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Ivanhoe, a trusted ally of Richard-the-Lionhearted, returns from the Crusades to reclaim the inheritance his father denied him. Ivanhoe defends Rebecca, a vibrant, beautiful Jewish woman, against a charge of witchcraft—but it is Lady Rowena who is Ivanhoe's true love. Richard's brother, the wicked Prince John, plots to usurp England's throne, but Richard and the well-loved famous outlaw, Robin Hood, team up to defeat the Normans and regain the castle. Blending historic reality, chivalric romance, and high adventure, Ivanhoe features action, high drama, adventure, and colorful characters.

Entranced by romantic tales of heroism and chivalry, Don Quixote—self-proclaimed knight errant—embarks on a delusional quest for fame and adventure. The eccentric Spanish country gentleman and his companion Sancho encounter an array of unforgettable characters and undertake some of the most famously foolhardy exploits in literature. Listeners will delight in following their chivalrous misadventures to right wrongs and punish evil in this timeless, laugh-out-loud tale.

This disturbing and insightful novel explores the question of morality when a man is free to do as he pleases without risk of being caught. This masterpiece of science fiction depicts the fascinating story of a young scientist's experiments that allow him to become invisible. Much to his anger and dismay, he realizes his condition is irreversible and descends into madness and brutality. Freed from the constraints of the law and rejected by a society that fears him, he takes advantage of the opportunity to terrorize a remote English village. Can an invisible criminal ever be stopped?

This rich and charming novel about a virtuous young woman's search for love amidst the fickle world of country gentry in Regency England is one of Jane Austen's most memorable works. Anne Elliot exists in a world where shallowness and hypocrisy present a challenge to her centered values and tender emotions. Anne vies for the affections of the man she loves while at the same time her willpower is threatened as she battles the conventions of a proper parochial society.

This is the story of a magnificent wolf-dog, born in the wild, who struggles to survive in the harsh Yukon. White Fang is the lone survivor of his family and soon learns to follow the brutal law of the North—kill or be killed. Isolated and mistreated, White Fang becomes a mortal fighter, feared by all. Only through kindness and gentleness is this killer transformed into an animal capable of great love.

Locked in his desk for 25 years, What Is Man? was Twain's most serious, philosophical, and private work. The narrative appears in the form of a Socratic dialogue between a romantic young idealist and an elderly cynic. The pair debate issues of mankind, such as whether man is free to act or is more of a machine, whether personal merit is meaningless given how the environment shapes us, and if man truly has impulses other than to pursue pleasure and avoid pain.

Huckleberry Finn—the casual rebel, the homeless waif, the sometime liar and thief, the boy nobody wanted—finds, for the first time in his life, a sense of responsibility, acceptance, and love when he befriends a runaway slave named Jim. Fleeing down the Mississippi on a raft, Huck courageously violates social convention rather than betray the person who needs him most.

Jean Valjean is one of society's victims. A poor but honest peasant, he is caught stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family and is sent to prison. By the time of his eventual release, he has become a hardened criminal, but his friendship with the saintly Monseigneur Bienvenu gives him another chance at life. This new, respectable life is precarious, for Valjean is still sought by the law, in the person of the implacable Inspector Javert.

Pip—the orphaned hero of Great Expectations—is one of Charles Dickens's best-loved characters. Young Philip Pirrip—nicknamed Pip—is apprenticed to his blacksmith brother-in-law, but an anonymous benefactor changes the boy's future. After he is lifted to what seems a higher station in life, Pip shuns his kind friends and slips into debt. But as he matures, he progresses from thoughtless selfishness to humble industry.

In the squalor of a textile town, successful businessman and arch-pragmatist Thomas Gradgrind, proclaiming that he is a self-made man, teaches his children to suppress their imaginations and embrace hard facts. He arranges the marriage of his daughter Louisa to Josiah Bounderby, an unattractive, boastful manufacturer who is thirty years older her senior, and Gradgrind's son Tom goes to work in Bounderby's bank. But after Tom steals from his employer and Louisa flees the horrors of her marriage, Gradgrind must reconsider his lifelong devotion to facts and utility.

