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In the winter of 1854 Tolstoy, then an officer in the Russian army, arranged to be transferred to the besieged town of Sebastopol. Wishing to see at first hand the action of what would become known as the Crimean War, he was spurred on by a fierce patriotism, but also by an equally fierce desire to alert the authorities to appalling conditions in the army. The three Sebastopol Sketches - 'December', 'May' and 'August' - re-create what happened during different phases of the siege and its effect on the ordinary men around him.

More than 2,500 years ago, a Chinese commander, Master Sun—or Sun-tzu—collected together his precepts on generalship to form the kernel of one of the most famous military treatises of all time. Our understanding of strategic warfare that comes out of his writings has yet to be surpassed. Eschewing conventional courage and military might as primary deciding factors, The Art of War is characterised by a profoundly enlightened emphasis on moderation, imagination, good morale and scrupulous forward planning.

Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life; indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence.

This rousing sea adventure follows New England boy Pym, who stows away on a whaling ship with its captain’s son, Augustus. The two boys repeatedly find themselves on the brink of death or discovery and witness many terrifying events, including mutiny, cannibalism and frantic pursuits. Poe imbued this deliberately popular tale with such allegorical richness, biblical imagery and psychological insights that the tale has come to influence writers as various as Melville, James, Verne and Nabokov.

It is a fictionalised account of the first expedition across the Western Wilderness, crossing the Rocky Mountains. The journal chronicled a 1792 expedition led by Julius Rodman up the Missouri River to the Northwest. This 1792 expedition would have made Rodman the first European to cross the Rocky Mountains. The detailed journal chronicles events of the most surprising nature and recounts '[T]he unparalleled vicissitudes and adventures experienced by a handful of men in a country which, until then, had never been explored by "civilised man"'.

'The Pit and the Pendulum', one of Poe's most well-renowned short stories, is centred around the torments endured by a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition. The narrator of the story describes his experience of being tortured. The story is especially effective at inspiring fear in the listener because of its heavy focus on the senses, such as sound, emphasising its reality, unlike many of Poe's stories, which are aided by the supernatural.

In A Clergyman's Daughter, Orwell leads us through a landscape of unemployment, poverty and hunger, where Dorothy's faith is challenged by a social reality that changes her life.

In 1910, while hiking through the wild lavender in a wind-swept, desolate valley in Provence, a man comes across a shepherd called Elzéard Bouffier. Staying with him, he watches Elzéard sorting and then planting hundreds of acorns as he walks through the wilderness.

London, 1936. Gordon Comstock has declared war on the money god, and Gordon is losing the war. Nearly 30 and 'rather moth-eaten already', a poet whose one small book of verse has fallen 'flatter than any pancake', Gordon rejects money-worship and a steady job in advertising for the pursuit of creativity. But poverty soon bites, and with it his creative spirit disappears. Only his ever-faithful Rosemary can rouse him from the stupor and challenge his commitment to his chosen way of life.

George Bowling is 45, married with children, working as a suburban insurance salesman and desperate to escape London. It’s 1939, and the Second World War is imminent. Foreseeing the chaos it will bring, George decides to escape to the smaller life of his childhood, to the village of Lower Binfield where everything is quiet and peaceful. But his journey may bring nothing more than chaos, confusion and disillusionment.

John Flory is a white timber-merchant in 1920s Burma. Disillusioned by imperial life, Flory defies orthodoxy and befriends Indian Dr Veraswami. The doctor is being pursued by a corrupt magistrate, U Po Kyin, who is orchestrating his downfall. The only thing that can save his reputation is membership of the all-white Club, and Flory is in a position to help. Flory's life is also upended by the arrival of beautiful Parisian Elizabeth Lackersteen, who offers an escape from loneliness and the deceit of colonial life.

In this first novel, Chan comes to the aid of an aristocratic Boston family who find themselves in dire straits over what has befallen Dan Winterslip, the black sheep of the family, who lives in a mansion on Waikiki Beach - the house without a key. The troubles begin when a young nephew is dispatched by the family in Boston to retrieve a wayward aunt who has overstayed her welcome in Dan Winterslip's house.

A young, shy, sickly priest is assigned to his first parish, a sleepy village in Northern France. Though his faith is devout, he finds nothing but indifference and mockery. The children laugh at his teachings, his parishioners are consumed by boredom, rumours are spread about him and he is tormented by stomach pains. Even his attempts to clarify his thoughts in a diary fail to deliver him from worldly concerns. Yet somehow, despite his suffering, he tries to find love for his fellow humans and even a state of grace.

Quasimodo, the isolated and disfigured bell-ringer of the great cathedral, lives hidden from the world—feared by the crowds below and bound in loyalty to the powerful archdeacon who raised him. But everything changes when he encounters Esmeralda, a free-spirited dancer whose kindness awakens a longing he has never known. As desire, jealousy, and power collide in the shadow of the cathedral, the lives of Quasimodo, Esmeralda, and those around them spiral toward a tragic reckoning. In a city ruled by appearances and authority, compassion may be the rarest—and most dangerous—virtue of all.

The Essential Brontë Sisters Collection brings together the singular, definitive works of one of the most famous and impactful families of writers in history. Between Emily, Charlotte, and Anne, the Brontës wrote into existence some of the most memorable and long-lasting characters of English literature. Collected here are their most celebrated works - Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Jane Eyre , by Charlotte Brontë Orphaned Jane emerges from a cold, hostile upbringing at Lowood Institution to take her place as governess at Thornfield, home of Mr Rochester.

Songs of Innocence and of Experience pairs luminous, childlike wonder with sharp, unsettling truth. In the first half, innocence speaks through images of lambs, children, and quiet faith in a world that feels gentle and protected. In the second, that vision cracks open—revealing a darker reality shaped by poverty, authority, and human suffering. Through deceptively simple poems and unforgettable images, the collection explores how joy and cruelty, hope and corruption, innocence and knowledge all exist side by side.

Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow features twelve comedic essays that effortlessly blend humour with philosophical enquiry. Vibrant and lively, Jerome's writing offers amusing meditations on some of life's most trivial endeavours. Spanning everything from indecisiveness and keeping up appearances, to avoiding unsolicited advice and romance, these witty musings gently poke fun at the pressures of societal expectation with profound insight.

The year is 1665, and London is under siege: fear and paranoia haunt the city's streets, infection begins to spread like wildfire and people do all they can to avoid the horrific disease thrust upon their homes. Written in a candid, first-person narrative – thought to be inspired by Defoe's own uncle, who lived in London's East End at the time of the plague – the novel reports the grim realities of the epidemic in unflinching detail.

Giants in the Earth is a stark, emotionally powerful portrait of Norwegian settlers struggling to build a life on the limitless Dakota prairie. Blending the sweep of frontier adventure with the intimate pressures of isolation, the novel captures both the thrill of possibility and the quiet unraveling that comes when the land asks more of its people than they ever expected to give.

When art teacher Walter Hartright meets a frightened woman dressed entirely in white, her cryptic warnings hint at a hidden conspiracy. Soon after, Walter arrives at a country estate where he becomes entangled in the lives of two sisters—one gentle and trusting, the other sharp and perceptive—both surrounded by secrets they don't fully understand. As strange events unfold and powerful enemies begin to close in, a web of deception, identity theft, and betrayal slowly emerges.