andersen as some of the Western literary tradition's most-quoted touchstones.
	Egyptian Book of the Dead The Book of the Dead is a unique collection of funerary texts from a wide variety of sources, dating from the fifteenth to the fourth century BC. Consisting of spells, prayers and incantations, each section contains the words of power to overcome obstacles in the afterlife. The papyruses were often left in sarcophagi for the dead to use as passports on their journey from burial, and were full of advice about the ferrymen, gods and kings they would meet on the way. Offering valuable insights into ancient Egypt, The Book of the Dead has long inspired fascination with the occult and the afterlife. John Romer's introduction examines the historical outline of the work, as well as the literary influence of the text on modern culture. This edition of E. A. Wallis Budge's translation includes a full text with accompanying illustrations, ans also contains suggested further reading. Translated by E. A. Wallis Budge With a new introduction by John Romer
	The Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita is an early epic poem that recounts the conversation between Arjuna the warrior and his charioteer Krishna, the manifestation of God. In the moments before a great battle, the dialogue sets out the important lessons Arjuna must learn to change the outcome of the war he is to fight, and culminates in Krishna revealing to the warrior his true cosmic form, counselling him to search for the universal perfection of life. Ranging from instructions on yoga postures to dense moral discussion, the Gita is one of the most important Hindu texts, as well as serving as a practical guide to living well. Laurie patton's accessible and elegant new translation reflects The Bhagavad Gita's status as both an aesthetic and a social document, and her introduction examines the structure of the poem and the various commentaries on it through the ages. This edition also includes suggested further reading and a glossary of terms.
	The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell In Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson, one of the towering figures of English literature is revealed with unparalleled immediacy and originality, in a biography to which we owe our entire knowledge of the man himself. Through a series of wonderfully detailed anecdotes, Johnson emerges as a sociable figure with a huge appetite for life, crossing swords with other great eighteenth-century luminaries, from Garrick and Goldsmith to Burney and Burke - and even his long-suffering friend and disciple James Boswell. Yet Johnson had a vulnerable side, and anxieties and obsessions haunted his private hours. Boswell's sensitivity and insight into every facet of his subject's character ultimately make this biography as moving as it is entertaining.
	Discourses and Selected Writings by Epictetus In this personal, practical guide to the ethics of Stoicism and moral self-improvement, Epictetus tackles questions of freedom and imprisonment, illness and fear, family, friendship and love, and leaves an intriguing document of daily life in the classical world. In the intorduction that accompanies this lively new translation, Robert Dobbin discusses Epitetus' life, his palce in the Stoic tradition, his influence on world philosophies and his relevance in the modern day. This edition also includes a bibliography, notes and a glossary of names.
	Timaeus and Critias by Plato The Timaeus-Critias is a Platonic treatise in two parts. A response to an account of an ideal state told by Socrates, it begins with Timaeus' theoretical exposition of the cosmos and his story describing the creation of the universe, from its very beginning to the coming into being of man. Timaeus introduces the idea of a creator God and expounds the structure and composition of the physical world. The Critias, the second part of Plato's work, comprises an account of the rise and fall of Atlantis, an ancient, mighty and prosperous empire ruled by the descendents of Poseidon, which ultimately sank into the sea. A key Platonic text, the Timaeus-Critias formed a central basis to Western thought and influenced subsequent philosophical doctrine.
	Two Lives of Charlemagne by Einhard& Notker the Stammerer Einhard's Two Lives of Charlemagne is an absorbing chronicle of one of the most powerful and dynamic of all medieval rulers, written by a close friend and adviser. In elegant prose it describes Charlemagne's personal life, details his achievements in reviving learning and the arts, recounts his military successes and depicts one of the defining moments in European history: Charlemagne's coronation as emperor in Rome on Christmas Day 800AD. By contrast, Notker's account, written some decades after Charlemagne's death, is a collection of anecdotes rather than a presentation of historical facts.
	The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker A mysterious attack on Margaret Trelawney's father brings young lawyer Malcolm Ross into the Egyptologist's bizarre home, and the couple soon find they are battling ancient forces greater than they previously could have imagined. The Egyptian queen Tera has been awoken, and is coming to take what she believes to be hers - whatever the cost to the Trelawney family.
	A Christmas Carol & Other Christmas Writings by Charles Dickens After reading Christmas Carol, the notoriously reclusive Thomas Carlyle was "seized with a perfect convulsion of hospitality" and threw not one but two Christmas dinner parties. The impact of the story may not always have been so dramatic but, along with Dickens other Christmas writings, it has had a lasting and significant influence upon our ideas about the Christmas spirit, and about the season as a time for celebration, charity, and memory.
	Doveglion: Collected Poems by Jose Garcia Villa The centennial edition of major Filipino writer Jose Garcia Villa's collected poetry. Known as the 'Pope of Greenwich Village,' Jose Garcia Villa had a special status as the only Asian poet among a group of modern literary giants in 1940s New York that included W. H. Auden, Tennessee Williams, and a young Gore Vidal. But beyond his exotic ethnicity, Villa was a global poet who was admired for 'the reverence, the raptness, the depth of concentration in [his] bravely deep poems' (Marianne Moore). Doveglion (Villa's pen name-for dove, eagle, and lion) contains Villa's collected poetry, including rare and previously unpublished material.
