English Literature Great

The 200th anniversary of the birth of Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809 - 1892), one of the most popular of poets, is celebrated in 2009. Works such as The Charge of the Light Brigade, Crossing the Bar and Tears, Idle Tears have made him an internationally famous figure, and the second most quoted writer of all time (after Shakespeare).

The Great Guilds, fearing the loss of their control of the world of Dematr, have gathered their power and joined it with the relentless legions of the Empire. The full might of that host will fall upon the fortress city of Dorcastle. If Dorcastle falls, the revolt led by Master Mechanic Mari and Mage Alain will fail, and their world will soon descend into chaos.

An astonishing collection of fifty of the greatest short stories ever written by some of literature's most highly acclaimed writers. 1. "Odour of Chrysanthemums" by D. H. Lawrence; 2. "Miss Harriet" by Guy de Maupassant; 3. "Twenty-six Men and a Girl" by Maxim Gorky; 4. "Hot Potatoes" by Arnold Bennett; 5. "Rats" by M. R. James; 6. "Zodomirsky’s Duel" by Alexandre Dumas; 7. "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin; 8. "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe; 9. "The Encased Man" by Anton Chekhov.

Janet Dailey's landmark saga of adventure and romance spans 200 years with the rich and dangerous wilds of Alaska as a backdrop. The epic begins with the love of a beautiful Aleut woman for a noble and ambitious Cossack hunter. From their union comes seven generations of a proud breed of native Alaskans, in whose veins flows the blood of the many peoples - Russian, Indian, English, American - who played a part in forging this new land.

The Complete Charles Dickens Collection: Part Two contains all of Charles Dickens' major published works from 1844 to 1865. Dickens wrote most of his most influential and beloved novels during these years - introducing us to characters such as Pip, David Copperfield, Little Dorrit, Esther Summerson, and many more who have lived long in the memory for generations. Also included here are a selection of his essays, travelogues, letters, and a short biography of Dickens by his daughter, Mamie.

Her family was killed and her home destroyed, during the brutal Civil War. Penniless and desperate to find a new life, 18-year-old Katina Monroe flees from Georgia to Chicago, disguised as a boy. In this great city, she finds work as “William,” acting in a small theater and dreaming of writing brilliant plays that will someday bring her wealth and fame as a woman in her own name.

The Pax Britannica trilogy is Jan Morris’s epic story of the British Empire from the accession of Queen Victoria to the death of Winston Churchill. It is a towering achievement: informative, accessible, entertaining and written with all her usual bravura. Heaven’s Command, the first volume, takes us from the crowning of Queen Victoria in 1837 to the Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The story moves effortlessly across the world, from the English shores to Fiji, Zululand, the Canadian prairies and beyond.

Welcome to the Rotten School, a new series set in a boarding school that's rotten to the core. The school motto is Growth, Learning, Pizza. Meet charming conniver Bernie Bridges, his arch-rival Sherman Oaks, housemother Mrs. Heinie, Coach Bunz, Headmaster I. Will Upchuck, and the rest of the students and faculty in two stories that prove that while good is good and bad is better, rotten is the best of all!

Ray did not expect his life to take the turns it did. He had always been a simple man who enjoyed modest pleasures and a few travel experiences. In fact, he thought he might have traveled more. But life just sort of happened, and he never got around to the things he wanted to see. Now, on the biggest journey of his life, going places he could only imagine in his dreams, he is not sure he wants to be on this path. He is not sure how he got on this path or where it will take him next. Perhaps the biggest question is: “Who is in control?”

Baker Street mice - beware! So far the twins are safe. They'll stay that way if you do what we say. We've decided to make your Baker Street cellar the headquarters for our gang. Everybody must be out in 48 hours. It's Basil's job to move you all out, just the way he moved you in. Better make it fast! And leave the furniture - we need it. This is the only warning you'll get. And listen - if you don't follow our orders, you'll never set eyes on those twins again!

It’s almost one hundred years since The Great Turning, the catastrophic meteor strike that changed the world forever. Russell Owens is a recently discharged New North Americas Army sniper who only wants to return to his home just outside of Yellowstone to resume life with his gentle husband, Ted. Russell doesn’t want to re-up and hates that he had to kill for a living.

Pearl Spence has been through more in her young life than most folks could handle. But through it all, her family has been by her side. They may not be perfect, but they love her, and they all love each other, come what may. That's one thing Pearl no longer questions.

In the tiny timber town of Cordelia, Idaho, 99-year-old Weldon Applegate recounts his life in all its glory, filled with tall tales writ large with murder, mayhem, avalanches, and bootlegging. It’s the story of dark pine forests brewing with ancient magic, and Weldon’s struggle as a boy to keep his father’s inherited timber claim, the Lost Lot, from the ravenous clutches of Linden Laughlin.

Step aboard a ship adrift in the heart of an ominous sea, where the waves whisper secrets and the night holds chilling mysteries. In this gripping tale, listeners will accompany the ship's captain as he grapples with his own sanity and faces an otherworldly presence that defies comprehension.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Signalman by Charles Dickens, Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Dracula by Bram Stoker, and a bonus story, "The Monkey’s Paw" by W.W. Jacobs. More than 30 hours of great classic horror is brought to haunting new life by three A-list narrators whose performances are nothing short of electrifying.

James Boswell forever changed the genre of biography when he painstakingly transformed a scholarly profusion of detail into a perceptive, lifelike portrait of Dr. Samuel Johnson. James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson reveals a man of outsized appetites and private vulnerabilities and is the source of much of what we know about one of the towering figures of English literature.

What happened when Jane Austen’s heroines and heroes were finally wed? Marriage is at the center of Jane Austen’s novels. The pursuit of husbands and wives, advantageous matches, and, of course, love itself, motivate her characters and continue to fascinate people today. But what were love and marriage like in reality for ladies and gentlemen in Regency England? Rory Muir uncovers the excitements and disappointments of courtship and the pains and pleasures of marriage, drawing on fascinating first-hand accounts as well as novels of the period.

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.” Step into the dazzling, deceptive world of the 1920s—a world bathed in champagne, jazz, and whispered secrets. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald invites us to peer beyond the shimmering curtain of the American Dream, exposing the illusions that lie at its glittering heart. This is not just a love story. It is a haunting elegy for a generation intoxicated by wealth, ambition, and the desperate need to reinvent oneself.

Poppy's Place is up and running, but Isla is frustrated by the time it's taking to rehome the cats. Then, she has a purr-fect idea - they could host a cat adoption event on Valentine's Day, to match the perfect cat with the perfect owner. But just as the plans for the Great Cat-acular are coming together, disaster strikes - Poppy's Place is flooded! Can Isla come up with a plan to relocate their big event and save the day?

Did you know that the same parts of a personality that contribute to insecurities, conflicts and mediocrity in leadership are the same parts that contribute to unfulfilling and challenging romantic experiences, devoid of joy and deep emotional intimacy? The foundation of great leadership and an amazing love life is the same—Self-leadership. CLIMAX: Why Great Leaders Need Love Affairs is a leadership fable of two mediocre leaders who come to a crossroads: either do the inner work to shed the masks and egos or become another statistical casualty by joining the two-thirds of leaders who fail.