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The 17th century dramatist Jean Racine was considered, along with Molière and Corneille, as one of the three great playwrights of his era. The quality of Racine's poetry has been described as possibly his most important contribution to French literature and his use of the alexandrine poetic line is one of the best examples of such use noted for its harmony, simplicity and elegance. While critics over the centuries have debated the worth of Jean Racine, at present, he is widely considered a literary genius of revolutionary proportions. In this volume of Racine's plays we find «Andromache», the third of twelve plays by the author. The drama is a five act tragedy based on Euripides' play «Andromache» and draws upon the third book of Virgil's «Aeneid». In the aftermath of the Trojan war, Andromache has been taken prisoner in Epirus by Pyrrhus, her husband Hector has been slain by Achilles, who is due to be married to Hermione, the only daughter of the Spartan king Menelaus and Helen of Troy.

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Benedict de Spinoza, a Jewish-Dutch philosopher, laid the foundation for the Enlightenment movement of the 18th century in Europe and is regarded as one of the great rationalists of 17th century philosophy. Presented here are «A Theologico-Political Treatise» and «A Political Treatise», two works that precede Spinoza's most famous work «Ethics». In «A Theologico-Political Treatise» Spinoza argues for the separation of theology and philosophy insisting that whereas the goal of theology is obedience, philosophy aims at understanding rational truth. Spinoza believes that in order for man to realize his full potential a society organized around the principles of reason is necessary. In «A Political Treatise» Spinoza analyzes the forms of government: monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. Based on his analysis he favors democracy, which he refers to as any representative government. The highly influential works of Spinoza laid the foundation for many of the concepts that we see in modern political life.

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George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) is revered as one of the great British dramatists, credited not only with memorable works, but the revival of the then-suffering English theatre. Shaw was born in Dublin, Ireland, left mostly to his own devices after his mother ran off to London to pursue a musical career. He educated himself for the most part, and eventually worked for a real estate agent. This experience founded in him a concern for social injustices, seeing poverty and general unfairness afoot, and would go on to address this in many of his works. In 1876, Shaw joined his mother in London where he would finally attain literary success. Shaw used the stage to deliver messages to his audiences in the hope of bettering society. His vision was not just to reconcile issues within society, but to encourage mankind to strive for a sort of perfection close to divinity. He did not ask questions about the present, but envisioned an alternate reality altogether. «Great Catherine» is set in the court of Catherine the Great where a young British officer is sent to help ease Anglo-Russian relations. Unfortunately the officer misunderstands the situation so terribly that he finds his life in danger and must rely on the grace of Catherine to save him.

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Thomas Babington Macaulay was a child prodigy who, by the age of 8, had written a history of the world and a poem in three cantos modeled after the poetry of Sir Walter Scott. He studied law at Trinity College, Cambridge, but drew great attention for several literary essays he contributed to the Edinburgh Review. In 1849, he published the first two volumes of «The History of England, From the Accession of James II», which were immediately well-received. As a Whig, with little tolerance for Tories or understanding of James II, Macaulay disregarded many authoritative texts in his research; as a result, his work is often prejudiced and mistaken in the facts, with little room for philosophy or theorizing. However, it cannot be denied that this work is a lively and beautifully written masterpiece of English literature. This is the third in a series of five volumes.

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The following text has been drawn from Sir Richard Burton's exhaustive translation of «The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night», more commonly known as «The Arabian Nights». The story of «The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor» tells the tale of Sinbad who ventures out to sea, at first to acquire wealth, but afterwards in search of adventure. During these voyages he encounters many obstacles including giant animals, monsters, and savage cannibals, yet always seems to escape with an even greater fortune than when he started out. A classic tale of fantasy, «The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor» is presented here in this edition in its original and unexpurgated form.

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The «Mahabharata» tells the narrative of the Kurukshetra War and the fates of the Kaurava and the Pandava princes who are part of it. Along with the «Ramayana» it is one of two Sanskrit epics of ancient India. The authorship of the work is generally attributed to Vyasa, who is also a major character in the epic. Intermixed within the descriptions of conflict between the warring factions of this epic are numerous philosophical digressions and discussions of Hinduism. One of the more famous of these digressions is the «Bhagavad-Gita», a battlefield conversation between Pandava prince Arjuna and his guide Lord Krishna on a variety of theological and philosophical issues. Also included within the «Mahabharata» are the story of «Damayanti» and «Rishyasringa,» often considered as works in their own right. This sweeping epic, the longest every written in Sanskrit, is widely considered as one of the most important works to ever be authored in any language. This four volume edition collects together the complete epic in a translation by Kisari Mohan Ganguli. Here we have the second volume which includes books four through seven.

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"The Enchanted April" is the story of four women who spend a month vacationing in Italy at the Tuscan Villa, San Salvatore. Together these women rent an Italian castle on the Mediterranean coast and experience a reawakening in life through their shared experiences there. Readers will delight in reading «The Enchanted April,» a truly inspiring tale and one of Elizabeth Von Arnim's best.

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Thirteen of Plato's most well-known dialogues are included in the collection «Essential Dialogues of Plato.» Plato was a learned student of the early philosopher Socrates. Because Socrates did not write any works before his untimely death, Pluto took Socrates' beliefs and expressed them through imagined dialogues between the philosopher and his students. It was the first time in Western history that a philosophical dialectic between the teacher and student was developed. In the dialogues, Socrates and a student discuss multiple aspects of life through a similar structure. The student, in his ignorance, makes a wide, generalized statement, and Socrates then questions their thought processes. While Socrates was not trying to push his students into thinking a certain way, he wanted his students to discover their own truths through rational thinking and questioning the world. Plato showed this poignantly in his dialogues, which preserved his teacher's legacy while solidifying Plato himself as one of the most unique literary minds in early Western civilization. Plato not only fleshes out the characters and creates narrative story arcs in his dialogues, but he even injects humor and wit into his works. Some of the works included in this text are «Ion,» «Gorgias,» «Phaedrus,» «Crito,» and «Laws.» «Essential Dialogues of Plato» is a must-read for any serious student of philosophy as well as those with an interest in Western values and beliefs.

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Considered to be one of Sherwood Anderson's greatest works, «Winesburg, Ohio» is the portrayal of a fictitious American town and its inhabitants. «Winesburg, Ohio» is a collection of connected short stories depicting a variety of themes of rural American life. Heralded for its beautiful realism, «Winesburg, Ohio», is a classic collection of American stories whose influence upon American literature is considered to be nothing short of profound.

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"The Koran" is the ultimate authority and the foundation of the Islamic faith. Believed by Muslims to be the word of God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through the archangel Gabriel, it is the source of all Islamic tenets. «The Koran» is composed in Arabic verse and divided into 114 suras, or chapters. The fundamental religious text of Islam, the Koran is recited by millions everyday and is widely considered the finest piece of Arabic literature. Situated amidst the other defining religious tomes of the world, the Koran is a powerful and rich text. Tremendously influential since its creation 1,400 years ago, the Koran remains a breathing text all over the world. In this edition we find the highly annotated and critical translation of J. M. Rodwell.

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