Classic General Fiction

Set against the backdrop of the fertile Salinas Valley in California, East of Eden is a profound and compelling novel by John Steinbeck, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. This masterful narrative charts the intertwining destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—across multiple generations. Steinbeck's intricate portrayal of human nature and enduring exploration of moral themes...

Madonna in a Fur Coat, the international bestselling tale of love and loss in 1920s Berlin, is now available as a Penguin Classics paperback. "The pain of losing something precious can be forgotten over time. But our missed opportunities never leave us, and every time they come back to haunt us, we ache." A shy young man leaves his home...

Immerse yourself in the enchanting world of Middle-earth with The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, a timeless epic that has captivated readers for generations. This monumental tale follows the journey of a young hobbit, Frodo Baggins, who inherits a seemingly innocent magical ring. However, the ring possesses dark secrets and immense power, and must be destroyed...

East of Eden, John Steinbeck's most ambitious and engrossing novel, unfolds in the rich and fertile farmlands of the Salinas Valley, California. This powerful narrative paints a vivid portrait of human struggle and the enduring quest for identity, love, and redemption, all framed within a family saga that transcends generations. The novel masterfully weaves together the destinies of two families,...

Considered an audacious second novel, Giovanni's Room is set in the 1950s Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence. This now-classic story of a fated love triangle explores, with uncompromising clarity, the conflicts between desire, conventional morality and sexual identity.

When brutal landowner Fyodor Karamazov is murdered, the lives of his sons are changed irrevocably: Mitya, the sensualist, whose bitter rivalry with his father immediately places him under suspicion for parricide; Ivan, the intellectual, whose mental tortures drive him to breakdown; the spiritual Alyosha, who tries to heal the family's rifts; and the shadowy figure of their bastard half-brother Smerdyakov....

Few books have been as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince. A beautiful gift edition of this touching and wise classic children's book, with the original translation by Katherine Woods and full-colour illustrations. A pilot stranded in the desert awakes one morning to see the most extraordinary little fellow standing before him. “Please,” asks the...

The acclaimed new translation of Tolstoy's masterpiece, for the first time in Black Classics after the successful hardback and Red Classics editions—10,000+ hardbacks and, by the time of Black Classics, 20,000+ of Red Classics sold. At a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon's...

Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend, Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life; indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence. The novel was a succes...

A guaranteed best-seller - a brilliant new edition of one of Penguin's top-ten classics - more than 35k of the Black Classic edition sold every year. Orphaned Jane Eyre grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, where she endures loneliness and cruelty, and at a charity school with a harsh regime. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane's natural independence...

46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946 My God! A whole minute of bliss! Is that really so little for the whole of a man's life?

46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Launched in 2015, the extraordinarily successful Little Black Classics series has now sold nearly 1 million copies in the UK alone and over 2 million worldwide, making their way into retailers such as Tesco and the series' most popular book. This...

Solving the world's most puzzling mystery novel just got even more fiendish in this gorgeous new hardback collector’s edition – with the final solution sealed in an envelope at the back of the book! Can you crack all the clues and catch the killer before you unseal the ending? Agatha Christie's masterpiece Spectator Ten strangers are lured to an island...

Magnificent new translation of Tolstoy's fiction by the acclaimed duo behind War and Peace. 'As good as anything Tolstoy ever wrote... Self-assured, vital, unforgettable' — Guardian The title story of this collection is about a man battling a mysterious illness. His family visit his bedside, their faces masks of concern. His colleagues pay their respects but only think of the...

This beautifully designed, clothbound edition is part of Penguin's hardback Clothbound Classics series, crafted by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. These delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton,...

Stoner by John Williams is a profound exploration of the quiet, unassuming life of William Stoner, a man whose story unfolds with poignant simplicity and deep emotional resonance. Set in the early 20th century, the novel begins with Stoner's modest upbringing on a small farm in Missouri. Seeking a way out of the relentless labour of agricultural life, he enrols...

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy is part of the Penguin Classics relaunch. This edition features the award-winning new translation of the great Russian novel. Exploring themes of love, betrayal, and the complexity of human relationships, Anna Karenina is a compelling narrative that delves into the intricacies of 19th-century Russian society. Tolstoy's masterful storytelling invites readers into the lives of unforgettable...

Beautifully designed, clothbound edition Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. In a house haunted by memories, the past is everywhere ... As darkness falls, a man caught in a snowstorm is forced to shelter...

