LITMIR.BIZ

It is the early days of the French Republic, and Robespierre's revolutionaries find their wicked schemes repeatedly being thwarted. It appears that Sir Percy Blakeney–the cunning and heroic Pimpernel–is more than a match for them all. But Sir Percy's spy-catching archenemy, Chauvelin, has devised a plan. In this swashbuckling sequel to The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sir Percy attempts to smuggle French aristocrats out of the country to safety, while Chauvelin plays out a vile plot to eliminate the Pimpernel and his beautiful wife, once and for all.Lighting up movie and television screens and leaping off the pages of books, the adventures of Baroness Orczy's rebel Pimpernel have ignited imaginations the world over for generations. Fans of the classic original, as well as those who enjoy rich historical novels, will thrill to this tale of intrigue set in the days following the French Revolution.

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Begun about 1307 and completed in 1321, Dante's sublime poetic masterpiece, <I>The Divine Comedy,</I> is one of the world's great works of literature. It comprises an extraordinarily vivid and imaginative account of the poet's allegorical journey through the afterlife. Complementing its depiction of the world beyond, the poem's abundant allusions to earthly history and politics, vivid portrayals of Dante's friends and enemies, and many references to contemporary Italian affairs make it an intensely human, realistic portrait of life on earth. <BR>Led in his travels by the classical poet Virgil, Dante descends through the nine circles of Hell, where punishment is determined by the gravity of the sinner's transgressions. He then ascends the mountain of Purgatory, encountering souls atoning for their misdeeds, and, at the summit, is met at the entrance to Paradise by Beatrice, his beloved. Throughout his pilgrimage, he meets characters drawn from ancient Roman and medieval times (philosophers, heroes, emperors, popes, and politicians, among others) as well as numerous personalities from the Italy of his day. <BR>This dual-language edition includes the complete texts of 33 of the original 100 cantos or «songs»; each omitted canto is summarized in its proper place to provide continuity. The selection of cantos and the excellent line-for-line translations from Italian into English are by Stanley Appelbaum, who also has provided an informative Introduction and useful notes.<BR>

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"The tragedy of her life was that she was too black," declares the narrator at the start of this powerful novel of intraracial prejudice. Emma Lou Morgan lives in a world of scorn and shame, not because her skin is black, but because it's too black. No one among her family, teachers, and friends has a word of consolation or hope for the despised and rejected girl. With nothing to lose, eighteen-year-old Emma Lou leaves her home in Idaho, seeking love and acceptance on a journey that ultimately leads her to the legendary community of the Harlem Renaissance.A source of controversy upon its 1929 publication, The Blacker the Berry was the first novel to openly address color prejudice among black Americans. Author Wallace Thurman, an active member of the Harlem Renaissance, vividly recaptures the era's mood and spirit. His portrait of a young woman adrift in the city forms an enduringly relevant reflection of the search for racial, sexual, and cultural identity.

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From one of the 20th century's preeminent novelists and poets comes this passionate tale of romance amid the chaos of modern life. D. H. Lawrence's compelling account of two couples' search for romantic fulfillment is steeped in an edgy eroticism bordering on violence. The literary world reacted with shock upon its 1921 publication: nearly a century later, the novel's psychological penetration continues to captivate readers.Women in Love reintroduces two sisters, Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen, who initially appeared in Lawrence's previous novel, The Rainbow (1915). Ursula's relationship with Rupert Birkin, an introspective and misanthropic school inspector, is contrasted with that of Gudrun and Gerald Crich, an overbearing industrialist. Set in a coal-mining town in the English Midlands, their stories explore the disastrous effects of industrialization on the psyche and suggest that rebirth can be achieved only through emotional intensity.Composed at the height of the author's powers, Women in Love is the novel that Lawrence considered his masterpiece (the characters of Rupert and Ursula are widely regarded as Lawrence's depiction of himself and his wife, Frieda). Rich in symbolism and lyric prose, it offers a complex meditation on the meaning of love in a changing world.

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Acclaimed as one of Conrad's finest literary achievements, this gripping novel deftly depicts the political turmoil of nineteenth-century Russia and follows the dramatic developments in the life of a student, Razumov, as he prepares for a career in the czarist bureaucracy.In a plot that twists and turns, Razumov unwittingly becomes embroiled in a revolutionary conspiracy when he gives refuge to a fellow student who assassinated a public official. Increasingly enmeshed in the radical's political intrigue, he betrays the anarchist who had placed blind faith in him. The authorities then dispatch Razumov on a mission to spy on the revolutionary's sister and mother.A fascinating character study, Under Western Eyes hauntingly reveals Razumov's preoccupation with questions of decency and accountability when confronted by the equally powerful values of human integrity and moral strength.

