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Literature
Store > Browse by Country > Europe > Great Britain > Literature

Jane Austen - Emma Jane Austen - Emma


Beautiful, clever, rich - and single - Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected.

With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen's most flawless work.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 0141439580
Published: 2003
Paperback: 512 pages 



Price:   £5.99



Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice


When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever.

In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows the folly of judging by first impressions and superbly evokes the friendships, gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class life.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 0141439513
Published: 2003
Paperback: 480 pages 



Price:   £5.99



Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre


Having endured humiliation and loneliness in the home of her heartless Aunt Reed, and the harsh regime of Lowood, a charity boarding school, the orphaned Jane Eyre survives her childhood unbroken in spirit and integrity. When she takes up a post as a governess at Thornfield Hall, she also finds love with her employer, the dark and sardonic Mr Rochester. But her discovery of Rochester's terrible secret forces Jane to follow her own moral convictions, even if it means giving up her chance of happiness.
Although many were shocked by its depiction of a woman's bold and passionate search for independence and love on her own terms, Jane Eyre was an immediate success when it appeared in 1847 and remains one of the most popular of all English novels.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 0140434003
Published: 1996
Paperback: 576 pages 



Price:   £5.99



Emily Bronte - Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte - Wuthering Heights


Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before: of the intense passion between the foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and her betrayal of him.

As Heathcliff's bitterness and vengeance is visited upon the next generation, their innocent heirs must struggle to escape the legacy of the past.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 0141439556
Published: 2003
Paperback: 416 pages 



Price:   £5.99



Lewis Carroll - The Annotated Alice Lewis Carroll - The Annotated Alice


Where did the Cheshire Cat get its grin?

The bestselling Annotated Alice was the first work to decode the wordplay and mathematical riddles in Carroll's classic stories.

This Definitive Edition combines the notes of Gardner's 1960s edition, together with hundreds of newer discoveries.

Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0140289291
Published: 2001
Paperback: 368 pages, 129 x 198 mm 



Price:   £9.99



Geoffrey Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales


At the Tabard Inn in Southwark, a jovial group of pilgrims assembles, including an unscrupulous Pardoner, a noble-minded Knight, a ribald Miller, the lusty Wife of Bath, and Chaucer himself. As they set out on their journey towards the shrine of Thomas a Becket in Canterbury, each character agrees to tell a tale. The twenty-four tales that follow are by turns learned, fantastic, pious, melancholy and lewd, and together offer an unrivalled glimpse into the mind and spirit of medieval England.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 014042234X
Published: 2005
Paperback: 1328 pages 



Price:   £20.00



Arthur Conan Doyle - The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle - The Hound of the Baskervilles


The terrible spectacle of the beast, the fog of the moor, the discovery of a body, this classic horror story pits detective against dog. When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead on the wild Devon moorland with the footprints of a giant hound nearby, the blame is placed on a family curse. It is left to Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson to solve the mystery of the legend of the phantom hound before Sir Charles' heir comes to an equally gruesome end...

Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 014043786X
Published: 2001
Paperback: 240 pages, 129 x 198 mm 



Price:   £5.99



Charles Dickens - David Copperfield Charles Dickens - David Copperfield


David Copperfield is the story of a young man's adventures on his journey from an unhappy and impoverished childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist. Among the gloriously vivid cast of characters he encounters are his tyrannical stepfather, Mr Murdstone; his brilliant, but ultimately unworthy school-friend Steerforth; his formidable aunt, Betsey Trotwood; his nemesis, the eternally humble Uriah Heep; frivolous, enchanting Dora; and the magnificently impecunious Micawber, one of literature's great comic creations.

In David Copperfield - the novel he described as his 'favourite child' - Dickens drew revealingly on his own experiences to create one of his most exuberant and enduringly popular works, filled with tragedy and comedy in equal measure.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 0140439447
Published: 2004
Paperback: 1024 pages 



Price:   £6.99



Charles Dickens - Oliver Twist Charles Dickens - Oliver Twist


The story of the orphan Oliver, who runs away from the workhouse only to be taken in by a den of thieves, shocked readers when it was first published. Dickens' tale of childhood innocence beset by evil depicts the dark criminal underworld of a London peopled by vivid and memorable characters - the arch-villain Fagin, the artful Dodger, the menacing Bill Sikes and the prostitute Nancy.

Combining elements of Gothic Romance, the Newgate Novel and popular melodrama, in Oliver Twist Dickens created an entirely new kind of fiction, scathing in its indictment of a cruel society, and pervaded by an unforgettable sense of threat and mystery.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 0141439742
Published: 2003
Paperback: 608 pages 



Price:   £4.99



Charles Dickens - Great Expectations Charles Dickens - Great Expectations


A terrifying encounter with an escaped convict in a graveyard on the wild Kent marshes; a summons to meet the bitter, decaying Miss Havisham and her beautiful, cold-hearted ward Estella; the sudden generosity of a mysterious benefactor - these form a series of events that change the orphaned Pip's life forever, and he eagerly abandons his humble origins to begin a new life as a gentleman.

