First published in 1819, "Don Juan" is often acknowledged as one of Lord Byron's greatest poetic works. An epic poem, comprised of seventeen cantos that Byron continued to work on and expand until his death, "Don Juan" follows the adventures of the famous Spanish libertine and reflects upon many of the romantic and personal experiences that are universal to all mankind. From a forbidden love affair in Spain, to exile in Italy, from being shipwrecked...

Henry VIII - William Shakespeare - King Henry VIII has one of the fullest theatrical histories of any play in the Shakespeare canon, yet has been consistently misrepresented, both in performance and in criticism. This edition offers a new perspective on this ironic, multi-layered, collaborative play, revealing it as a complex meditation on the progress of Reformation which sees English life since Henry VIII's day as a series of bewildering changes...

Jack Worthington is an upstanding gentleman in Victorian society. He just has one secret-he tells everyone that he has a brother named Earnest, when, in reality, Earnest is his alter ego. This allows him a certain duality; he can go out and party as Earnest, but have a sterling reputation as Jack. However, he must merge the two when Jack discovers that his lover, Gwendolyn, will only marry a man named Earnest. Meanwhile, Algernon, a family friend,...

This edition includes a modern introduction and a list of suggested further reading. Shakespeare's Jest Books is an anthology of humorous, often bawdy anecdotes and jokes from late medieval England. Collected in 1864 by the British bibliographer William Carew Hazlitt, the jest books are haphazard in their authorial ascriptions: they have origins in the oral tradition and anthologized the professional foolery of noted clowns Richard Tarlton and Will...

Once a month, Lord Loam encourages his servants to enter the drawing room for tea. This ritual defiance of tradition disturbs Crichton, the butler, who regards the class system as "the natural outcome of a civilized society." When the entire household is shipwrecked and stranded on a desert island, a new social order emerges ― with comic results for master and servant. This classic English comedy, written by the author of Peter Pan, combines light...

John Webster's "The Duchess of Malfi" is a macabre and tragic play written between 1612 and 1613. Misuse of power, revenge, deception, cruelty, and corruption are among the many themes that run throughout this work. The work is set in the court of Malfi, in reality Amalfi in Italy, and concerns the story of the titular Duchess who is recently widowed and falls in love with Antonio, a lowly steward. However the Duchess' family, wishing her to not split...

Shakespeare's tragic drama about a Roman general tested by rioting, war, rejection-and his own all-consuming anger. Enraged by the withholding of food, the common people of the Roman Republic are rebelling against the elite. In this battle between plebeians and patricians, Caius Marcius has little patience for those he considers beneath him and his family. After his military victory in the city of Corioli, Marcius is given the nickname Coriolanus...

Retellings of twenty of Shakespeare's best known plays, using the playwright's own words when possible.

One of the twentieth century's most admired and influential authors, G.K. Chesterton (1874–1936) created an enduring body of work that encompasses journalism, poetry, plays, history, biography, apologetics, and detective fiction. Through this book Chesterton leads us on a literary journey toward truth. A unique book, Orthodoxy addresses our faith struggles and how we communicate our faith to others. In this timeless classic, G.K. Chesterton,...

The Hunting of the Snark (1876) is a poem by Lewis Carroll. Filled with many of the portmanteau words developed for his poem "Jabberwocky," The Hunting of the Snark is a delightfully strange tale of mystery and adventure. Often read as an allegory for everything from tuberculosis to the endless quest for happiness itself, The Hunting of the Snark, much like the Snark itself, refuses all description. “‘Just the place for a Snark!' the Bellman cried,...