So begins The War of the Worlds, the science fiction classic that first proposed the possibility of intelligent life on other planets and has enthralled readers for generations. This compelling tale describes the Martian invasion of earth. When huge, tireless creatures land in England, complete chaos erupts. Using their fiery heat rays and crushing strength, the aliens just may succeed in...

Aldous Huxley's profoundly important classic of world literature, Brave New World is a searching vision of an unequal, technologically-advanced future where humans are genetically bred, socially indoctrinated, and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively uphold an authoritarian ruling order–all at the cost of our freedom, full humanity, and perhaps also our souls.

This collection includes plays that form the core of Schiller's creative legacy: ‘Intrigue and Love,’ ‘The Robbers,’ ‘Mary Stuart,’ and ‘William Tell.’ Besides their countless literary merits, they are interesting because, written during a time when classicism was universally triumphant, they are precursors of the legendary German Romanticism. Vivid and multifaceted characters, devoid of...

The Prophet Almustafa, having lived for twelve years in the alien city of Orphalese, is preparing to return home. Along the way, he is stopped by a group of locals, who are interested in the prophet's views on love and death, freedom and power, good and evil. Almustafa's laconic yet comprehensive reflections are presented in the form of parables. They not only provide answers to the...

A very unusual collection. A very unusual Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky is not only (and not so much) tragic, but also ironic, funny, touching, and even sentimental. Dostoevsky of the ‘small form’ is a master of topical plots, comic situations, and witty dialogue.

The summer of 1928 was a vintage season for a growing boy. A summer of green apple trees, mowed lawns, and new sneakers. Of half-burnt firecrackers, of gathering dandelions, of Grandma's belly-busting dinner. It was a summer of sorrows and marvels and gold-fuzzed bees. A magical, timeless summer in the life of a twelve-year-old boy named Douglas Spaulding—remembered forever in moving,...

Famous for his enormously influential poetry and plays, Alexander Pushkin is also beloved for his short stories. This collection showcases his tremendous range, which enabled him to portray the Russian people through romance, drama, and satire. The sparkling humor of the five ‘Tales of Belkin’ contrasts with Pushkin's dark fable of gambling and obsessive greed in ‘The Queen of Spades’ and his...

The Queen of Spades; The Tales of Belkin; Peter the Great's Blackamoor; The Captain's Daughter.

Riven by the tension between hagiographies, utopias, belief, longing, and grief, the poems of My Heresies catalog a personal and familial history originating in Bucharest, Romania and landing in Birmingham, Alabama. Whether through sardonic takes on old Bible myths or homage paid to French-Romanian poet Paul Celan, Stefanescu's poems are laden in subtext, in imagery sometimes abstract and lush,...