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The Secret Agent
"The Secret Agent" is considered to be one of Joseph Conrad's finest works and was ranked the 46th best novel of the 20th century by the Modern Library. Set in London at the end of the nineteenth century, it follows the life of Mr. Verloc, a secret agent who is also the proprietor of a small shop that sells, “photographs of more or less undressed dancing girls” and “a few books, with titles hinting at impropriety.“ Verloc’s friends, a group of anarchists, assign him the task of destroying the Greenwich Observatory, but when things go awry, Verloc must deal with the terrible consequences of his actions. As current now, as it was a century ago, Conrad weaves a chilling tale of espionage, exploitation and terrorism that is all too present in our own time.
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The Red Badge of Courage
Henry Fleming, a private in the Union Army, runs away from the field of war. Afterwards, the shame he feels at this act of cowardice ignites his desire to receive an injury in combat—a “red badge of courage” that will redeem him. Stephen Crane’s novel about a young soldier’s experiences during the American Civil War is well known for its understated naturalism and its realistic depiction of battle.
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The Professor
With an Introduction and Notes by Dr Sally Minogue. The Professor is Charlotte Brontë s first novel, in which she audaciously inhabits the voice and consciousness of a man, William Crimsworth. Like Jane Eyre he is parentless; like Lucy Snowe in Villette he leaves the certainties of England to forge a life in Brussels. But as a man, William has freedom of action, and as a writer Brontë is correspondingly liberated, exploring the relationship between power and sexual desire. William s first person narration reveals his attraction to the dominating directress of the girls school where he teaches, played out in the school s secret garden . Balanced against this is his more temperate relationship with one of his pupils, Frances Henri, in which mastery and submission interplay. The Professor was published only after Charlotte Brontë s death; today it gives us a fascinating insight into the first stirrings of her supreme creative imagination.
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The Prisoner of Zenda
Anthony Hope
Rudolf Rassendyll is the hero of Anthony Hope's fantastic novel, The Prisoner of Zenda. After leaving his lofty life in London, Rassendyll discovers adventure in Ruritania, where he happens to bear a remarkable resemblance to the local king, Rudolf Elphberg. However, on the eve of his coronation, Elphberg is abducted and Rassendyll is called upon to pose as a political decoy. Along the way, Rassendyll finds courage, love, and duty as he negotiates the many twisting plots of Elphberg's abductors.
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The Princess and the Goblin
One of the most successful and beloved of Victorian fairy tales, George Macdonald’s The Princess and the Goblin tells the story of young Princess Irene and her friend Curdie, who must outwit the threatening goblins who live in caves beneath her mountain home. Macdonald’s pioneering use of fanstasy as a literary medium had a great influence on Lewis Carroll, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Madeleine L’Engle, all great admirers of his work, which has remained popular to this day. "I write, not for children," he wrote, "but for the child-like, whether they be of five, or fifty, or seventy-five."This edition includes illustrations by Arthur Hughes.
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The Princess and Curdie
A classic story of magic, mystery, and adventure in a fairy-tale world.Princess Irene’s great-great-grandmother has a testing task for Curdie. Curdie will not go alone though; she provides him with a companion, the oddest and ugliest creature Curdie has ever seen, but one who turns out to be the most loyal friend he could have hoped for.
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The Prince and the Pauper
This treasured historical satire, played out in two very different socioeconomic worlds of 16th-century England, centers around the lives of two boys born in London on the same day: Edward, Prince of Wales, and Tom Canty, a street beggar. During a chance encounter, the two realize they are identical and, as a lark, decide to exchange clothes and roles — a situation that briefly, but drastically, alters the lives of both youngsters.The Prince, dressed in rags, wanders about the city's boisterous neighborhoods among the lower classes and endures a series of hardships; poor Tom, now living with the royals, is constantly filled with the dread of being discovered for who and what he really is.Brimming with gentle humor and discerning social scrutiny, this timeless tale of transposed identities remains one of Twain's most popular and best-loved novels.
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The Prince
A new edition of the highly exalted and infamous discourse containing observations and instructions on the significance of a rise to power. For nearly half a millennium, its logical and direct analysis of diplomacy, war-craft, and human nature has commanded a wise ruler in all who read it. No collection of political philosophy and history is complete without it.
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
In this celebrated work, his only novel, Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind.
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