It is November 1915, the midst of World War I, and Richard Hannay and his friend Sandy are convalescing from wounds received at the Battle of Loos. Hannay is summoned to the Foreign Office by Sir Walter Bullivan. It appears German and Turkish allies are plotting to throw the Middle East, India and North Africa into turmoil. Hannay undertakes a perilous journey through enemy territory to Constantinople. Once there, he must thwart the Germans' plans to use religion to help them win the war.

Jack London cut a mythic figure across the American landscape of the early twentieth century. But throughout his colorful life -from his teenage years as an oyster pirate to his various incarnations as a well-traveled seaman, Yukon gold prospector, waterfront brawler, unemployed vagrant, impassioned socialist, and celebrated writer- he retained a predilection for drinking on a prodigious scale. London's classic alcoholic memoirs -the closest thing to an autobiography he ever wrote- are a startlingly honest

Widely recognized as one of literature's most gripping ghost stories, this classic tale of moral degradation concerns the sinister transformation of two innocent children into flagrant liars and hypocrites. The story begins when a governess arrives at an English country estate to look after Miles, aged ten, and Flora, eight. At first, everything appears normal but then events gradually begin to weave a spell of psychological terror. One night a ghost appears before the governess. It is the dead lover of Mi

The first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize, for her novel The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton was discouraged by her mother from pursuing her writing at an early age. Despite this she would go on to produce a prolific body of work which included many novels and short stories. Characteristic to her work is the subtle use of dramatic irony and having grown up in a prominent New York family she would become one the most astute critics of pre-World War I upper-class society. In the Touchstone we find the story o

This thriller by Edgar Wallace is a perfect example of the Edwardian era's suspense novels which were the most popular form of fiction after the pulp romances of that time. It depends upon twists and turns and unexpected surprises and keeps the reader wondering what's next. The Clue of the Twisted Candle also includes an unflappable hero and a thoroughly despicable villain (an Albanian aristocrat with an unlimited thirst for power and honor). Reading it today is a lot of fun and gives one a sense of that by

In the history of English literature, Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, which has been continuously in print since it was first published in the winter of 1843, stands out as the quintessential Christmas story. I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it. Their faithful Friend and Servant,

White Fang is the titular character and a novel by American author Jack London. First serialized in Outing magazine, it was published in 1906. The story takes place in Yukon Territory, Canada, during the Klondike Gold Rush at the end of the 19th-century, and details a wild wolfdog's journey to domestication. White Fang is a companion novel (and a thematic mirror) to London's best-known work, The Call of the Wild, which is about a kidnapped, domesticated dog embracing his wild ancestry to survive and thrive

The Wind in the Willows is a classic of children's literature by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Alternately slow moving and fast paced, it focuses on four anthropomorphised animal characters in a pastoral version of England. The novel is notable for its mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie and celebrated for its evocation of the nature of the Thames valley. In 1908 Grahame retired from his position as secretary of the Bank of England. He moved back to Cookham, Berkshire, whe

Is there a mystery connected with the life of Francis Bacon? The average student of history or literature will unhesitatingly reply in the negative, perhaps qualifying his answer by adding:?Unless it be a mystery that a man with such magnificent intellectual attainments could have fallen so low as to prove a faithless friend to a generous benefactor in the hour of his trial, and, upon being raised to one of the highest positions of honour and influence in the State, to become a corrupt public servant and a

While being treated for asthma at a country spa, an American diplomat's lonely 12-year-old son is befriended and infatuated by a suave, mysterious baron. But soon his adored friend heartlessly brushes him aside and turns his seductive attentions to his mother. The boy's jealousy and feelings of betrayal become uncontrollable. The story is set in Austria in the 1920s. The book was adapted for a movie in 1988, starring Faye Dunaway, Klaus Maria Brandauer and Ian Richardson.

Heart of Darkness is the thrilling tale of Marlow, a seaman and wanderer recounting his physical and psychological journey in search of the infamous ivory trader Kurtz. Traveling upriver into the heart of the African continent, he gradually becomes obsessed by this enigmatic, wraith-like figure. Marlow's discovery of how Kurtz has gained his position of power over the local people involves him in a radical questioning, not only of his own nature and values, but of those that underpin Western civilization it

Futility, or The Wreck of the Titan is Morgan Robertson's 1898 novella about the unsinkable ship Titan, which goes down after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Disgraced former naval lieutenant John Rowland is working as a deckhand on the Titan when it strikes an iceberg and capsizes. Saving the younger daughter of a former lover by jumping onto the iceberg with her, Rowland and his charge are eventually rescued and return to their homes. Written before the Titanic was designed, Futility, or The Wr

Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe is the third novel by George Eliot, published in 1861. An outwardly simple tale of a linen weaver, it is notable for its strong realism and its sophisticated treatment of a variety of issues ranging from religion to industrialisation to community. The novel is set in the early years of the 19th century. Silas Marner, a weaver, is a member of a small Calvinist congregation in Lantern Yard, a slum street in an unnamed city in Northern England. He is falsely accused of steal

Rudolf Rassendyllis the hero of Anthony Hope'sfantasticnovel, The Prisoner of Zenda. Afterleavinghislofty life in London, Rassendylldiscoversadventure in Ruritania, wherehehappens to bear a remarkableresemblance to the local king, Rudolf Elphberg. However, on the eve of hiscoronation, Elphbergisabducted and Rassendylliscalledupon to pose as a politicaldecoy. Along the way, Rassendyllfinds courage, love, and duty as henegotiates the manytwisting plots of Elphberg'sabductors.

1894. Arguably one of the best-known Suffragette writers, Beatrice Harradenwas a popularnovelistwhowasheavilyinvolved in the Suffragette taxresistancecampaign. Her best-selling sentimental romance, ShipsthatPass in the Night tells of a doomed love-affairbetweentwo patients in a tuberculosissanitarium. This story caught the public's imagination, and the titlebecame a byword for a fleeting or doomed love affair. The titlewasinspired by lines in Longfellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn, ThirdEvening, Theologian's S