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In this representative volume, “The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories” the reader will find twenty-four of Mark Twain’s best shorter works. Classic and unforgettable tales that span the author’s career are included, such as “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, which is Twain’s most famous short story and was his first great success as an author. It is the unforgettable tale of Jim Smiley, the gambler who will bet on anything including a frog-jumping competition. Also included is the fascinating and unfinished final novel by Twain, “The Mysterious Stranger”, which he worked on over a period of several years from 1897 to 1908 and was finally published after his death. The story takes place several hundred years ago and features a mysterious character who is revealed to be Satan himself. Far darker, more serious, and mature than Twain’s earlier works, this final story grapples with challenging and important concerns about the moral failings of men and the fate of the human race. This collection is an important addition to the library of anyone who enjoys one of America’s most renowned authors. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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First published in 1917, “This Country of Ours” is an engaging and accessible introduction to American history by H. E. Marshall, the celebrated English writer noted for her numerous popular works of history for children. Having written detailed histories of many countries other than America including the United Kingdom, Australia, India, Canada, Scotland, Germany, and France, her books were well-loved for their expansive histories that were presented in a format that both interested and entertained young audiences. In “This Country of Ours”, Marshall chronicles American history beginning with the Revolutionary War and continuing through World War I. Rather than presenting the history of the nation as a dry recounting of statistics and dates, Marshall instead focused on the nation’s distinct regions and the events that both shaped those regions and, in turn, affected the entire nation. The result is a history that captures the character of America, its love for pioneering ideas and innovation, and its unique and diverse citizens. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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Benjamin Jonson was a Renaissance dramatist, poet, and actor, known best for his satirical plays and lyric poems. Jonson focused on creating works that implemented elements of the realistic as well as the absurd. Jonson’s most performed play, and the one that sparked a period of great success for the playwright, is “Volpone, or The Fox”. Volpone, a Venetian con artist, is feigning to be on his death bed, pitting several aspirant heirs against one another. The dark comedy is as much serious as it is amusing, exposing the audience to greedy, corrupt characters that at first seem absurdly fictional, but who ultimately reveal a number of societal flaws. Also included in the is collection are “The Alchemist”, a comedy which relates the fraudulent enterprise of a butler when left in charge of his master’s house who has fled to the country during an outbreak of the plague; “The Epicoene”, which concerns the farcical scheme of Dauphine to get his inheritance from his uncle; and “Bartholomew Fair”, the comedic tale of a plot to win the widow Dame Purecraft from the hypocritical Puritan Zeal-of-the-Land Busy. All together this collection presents Jonson’s most admired and often performed works. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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Generally thought to be the work that led to the abolishment of serfdom in Russia, “Sketches from a Hunter’s Album” is a series of short stories, written in 1852, that gained Turgenev widespread recognition for his unique writing style. These stories were the result of Turgenev’s observations while hunting all over Russia, particularly on his abusive mother’s estate at Spasskoye. A definitive work of the Russian Realist tradition, this collection of sketches unveils the author’s insights on the lives of everyday Russians, from landowners and their peasants, to bailiffs and mournful doctors, to unhappy wives and mothers. Turgenev captures their tragedies and triumphs, losses and loves in a set of stories that condemned the behavior of the ruling class. Considered subversive writing, Turgenev was confined to his mother’s estate, yet his “Sketches” opened the eyes of many people of his time, proving him not only an artist but also a social reformer whose abilities ultimately affected the lives of countless Russians. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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Despite a declining popularity throughout his career, Anthony Trollope has become one of the most notable and respected English novelists of the Victorian Era. His penetrating novels on political, social and gender issues of his day have placed him among such nineteenth century literary icons as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and George Eliot. Trollope penned 47 novels in his career, in addition to various short stories, travel books, and biographies. First published in 1858, “Doctor Thorne” is the third novel in Trollope’s series known as the “Chronicles of Barsetshire”, and is argued to be one of Trollope’s best works. It tells the story of Mary Thorne, the niece of Dr. Thomas Thorne, whose illegitimacy remains a secret for much of the novel as she is raised by her kind uncle and falls in love with the rich Frank Gresham. This melodramatic novel displays Trollope’s brilliant management of plot and dialogue while exploring themes of illegitimacy, class division and the practice of marrying for money. