This first title in the popular mystery series by playwright and novelist John Mortimer features Horace Rumpole, an English barrister who stands before the jury with the flourish of a Shakespearean actor and the ingenuity of a Sherlock Holmes. Rumpole—expert on bloodstains and fingerprint forgery—who has a wit so dry and razor sharp that most of his duller colleagues miss its cutting edge entirely; who prefers, nay depends upon a daily nip of Pommeroy’s ordinary claret; who recites Matthew...

With all the adventure and suspense of an Indiana Jones movie, this 1885 novel recounts the journey of four men-three Englishmen and a regal native named Umbopa-who enter Africa's dark interior in search of the original site of King Solomon's Mines, reputed to be the location for a great stockpile of diamonds. Who and what these unlikely companions encounter along the way is the stuff of high adventure, one of the great jungle epics of all time.

Whimsy, imagination, and sentiment have been banned in the Gradgrinds' upper-class household, but in Coketown, whose working class inhabitants fight for their very survival, the ban becomes a merciless creed. There, all that matters are the grinding wheels of production. Hard Times reflects a harsh world of grueling labor and pitiless relationships. But it is also a story of hope, of something elemental in the human spirit that rises above its bleak surroundings.

In the 19th century, Sir Richard Francis Burton-Oxford-educated spy and adventurer-became the first Englishman to enter the Muslim city of Mecca. Disguised as a dervish, Burton braved the harsh desert climate, Bedouin bandits, and the scrutiny of Muslim travelers to reach the forbidden city. He recorded his experiences in this book, a fascinating adventure of unique anthropological significance.

A new edition Wilkie Collins's classic novel with a new introduction by bestselling crime author Val McDermidThe Moonstone, a yellow diamond looted from an Indian temple and believed to bring bad luck to its owner, is bequeathed to Rachel Verinder on her eighteenth birthday. That very night the priceless stone is stolen again and when Sergeant Cuff is brought in to investigate the crime, he soon realizes that no one in Rachel’s household is above suspicion…"The first, the lon...

Virginia Woolf once called Thomas Hardy “the greatest tragic writer among English novelists.” Set against the serene British countryside, his atmospheric novels were often considered shocking upon their publication.Returning to Egdon Heath from Paris, Clym Yeobright intends to settle down and improve the lives of his townspeople. But the alluring and mysterious Eustacia Vye has other plans. She believes Clym can provide the cosmopolitan life she craves, if only they return to Paris...

When Jules Verne’s delightful tale of two globetrotting gentlemen first appeared in 1873, it won the hearts—and imaginations—of readers across Europe. Published chapter by chapter over the course of many months, Around the World in Eighty Days aroused so much excitement that readers placed bets on the outcome of Phileas Fogg’s endeavor.When eccentric Englishman Fogg makes a daring wager that he can circle the globe in just 80 days, it’s the beginning of an incredible world ...

World War II has finally played itself out, and the British are leaving India. Through this vortex is spun a fictional plot of terror and politics that illustrates all-too-well the curse that still plagues India today. You can almost smell the mixture of dust, oil, and human sweat as the train pulls into Bhowani Junction.

Oliver Goldsmith earned instant acclaim when he published The Vicar of Wakefield, a marvelous mixture of burlesque and satire. The simple village vicar, Mr. Primrose, is living with his wife and six children in complete tranquility until unexpected calamities force them to weather one hilarious adventure after another. Goldsmith plays out this classic comedy of manners with a light, ironic touch that is irresistibly charming.

" The great panther leaped as a kitten leaps at a dead leaf whirling overhead, struck left and right into the empty air that sung under the strokes, landed noiselessly and leaped again and again, while the half purr, half growl gathered head as steam rumbles in a boiler. ' I am Bagheera-- in the jungle-- in the night, and my strength is in me. Who shall stay my stroke?'" -- from " Letting in the Jungle" For Rudyard Kipling, the jungle was at once a fierce and an infinitely gentle place. Th...

One of the first spy novels ever written, The Riddle of the Sands had an enormous impact upon its publication in 1903. Author Erskine Childers-a Boer War veteran and expert yachtsman-crafted a riveting tale of two men who sail close to the German coast and observe secret preparations for an invasion of England. The novel sparked intense concern over British preparedness for war, and one critic accused Childers of almost single-handedly plunging Europe into a conflagration.

Around a low-burning fire in a jungle clearing, a small group of late travelers huddles: a merchant, a Sikh with his son, a farmer. Silently, two men, flanking one of the travelers, crouch forward. A dirty cloth flashes momentarily and jerks around the traveler's neck. One of the men tugs the cloth, the other forces the traveler's head over to one side. Thuggee death has struck; Kali is assuaged.