Only a few popular autobiographies existed before philosopher, author, and composer Jean-Jacques Rousseau published his Confessions. Rousseau wrote treatises on education and politics as well as novels and operas, and as one of the most influential and controversial of the Enlightenment thinkers, he inspired the leaders of the French Revolution. His memoir is regarded as the first modern autobiography, in which the writer defined his life mainly in...

Published in 1823, this collection of witty and conversational essays from The London Magazine includes "Dream-Children," "The South-Sea House," and "Grace Before Meat," all amply testifying to the qualities that have established Lamb as among the finest of British essayists. And who could forget Lamb's "A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig"...

After John Harmon is murdered on his way to marry Bella Wilfer and receive a large inheritance, his father's assistant, Nicodemus Boffin, becomes the new heir and adopts Bella, who evokes an uncommon interest from Boffin's assistant.

London society takes its toll on a young girl unprepared for the corruptions of the "coming out" season.

"Penned by English Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling in 1894, The Jungle Book is a collection of allegorical stories that take place deep in the Indian jungle. The most famous stories of The Jungle Book are those featuring a young feral boy named Mowgli who was raised by wolves, is friends with a panther, and was educated by the animals of the jungle." -- "Set in the mystical depths of the Indian jungle, where tigers roam the land and monkeys swing...

French novelist and short story writer, Gustave Flaubert, was considered to be a master of style, obsessively devoted to finding the right word in every piece of literature he produced. As a child he expressed great imagination and took in all the stories he could from his nurse and neighbors, and in doing so, he prepared himself for a life consumed by literature and history. In addition to his "Madame Bovary", his first published novel and the one...

During the early 18th century, the children of enemies fall in love, but find their happiness is not to be--Novelist.

"Joseph Conrad's enduring portrait of the ugliness of colonialism in a deluxe edition with a gripping cover by 'Hellboy' artist Mike Mignola. 'Heart of Darkness' is the thrilling tale of Marlow, a seaman and wanderer recounting his physical and psychological journey in search of the infamous ivory trader Kurtz. Traveling upriver into the heart of the African continent, he gradually becomes obsessed by this enigmatic, wraith-like figure. Marlow's discovery...