Nearly two centuries after The Pickwick Papers first appeared in 1837, listeners continue to enjoy the vigorous humor and heartwarming optimism of Dickens' first great literary achievement. Actor Paul Scofield evokes all the warmth and laughter of the unlikely adventures of the immortal Samuel Pickwick, Esq., and the other members of the Pickwick Club. Abetted by Pickwick's faithful manservant, Sam Weller, the Pickwickians bumble through hilarious misadventures, romantic escapades, and other twists of plot, encountering many delightfully Dickensian characters along the way.

The welfare of children—a theme of many novels by Charles Dickens—is central to Nicholas Nickleby, the story of a fatherless young man, his mother, and his sister who find themselves at the mercy of a greedy and unscrupulous relative. Nicholas Nickleby is both a vivid indictment of the exploitive, brutal boarding schools of the late 19th century and a celebration of a little family's resilient generosity of spirit. Actor Paul Scofield's performance captures the warmth and charm of this story and its array of colorful characters.

In London, Little Nell lives in The Old Curiosity Shop with her grandfather, who has a weakness for gambling. Hoping to mend his finances, the old man borrows money from Quilp, a moneylender and swindler. After losing that money as well, the grandfather flees to the country with Nell in a desperate attempt to escape the clutches of Quilp, who has designs on Nell and believes that the grandfather is secretly a rich miser. Out of devotion to Nell, Kit Nubbles, the shop's errand boy, pursues the pair and in the process earning the wrath of Quilp.

A pauper's child reared in a workhouse, young Oliver Twist serves an apprenticeship in a loveless house. Despairing, he runs away and is befriended by a gang of young pickpockets who offer him the only welcome home he has ever known. Falling under the influence of villainous company, the young orphan struggles to escape from a life of poverty and crime, in search of the love he longs for. Oliver Twist is one of Dickens' greatest achievements, a vivid depiction of London's outlaw society with an array of memorable characters.

Jim Hawkins, the son of an innkeeper, longs for adventure. One of the inn's guests, a coarse old bully named Billy Bones, reveals a map showing the whereabouts of buried treasure. After Bones dies, Jim and his mother flee with the map to Squire John Trelawney, outwitting other pirates who were chasing Bones. With Trelawney's friend Dr. Livesey, the squire charters a schooner carrying a band of pirates led by Long John Silver. Excitement and heroic action await Jim Hawkins as he seeks to foil the pirates, find the buried gold, and bring Long John Silver to justice.

This classic adventure story chronicles a fantastic voyage from the lost continent of Atlantis to the South Pole. Professor Aronnax begins his incredible underwater journey with his faithful servant Conseil and a Canadian harpooner, Ned Land. They set out on a hazardous voyage to rid the seas of a little-known and terrifying sea monster. After discovering that the “monster” is actually a giant submarine, they are captured by the vessel's mysterious commander, Captain Nemo.

Falsely accused of a crime and betrayed by his closest friend, the weaver Silas Marner has been hoarding his earnings for 15 years. Distanced from his religious community, he has devoted himself to his work and taken pleasure only in counting his coins. Then in a single day, his gold is stolen and a lovely child appears on his doorstep. As he changes his life to meet the irresistible needs of the child, Marner accepts that the loss of the gold was a necessary exchange for the child.

From Edgar Allan Poe—the master of the short story and lyric poem—comes this rare treasury of classics. The outstanding works "A Descent into the Maelstrom," "Annabelle Lee," "Eldorado," "The Bells," and "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall," illustrate Poe's meticulous sense of construction, with signature themes of romance and melancholy that characterized his short and troubled life.

In a timeless tale of misguided romance and heartbreak, Jane Austen's first novel of love and marriage is seen through the eyes of two very different heroines, the Dashwood sisters—cautious, level-headed Elinor and impulsive lively Marianne—one representing sense and the other sensibility.

Heart of Darkness tells of the conflicting drives of two men—Charles Marlow, the captain of a steamboat, and Mr. Kurtz, a mysterious figure who oversees a trading post in Africa. After an arduous journey, Marlow finally encounters Kurtz, and the men come to grips with their differences—and their similarities.