Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, is considered by many to be the first novel in English, and its success was so enormous that...

An old man arrives at the offices of the lawyer Derville, claiming to be Colonel Chabert, a hero of the Napoleonic Wars who was...

When Paul d'Aspremont travels to Naples to join Alicia Ward, his beautiful fiancee, he is surprised to see her grow pale under...

Written after Woolf had finished her emotionally draining work on The Waves, Flush purports to be an autobiography of Elizabeth...

Having frittered away his family’s fortune in Paris, the profligate Guido, driven by his ungovernable passions, is forced out of...

Initially composed by Poe as a public lecture towards the end of his career and considered by him the culmination of all his...

When an army of invading Martians lands in England, panic and terror seize the population. As the aliens traverse the country in...

As Mrs Dalloway works on the preparations for a dinner party, her thoughts throughout the day wander from memories of the past to...

Having lived in the city of Orphalese for twelve years, the revered Prophet is about to board a ship taking him back to the isle...

For two and a half thousand years The Art of War has been the core text of military strategy and planning, providing leaders with...

Under the feckless husbandry of Mr Jones, the Manor Farm has fallen into disrepair. Pushed into hardship, the animals decide to...

The tale of Heathcliff and Cathy’s ungovernable love and suffering, and the havoc that their passion wreaks on the families of...

While holidaying at a villa on the French Riviera, Dick and Nicole Diver, a wealthy American couple, meet the young film star...

Having been found guilty of adultery, Hester Prynne is forced to wear an embroidered scarlet letter A as a punishment for her...

A novel of high romance and great intensity, Jane Eyre has enjoyed popular success and critical acclaim ever since its first...

The boy who wouldn't grow up, Peter Pan has the power of flight and lives on a magical island. But he is fascinated by Mary...

On a visit to a provincial town to see his sister Nina who is suffering from cancer, Alexei Laptev, who works for his father's...

Dorian Gray is having his picture painted by Basil Hallward, who is charmed by his looks. But when Sir Henry Wotton visits and...

Deeply bored by the lack of mental stimulus and the dull routine of existence, Sherlock Holmes is about to resort to his daily...

Zazie has just received a beautiful new notebook, and decides to keep a diary. Brimming with imagination, she writes down her...

When it is discovered that the reigning world chess champion, Mirko Czentovic, is on board a cruiser heading for Buenos Aires, a...

When the Americans Mr and Mrs Otis and their four children move into Canterville Chase, its previous occupant Lord Canterville...

Having been accused of theft and hounded out of a religious community many years previously, the weaver Silas Marner now lives...

Presented through an ingeniously overlapping and intertwining series of letters written by six very different characters, The...

Once again the eminent detective is presented with a series of seemingly impenetrable cases: an anonymous but illustrious client...

Meet Miss Charlotte… a modern Mary Poppins who wears a large hat and a crumpled dress that maker her look like a scarecrow, and...

Depicting the adventures of Rat, Mole, Badger and the pretentious Mr Toad, The Wind in the Willows sees these four animals...

Presented as a collection of confessional letters written by the eponymous protagonist, The Sorrows of Young Werther charts the...

Raised in the idyllic setting of Dorlcote Mill, the wild and wilful Maggie Tulliver adores her elder brother Tom and is forever...

Katy, a twelve-year-old gangly tomboy, dreams of blossoming into a sophisticated young woman, capable of grand deeds and...