Compulsively readable Daily Telegraph The Sunday Times No. 1 Bestseller Discover the dystopian novel that started a phenomenon. Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She is placed in the household of The Commander, Fred Waterford - her assigned name, Offred, means 'of Fred'. She has only one function: to breed. If Offred refuses to enter into sexual...

Robert Louis Stevenson's immortal tale of personality and evil, now in a wonderful new clothbound edition. Published as a 'shilling shocker', Robert Louis Stevenson's dark psychological fantasy gave birth to the idea of the split personality. The story of respectable Dr Jekyll's strange association with damnable young man Edward Hyde, the hunt through fog-bound London for a killer, and the...

Discover and treasure one of the greatest war stories of all time with this luxurious edition of Homer's first great epic, The Iliad. Find yourself swept right into the emotion of the action and characters, including Achilles, Helen, Hector, and other heroes of Greek myth, as they endure the tenth and final year of the Greek siege of Troy. This...

A beautiful clothbound edition of Miguel de Cervantes' mock-epic masterwork, Don Quixote. Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality, colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Don Quixote has become so entranced by reading romances of chivalry that he determines to become...

I am a sick man...I am a wicked man. With this sentence, Dostoevsky began a work which marks the frontier not only between nineteenth- and twentieth-century fiction, but between two centuries' visions of the self. For the unnamed narrator of Notes From Underground is a multiplicity of selves, each at war with the others—all at war with everything else. A...

A sensitive portrayal of the healing process that took place in the aftermath of the First World War, J.L. Carr's A Month in the Country includes an introduction by Penelope Fitzgerald, author of Offshore, in Penguin Modern Classics. A damaged survivor of the First World War, Tom Birkin finds refuge in the quiet village church of Oxgodby where he is...

A deluxe gift edition of L. Frank Baum's cherished children's classic, vividly reimagined with beautiful four-colour artwork and nine interactive features created by MinaLima, the award-winning design studio behind the graphics for the Harry Potter film franchise. Hailed as “America's greatest and best-loved homegrown fairytale” by the Library of Congress, L. Frank Baum's classic story has been enjoyed by generations...

J. M. Barrie’s classic children's story is reimagined in this delightful full-colour deluxe edition filled with all-new illustrations and ten removable features specially designed by MinaLima, the award-winning design studio behind the graphics for the Harry Potter films. For more than a century, the adventures of Peter Pan—the boy who can fly and never grows up—and Wendy Darling have captured...

This leather-bound edition features Ernest Hemingway’s works from the early 1920s, including one of his most famous novels, The Sun Also Rises, as well as short stories and poems. Ernest Hemingway’s first novel, The Sun Also Rises, is also his most widely acclaimed. Set against the backdrop of Paris café society and the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain,...

Beautiful clothbound edition of Victor Hugo's tale of injustice, heroism, and love, ahead of the major new film starring Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, and Russell Crowe. Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful and tactile cloth. This beautiful clothbound edition of Victor Hugo's...

From the award-winning translators of Crime and Punishment, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. The Brothers Karamazov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving Karamazov and his three sons—the impulsive and sensual Dmitri; the coldly rational Ivan; and the healthy young novice Alyosha. Through the gripping events...

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics—irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas, and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. Drifters in search of work, George and his childlike friend Lennie have nothing in the world except the clothes on their back—and a dream that one day they will have some land of their own. Eventually, they...

Beautiful new clothbound edition of Dumas's classic novel of wrongful imprisonment, adventure, and revenge. Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined to the grim fortress of the Château d'If. There, he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and becomes determined not only to escape but...

‘Sophie Irwin is an exciting and original voice. She's a must-buy author for me.’ Taylor Jenkins Reid ‘A delicious Regency romp for fans of Bridgerton.’ Red ‘Scandal, art and romance – this is the best Regency romp set in Bath since Persuasion!’ Good Housekeeping A lifetime of duty Widowed at just seven-and-twenty from her marriage of convenience, Eliza, now Countess...

Widely regarded as the world's first modern novel, and one of the funniest and most tragic books ever written, Don Quixote chronicles the famous picaresque adventures of the noble knight-errant Don Quixote de La Mancha and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, as they travel through sixteenth-century Spain. Unless you read Spanish, you've never read Don Quixote.

With neither friends nor family, Lucy Snowe sets sail from England to find employment in a girls' boarding school in the small town of Villette. There she struggles to retain her self-possession in the face of unruly pupils, an initially suspicious headmaster and her own complex feelings, first for the school's English doctor and then for the dictatorial professor Paul...

