Nicholas Boulton
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First published in 1862 after Dostoyevsky's imprisonment in a Siberian labor camp, "The House of the Dead" is a collection of memoirs, related by themes, that portrays the horrific life of convicts. The author drew on his own experiences in prison to depict the squalor, destitution, and severity of a Siberian camp with remorseless detail. Dostoyevsky reveals the characters of many of the other convicts, which includes the depravity many have come...
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Wilkie Collins was the first great detective novelist. His dark and complex mysteries influenced the work of other writers, such as Anthony Trollope and Charles Dickens, with whom he developed a close personal friendship. Swinburne found his work worthy of serious criticism, and T. S. Eliot credits him even more than Poe with the invention of the modern detective novel and the popular thriller. Before such works as The Woman in White, The Moonstone,...
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Hide and Seek (1854) is a novel by Wilkie Collins. Written in the aftermath of Antonina (1850), his successful debut, Hide and Seek finds the author honing the trademark sense of mystery and psychological unease that would make him a household name around the world. Recognized as an important Victorian novelist and pioneer of detective fiction, Wilkie Collins was a writer with a gift for thoughtful entertainment, stories written for a popular audience...
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This vintage book contains William Wilkie Collins' 1880 novel, "Jezebel's Daughter". Based in the 1858 play "The Red Vial", it is a dramatic story of deceit and mystery based around Mrs. Fontaine, a disquieting widow who employs various poisons and remedies to manipulate her family and friends. This volume is highly recommend for lovers of chilling literature, and it is not to be missed by fans of Collins' masterful work. William Wilkie Collins (1824–1889)...
5) Basil
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Basil (1852) is a novel by Wilkie Collins. Written in the aftermath of Antonina (1850), his successful debut, Basil finds the author honing the trademark sense of mystery and psychological unease that would make him a household name around the world. Recognized as an important Victorian novelist and pioneer of detective fiction, Wilkie Collins was a writer with a gift for thoughtful entertainment, stories written for a popular audience that continue...
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"Daphnis and Chloe" is the timeless story of young love by Greek writer Longus. Written sometimes during the 2nd century AD in the Roman Empire and the only work by Longus to have survived the passage of time, "Daphnis and Chloe" is one of the most enduringly popular works of Greek literature and has inspired countless adaptations. Deeply thoughtful and emotional, it is the story of two young orphans who are abandoned at birth and grow up as neighbors....
7) Dead Souls
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Dead Souls, by Nikolai Gogol, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:
• New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars
• Biographies of the authors
• Chronologies of contemporary...
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"A Kyiv family is caught up in the Ukrainian War of Independence in this novel by the author of The Master and Margarita , drawing from his own life. Reds, Whites, German troops, and Ukrainian nationalists battle for control of the city of Kyiv as the war becomes more tumultuous in Mikhail Bulgakov's debut novel, The White Guard. Drawing heavily from the author's own experiences in Ukraine during the period of the Russian Civil War-he witnessed ten...
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A chilling, suspense-filled ghost story from multimillion-copy bestselling author Peter James, now also a hit stage show.
Ollie and Caro Harcourt are moving house with their twelve-year-old daughter Jade. Ollie is desperate to leave the city. Caro is less sure. Then they view Cold Hill House, a dilapidated rural mansion, and fall instantly in love. It's expensive, but with its space, seclusion and huge grounds it seems like a brilliant idea.
That...
10) The Nether World
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An exploration of the class struggle in nineteenth century London where a potential inheritance turns family and friends into desperate foes eager to escape their circumstance. A compelling story about greed, deception and the innate need to survive. Michael Snowdon lives like a pauper despite inheriting a massive fortune. He plans to leave his money to Jane, his neglected granddaughter, in hopes that she will spend it on charitable causes. Yet, Michael's...
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Old Jago is tucked away in the East End of London, conveniently placed so the wealthy and the fortunate can forget all about it and its unlucky residents. Dicky Perott does not have the luxury of forgetting about the ugly truth of Old Jago, because he and his family barely can afford the single-room home they live in, fighting off robbers, fleas, and the cold. Though he is just a young boy, Dicky already dreams of the day he can leave the slum forever,...
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Hailed by Nabokov as "the greatest artist that Russia has yet produced," Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852) left his mark as a playwright, novelist, and writer of short stories. Gogol's works remain popular with both writers and readers, who prize his originality, imaginative gifts, and sheer exuberance. This collection offers an excellent introduction to the author's works. Opening a door to his bizarre world of broad comedy, fantasy, and social commentary,...
13) Clea
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The final installment of the Alexandria Quartet. Years after his liaisons with Justine and Melissa, Darley becomes immersed in a relationship with Clea, a bisexual artist. The ensuing chain of events transforms not only the lovers, but the dead as well, and leads to the series' brilliant and unexpected resolution. Praised by Life as among the 'most discussed and widely admired serious fiction of our time,' Clea carries on Durrell's assured and...
14) Justine
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Justine is the tragic story of a young woman who embarks on a journey to France where she plans to lead a life of uncompromising virtue. Justine watches as her sister, Juliette, becomes corrupted by a wicked Abbess in the nunnery where she was raised. Hoping to escape the same fate, Justine breaks out on her own only to become the victim of many who claim to be charitable and trustworthy, suffering sexual abuse and terror that force her to extreme...
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The Great Gate of Kiev resounds to the tumultuous bell rings that end Pictures an an Exhibition, one of the most magnificent and virtuosic of all piano pieces. However, to some of his contemporaries, Modest Mussorgsky was 'insane' and 'a perfect idiot'. Born into a wealthy land-owning family, what drove this tormented man and why did he suffer psychological breakdowns and alcoholism? How did he achieve his command of the realist idiom in his stage...
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David Angus tells about civilization under the pharaohs, of mysterious statues and tombs, incredible obelisks, and the Sphinx. The ancient Egyptian kingdom is brought to life in a way that fuels the listener's imagination, teaching and entertaining in equal measure.
17) Naples '44
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Naples '44 is an unflinching autobiographical account of a year in Naples after the armistice and Allied landings in Sorrento in 1943. Working as a British counterintelligence officer under the Allied occupation, Lewis documents the rich pageant of life in the city and its surrounding areas. There is suffering and squalor: criminal gangs are on the rise, along with typhus and black market commerce, and the female population is forced into part-time...
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Is there any music more instantly recognisable and beautifully scored than Tchaikovsky's wildly popular ballet Swan Lake? These and other works have become enduring classics, yet they were not uncontroversial in Tchaikovsky's day, and there are those that still wonder if his style is fundamentally European or ardently Russian. Find out more about Tchaikovsky's childhood obsession with music, his turbulent relationships with friends and colleagues,...
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Considered one of the first existentialist novels, Notes from Underground contains one of the most unsettling characters in 19th-century fiction. Resentful, cruel, entitled and pitiful, Dostoyevsky's Underground Man is a disturbing human being bent on humiliating others for his own amusement. He despises modern society and stews in a self-imposed misery, articulated through his bitter, contradictory monologues about torment and alienation. The Gambler...
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In Moscow an unknown author approaches a publisher (the narrator), asking him to read and publish his manuscript. The narrator agrees to read it before the author returns three months later. At the heart of the story in the manuscript is a love triangle and themes of corruption, concealed love and fatal jealousy. When one of the central characters is discovered dead, the narrative becomes a murder-mystery as the search for the culprit begins.
Written...