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Written between 1873 and 1884 and published posthumously in 1903, The Way of All Flesh is regarded by some as the first twentieth-century novel. Samuel Butler's autobiographical account of a harsh upbringing and troubled adulthood shines an iconoclastic light on the hypocrisy of a Victorian clerical family's domestic life. It also foreshadows the crumbling of nineteenth-century bourgeois ideals in the aftermath of the First World War, as well as the ways in which succeeding generations have questioned conventional values.Hailed by George Bernard Shaw as «one of the summits of human achievement,» this chronicle of the life and loves of Ernest Pontifex spans four generations, focusing chiefly on the relationship between Ernest and his father, Theobald. Written in the wake of Darwin's Origin of Species, it reflects the dawning consciousness of heredity and environment as determinants of character. Along the way, it offers a powerfully satirical indictment of Victorian England's major institutions&#8212;the family, the church, and the rigidly hierarchical class structure.

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When White Fang was first published in 1906, Jack London was well on his way to becoming one of the most famous, popular, and highly paid writers in the world. White Fang stands out as one of his finest achievements, a spellbinding novel of life in the northern wilds.In gripping detail, London bares the savage realities of the battle for survival among all species in a harsh, unyielding environment. White Fang is part wolf, part dog, a ferocious and magnificent creature through whose experiences we see and feel essential rhythms and patterns of life in the animal kingdom and among mankind as well.It is, above all, a novel that keenly observes the extraordinary working of one of nature's greatest gifts to its creatures: the power to adapt. Focusing on this wondrous process, London created in White Fang a classic adventure story as fresh and appealing for today's audiences as for those who made him among the bestselling novelists of his day.

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Considered lurid and shocking by mid-19th-century standards, Wuthering Heights was initially thought to be such a publishing risk that its author, Emily Bront&#235;, was asked to pay some of the publication costs. A somber tale of consuming passions and vengeance played out against the lonely moors of northern England, the book proved to be one of the most enduring classics of English literature.The turbulent and tempestuous love story of Cathy and Heathcliff spans two generations &#8212; from the time Heathcliff, a strange, coarse young boy, is brought to live on the Earnshaws' windswept estate, through Cathy's marriage to Edgar Linton and Heathcliff's plans for revenge, to Cathy's death years later and the eventual union of the surviving Earnshaw and Linton heirs.A masterpiece of imaginative fiction, Wuthering Heights (the author's only novel) remains as poignant and compelling today as it was when first published in 1847.

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Throughout his richly varied literary career, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) wrote compelling short stories of enduring appeal. His first important publication, long before&nbsp;The Scarlet Letter, was the 1837 collection&nbsp;Twice-Told Tales, which brought the New England writer immediate fame and high praise from no less an authority than Edgar Allan Poe. Another compilation, Mosses from an Old Manse, followed in 1846 and achieved&nbsp;further success. This volume contains six stories from those collections as well as another superb selection, «My Kinsman, Major Molineux.» In addition to the latter tale and the title story, this edition includes «Dr. Heidegger's Experiment,» «The Birthmark,» «Rappaccini's Daughter,» «Roger Malvin's Burial» and «The Artist of the Beautiful.» Here are tales rich in atmosphere and suspense, with plots centering on subjects as diverse as witchcraft, revenge, the power of guilt, and a passion for the beautiful, all recounted&nbsp;in the distinctive voice of one of America's great writers.

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In this fast-paced spy thriller, a self-described «ordinary fellow» stumbles upon a plot involving not only espionage and murder but also the future of Britain itself. Richard Hannay arrives in London on the eve of World War I, where he encounters an American agent seeking help in preventing a political assassination. Before long, Hannay finds himself in possession of a little black book that holds the key to the conspiracy &#8212; and on the run from both the police and members of a mysterious organization that will stop at nothing to keep their secrets hidden. This is the first of five novels in John Buchan's Greenmantle series, featuring the adventures of the stalwart and resourceful Richard Hannay. Originally published in 1915, it also served as the basis for several movies and plays, including Alfred Hitchcock's classic cinematic adaptation.

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