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a profound exploration of guilt, redemption, and the human psyche. Set in the grimy streets of St Petersburg, the novel centres on Rodion Raskolnikov, a struggling and impoverished former student whose growing desperation leads him to commit a heinous act. Raskolnikov's journey is a labyrinth of moral dilemmas and harrowing decisions, where he...

A new translation of Dostoyevsky's great novel of suffering and sickness. Inspired by an image of Christ's suffering, Dostoyevsky set out to create a protagonist with "a truly beautiful soul" and to trace the fate of such an individual as he comes into contact with the brutal reality of contemporary society. The novel begins when the innocent epileptic Prince Myshkin...

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas is an enduring masterpiece of adventure and retribution that entices readers into the world of the early 19th century. Set against the vivid backdrop of post-Napoleonic France, the story follows Edmond Dantès, a young and promising sailor, whose life takes a cruel turn when he is falsely accused of treason. Betrayed by...

Brave New World is still one of the most shocking, unnerving and prophetic novels ever written. Mass-consumerism, individualism, total reliance on technology—it is a future that appears to be here already. Welcome to New London. Everybody is happy here. Introduced by Margaret Atwood Our perfect society achieves peace and stability by dispensing with monogamy, privacy, money, family and history itself....

Don Quixote has become so entranced by reading romances of chivalry that he determines to become a knight errant and pursue bold adventures, accompanied by his squire, the cunning Sancho Panza. As they roam the world together, the aging Quixote's fancy leads them wildly astray. At the same time, the relationship between the two men grows in fascinating subtlety. Often...

An epic journey of adventure, endurance, and the search for home In The Odyssey, Homer crafts one of the oldest and most influential adventure stories in Western literature. The poem follows Odysseus, the cunning king of Ithaca, as he battles gods, monsters, and temptation on his ten-year quest to return home after the Trojan War. Facing shipwrecks, the wrath of...

A beautiful deluxe gift edition of Robert Louis Stevenson's dark work of genius with foiled covers, marbled endpapers, sprayed edges, beautiful paper and finished with a silk ribbon. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Stories is a profound exploration of identity and morality. Dr Jekyll has been experimenting with his identity, developing a drug that separates the two sides...

A beautiful deluxe gift edition of Jane Austen's masterpiece with foiled covers, marbled endpapers, sprayed edges, beautiful paper and finished with a silk ribbon. When Elizabeth Bennet meets Mr Darcy, she is repelled by his overbearing pride and prejudice towards her family. But the Bennet girls are in need of financial security in the shape of husbands, so when Darcy's...

Beautifully designed, clothbound edition Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. The terrible spectacle of the beast, the fog of the moor, the discovery of a body — this classic horror story pits detective against...

An enchanting clothbound edition of the essential tales drawn from the acclaimed translation of The Arabian Nights. Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality, colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Every night for three years, the vengeful King Shahriyar sleeps with...

New to Penguin Classics, the great underwater adventure story in a stunning clothbound edition with original images. In this thrilling adventure tale by the 'Father of Science Fiction', three men embark on an epic journey under the sea with the mysterious Captain Nemo aboard his submarine the Nautilus. Over the course of their fantastical voyage, they encounter the lost city...

Mikhail Bulgakov's devilish salute to artistic freedom, now in a beautiful clothbound edition. Written in secret during the darkest days of Stalin's reign, The Master and Margarita became an overnight literary phenomenon when it was finally published, signalling artistic freedom for Russians everywhere. Bulgakov's carnivalesque satire of Soviet life describes how the Devil, trailing fire and chaos in his wake,...

A beautiful clothbound edition featuring some of the famous detective's most famous cases. Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality, colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. This collection includes many of the famous cases - and great strokes of brilliance -...

Huxley's ingenious fantasy of the future sheds a blazing light on the present and is considered to be his most enduring masterpiece. Far in the future, the World Controllers have created the ideal society. Through clever use of genetic engineering, brainwashing, and recreational sex and drugs, all its members are happy consumers. Bernard Marx seems alone, harbouring an ill-defined longing...

Twenty new titles in the much-loved and hugely successful Penguin English Library series. Nineteen Eighty-Four 'Who controls the past controls the future - who controls the present controls the past.' Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Yet he inwardly rebels against...

Beautifully designed, clothbound edition Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Sense and Sensibility follows the story of the Dashwood sisters, Marianne and Elinor, as they navigate the complexities of love and society. Marianne, who...

