The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky's crowning achievement, is a tale of patricide & family rivalry that embodies the moral & spiritual dissolution of an entire society (Russia in the 1870s). It created a national furor comparable only to the excitement stirred by the publication, in 1866, of Crime & Punishment. To Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov captured the quintessence of Russian character in all its exaltation, compassion, & profligacy. Significantly,...

Irving / The legend of sleepy hollow -- Rip Van Winkle -- Hawthorne / The great stone face -- Rappaccini's daughter -- Poe / The murders in the rue morgue -- The pit and the pendulum -- The purloined letter -- Melville / Billy Budd, foretopman -- Hale / The man without a country -- O'Brien / The diamond lens -- Stockton / The lady, or the tiger? -- Twain / The celebrated jumping frog of Calaveras County -- The man that corrupted Hadleybury -- Aldrich...

"So long as ignorance and poverty exist on earth, books of the nature of Les Misérables cannot fail to be of use," says Victor Hugo in the preface of his famous novel. Certainly, Les Misérables is French history recounted through the personal stories of its main characters. The tale offers philosophical insight on the good deeds that can happen even amidst ignorance and poverty. This handsome leather-bound volume is a beautiful addition to any classic...