Kevin MacLeod
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The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe is a tale of one man's resilience and resourcefulness in the face of extraordinary challenges. The story begins with Robinson Crusoe's decision to defy his father's wishes and set out to sea. His adventurous spirit leads him through a series of misadventures, including being shipwrecked on a deserted island. Alone on the island, Crusoe must navigate the harsh realities of survival. He learns to secure food,...
2) Robin Hood
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First published in 1921, "Robin Hood", by American author J. Walker McSpadden, is one of the most widely read and enduring editions of these timeless legends. The story of young Robert Fitzooth and his transformation into the honorable and generous gentleman robber is familiar to readers the world over and has been adapted for stage and screen countless times. McSpadden has included all of the thrilling adventures and celebrated characters that make...
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Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence (1920) is a timeless novel of love, duty, and the unspoken rules of society. Set in the glittering world of New York's upper class during the 1870s, it explores the tension between individual passion and the rigid expectations of a closed, tradition-bound community. With her signature elegance and irony, Wharton unveils a world where appearances reign supreme, and where even the smallest transgression can lead...
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In the House of the Seven Gables, Nathanial Hawthorne explores themes of guilt, retribution, and atonement in a New England family and colors the tale with suggestions of the supernatural and witchcraft. An evil house, cursed through the centuries by a man who was hanged for witchcraft, is haunted by the ghosts of its sinful dead and wracked by the fear of its frightened living. The story was inspired by a gabled house in Salem belonging to Hawthorne's
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Having run up large debts, a Kentucky farmer named Arthur Shelby faces the prospect of losing everything he owns. Though he and his wife, Emily Shelby, have a kindhearted and affectionate relationship with their slaves, Shelby decides to raise money by selling two of his slaves to Mr. Haley, a coarse slave trader. The slaves in question are Uncle Tom, a middle-aged man with a wife and children on the farm, and Harry, the young son of Mrs. Shelby’s...
7) Common sense
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Common Sense by Thomas Paine (Bauer World Press)
In his 1776 pamphlet Common Sense, Thomas Paine presents a compelling and erudite argument for the independence of the American colonies from the British Crown. With sagacious prose, Paine explicates the inherent injustices and impracticalities of the colonial system, and passionately advocates for the establishment of a new, independent nation.
Pane's incisive logic addresses the economic,...
8) Persuasion
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The story begins seven years after the broken engagement of Anne Elliot to then Commander Frederick Wentworth. Anne, then 19 years old, fell in love and accepted a proposal of marriage from the young naval officer. Wentworth was considered clever, confident, ambitious, and employed, but his low social status made Anne's friends and family view the Commander as an unfavorable partner...
In a letter to her niece Fanny Knight in March 1817, Austen wrote...
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This is the story of the savage, tormented foundling Heathcliff, who falls wildly in love with Catherine Earnshaw, the daughter of his benefactor, and the violence and misery that result from their thwarted longing for each other. A book of great power and strength, it is filled with the raw beauty of the moors and an uncanny understanding of the terrible truths about men and women. It is an understanding made even more extraordinary by the fact that...
10) Emma
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Despite the fact that Jane Austen set out to write a story with a heroine whom she said that “no one but myself will much like,” Emma has resonated with readers since its original publication in 1815 and has been retold many times for television and movies.
Self-satisfied Emma Woodhouse thinks she is above romance of any kind, but when she decides she is a great matchmaker and sets out to find a wealthy husband for her friend, the sweet yet pitiable...
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During the French Revolution a young English lawyer goes to the guillotine to save a French aristocrat, husband of the woman he loves. "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times ..." With these famous words, Charles Dickens plunges the reader into the French Revolution. From the storming of the Bastille to the relentless drop of the guillotine, Dickens vividly captures the terror and upheaval of that tumultuous period. At the center is the...
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Presents the adventures of a boy and a runaway slave as they travel down the Mississippi River on a raft. Universally acclaimed as one of the greatest creations of American fiction, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of those few books that are read over and over again, with ever increasing enjoyment.