	Kusamakura by Natsume Soseki A stunning new translation-the first in more than forty years-of a major novel by the father of modern Japanese fiction. Natsume Soseki's Kusamakura follows its nameless young artist-narrator on a meandering walking tour of the mountains. At the inn at a hot spring resort, he has a series of mysterious encounters with Nami, the lovely young daughter of the establishment. Nami, or 'beauty,' is the centre of this elegant novel, the still point around which the artist moves and the enigmatic subject of Soseki's word painting. In the author's words, Kusamakura is 'a haiku-style novel, that lives through beauty.' Written at a time when Japan was opening its doors to the rest of the world, Kusamakura turns inward, to the pristine mountain idyll and the taciturn lyricism of its courtship scenes, enshrining the essence of old Japan in a work of enchanting literary nostalgia.

	Ladies of the Corridor by Dorothy Parker & Arnaud D'Usseau One of Literature's leading humorists, Dorothy Parker drew from the dark side of her imagination to pen The Ladies of the Corridor, a searing drama about women living on their own in a New York residence hotel. Loosely based on Parker's life, and co-written with famed Hollywood playwright Arnaud d'Usseau, The Ladies of the Corridor exposes the limitations of a woman's life in a drama teeming with Parker's signature wit.
	Yevtushenko: Selected Poems by Yevgeny Alexandrovich Yevtushenko This volume contains a selection of early works by Yevgeny Alexandrovich Yevtushenko (b. 1933), who blazed a trail for a generation of Soviet poets with a confident poetic voice that moves effortlessly between social and personal themes. 'Zima Junction' vividly describes his idyllic childhood in Siberia and his impressions of home after a long absence in Moscow. Private moments are captured in 'Waking', on the joys of discovering the unexpected in a lover, and 'Birthday', on a mothers concern for her son, while 'Encounter' depicts an unexpected meeting with Hemingway in Copenhagen.
	Islam and the Crusades by Usama Ibn Munqidh Islam and the Crusades contains the autobiographical works of Usama ibn Munqidh, a twelfth-century Arab aristocrat. Full of detail, wit and melancholy, Usama's narrative anecdotes illustrate the inscrutability of God's will in life, as well as providing a memorable record of Islam's long encounter with the Crusaders, known to Usama only as the Franks.
	God's Trombones by James Weldon Johnson In God's Trombones inspirational sermons of African American preachers are reimagined as poetry, reverberating with the musicality and splendid eloquence of the spirituals.
	The Portable Charles W Chesnutt ed. William L Andrews An icon of nineteenth-century American fiction, Charles W. Chesnutt - an incisive storyteller of the aftermath of slavery in the South - is widely credited with almost single-handedly inaugurating the African American short story tradition and was the first African American novelist to achieve national critical acclaim.

	Selected Poems by D.H. Lawrence 'Softly in the dusk, a woman is singing to me; Talking me back down the vista of years' From early, rhyming works in Love Poems and Others (1913) to the groundbreaking exploration of free verse in Birds, Beasts and Flowers (1923), the poems of D. H. Lawrence challenged convention and inspired later poets. This volume includes extensive selections from these and other editions, and contains some of his most famous poems, such as 'Piano', a nostalgic reflection on lost youth and love for his mother; 'Snake', exploring human fear of the natural world; the short cutting comment on sexual politics of 'Can't Be Borne'; and the quiet philosophical resignation of 'Basta!' Using revised poems, but in the order in which they appeared in their original collection, this selection offers a fresh perspective that reveals an innovative poet who gave voice to his most intense emotions.
	Granite Island: Portrait of Corsica by Dorothy Carrington 'Get away from here before you're completely bewitched and enslaved...' Dorothy Carrington was told, while sitting in a fisherman's cafe at the magically quiet midday hour. But enslaved she was. Granite Island, much more than a travel book, grew out of years spent in Corsica and is an incomparably vivid and delightful portrait. For the first time Corsica is brought to light as a vital element in Europe: a highly individualistic island culture whose people have nurtured their love of freedom and political justice, as well as their pride, hospitality and poetry.
	An Organizer's Tale: Speeches by Cesar Chavez The first major collection of writings by civil rights leader Cesar Chavez One of the most important civil rights leaders in American history, Cesar Chavez was a firm believer in the principles of non-violence, and he effectively employed peaceful tactics to further his cause. Through his efforts, he helped achieve dignity, fair wages, benefits, and humane working conditions for hundreds of thousands of farm workers. This extensive collection of Chavez's speeches and writings chronicles his progression and development as a leader, and includes previously unpublished material. From speeches to spread the word of the Delano Grape Strike to testimony before the House of Representatives about the hazards of pesticides, Chavez communicated in clear, direct language and motivated people everywhere with an unflagging commitment to his ideals.