Orwell's peerless satire, in Penguin Clothbound Classics for the first time. When the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm overthrow their master, Mr Jones, and take over the farm themselves, they imagine it is the beginning of a life of freedom and equality. But gradually a cunning, ruthless elite among them, masterminded by the pigs Napoleon and Snowball, starts to take...

It is September 1938 and during a heatwave, Europe tensely awaits the outcome of the Munich conference, where they will learn if there is to be a war. In Paris, people are waiting too, among them Mathieu, Jacques, and Philippe, each wrestling with their own love affairs, doubts, and angsts—and none of them ready to fight. The second volume in...

Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before: of the intense passion between the foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and her betrayal of him. As Heathcliff's bitterness...

What you see with your eyes is not necessarily real. A lavishly illustrated edition of Murakami's classic short story. Katagiri found a giant frog waiting for him in his apartment. It was powerfully built, standing over six feet tall on its hind legs. A skinny little man no more than five foot three, Katagiri was overwhelmed by the frog's imposing...

The Pilgrim’s Progress has inspired readers across the centuries to persevere in their faith. For longstanding fans of Bunyan’s tale, or for those encountering it for the first time, this illustrated edition offers new beauty and insight with striking hand-painted illustrations and enlightening commentary for all ages. Inside you’ll find: 15 chapters, accompanied by gorgeous hand-painted scenes at the beginning...

Metamorphosis: Popular Penguins by Franz Kafka is a compelling collection that showcases a selection of Kafka's works which he considered significant and worthy of publication. This volume promises to take readers on a journey through Kafka’s unique literary landscape, marked by his distinct style and profound thematic concerns. The collection opens with Metamorphosis, Kafka's most celebrated work. It narrates the...

The Gothic novel, which flourished from about 1765 until 1825, revels in the horrible and the supernatural, in suspense and exotic settings. This volume, with its erudite introduction by Mario Praz, presents three of the most celebrated Gothic novels: The Castle of Otranto, published pseudonymously in 1765, is one of the first of the genre and the most truly Gothic...

Puffin in Bloom - an all-new line of classics, gorgeously illustrated by renowned stationery brand Rifle Paper Co.'s lead artist, Anna Bond. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is a classic tale of four sisters presented in a deluxe hardcover edition with beautiful cover illustrations by Anna Bond, the artist behind the world-renowned stationery brand, Rifle Paper Co. Meet the...

This indispensable translation is as close to the original as it is possible to get while at the same time being a clear and fluid rendering of the Russian. If you've never read it, now is the moment. This translation will show that you don't read War and Peace, you live it - The Times Tolstoy's enthralling epic depicts Russia's...

Mary Renault's portraits of the ancient world are fierce, complex and eloquent, infused at every turn with her life-long passion for the Classics — Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe. The true parentage of Theseus, grandson of the King of Troizon, has always been shrouded in mystery. Rumours swirl that his father is Poseidon himself. But when he learns the...

Giving a party was not as simple as going to one. You could always leave someone else's party. You were stuck with your own. Dolls - red or black; capsules or tablets; washed down with vodka or swallowed straight. For Anne, Neely and Jennifer, it doesn't matter, as long as the pill bottle is within easy reach. These three starlets...

DISCOVER THE DU MAURIER DARK ROMANCE COLLECTION Rebecca has woven its way into the fabric of our culture with all the troubling power of myth or dream. A stunning book – SARAH WATERS It's the book every writer wishes they'd written – CLARE MACKINTOSH The greatest psychological thriller of all time – ERIN KELLY * He did not belong to...

A beautiful b-format hardback edition of the classic masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-Four; reissued alongside Orwell's essential works Animal Farm (75th anniversary edition) and Down and Out in Paris and London. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. The year is 1984, and life in Oceania is ruled by the Party. Under the gaze of...

One of the most beloved translations of all time returns to Penguin Classics — Scott Moncrieff's masterful version of Proust. Remembrance of Things Past is one of the seminal works of the twentieth century, recording its narrator's experiences as he grows up, falls in love, and lives through the First World War. A profound reflection on art, time, memory, self,...

The Monk tells the story of Ambrosio, the esteemed superior of the Capuchins of Madrid, who succumbs to the temptations of Matilda, a fiendishly inspired seductress. Disguised as a boy, Matilda enters the monastery as a novice, causing Ambrosio to stray from his righteous path. As his downfall progresses, Ambrosio falls in love with one of his penitents, ultimately murdering...