Dickens' haunting late novel depicts Pip's education and development through adversity as he discovers the true nature of his 'great expectations'.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 0141439564
Published: 2003
Paperback: 544 pages 



Price:   £5.99



George Eliot - Middlemarch George Eliot - Middlemarch


George Eliot's most ambitious novel is a masterly evocation of diverse lives and changing fortunes in a provincial community. Peopling its landscape are Dorothea Brooke, a young idealist whose search for intellectual fulfillment leads her into a disastrous marriage to the pedantic scholar Casaubon; the charming but tactless Dr Lydgate, whose pioneering medical methods, combined with an imprudent marriage to the spendthrift beauty Rosamond, threaten to undermine his career; and the religious hypocrite Bulstrode, hiding scandalous crimes from his past.

As their stories interweave, George Eliot creates a richly nuanced and moving drama, hailed by Virginia Woolf as 'one of the few English novels written for grown-up people'.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 0141439548
Published: 2003
Paperback: 880 pages 



Price:   £6.99



Helen Fielding - Bridget Jones's Diary Helen Fielding - Bridget Jones's Diary


A dazzling urban satire of modern human relations? An ironic, tragic insight into the demise of the nuclear family? Or the confused ramblings of a pissed thirty-something? Bridget Jones is everyone's favourite Londoner. This is your chance to reacquaint yourself with the funniest, most heart-warming young lady ever to grace the capital.

Publisher: Picador
ISBN: 0330375253
Published: 2001
Paperback 



Price:   £7.99



Thomas Hardy - Tess of the D'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy - Tess of the D'Urbervilles


When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future.

With its sensitive depiction of the wronged Tess and powerful criticism of social convention, Tess of the D'Urbervilles is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy's novels.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 0141439599
Published: 2003
Paperback: 592 pages 



Price:   £5.99



Aldous Huxley - Brave New World Aldous Huxley - Brave New World


Far in the future, the World Controllers have created the ideal society. Through clever use of genetic engineering, brainwashing and recreational sex and drugs all its members are happy consumers. Bernard Marx seems alone in feeling discontent. Harbouring an unnatural desire for solitude, and a perverse distaste for the pleasures of compulsory promiscuity, Bernard has an ill-defined longing to break free. A visit to one of the few remaining Savage Reservations where the old, imperfect life still continues, may be the cure for his distress.

Huxley's ingenious fantasy of the future sheds a blazing light on the present and is considered to be his most enduring masterpiece.

Publisher: Vintage Classics
ISBN: 0099458160
Published: 2004
Paperback: 272 pages 



Price:   £7.99



George Orwell - Animal Farm George Orwell - Animal Farm


When the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm overthrow their master Mr Jones and take over the farm themselves, they imagine it is the beginning of a life of freedom and equality. But as a cunning, ruthless elite among them starts to take control, the other animals find themselves hopelessly ensnared as one form of tyranny is gradually replaced with another.

Orwell's chilling 'fairy story' is a timeless and devastating satire of idealism betrayed by power and corruption.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 0141187387
Published: 2003
Paperback: 128 pages 



Price:   £5.99



George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty-Four


Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Yet he inwardly rebels against the totalitarian world he lives in, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through the all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party. In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow-worker Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 014118776X
Published: 2004
Paperback: 352 pages 



Price:   £7.99



The Rough Guide to Shakespeare The Rough Guide to Shakespeare


The Rough Guide to Shakespeare is the ultimate companion to the life and work of the world's greatest playwright - ideal for theatregoers, students, movie buffs and lovers of literature alike. Both a quick reference and an in-depth background guide, it features:

- Full coverage of all 38 plays, including a synopsis, character list, stage history and a full critical essay for each
- Up-to-date reviews of the best films and audio recordings - from Olivier to Luhrmann, and Kosintzev to Kurosawa - alongside recommended texts, critical studies and further reading
- Fascinating features on such topics as swearing in Shakespeare, the role of fools, cross-dressing and the mystery of Shakespeare's lost plays
- Detailed analysis of Shakespeare's poetry - both the famous Sonnets and the less well-known narrative poems
- Vivid accounts of Shakespeare's life and theatre, with colourful detail on how the plays were originally performed
- Classic images of great Shakespearian actors and celebrated recent productions

Publisher: Rough Guides
ISBN: 1843535181
Published: 2005
Paperback: 532 pages 



Price:   £14.99



The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works


The Oxford Complete Works is edited by some of the world's finest Shakespeare scholars and presents the plays as they were acted by Shakespeare's company.

This second edition combines clearly written editorial material with a user-friendly layout of the text. Also included is a general introduction, glossary, bibliography and index of first lines of Sonnets.

Publisher: Oxford University Press
Editors: Stanley Wells et al.
ISBN: 0199267170
Published: 2005
Paperback: 1422 pages, 234 x 172 mm 



Price:   £30.00



William Shakespeare - Macbeth William Shakespeare - Macbeth


Promised a golden future as ruler of Scotland by three sinister witches, Macbeth murders the king to ensure his ambitions come true. But he soon learns the meaning of terror - killing once, he must kill again and again, and the dead return to haunt him.