	Selected Poems by Christina Rossetti The poems selected in this volume display the extraordinary talent of Christina Rossetti, showing her to be one of the nineteenth century's most important English poets. Here, ordinary and magical worlds collide as humans speak to God, poets speak to their muses and hope battles against despair. Devotional poems such as 'St. Peter' and 'Out of the Deep' describe Rossetti's profound religious faith, while in 'A Christmas Carol' and 'At Last' she offers herself to God. Works such as 'Hope in Grief' show optimism in the face of loss, and 'Marina,' 'Heart's Chill Between,' 'L.E.L.' and 'Twice' are among many meditations on the bittersweet nature of love. This volume also includes the bewitching fantasy 'Goblin Market,' in which the mundane act of shopping becomes rife with fairy-tale enchantment and menace. In her introduction, Dinah Roe discusses Rossetti's complexity and imaginative powers; her life, literary career and religious beliefs; and the changing critical perceptions of her works. This edition includes further reading, a chronology and notes.
	Adam Bede by Eliot George Carpenter Adam Bede is in love with the beautiful Hetty Sorrel, but unknown to him, he has a rival, in the local squire's son Arthur Donnithorne. Hetty is soon attracted by Arthur's seductive charm and they begin to meet in secret. The relationship is to have tragic consequences that reach far beyond the couple themselves, touching not just Adam Bede, but many others, not least, pious Methodist Preacher Dinah Morris. A tale of seduction, betrayal, love and deception, the plot of Adam Bede has the quality of an English folk song. Within the setting of Hayslope, a small, rural community, Eliot brilliantly creates a sense of earthy reality, making the landscape itself as vital a presence in the novel as that of her characters themselves.
	The Saga of the People of Laxardal: Bolli Bollason's Tale by Leifur Eiricksson, trans. Kunz Keneva Gudrun is headstrong, proud and the most beautiful woman in Iceland. The tragic story of how she comes to betray and destroy the only man she has ever truly loved lies at the heart of this forceful family saga, which traces the passions and blood feuds of three generations of strong women, wise leaders and hot-headed warriors. Written around 1245 but telling of earlier centuries, when magic rites and sorcery clashed with spread of Christianity throughout a rapidly changing Viking world, this tale of revenge slayings and sacrifice, desire and regret, is one of the best loved works of Icelandic literature. The story of Bolli Bollason, Gudrun's adored son, and his fortune-seeking travels, also appears in this edition.
	The Vinland Sagas by Leifur Eiricksson The Saga of the Greenlanders and Eirik the Red's Saga contain the first ever descriptions of North America, a bountiful land of grapes and vines, discovered by Vikings five centuries before Christopher Columbus. Written down in the early thirteenth century, they recount the Icelandic settlement of Greenland by Eirik the Red, the chance discovery by seafaring adventurers of a mysterious new land, and Eirik's son Leif the Lucky's perilous voyages to explore it. Wrecked by storms, stricken by disease and plagued by navigational mishaps, some survived the North Atlantic to pass down this compelling tale of the first Europeans to talk with, trade with, and war with the Native Americans.
	Electra & Other Plays by Sophocles, trans. David Raeburn Sophocles' innovative plays transformed Greek myths into dramas featuring complex human characters, through which he explored profound moral issues. Electra portrays the grief of a young woman for her father Agamemnon, who has been killed by her mother's lover. Aeschylus and Euripides also dramatised this story, but the objectivity and humanity of Sophocles' version provides a new perspective. Depicting the fall of a great hero, Ajax examines the enigma of power and weakness combined in one being, while the Women of Trachis portrays the tragic love and error of Heracles' deserted wife Deianeira, and Philoctetes deals with the conflict between physical force and moral strength.
	The Ancient Regime & The French Revolution by Alexis de Tocqueville, trans. Gerald Bevan With this book, Alexis de Tocqueville envisioned a multivolume philosophic study of the origins of modern France that would examine the implications of French history on the nature and development of democratic society. Tocqueville worried that although the revolutionary legacy was still alive and well, liberty was no longer its primary objective. He believed, indeed, that it had been a casualty of how the French Revolution emerged. He feared that just as the first Republic had fallen to Napoleon and the second had succumbed to his nephew Napoleon III, all future revolutions might experience the same fate. Here he ruminates about the shortcomings of the French Revolution.
	Israel Potter: His Fifty Years Of Exile by Melville Herman The authoritative edition of Melville's only historical novel Based on the life of an actual soldier who claimed to have fought at Bunker Hill, Israel Potter is unique among Herman Melville's books: a novel in the guise of a biography. In telling the story of Israel Potter's fall from Revolutionary War hero to peddler on the streets of London, where he obtained a livelihood by crying "Old Chairs to Mend," Melville alternated between invented scenes and historical episodes, granting cameos to such famous men of the era as Benjamin Franklin (Potter may have been his secret courier) and John Paul Jones, and providing a portrait of the American Revolution as the rollicking adventure and violent series of events that it really was. This edition of Israel Potter, which reproduces the definitive text, includes selections from Potter's autobiography, Life and Remarkable Adventures of Israel R. Potter, the basis for Melville's novel.
