Born into a Jewish family and a communist, Anna Seghers immediately attracted the attention of the Gestapo after Hitler came to power. Her books were burned, and the writer herself was forced to emigrate to France, becoming a staunch opponent of the Nazi regime. With the outbreak of war, Seghers spent a year in Marseille waiting for a visa to Mexico. The novel ‘Transit’ is largely based on...

Immanuel Kant is the greatest philosopher of Western Europe, one of the leading thinkers of the Enlightenment, the founder of German classical philosophy, the founder of critical idealism, who made a decisive contribution to the development of the European philosophical tradition. ‘Critique of Practical Reason’ is Immanuel Kant's main ethical treatise, which develops the ideas of his...

Pushkin's great novel in verse, ‘Eugene Onegin,’ seems simple and straightforward, but this is deceptive. In reality, its text holds many mysteries, the meaning of which often eludes the modern reader. Numerous allusions, hidden references, a multitude of people, concepts, and objects that were obvious to people of that era but are now unknown to the general public – all this does not...

Nietzsche's mature masterpiece, Beyond Good and Evil considers the origins and nature of Judeo-Christian morality; the end of philosophical dogmatism and beginning of perspectivism; the questionable virtues of science and scholarship; liberal democracy, nationalism, and women's emancipation.

When Theodore Dreiser's epic first novel stormed onto the literary scene in 1900, it was a breath of fresh air in more ways than one. Celebrated for the vibrant and gritty realism of its portrayal of city life, Sister Carrie also gave the world an unforgettable heroine—a thoroughly modern young woman who turned the traditional cautionary tale of the fallen woman on its head.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest works of fiction, written long before Homer's ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey,’ the greatest literary masterpiece of the Ancient East, which for the first time describes the myth of the Great Flood. The reader is presented with the story of the glorious deeds of the demigod king-warrior Gilgamesh (whose image is based on a real historical figure, Bilgames, the...

This collection of Japanese folk tales is translated by the renowned scholar of Japanese literature, Vera Nikolaevna Markova. It includes a preface and commentary by the translator. The tales presented in this collection tell of cunning pranks and mythical feats, of the struggle between good and evil and the triumph of justice, of the magical deeds of a wondrous wife, and of the cruel war...

For all fans of Japanese culture. — A collection of folk tales, myths, and legends. — For those who have already read ‘Tales of Ancient Japan’ and ‘Ten Evenings’.

Don Quixote has become so entranced reading tales of chivalry that he decides to turn knight errant himself. In the company of his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, these exploits blossom in all sorts of wonderful ways. While Quixote's fancy often leads him astray—he tilts at windmills, imagining them to be giants—Sancho acquires cunning and a certain sagacity. Sane madman and wise fool, they...

‘Little Women’ is the first book in Louisa May Alcott's tetralogy about sisters growing up during difficult times in America. The novel is a true bestseller, translated into 50 languages worldwide, and in Russia alone, over 120,000 copies were sold in 2022. The novel has been adapted for the screen six times, with the latest adaptation released in 2019. The main roles were played by Saoirse...

‘The Headless Horseman.’ A gem of Mayne Reid's literary legacy. The captivating story of the beautiful Louise Poindexter and the noble Irishman Maurice Gerald, the proud Mexican woman Isidora Covarrubio, the cruel Captain Cassius Calhoun, the brave hunter Zeb Stump, and the dashing bandit El Coyote is considered a true masterpiece of adventure prose and is endlessly loved by both foreign and...

The novel, which caused a storm of indignation among conservative critics, topped the national bestseller lists for a long time and served as the basis for a classic film starring James Dean. A family saga... A story of passionate love and hatred, trust and betrayal, mistakes and crimes... But above all, it is the story of two sons of the Californian Adam Trask, a kind of Cain and Abel. Each...