Mary Shelley began writing Frankenstein when she was only eighteen. At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein. Obsessed with discovering the cause of generation and life and bestowing animation upon lifeless matter, Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts but; upon bringing it to life, he recoils...

A ne'er-do-well exploits his gentle daughter's beauty for social advancement in this masterpiece of tragic fiction. Hardy's 1891 novel defied convention to focus on the rural lower class for a frank treatment of sexuality and religion. Then and now, his sympathetic portrait of a victim of Victorian hypocrisy offers compelling reading.

In Edmond Rostand's beloved 1897 stage play "Cyrano De Bergerac", the titular soldier-poet is hopelessly in love with Roxane, the most beautiful woman in all of Paris. Believing he has no chance with her because of his extremely large nose, he agrees to write love letters on behalf of the slow-witted Christian, who also pines for Roxane. Rostand's work is a fictionalization of the real life novelist Cyrano De Bergerac, who in addition to being a novelist...

The Wealth of Nations is a powerhouse of knowledge that was first published in 1776. Adam Smith was an astute Scottish professor of moral philosophy, and he expounded the revolutionary doctrine of his time to economic liberalism. The importance of the book was almost immediately recognized by his peers who admired his thought and progressive ideas. The Wealth of Nations is comprised of five volumes/books in one. Perfect for class study or improving...

Saint Augustine's contributions to Christian theology are second to no other post-apostolic author in the whole sweep of church history. Yet along side his doctrinal treaties, Augustine tells a story of his life devoted to Christ as his only satisfaction. The Confessions is at once the autobiographical account of Augustine's life of Christian faith and at the same time a compelling theology of Christian spirituality for everyone. Among the most important...

Philip Carey, a handicapped orphan, is brought up by a self-indulgent Victorian clergyman. Shedding his religious faith as a young man, he begins to study art in Paris, but finally returns to London to qualify as a doctor.

Thomas Hardy's first masterpiece, The Mayor of Casterbridge opens with a scene of such heartlessness and cruelty that it still shocks readers today. A poor workman named Michael Henchard, in a fit of drunken rage, sells his wife and baby daughter to a stranger at a country fair. Stricken with remorse, Henchard forswears alcohol and works hard to become a prosperous businessman and the respected mayor of Casterbridge. But he cannot erase his past....

This novel about the effects of America's repressive moral climate was controversial in its day, and its availability to the public was delayed 12 years because of the "immorality" in Dreiser's sordid, realistic portrayal of the downfall of an innocent young woman who leaves her country town for the big city.

When "Lord Jim" first appeared in 1900, many took Joseph Conrad to task for couching an entire novel in the form of an extended conversation - a ripping good yarn, if you like (one critic in The Academy complained that the narrator 'was telling that after-dinner story to his companions for eleven solid hours'). Conrad defended his method, insisting that people really do talk for that long, and listen as well. In fact his chatty masterwork requires...

The sisters -- An encounter -- Araby -- Eveline -- After the race -- Two gallants -- The boarding house -- A little cloud -- Counterparts -- Clay --A Painful Case -- Ivy Day in the Committee Room -- A Mother -- Grace -- and perhaps the most welL-known of all the stories (and the longest): The Dead.