	Catiline's War & The Jugurthine War by Sallust The earliest Roman historian with complete works to his name, Sallust (86-c. 35 BC) was a senator of the Roman Republic and younger contemporary of Cicero, Pompey and Julius Caesar. His Catiline's War tells of the conspiracy in 63 BD led by L. Sergius Catilina, who plotted to assassinate numerous senators and take control of the government, but was thwarted by Cicero. Sallust's vivid account of Roman public life shows a Republic in decline, prey to moral corruption and internal strife. In The Jugurthine War he describes Rome's fight n Africa against the king of the Numidians from 111 to 105 BC, and provides a damning picture of the Roman aristocracy. Also included in this volume are the major surviving extracts from Sallust's now fragmentary Histories, depicting Rome after the death in 78 BC of the dictator Sulla.
	The Selected Poems of Cavafy by Cavafy Cavafy is one of the most singular and poignant voices of twentieth-century European poetry, conjuring a magical world through lyrical evocations of remembered passions, imagined monologues and dramatic retellings of his native Alexandria's ancient past. Figures from antiquity speak with telling interruptions from the author in such poems as You did not understand, while precise moments of history are seen with a sense of foreboding, as in Ides of March and Nero's Deadline. And in poems that draw on his own life and surroundings, Cavafy recalls illicit trysts or glimpses of beautiful young men in One Night and The Café Entrance, and creates exquisite miniatures of everyday life in Of the Shop.
	Wings of the Dove by Henry James Emerging from the grit and stigma of poverty to a life of fairytale privilege under the wing of her aunt, the beautiful and financially ambitious Kate Croy is already romantically involved with promising journalist Merton Densher when they become acquainted with Milly Theale, a New York socialite of immense wealth. Learning of Milly's mortal illness and passionate attraction to Densher, Kate sets the scene for a romantic betrayal intended to secure her lasting financial security. As the dying Milly retreats within the carnival splendour of a Venetian palazzo, becoming the frail hub of a predatory circle of fortune-seekers, James unfolds a resonant, brooding tale of doomed passion, betrayal, human resilience and remorse.
	The Ambassadors by Henry James When Chadwick Newsome, a young American favoured with fortune and independence, becomes entangled in a liaison dangereux with a Parisian temptress, his overbearing mother deploys her future husband, the elderly, amiable Strether, as an ambassador to engineer his safe return. But seduced by the ambient charms of Paris and the bewitching comtesse de Vionnet, Strether soon deserts to Chadwick's side, initiating a sparkling tale of mistaken intentions, comic accident and false allegiances which culminates in the deployment of another, less fallible ambassador - the cold, glittering, ruthless Sarah Pocock.
	The Europeans by Henry James Eugenia, an American expatriate brought up in Europe, arrives in rural New England with her charming brother Felix, hoping to find a wealthy second husband after the collapse of her marriage to a German prince. Their exotic, sophisticated airs cause quite a stir with their affluent, God-fearing American cousins, the Wentworths - and provoke the disapproval of their uncle, suspicions of foreign influences. To Gertrude Wentworth, struggling against her sombre puritan upbringing, the arrival of the handsome Felix is especially enchanting. One of Henry James’s most optimistic novels, The Europeans is a subtle and gentle ironic examination of manners and morals, deftly portraying the impact of experience upon innocence.
	Demons by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Pyotr and Stavrogin are the leaders of a Russian revolutionary cell. Their aim is to overthrow the Tsar, destroy society and seize power for themselves. Together they train terrorists who are willing to go to any lengths to achieve their goals - even if the mission means suicide. But when it seems the group is about to be discovered, will their recruits be willing to kill one of their own circle in order to cover their tracks? Partly based on the real-life case of a student murdered by his fellow revolutionaries, Dostoyevsky's sprawling novel is a powerful and prophetic, yet lively and often comic depiction of nineteenth-century Russia, and a savage indictment of the madness and self-destruction of those who use violence to serve their beliefs.
	The Kreutzer Sonata & Other Stories: Family Happiness; the Kreutzer Sonaata; the Devil; Father Sergius by Leo Tolstoy "Each phase of life has its own love" In these four stories, Leo Tolstoy (1828 - 1910) depicts desire in its different manifestations - from idealistic romance to sexual jealousy, from desperate lust to relentless longing. Family Happiness, an early work, portrays the struggles of a couple as they move from courtship and passion through disillusionment to the quieter stage of married love. A passenger tells a bitter tale of sex, suspicion and murder when strangers on a train discuss the nature of love in The Kruetzer Sonata, a novella banned for its scandalous content in 1890. In The Devil, a young man finds it impossible to resist a beautiful peasant woman with whom he had an affair before his marriage, while Father Sergius shows a man going to increasingly desperate ends - from a soldier to monk, to hermit to beggar - in order to avoid the temptations of the flesh. The translations by David McDuff and Paul Foote faithfully convey Tolstoy's candid, vigorous prose. This edition also includes a new introduction by Donna Orwin discussing Tolstoy's depiction of love and sex in these works, as well as a chronology, further reading and notes.
