Wrote Virginia Woolf of Aurora Leigh in 1931. 'We laugh, we protest, we complain - it is absurd, it is impossible, we cannot tolerate this exaggeration a moment longer - but, nevertheless, we read to the end enthralled. What more can an author ask?' Aurora Leigh (1856), Elizabeth Barrett Browning's epic novel in blank verse, tells the story of the making of a woman poet, exploring 'the woman question', art and its relation to politics and social oppression....
"An intimate look at Mark Twain that only he himself could offer. A must-have for all lovers of Mark Twain, this selection of his autobiographical writings opens a rare window onto the writer's life, particularly his early years. Born on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri, Samuel Langhorne Clemens first used the pseudonym Mark Twain while a journalist in Nevada in 1863. When his first major book, The Innocents Abroad, appeared six years later,...
John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 - 8 May 1873), English philosopher, political theorist, political economist, civil servant and Member of Parliament, was an influential Classical liberal thinker of the 19th century whose works on liberty justified freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control.
Longshoreman Eddie Carbone is devoted to his wife, Beatrice and to his niece, Catherine. When Beatrice's impoverished Sicilian cousins enter the U.S. illegally, in the hope of finding work, Eddie gives them a helping hand. But when Catherine and one of her cousins fall in love, Eddie's affection for his niece turns into obsession.
"In an age of ferment, following the American and French revolutions, Mary Wollstonecraft took prevailing egalitarian principles and dared to apply them to women. Her book is both a sustained argument for emancipation and an attack on a social and an economic system. As Miriam Brody points out in her introduction, subsequent feminists tended to lose sight of her radical objectives. For Mary Wollstonecraft all aspects of women's existence were interrelated,...
"A portrait in her own words of the female Lawrence of Arabia. One of the great woman adventurers of the twentieth century and the chief architect of British policy in the Middle East after World War I, Gertrude Bell turned her back on Victorian society to study at Oxford and travel the world. Mountaineer, archaeologist, Arabist, writer, poet, linguist, and spy, she dedicated her life to championing the Arab cause and was instrumental in drawing the...
Prosperous and socially prominent, George Babbitt appears to have everything a man could wish. But when a personal crisis forces the middle-aged real estate agent to reexamine his life, Babbitt mounts a rebellion that jeopardizes everything he values. Widely considered Sinclair Lewis' greatest novel, this satire of the American social landscape created a sensation upon its 1922 publication. Babbitt's name became an instant and enduring synonym for...
Barchester Towers, published in 1857, is the sequel to Trollope’sThe Warden and continues the story of the clerical doings in the fictional cathedral town of Barchester.
As this novel opens, the old Bishop of Barchester lies dying, and there is considerable doubt as to who will replace
"Charles Dickens' first historical novel, set during the anti-Catholic riots of 1780, is an unparalleled portrayal of the terror of a rampaging mob, seen through the eyes of the individuals swept up in the chaos."--Jacket.
"Beyond Good and Evil is one of the most scathing and powerful critiques of philosophy, religion, science, politics, and ethics ever written. In it, Nietzsche presents a set of problems, criticisms, and philosophical challenges that continue both to inspire and to trouble contemporary thought. In addition, he offers his most subtle, detailed, and sophisticated account of the virtues, ideas, and practices which will characterize philosophy and philosophers...
"A new, definitive edition of Herman Melville's virtuosic short stories--American classics wrought with scorching fury, grim humor, and profound beauty. Though best-known for his epic masterpiece Moby-Dick, Herman Melville also left a body of short stories arguably unmatched in American fiction. In the sorrowful tragedy of Billy Budd, Sailor; the controlled rage of Benito Cereno; and the tantalizing enigma of Bartleby, the Scrivener; Melville reveals...
Seven stories deal with a slave rebellion, an obstinate copyist, an accidental murder, a voyage to the Galapagos Islands, and a bachelors' dinner party.
George Samuel Schuyler, was a noted black satirist of the early 20th century. This book is an intricate tale of black nationalism, science fiction, and incredible feats of derring-do intended to bolster black pride and accomplishment in the uneasy years before World War II. The book originally ran as weekly serialized fiction in the Philadelphia Courier from 1936 to 1938. Principal character Dr. Henry Belsidus is obsessed with releasing blacks from...
