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A retelling of the medieval poem about a group of travelers on a pilgrimage to Canterbury and the tales they tell each other. With their astonishing diversity of tone and subject matter, The Canterbury Tales have become one of the touchstones of medieval literature. Translated here into modern English, these tales of a motley crowd of pilgrims drawn from all walks of life-from knight to nun, miller to monk-reveal a picture of English life in the fourteenth...

First published in 1848, "Mary Barton" is a moving account of poverty and the working class by English author Elizabeth Gaskell. Set in the early 1840s in the English city of Manchester, Gaskell's first novel follows the young and beautiful Mary Barton, daughter of a factory worker, who is eventually caught up in the class struggle of her time. She attracts the attention of a wealthy mill-owner's son, Henry Carson, although she soon discovers her...

Mr. Jeremy Fisher goes fishing to provide minnows for a dinner party, but he is almost eaten by a trout in the process. It spits him out because of the flavor of his mackintosh, and Jeremy prepares a different meal for his friends.

"Introducing one of the most famous characters in literature, Jean Valjean—the noble peasant imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread—Les Misérables ranks among the greatest novels of all time. In it, Victor Hugo takes readers deep into the Parisian underworld, immerses them in a battle between good and evil, and carries them to the barricades during the uprising of 1832 with a breathtaking realism that is unsurpassed in modern prose. Within...

In addition to being naughty and losing their company clothes, Tom and his two sisters indulge in rowdy behavior when they are sent upstairs as punishment.

From Bulfinch's Mythology, a widely comprehensive look at the myths and beliefs of the ancient Greeks and Romans, looking at the gods and heroes of their legends.

Following the dramatic romance of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte intended Shirley to be a 'salutary' change. Set in Yorkshire during the period of the Napoleonic Wars, the novel articulates the social realities of economic hardship, the Luddite riots, dissatisfaction with the government and an inadequate Church. In the foreground of these concerns, a mill-owner, Robert Moore, in pursuit of financial security, ignores the suffering of his workers to such...

The acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series edited by A.R. Braunmuller and Stephen Orgel The legendary Pelican Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare's time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used. Updated by general editors Stephen Orgel and A.R. Braunmuller,...

Classic story of the spirited young American heiress who, after being taken to England, insists on complete freedom to make her own decisions and choose her own future.

Don Quixote-the world's first novel and by far the best-known book in Spanish literature-was originally intended by Cervantes as a satire on traditional popular ballads, yet he also parodied the romances of chivalry. By happy coincidence he produced one of the most entertaining adventure stories of all time. - Publisher.