	The Fortunes of Richard Mahoney by Henry Handel Richardson, ed. by Michael Ackland Set in Australia during the gold-mining boom, this remarkable trilogy is one of the classics of Australian literature. Henry Handel Richardson's great literary achievement, comprising the novels Australia Felix, The Way Home and Ultima Thule, weaves together many themes. Richard Mahony, despite finding initial contentment with his wife, Mary, becomes increasingly dissatisfied with his ordered life. His restlessness is not understood by Mary, who has to endure the constant shattering of her security as Richard desperately attempts to free himself; his attempts finally plunge them into poverty. In the figure of Richard Mahony, Richardson captures the soul of the emigrant, ever restless, ever searching for some equilibrium, yet never really able to settle anywhere. Richard's search, though, is also the more universal one for a meaning that will validate and give purpose to his existence.
	The Death of Ivan Illyich & Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy "There was no death. Instead of death there was light." At the age of forty-one, Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) underwent a profound spiritual crisis, from which he emerged believing that he had encountered Death itself. These seven compelling stories explore, in very different ways, his subsequent preoccupation with mortality. The Death of Ivan Ilyich is a devestating account of a man fighting his inevitable end, and ask the existential question: why must a good person be taken before his time? In Polikushka a light-fingered drunk's chance to prove himself has tragic repercussions, while Three Deaths depicts the last moments of an aristocrat, a peasant and a tree, and The Forged Coupon shows a seemingly minor offence that leads inexorably to ever more horrific crimes. And in three tales about soldiers, After the Ball, The Wood-felling and The Raid, Tolstoy portrays the brutality that all too often accompanies military life. The translations by Anthony Briggs, David McDuff and Ronald Wilks capture Tolstoy's powerful, vivid prose. This edition also includes a new introduction by Anthony Briggs discussing Tolstoy's breakdown and the effect this had on his writing, as well as a chronology, further reading and notes.
	The Rule of St Benedict by St Benedict Founder of a monastery at Monte Cassino, between Roma and Naples, in the sixth century, St Benedict intended his Rule to be a practical guide to Christian monasteric life. Based on the key precepts of humility, obedience and love, its aim is to create a harmonious and efficient religious community in which individuals can make progress in the Christian virtues and gain eternal life. Here, Benedict sets out ideal monastery routines and regulations, from the qualities of a good abbot, the twelve steps to war, humility and the value of silence to such everyday matters as kitchen duties, the care of the sick and the suitable punishment for lateness at mealtimes. Benedict's legacy is still strong – his Rule remains a source of inspiration and a key work in the history of the Christian church.
	Russian Thinkers ed by Isaiah Berlin Isaiah Berlin witnessed the excesses of the Russian Revolution as a child, and in becoming one of the key liberal intellects of the last century some of his most important contributions were on the subject of Russia and the concept of freedom. In the ten essays gathered here, Berlin addresses the great Russian minds of the nineteenth century: Herzen, Bakunin, Tutgenev, Belinsky and Tolstoy, as well as exploring the political and social revolutions they inspired and responded to. Berlin himself describes this extraordinary outpouring as `the largest single Russian contribution to social change in the world'.
	Species of Spaces and Other Pieces by Georges Perec Georges Perec (1936-82), author of the novel Life: A User's Manual, was one of the most surprising and enjoyable of all modern French writers. The pieces in this volume show him to be at times playful, more serious at others, but always with the lightest of touches. He had the keenest of eyes for the "infra-ordinary", the things we do everyday – eating, sleeping, working – and the places we do them in without giving them a moment's thought. But behind the lightness and humour, there is also the sadness of a French Jewish boy who lost his parents in the Second World War and found comfort in the material world around him, and above all in writing. This volume contains a selection of Georges Perec's non-fiction works, along with a charming short story. It includes notes and an introduction describing Perec's life and career.
	Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness has been considered for most of this century as a literary classic, and also as a powerful indictment of the evils of imperialism. It reflects the savage repressions carried out in the Congo by the Belgians in one of the largest acts of genocide committed up to that time. Conrad's narrator encounters at the end of the story a man named Kurtz, dying, insane, and guilty of unspeakable atrocities.
	The Portable Conrad by Joseph Conrad A great novelist of the sea, a poet of the tropics, a critic of empire and analyst of globalization, a harbinger of the modern spy novel, an unparalleled observer of the moments in which people are stripped of their illusions – Joseph Conrad is one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. This revised edition of The Portable Conrad features the best known and most enduring of Conrad's works, including The Secret Agent, Heart of Darkness, and The Nigger of the "Narcissus," as well as shorter tales like "Amy Forster" and "The Secret Sharer," a selection of letters, and his observations on the sinking of the Titanic.
