Melville's classic story of whaling, romance of unusual adventure and eccentric characters, and a drama of heroic conflict. In New Bedford, Connecticut in the 1800s, a group of seamen board the whaling ship Pequod, captained by Ahab. They know they're out to harpoon whales; what they don't realize is that Ahab once lost a leg to the magnificent white whale Moby Dick, and that he'll risk anything, including himself and every member of his crew, to...

These mass market editions of six of Shakespeare's plays feature freshly edited text based on the best early printed versions of each play, full explanatory notes, scene-by-scene plot summaries, a key to famous lines and phrases, an introduction to reading Shakespeare's language, and illustrations. Reissue.

Belonging in the immortal company of the great works of literature, Dante Alighieri's poetic masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, is a moving human drama, an unforgettable visionary journey through the infinite torment of Hell, up the arduous slopes of Purgatory, and on to the glorious realm of Paradise -- the sphere of universal harmony and eternal salvation.

Based on actual events, this sweeping historical romance, considered to be Dumas' finest work, recounts the story of Edmond Dantès, a gallant young sailor whose life takes a bitter turn when, during the final days of Napoleon's reign, he is falsely accused of treason and condemned to lifelong imprisonment. After languishing for many years in a fetid dungeon, he makes his dramatic escape. In a labyrinthine tale plump with themes of justice, vengeance,...

The final novel by Charles Dickens, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", was unfinished at the time of his death in 1870. The novel revolves around John Jasper, choirmaster and opium addict, who is the guardian of his orphaned nephew Edwin Drood. Before the death of his parents, Edwin was promised to marry Rosa Bud, another orphan, but their affections have cooled upon reaching adulthood. Rosa has also attracted the affections of Jasper, her teacher, as...

A remarkably handsome youth, Dorian Gray, meets Lord Henry Wotton and is corrupted into a life of terrible evil. Granted eternal youth, Dorian Gray lives a wild, dissipated life while his portrait grows old and haggard. Oscar Wilde's story of a fashionable young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty is one of his most popular works. Written in Wilde's characteristically dazzling manner, full of stinging epigrams and shrewd observations,...

Richard Blackmore (1825-1900) was a minor historical novelist whose works have been somewhat overlooked by the reading masses, but whose talent for characterization and setting rank his words among the finest of nineteenth-century English literature. "Lorna Doone," Blackmore's acknowledged masterpiece, attained belated popularity a little more than a year after its publication. Rumors began that the novel was about the recent marriage of the marquis...

Originally serialized in Knickerbocker's Magazine between 1847 and 1849, The Oregon Trail is a fascinating chronicle of Francis Parkman's travels on the Oregon Trail during the summer of 1846 through the western states of Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado. Living and hunting with a tribe of Native Americans for a period of time, Francis Parkman captures the spirit of the old west in this gripping 19th century narrative. Fans of the old west...

Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, with marginal notes and explanations and full descriptions of each character.