John Muir (1838 – 1914) was an influential naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, and advocate for the preservation of wilderness areas in the United States. In 1869, Muir travelled to California and spent a long time in the area that is now the Yosemite National Park. This narrative takes the form of a hiking guide filled with adventure. Muir was a master of description, providing stirring portraits of the area’s wildlife, waterfalls, valleys, meadows, giant sequoias groves, lakes...

The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, written between 1522 and 1524, are a set of meditations, contemplations and prayers by Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. They are divided into four thematic parts and composed with the intention of helping participants in religious retreats to discern the will of God in their lives.

‘Notes from the Underground’ is a revolutionary novel by Dostoevsky. The unnamed narrator is a former government official who has retreated into an underground existence. In complete withdrawal from society, he writes a passionate screed which attacks social utopianism.

‘The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin’ is the traditional title of the unfinished record of his life written by Benjamin Franklin from 1771 to 1790; Franklin himself referred to the work as his “Memoirs”. He was an inventor, statesman, a scientist, printer, and accomplished biographer. The book - considered to be one of the most famous and influential examples of an autobiography ever written - is divided in four parts, reflecting the different periods in which he wrote them. Written ini...

“The root of all virtue and grace, of all faith and acceptable worship, is that we know that we have nothing but what we receive, and bow in deepest humility to wait upon God for it.” Humility is a classic by Reverend Andrew Murray, and remains a popular source of inspiration over 100 years after its first publication.

Andrew Murray's ‘True Vine’ is a thirty-one day devotional examining the Parable of the Vine and the Branches in John 15 verses one to sixteen. Each day’s devotional elaborates and expounds upon the chapter, offering deep and detailed spiritual insight on the meaning of phrases like “abiding in Christ” and “vine on the branch”. The work is an inspirational guide on how to dwell in God’s love, maintain communion with Christ and replace fear with peace of mind.

‘Carmilla’ is an 1872 Gothic novella by the Irish author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. Predating Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) by 26 years, it is also one of the earliest works of vampire fiction. The story is narrated as part of the casebook of Dr Hesselius, an occult detective. Set in Styria in the then-Austrian Empire, a young girl, Laura, narrates the blood-curdling tale of the vampire Carmilla or Mircalla, the Countess Karnstein. Carmilla has often been adapted to film, opera and other medi...

On War was written by Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz after the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century. It is considered to be one of the most influential pieces of strategy writing ever published. In the book, he uses many historical examples, including copious references to Napoleon and Frederick the Great.

The book begins in 1521 at the great turning point in the life of St Ignatius, when he was wounded at the battle of Pamplona. It then covers the next seventeen years up to the arrival of Ignatius and his early companions in Rome. Those were the years of pilgrimage, travel and searching, and of preparation for the establishment of the great religious order he would found.

‘On Liberty’ is an 1859 philosophical treatise by the English philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806 – 1873) which applies an ethical system of utilitarianism to society and the state. Mill starts with a brief overview of the meaning of liberty and proffers his basic argument in favor of liberty for the individual, to the degree that it harms no one else. The value of liberty of opinion and liberty of action are set forth in two chapters. Emphasizing the importance of individuality versus the ...

William Wymark Jacobs (1863 — 1943) was an English short-story writer. ‘The Monkey's Paw’ is a classic horror storywhose title refers to a shrunken monkey’s paw that is said to have the power to grant its possessor three wishes.