	The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius As private secretary to the Emperor Hadrian, the scholar Suetonius had access to the imperial archives and used them (along with eyewitness accounts) to produce one of the most colourful biographical works in history. The Twelve Caesars chronicles the public careers and private lives of the men who wielded absolute power over Rome, from the foundation of the empire under Julius Caesar and Augustus, to the decline into depravity and civil war under Nero and the recovery that came with his successors. A masterpiece of observation, anecdote and detailed physical description, The Twelve Caesars presents us with a gallery of vividly drawn – and all too human – individuals.
	Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (1781) is the central text of modern philosophy. It brings together the two opposing schools of philosophy: rationalism, which grounds all our knowledge in reason, and empiricism, which traces all our knowledge to experience. The Critique is a profound and challenging investigation into the nature of human reason, establishing its truths and its falsities, its illusions and its reality. Reason, argues Kant, is the seat of all concepts, including God, freedom and immortality, and must therefore precede and surpass human experience. Marcus Weigelt's lucid re-working of Max Muller's classic translation makes the critique accessible to a new generation of readers. His informative introduction places the work in context and elucidates Kant's main arguments. This edition also contains a bibliography and explanatory notes.
	The Beast Within by Emile Zola La Bete humaine (1890), the seventeenth novel in the Rougon-Macquart series, is one of Zola's most violent and explicit works. On one level a tale of murder, passion, and possession, it is also a compassionate study of individuals derailed by atavistic forces beyond their control. Zola considered this his 'most finely worked' novel, and in it he powerfully evokes life at the end of the Second Empire in France, where society seemed to be hurtling into the future like the new locomotives and railways it was building. While expressing the hope that human nature evolves through education and gradually frees itself of the burden of inherited evil, he is constantly reminding us that under the veneer of technological progress there remains, always, the beast within.
	King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard Three men trek to the remote African interior in search of a lost friend – and reach, at the end of a perilous journey, an unknown land cut off from the world, where terrible dangers threaten anyone who ventures near the spectacular diamond mines of King Solomon...
	Selected Poems: Tennyson by Alfred Lord Tennyson The works in this volume trace nearly sixty years in the literary career of one of the nineteenth century's greatest poets, and show the wide variety of poetic forms he mastered. It gives some of Tennyson's most famous works in full, including Maud, depicting a tragic love affair, and In Memoriam, a profound tribute to his dearest friend. Excerpts from Idylls of the King show a lifelong passion for Arthurian legend, also seen in the dream-like Lady of Shalott and in Morte d'Arthur. Other works respond to contemporary events, such as Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington, written in Tennyson's official role as Poet Laureate, or the patriotic Charge of the Light Brigade, while Locksley Hall provides a Utopian vision of the future, and the late poem Crossing the Bar is a haunting meditation on his own mortality.
	Letters from My Windmill by Alphonse Daudet Alphonse Daudet's novels established him as the most successful writer in France by the end of the XIX century; but it was the LETTERS, first published in book form in 1869, which remained his favourite creation and has proved his most lasting. Throughout his working life in Paris Daudet never lost his almost umbilical attachment to Provence. These tales of that region are characterised by a tenderness and delicacy, a wistfulness and wry humour, which give moving substance to his claim that to invent, for him, was to remember.
	The Penguin Book of First World War Stories by Barbara Korte, Ann-Marie Einhaus An anthology of Great War short stories by British writers, both famous and lesser-known authors, men and women, during the war and after its end. These stories are able to illustrate the impact of the Great War on British society and culture and the many modes in which short fiction contributed to the war's literature. The selection covers different periods: the war years themselves, the famous boom years of the late 1920s to the more recent past in which the First World War has received new cultural interest.
	War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy At a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon's army marches on Russia, and the lives of three young people are changed forever. The stories of quixotic Pierre, cynical Andrey and impetuous Natasha interweave with a huge cast, from aristocrats and peasants, to soldiers and Napoleon himself. In War and Peace (1868-9), Tolstoy entwines grand themes – conflict and love, birth and death, free will and fate – with unforgettable scenes of nineteenth-century Russia, to create a magnificent epic of human life in all its imperfection and grandeur.
	Selected Poems: Milton by John Milton The poems of John Milton (1608-74) have inspired readers for generations and the selection in this new edition spans his entire career, from his earliest works to the magnificent epics of his later life. The devotional 'On the Morning of Christ's Nativity', his first great poem, anticipates the probing religious questions of Paradise Lost. Works such as 'L'Allegro' and 'Il Penseroso' consider divisions of loyalties, while 'A Masque' ('Comus') explores Milton's great theme of temptation, and the pastoral elegy 'Lycidas' contemplates mortality and the meaning of human life. This volume includes considerable selections from Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained – Milton's late epics on the Fall of Man and Christ's temptation in the wilderness – and the complete Samson Agonistes, in which the great hero undergoes a profound crisis of faith in his final hours.
