Set in the rich farmland of the Salinas Valley, California, this powerful, often brutal novel, follows the interwined destinies of two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - whose generations hopelessly re-enact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. Here Steinbeck created some of his most memorable characters and explored his most enduring themes: the...

Throughout his life George Orwell aimed, in his words, to make 'political writing into an art'. This collection brings together the best of his matchless political essays and journalism with his timeless satire on totalitarianism, Animal Farm. It includes articles on subjects from the corruption of language to the oppressive British Empire; his masterly wartime Socialist polemic, 'The Lion...

What does persuasion mean - a firm belief, or the action of persuading someone to think something else? Anne Elliot is one of Austen's quietest heroines, but also one of the strongest and the most open to change. She lives at the time of the Napoleonic wars, a time of accident, adventure, the making of new fortunes and alliances. A woman of no importance, she manoeuvres in her restricted...

Richard II is one of Shakespeare’s finest works: lucid, eloquent, and boldly structured. It can be seen as a tragedy, or a historical play, or a political drama, or as one part of a vast dramatic cycle which helped to generate England’s national identity. Today, to some of us, Richard II may appear conservative; but, in Shakespeare’s day, it could appear subversive: ‘I am Richard II’, declared...

Jean... Qu est-ce que tu dirais si j avais fait quelque chose de grave ? » J avoue que cette question ne m avait pas alarmé. Peut-etre a cause du ton détaché qu elle avait pris, comme on cite les paroles d une chanson ou les vers d un poeme. Et a cause de ce : « Jean... Qu est-ce que tu dirais... » c était justement un vers qui m était revenu a la mémoire : « ... Dis, Blaise, sommes-nous bien...

En Auvergne, dans la petite station thermale d’Enval, la découverte d’une nouvelle source suscite toutes les convoitises : des paysans roublards, un banquier spéculateur et des médecins charlatans s’affrontent. Dans ce roman au vitriol, " on dirait vraiment que les sources ne sont pas minéralisées, mais ensorcelées " !

Shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award ‘What a remarkable book this is; tender, funny, brave, heartfelt, radiant with love and life. It brought me often to laughter and – several times – to tears. It sings with joy and kindness’ Robert Macfarlane From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Your Life in My Hands comes this vibrant, tender and deeply personal...

According to Yeats the fear gorta walks the earth during times of famine, seeking alms from passers-by. In this version the fear gorta can be a potential source of good luck for generous individuals. If you are a stranger, you will not readily get ghost and fairy legends, even in a western village. You must go adroitly to work, and make friends with the children and the old...