An audacious revision of the stories of Faust and Pontius Pilate, The Master and Margarita is recognized as one of the essential classics of modern Russian literature. The novel’s vision of Soviet life in the 1930s is so ferociously accurate that it could not be published during its author’s lifetime and appeared only in a censored edition in the 1960s. Its truths are so enduring that its...

'There was a hole in the ground, and a hobbit lived in the hole.' These words were written by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien on the back of a school exam paper he was checking one hot summer day. And who would have thought that it was from them, like from a magic seed, that one of the most famous works of world literature would grow. This is a fairy tale that captivated both children and adults,...

'Gods of Mango' is the fifth part of 'Beastly Detective'. The Badgers of the Far Forest Police are sent on a business trip to the African savannah to investigate the case of the kidnapping of the cub of the Exquisite Giraffes, the newborn giraffe Rafik. Mortal danger accompanies the Badgers of the Police constantly. After all, the Far Woodland does not spare anyone: neither strangers nor its...

Once the walls come down, all sorts of problems start to crop up. Rotten wood, toxic mold, unwelcome critters, and something even more sinister all make Greg and his family wonder if the renovations are worth the trouble. When the dust finally settles, will the Heffleys be able to stay . . . or will they need to get out of town?

This manual is addressed to foreign students mastering the Russian language in the Second Certification Level (B2) program. The purpose of the manual is to develop reading skills, expand vocabulary, and improve oral speech. The manual presents the stories of contemporary Russian writers, minimally adapted and shortened for educational purposes. The manual consists of two parts and is built on...

Everything in this life has to be paid for. The protagonist of our book paid for the fleeting minutes of fame, wealth and much more. As he later understood, neither money nor fame can replace the feelings experienced by a person experiencing love, joy, hu

The Good Soldier Schweik is the story beginning in Prague with news of the assassination in Sarajevo that precipitates World War I. Schweik displays such enthusiasm about faithfully serving the Austrian Emperor in battle that no one can decide whether he is merely an imbecile or is craftily undermining the war effort. However, he is arrested by a member of the secret police after making some...

The story 'The Old Man and the Sea' is one of the most famous and beloved by the readers of Hemingway's works. It brought the author the Pulitzer Prize, and also played an important role in awarding him the title of Nobel laureate. This is a story about 'tragic stoicism' and courage, about how before in the face of ruthless fate and loneliness, a person, even losing, must maintain dignity....

One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than 40 languages, sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the 20th century by librarians across the country. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South...

Past the rusted gates and untrimmed hedges, Hill House broods and waits….Four seekers have come to the ugly, abandoned old mansion: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of the psychic phenomenon called haunting; Theodora, his lovely and lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a lonely, homeless girl well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the adventurous future heir of Hill...

It is the spring of 1939, and three generations of the Kurc family are doing their best to live normal lives, even as the shadow of war grows closer. The talk around the family Seder table is of new babies and budding romance, not of the increasing hardsh

Flora 717 is a sanitation worker, a member of the lowest caste in her orchard hive where work and sacrifice are the highest virtues and worship of the beloved Queen the only religion. But Flora is not like other bees. With circumstances threatening the hi