	The Divine Comedy: Paradiso by Dante Alighieri Having plunged to the uttermost depths of Hell and climbed the Mount of Purgatory in parts one and two of the Divine Comedy, Dante ascends to Heaven in this third and final part, continuing his soul's search for God, guided by his beloved Beatrice. As he progresses through the spheres of Paradise he grows in understanding, until he finally experiences divine love in the radiant presence of the deity. Examining eternal questions of faith, desire and enlightenment, Dante exercised all his learning and wit, wrath and tenderness in his creation of one of the greatest of all Christian allegories.
	The Divine Comedy: Inferno by Dante Alighieri Describing Dante's descent into Hell midway through his life with Virgil as a guide, Inferno depicts a cruel underworld in which desperate figures are condemned to eternal damnation for committing one or more of seven deadly sins. As he descends through nine concentric circles of increasingly agonising torture, Dante encounters doomed souls including the pagan Aeneas, the liar Odysseus, the suicide Cleopatra, and his own political enemies, damned for their deceit. Led by leering demons, the poet must ultimately journey with Virgil to the deepest level of all. For it is only by encountering Satan, in the heart of Hell, that he can truly understand the tragedy of sin.
	The Divine Comedy: Purgatory by Dante Alighieri In Purgatorio Dante, having described his journey into Hell, narrates his ascent of Mount Purgatory with Virgil, as he encounters penitents who toil through physical agonies, starvation and flames to assuage their earthly vices. Only by learning from them can he achieve his final enlightened transition to the lost Earthly Paradise at the mountain's summit, where he meets his dead love, Beatrice, and prepares to ascend to Heaven. Depicting a realm of intense sensation and physical experience, Dante's poem transformed the traditional Christian idea of Purgatory by showing how the free will of the aspiring soul could change wordly perversions into perfection. It is a brilliantly nuanced and moving allegory of human possibility, hope and redemption.
	The Secret History by Procopius A trusted member of the Byzantine establishment, Procopius was the Empire's official chronicler, and his History of the Wars of Justinian proclaimed the strength and wisdom of the Emperor's reign. Yet all the while the dutiful scribe was working on a very different – and dangerous – history to be published only once its author was safely in his grave. The Secret History portrays the 'great lawgiver' Justinian as a rampant king of corruption and tyranny, the Empress Theodora as a sorceress and whore, and the brilliant general Belisarius as the pliable dupe of his scheming wife Antonina. Magnificently hyperbolic and highly opinionated, The Secret History is a work of explosive energy, depicting holy Byzantium as a hell of murder and misrule.
	The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson Caught in the midst of England's War of the Roses, young Dick Shelton's loyalties are torn between a guardian who betrays him and the leader of the secret fellowship, "The Black Arrow". the Houses of York and Lancaster are locked in a brutal struggle for England's crown and the fate of the kingdom is at stake. Shelton finds himself entangled in the conspiracy. In order to survive he must distinguish friend from foe and confront the tests of war, shipwreck, murder and forbidden love.
	Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson This is the story of sixteen-year-old David Balfour, an orphan, who after being kidnapped by his villainous uncle manages to escape and becomes involved in the struggle of the Scottish highlanders against English rule.
	Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: The Great Speeches by Winston Churchill The most eloquent and expressive statesman of his time – phrases such as 'iron curtain', 'business as usual', 'the few', and 'summit meeting' passed quickly into everyday use – Winston Churchill used language as his most powerful weapon at a time when his most frequent complaint was that the armoury was otherwise empty. In this volume, David Cannadine selects thirty-three orations ranging over fifty years, demonstrating how Churchill gradually hones his rhetoric until the day when, with spectacular effect, 'he mobilized the English language, and sent it into battle' (Edward R. Murrow).
	Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger Wilfred Thesiger was born in Addis Ababa in 1910 and educated at Eton and Oxford. Though British, he was repulsed by the softness and rigidity of Western life, "the machines, the calling cards, the meticulously aligned streets, etc." In the spirit of T.E. Lawrence, Thesiger spent five years exploring and wandering the deserts of Arabia. With vivid descriptions and colourful anecdotes he narrates his stories, including two crossings of the Empty Quarter, among peoples who had never seen a European and considered it their duty to kill Christian infidels.
	The Marsh Arabs by Wilfred Thesiger During the years he spent among the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq, Wilfred Thesiger came to understand, admire and share a way of life that had endured for many centuries. Travelling from village to village by canoe, he won acceptance by dispensing medicines and treating the sick. In this account of his time there he pays tribute to the hospitality, loyalty, courage and endurance of the people, describes their impressive reed houses, the waterways and lakes teeming with wildlife, the herding of buffalo and hunting of wild boar, moments of tragedy and moments of pure comedy, all in vivid, engaging detail. Untouched by the modern world until recently, these independent people, their way of life and their surroundings have suffered widespread destruction under the regime of Saddam Hussein. Wilfred Thesiger's magnificent account of his time spent among them is a moving testament to their now threatened culture and the landscape they inhabit.
