Secondhand Classics

The Stones of Florence and Venice Observed are wonderfully vivid and perceptive descriptions of two great Italian cities, told through their history and art, revealing Mary McCarthy to be one...

It is accompanied by "A Note on the Text" and detailed explanatory annotations."Sources and Contexts" provides three possible analogues to Shakespeare's controversial, high-spirited play from Ovid's Metamorphoses, George Gascoigne's "Supposes,"...

Rumpole and the Reign of Terror - a delightful novel starring John Mortimer's iconic barrister'Rumpole, like Jeeves and Sherlock Holmes, is immortal' P. D James, Mail on Sunday'I thank heaven...

This title is one of a series of literature guides using graphics, active learning techniques and self-test questions and is intended to encourage an explorative reading of and response to...

The book offers a brief plot synopsis, a double-page graphic overview and insight into the text, a short introduction to major characters and themes and a who's who in the...

Based on Hawthorne's own experience of a Utopian socialist community outside Boston, The Blithedale Romance tells of the attempts of a like-minded group to begin reforming a dissipated America. However,...

The formidable Miss Deborah Jenkyns and the kindly Miss Matty live in a village where women rule and men usually tend to get in the way. Their days revolve around...

This is Elizabeth Gaskell's first novel, a widely acclaimed work based on the actual murder, in 1831, of a progressive mill owner. It follows Mary Barton, daughter of a man...

In the sweet shop Willy Chapman was free, absolved from all responsibility, and he ran his sweet shop like his life - quietly, steadfastly, devotedly. It was a bargain struck...