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, whose gothic style and progressive ideas have had a permanent influence on literary history. Daughter of political philosopher William Godwin and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley quickly developed ideas about female independence, sexual freedom, and how to compromise in the face of nineteenth century English convention. Her 1826 novel, “The Last Man”, reflects Shelley’s fears about civilization and the shortcomings of human behavior. The narrator discovers a prophetic manuscript, written in 2100 by the last survivor of a twenty-first century apocalypse, which recounts how a deadly plague spread throughout Europe and the world. The scribe, Lionel Verney, describes a world that is both fantasy, and a reflection of Shelley’s reality. She used this novel to scrutinize the machinations of politics and philosophy, and reflect upon pitfalls of human behavior—selfishness, brutality, pride—that she saw in the world around her. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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John Henry Newman was a very prominent religious figure throughout his life. As such, he came under fire for his staunchly traditional beliefs. “Apologia Pro Vita Sua” is an articulation and defense of the stance he took regarding the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. Once a clergyman in the Church of England, Newman believed that the church had regressed and strayed from certain Catholic tenets, regarding dogma and worship. Eventually, distraught by the Anglican Church, Newman left for the Roman Catholic Church, eventually receiving the title of Cardinal, granted by Pope Leo XIII. In 1864, Newman was attacked by Kingsley, an Anglican clergyman in a magazine article, criticizing Newman for lacking reason or regard for truth. “Apologia Pro Vita Sua” was Newman’s response, giving rise to the idea that Newman’s intelligence served as a balancing counterpart for his faith. Today, it is apparent that Newman’s lengthy essay silenced his critics.

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Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall’s “Our Island Story” is a history of England up to Queen Victoria’s death, with some myths and legends mixed in. Marshall’s work, which is aimed at a younger audience, was very popular when first published and is credited by historians as an inspiration. Beginning with the legends of Albion and Brutus “Our Island Story” chronicles numerous important English legends, kings, and queens, including King Arthur, Alfred the Great, Edward the Confessor, William the Conqueror, Richard the Lionheart, Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I, and Queen Victoria, amongst many others. This classic historical work is a must read for any younger reader interested in English history or any parent who wants to educate their children on this fascinating and regal period in the history of Great Britain. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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First published anonymously in 1814, “Waverley” was Sir Walter Scott’s first novel and one of his most popular. The story is set in the Scotland of 1745 amidst the Jacobite uprising and follows the young Edward Waverley, an English officer in the Hanoverian army. He is sent to Scotland and while on leave from training he visits friends of his family in the Lowlands and the Highlands. Waverley meets lairds and chieftains, and he is soon caught up in the Jacobite cause and develops romantic feelings for both Rose, the lovely daughter of Baron Bradwardine, and the passionately political Flora Mac-Ivor, sister to Chieftain Fergus. While the English question Waverley’s loyalty, his honor and courage gain him allies on both sides of the conflict. Full of beautiful descriptions of the natural scenery of Scotland and thrilling accounts of battle and danger, Scott drew on his childhood memories and exhaustive historical research to document Scottish history and to preserve a way of life threatened by civil war. The result is a moving and inspiring tale which contains to entertain and educate readers two centuries later. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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Consider by scholars as the single most influential book in naval strategy, Alfred Thayer Mahan’s “The Influence of Sea Power Upon History (1660-1783)”, is a history of naval warfare and sea power during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that would have a profound influence on the world in the early part of the twentieth century. Mahan published “The Influence of Sea Power Upon History (1660-1783)” while he was President of the US Naval War College. In it he examines what factors lead to supremacy of the seas, focusing heavily on how Britain rose to Imperial dominance through the development of its navy. The book contains numerous descriptions of a series of European and American wars and how naval power was used in each. After the publication of this work the policies outlined in it would soon be adopted by the major military powers of the time ultimately causing the naval arms race of World War I.

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