To Have and Have Not is Ernest Hemingway's adventure novel set on the verge of the tropics. "Listen," I told him. "Don't be so tough so early in the morning. I'm sure you've cut plenty of people's throats. I haven't even had my coffee yet." Harry Morgan is a tough guy making his living during the Depression from his motor...

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics. Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. A prophet waits to board a ship after 12 years away from his homeland. His journey is interrupted by a group of people who ask him to impart his wisdom before...

Now recognised as a pioneering exploration of gender freedom, from an era when female agency was rare and shocking, The Awakening is a groundbreaking novel. Written in the late Victorian era, The Awakening features a young woman who flings aside the norms of society and rejects her role as wife and mother. She abandons her family for a hedonistic and...

Adapted by the Coen Brothers into an Academy Award-winning film, No Country for Old Men is a dark and suspenseful novel from Cormac McCarthy, author of The Road. Llewelyn Moss, hunting antelope near the Rio Grande, stumbles upon a transaction gone horribly wrong. Finding bullet-ridden bodies, several kilos of heroin, and a caseload of cash, he faces a choice -...

The House on the Hill is a devastating novel set in wartime Italy, written by the great twentieth-century author Cesare Pavese, now available in a new translation by Tim Parks. Shortlisted for The Society of Authors Translation Award 2022. In June 1943, Allied aircraft are bombing industrial Turin, and Fascist Italy seems to be on its knees. Corrado, a teacher,...

A new translation of one of the most popular satires on the Russian Revolution and on Soviet society - first time in Penguin Classics. This is Bulgakov's semi-autobiographical story of a writer who fails to sell his novel and fails to commit suicide. When his play is taken up by the theatre, literary success beckons, but he has reckoned without...

Dumas is a master of ripping yarns full of fearless heroes, poisonous ladies and swashbuckling adventurers. The Guardian As seen on Write Around the World with Richard E. Grant A brilliant story of intrigue, retribution, revenge and redemption. Imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, Edmond Dantès spends fourteen bitter years in a dungeon. When his daring escape plan works,...

Augustus tells the story of Octavian, a shy and scholarly youth of nineteen who, on the death of his great-uncle, Julius Caesar, suddenly finds himself heir to the vast power of the Roman Empire. He is destined to rule that world astonishingly well, given the odds and intrigues against him. He would later be known as Augustus Caesar (63 B.C....

This series of war novels from Vintage Classics presents eight powerful stories about the horror and waste of war—each a passionate plea to prevent its repetition. All Quiet on the Western Front is the most famous anti-war novel ever written. In 1914, a room full of German schoolboys, fresh-faced and idealistic, are goaded by their schoolmaster to troop off to...

Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, Wives and Daughters centres on the story of youthful Molly Gibson, brought up from childhood by her father. When he remarries, a new stepsister, Cynthia, enters Molly's quiet life. Loveable but worldly and troubling, Cynthia's arrival alters Molly's daily life. The narrative traces the development of the two girls into womanhood...

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics—irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas, and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. A countess with a card trick; love letters filled with deception; a desperate man with a pistol. The Queen of Spades, one of Pushkin's most popular and chilling stories, is accompanied here by the thrilling Dubrovsky and...

The comic masterpiece that catapulted the 24-year-old Dickens to fame. The Pickwick Papers began as a literary spoof centred around sketches of stock sporting fops by caricaturist Robert Seymour. Following the success of Sketches by Boz, Dickens was recruited to compose the words which would accompany the illustrations. Dickens quickly made the project his own and created some of his...

This series of war novels from Vintage Classics presents eight powerful stories about the horror and waste of war—each a passionate plea to prevent its repetition. Read Kurt Vonnegut's powerful masterpiece, which is as timely now as when it was first published. Billy Pilgrim—hapless barber's assistant, successful optometrist, alien abductee, senile widower, and soldier—has become unstuck in time. Hiding in...

"It seems to me as certain of immortality as anything written in English for half a century" — John Buchan. Seven Pillars of Wisdom is an unusual and rich work. It encompasses an account of the Arab Revolt against the Turks during the First World War alongside general Middle Eastern and military history, politics, adventure, and drama. It is also...

Sentimental Education begins with the hero, Frederic Moreau, leaving Paris and returning to the provinces and his mother. Part love story, part historical novel and satire, it tells of how Moreau is driven by passion for an unattainable older woman. His 'sentimental education' turns out to be more of an anxious quest than a happy one, echoing Flaubert's own life...