CLASSICS

On a June morning in 1923, Clarissa Dalloway, the glittering wife of a Member of Parliament, is preparing for a grand party that evening.As she walks through London, buying flowers,...

Stacy Aumonier's comic stories are among the funniest ever written. His serious works observe the human condition with wit and elegance. All of them are page-turners. Alfred Hitchcock was a...

A charming gift for anyone prone to insomnia'The dilemma my friends suppose me to be in,' writes the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 'has, for its two horns, the...

In The Guermantes Way Proust's narrator recalls his initiation into the dazzling world of Parisian high society. Looking back over his time in the glamorous salons of the aristocracy, he...

Written by Europe's first professional woman writer, The Treasure of the City of Ladies offers advice and guidance to women of all ages and from all levels of medieval society,...

Major Sinclair Yeates leaves England to work as an Irish Resident Magistrate convinced that two and two make four. But as he passes judgement on a range of cases and...

During the 1790s, with Ireland in political crisis, Maria Edgeworth made a surprisingly rebellious choice: in Castle Rackrent, her first novel, she adopted an Irish Catholic voice to narrate the...

Discover one of the most admired, best loved and influential novels in the history of English literature. The perfect long read to lose yourself in.'If we had a keen vision...

**A BBC BETWEEN THE COVERS BIG JUBILEE READ PICK**'A milestone in the campaign for racial equality' GuardianIn 1945, Rick Braithwaite, a smart, highly educated ex-RAF pilot, looks for a job...

These twelve magical tales tell, among other things, how the camel got his hump, the leopard his spots, the elephant his trunk, how the alphabet was made and how a...

"Wind, Sand and Stars" is a lyrical memoir by French aviator and author Antoine de Saint-Exupery, blending adventure, reflection, and philosophical insight. Drawing from his experiences as a pioneering pilot...

With an introduction by Dr Sally MinogueJane Austen's nephew James knew her fondly as Aunt Jane when he was a child, attended her funeral in Winchester Cathedral as a young...

Selected and introduced by Stephen Carver'Of living creators of cosmic fear raised to its most artistic pitch, few if any can hope to equal the versatile Arthur Machen.' - H.P....

INTRODUCED BY ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH'I'm a huge fan of Barbara Pym' RICHARD OSMANMildred Lathbury is one of those excellent women who are often taken for granted. She is a godsend,...

'White Nights' is one of Dostoevsky's earlier short stories but one of his most enduringly popular. It tells the story of four nights in the life of the lonely narrator,...

Under Milk Wood is Dylan Thomas's best-known and best-loved work, his radio play completed in 1953 at the very end of his life. Portrait of the Artist as a Young...

Based on the translation by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos. With an Introduction by David Stuart Davies.'... the shadow turned round; and I saw a terrible death's-head, which darted a look...

The life of Father Joseph, Cardinal Richelieu's aide, was a monstrous paradox. After a day spent in directing operations on the battlefield Father Joseph would pass the night in prayer,...

Henry Fleming, a raw Union Army recruit in the American Civil War, is anxious to confirm his patriotism and manhood-to earn his "badge of courage." But his dreams of heroism...

George Orwell was an inveterate keeper of diaries. The Orwell Diaries presents eleven of them, covering the period 1931-1949, and follows Orwell from his early years as a writer to...