	A Dog's Heart by Mikhail Bulgakov This is Bulgakov's surreal tale of a Moscow doctor who befriends a stray dog and performs on it a human transplant - with disastrous consequences.
	A Dead Man's Memoir by Mikhail Bulgakov This is Bulgakov's semi-autobiographical story of a writer who fails to sell his novel and fails to commit suicide. When his play is taken up by the theatre, literary success beckons, but he has reckoned without the grotesquely inflated egos of the actors, directors and theatre managers.
	The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov The devil comes to Moscow wearing a fancy suit. With his disorderly band of accomplices - including a demonic, gun-toting tomcat - he immediately begins to create havoc. Disappearances, destruction and death spread through the city like wildfire and Margarita discovers that her lover has vanished in the chaos. Making a bargain with the devil, she decides to try a little black magic of her own to save the man she loves . . .
	The Aeneid by Virgil (Trans by Robert Fagles) The Aeneid is a sweeping epic of arms and heroism and a searching portrait of a man caught between love, duty, and the force of his own destiny. Here, Fagles brings to life the timeless journey of Aeneas - Achilles' erstwhile foe - as he flees the ashes of Troy to found the Roman people and change forever the course of the Western world.
	The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia by Samuel Johnson Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia, leaves the easy life of the Happy Valley, accompanied by his sister Nekayah, her attendant Pekuah, and the much-travelled philosopher Imlac. Their journey takes them to Egypt, where they study the various conditions of men's lives, before returning home in a 'conclusion in which nothing is concluded'. Johnson's tale is not only a satire on optimism, but also an expression of truth about the human mind and its infinite capacity for hope.
	The Nature of Things by Lucretius, Alicia Stallings (Trans) Lucretius' poem On the Nature of Things combines a scientific and philosophical treatise with some of the greatest poetry ever written. With intense moral fervour he demonstrates to humanity that in death there is nothing to fear since the soul is mortal, and the world and everything in it is governed by the mechanical laws of nature and not by gods; and that by believing this men can live in peace of mind and happiness. He bases this on the atomic theory expounded by the Greek philosopher Epicurus, and continues with an examination of sensation, sex, cosmology, meteorology, and geology, all of these subjects made more attractive by the poetry with which he illustrates them.
	The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad In the only novel Conrad set in London, The Secret Agent communicates a profoundly ironic view of human affairs. The story is woven around an attack on the Greenwich Observatory in 1894 masterminded by Verlac, 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.
	Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad This compact novel, completed in 1900, as with so many of the great novels of the time, is at its baseline a book of the sea. An English boy in a simple town has dreams bigger than the outdoors and embarks at an early age into the sailor's life. The waters he travels reward him with the ability to explore the human spirit, while Joseph Conrad launches the story into both an exercise of his technical prowess and a delicately crafted picture of a character who reaches the status of a literary hero.
	Nostromo by Joseph Conrad Nostromo, published in 1904, is one of Conrad's finest works. Nostromo - though one hundred years old - says as much about today's Latin America as any of the finest recent accounts of that region's turbulent political life. Insistently dramatic in its storytelling, spectacular in its recreation of the subtropical landscape, this picture of an insurrectionary society and the opportunities it provides for moral corruption gleams on every page with its author's dry, undeceived, impeccable intelligence.
	The Nigger of 'Narcissus' & Other Stories by Joseph Conrad The volume includes: 'Youth'; 'The Secret Sharer'; 'The Lagoon'; 'An Outpost of Progress'; 'Il Conde'; 'The Duel'. The intention is a range of settings - we move from the sea to the colonial world, the Far East and Africa to England and then the Continent.
	Under Western Eyes by Joseph Conrad 'It was I who removed de P- this morning.' With these chilling words Victor Haldin shatters the solitary, industrious existence of Razumov, his fellow student at St Petersburg University. Razumov aims to overcome the denial of his noble birth by a brilliant career in the tsarist bureaucracy created by Peter the Great. But in pre-revolutionary Russia Peter's legacy is autocracy tempered by assassination; and Razumov is soon caught in a tragic web with Haldin's trustful sister Natalia in spy-haunted Geneva. Their fateful story is told by an elderly Englishman who loves Natalia but plays his part of a 'dense Westerner' to the end.
	Typhoon & Other Stories by Joseph Conrad In these four stories, written between 1900 and 1902, Joseph Conrad bid gradual farewell to his adventurous life at sea and began to confront the more daunting complexities of life on land in the twentieth century. In 'Typhoon' Conrad reveals, in the steadfast courage of an undemonstrative captain and the imaginative readiness of his young first mate, the differences between instinct and intelligence in a partnership vital to human survival. 'Falk', the companion sea-story, contrasts, as Conrad once put it, 'common sentimentalism with the frank standpoint of a more or less primitive man', a man with a conscience, however, about the girl he desires. In one of the 'land-stories' Conrad explores the utter isolation of an East European emigrant in England; in the other, the plight of a woman ironically trapped by the unwitting alliance of two retired widowers - each blind in his own way.