A story of war, witchcraft and bloodshed, Macbeth also depicts the relationship between husbands and wives, and the risks they are prepared to take to achieve their desires.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 0141013699
Published: 2005
Paperback: 256 pages 



Price:   £6.99



William Shakespeare - The Merchant of Venice William Shakespeare - The Merchant of Venice


A noble but impoverished Venetian asks a friend, Antonio, for a loan to impress an heiress. His friend agrees, but is forced to borrow the sum from a cynical Jewish moneylender, Shylock, and signs a chilling contract to honour the debt with a pound of his own flesh. A complex and controversial comedy, The Merchant of Venice explores prejudice and the true nature of justice.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 0141013958
Published: 2005
Paperback: 240 pages 



Price:   £6.99



William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream


A young woman flees Athens with her lover, only to be pursued by her would-be husband and by her best friend. Unwittingly, all four find themselves in an enchanted forest where fairies and sprites soon take an interest in human affairs, dispensing magical love potions and casting mischievous spells.

In this dazzling comedy, confusion ends in harmony, as love is transformed, misplaced, and - ultimately - restored.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 0141012609
Published: 2005
Paperback: 224 pages 



Price:   £6.99



William Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet


A young man and woman meet by chance and fall instantly in love. But their families are bitter enemies, and in order to be together the two lovers must be prepared to risk everything.

Set in a city torn apart by feuds and gang warfare, Romeo and Juliet is a dazzling combination of passion and hatred, bawdy comedy and high tragedy.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 0141012269
Published: 2005
Paperback: 320 pages 



Price:   £6.99



William Shakespeare - Twelfth Night William Shakespeare - Twelfth Night


Separated from her twin brother Sebastian after a shipwreck, Viola disguises herself as a boy to serve the Duke of Illyria. Wooing a countess on his behalf, she is stunned to find herself the object of his beloved's affections. With the arrival of Viola's brother, and a trick played upon the countess's steward, confusion reigns in this romantic comedy of mistaken identity.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 0141014709
Published: 2005
Paperback: 240 pages 



Price:   £6.99



Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island


The story grew out of a map that led to imaginary treasure, devised during a holiday in Scotland by Stevenson and his nephew. The tale is told by an adventurous boy, Jim Hawkins, who gets hold of treasure map and sets off with an adult crew in search of the buried treasure. Among the crew, however, is the treacherous Long John Silver who is determined to keep the treasure for himself.

Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0140437681
Published: 2000
Paperback: 240 pages, 129 x 198 mm 



Price:   £4.99



Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels


'I felt something alive moving on my left Leg...when bending my Eyes downwards as much as I could, I perceived it to be a human Creature not six Inches high'

Shipwrecked and cast adrift, Gulliver wakes to find himself on Lilliput, an island inhabited by little people, whose height makes their quarrels over fashion and fame seem ridiculous. His subsequent encounters - with the crude giants of Brobdingnag, the philosophical Houyhnhnms and brutish Yahoos - give Gulliver new, bitter insights into human behaviour. Swift's savage satire views mankind in a distorted hall of mirrors as a diminished, magnified and finally bestial species, presenting us with an uncompromising reflection of ourselves.

This text, based on the first edition of 1726, reproduces all its original illustrations and includes an introduction by Robert Demaria, Jr, which discusses the ways Gulliver's Travels has been interpreted since its first publication.

Publisher: Penguin Classic
ISBN: 0141439491
Published: 2003
Paperback: 336 pages, 129 x 198 mm 



Price:   £3.99



J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit


A great modern classic and the prelude to The Lord of the Rings.

'Smaug certainly looked fast asleep, when Bilbo peeped once more from the entrance. He was just about to step out onto the floor when he caught a sudden thin and piercing ray of red from under the drooping lid of Smaug's left eye. He was only pretending to sleep! He was watching the tunnel entrance...'

Whisked away from his comfortable hobbit-hole by Gandalf the wizard and his band of dwarves, Bilbo Baggins finds himself caught up in a plot to raid the treasure horde of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon...

'An exciting epic of travel and magical adventure' - The Observer, London

'A flawless masterpiece...One of the most influential books of our generation' - The Times

Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0261102214
Published: 2001
Paperback 



Price:   £6.99



J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings (single volume edition) J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings (single volume edition)


All three parts of Tolkien's trilogy in one volume, containing the definitive edition of the text, an expanded index and specially commissioned maps.

Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him the Rings of Power - the means by which he will be able to rule the world. All he lacks in his plan for dominion is the Ruling Ring, which has fallen into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as the Ring is entrusted to his care. He must leave his home and make a perilous journey across the realms of Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, deep inside the territories of the Dark Lord. There he must destroy the Ring forever and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

'A story magnificently told, with every kind of colour and movement and greatness' - New Statesman

Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0261103253
Published: 1995
Paperback: pages 



Price:   £14.99


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