About The Book

One of the founders of innovative science fiction novels, H.G. Wells was as taken up with the real world as his imaginary realm. Dissatisfied with the quality of history books at the end of World War I, the writer began penning his own history of the world. First published in 1922, A Short History of the World presents a groundbreaking study of the civilisation from the origins of the Earth—spanning the Neolithic Era, the rise of Judaism, the Golden Age of Athens, Christ’s life, the great discovery of America—to the consequences of World War I. Inspired by Wells’s The Outline of History (1919)—a work in three volumes, beginning with Prehistory and following the world’s significant events through World War I—this condensed work chronicles the physical, intellectual and spiritual evolution of the human race. Wells adopts a Darwinian approach and avoids presenting history within a politicised framework. Passionately told, A Short History of the World remains an evergreen classic.

About H.G. Wells

About The Book

Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov, a brilliant yet conflicted student lives in a rented room of a run-down apartment in St. Petersburg. Extremely handsome, proud, and intelligent, Raskolnikov devises a peculiar theory about “intelligent” men being above law. To execute his theory, he contemplates committing a crime. He murders a cynical and an unscrupulous pawnbroker named Alyona Ivanovna and her sister Lizaveta. The act compels Raskolnikov to negotiate and reconcile with his own moral dilemmas. Fyodor Dostoevsky’s incisive psychological analysis of his protagonist goes beyond Raskolnikov’s criminal act, and covers his perilous journey from suffering to redemption. First published in The Russian Messenger in monthly instalments during 1866, Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky’s second novel following his return from exile in Siberia, is a powerful revelation of the human condition. Is crime acceptable in the pursuit of a higher purpose?

About Fyodor Dostoevsky

About The Book

Great Expectations revolves around the life of an orphan nicknamed Pip. The novel, set in the 19th century, traces the psychological growth of Pip in three stages: his childhood in the marshes of Kent, his journey from the rural environs to the London metropolis, and finally his reluctant reconciliation with the vanity of false promises and values. The cast includes the cold yet ethereal Estella, the kind-hearted blacksmith Joe, the ‘pale young gentleman’ Herbert Pocket and the affluent, eccentric spinster Miss Havisham, among others. George Bernard Shaw said of the novel, ‘All of one piece and consistently truthful.’

About Charles Dickens

Other Books By Charles Dickens

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The sage does not accumulate (for himself). the more that he expends for others, The more does he possess of his own; The more that he gives to others, The more does he have himself. Written over 2000 years ago, Tao Te Ching, that roughly translates to “the way of integrity,” remains one of the most translated philosophical books in the world. A series of aphorisms and parables, this central text of Taoism, believed to have been written by its founder, Lao Tzu, invites the reader to follow the Tao or the way, through sound political advice, and the practice of peace, humility, modesty, morality, generosity, virtue, self-knowledge, self-restraint, and balance in order to exist in harmony with the universe. To date, Tao Te Ching remains a relevant guide in many spheres of life for its practical, simple and grassroots wisdom.

About Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu, meaning “Old Master,” was a Chinese philosopher, who was believed to be an older contemporary of Confucius, and the founder of Taoism, one of the three great religious and philosophical traditions of China. A record keeper in the court of Zhou in the 6th century b.c., Lao Tzu has been credited as the author of Tao Te Ching, though the identity of this seminal Taoist treatise’s author(s) or compiler(s) is still widely debated. In the tradition of most ancient Chinese philosophers, Lao Tzu often takes recourse to paradox, analogy, repetition, symmetry, rhyme, rhythm, and appropriation of ancient sayings, to explain his ideas. James Legge (1815-1897) was a Scottish sinologist, scholar and missionary, who translated Classical Chinese texts into English. He served as a representative of the London Missionary Society in Malacca and Hong Kong (1840-1873) and was the first Professor of Chinese at Oxford University (1876-1897). In association with Max Müller, he prepared the monumental Sacred Books of the East series, published in 50 volumes between 1879 and 1891.

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Br>o human race, born to fly upward, Wherefore at a little wind Dost thou so fall? The divine comedy, (original name LA Com media), is an epic poem written by celebrated Italian poet Dante Alighieri’s divided into three main sections—inferno, purgatorio, and paradiso—the basic structural br>Unit of the divine comedy is the Canto. Each Canto consists of about 136–151 lines. The poems rhyme Scheme is the terza rima (aba, bcb, CDC, etc.). So, the divine number of three is present throughout the divine comedy. The poem traces the journey of a man (thought to be Dante himself) who visits the souls in Inferno, purgatorio, and paradiso. He has two guides by his side— Virgil who accompanies him to Inferno and purgatorio, and Beatrice who introduces him to paradiso. Dante uses this fictional journey as an effective device to grapple with the larger questions of existence—morality, sin, redemption, the fall of mankind well as to wrestle with his personal demons and Italy’s political dilemmas.

About Dante Alighieri

Dante alighieri (1265–1321) was a renowned Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, philosopher, and political thinker. His epic poem, La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy), is one of the most celebrated works of world literature. His other notable works include La Vita Nouva, The Banquet, and Literature in the Vernacular. Dante started writing poetry at a very young age and dedicated most of his poems to Beatrice, a girl he met when he was nine years old. Facing execution in his hometown of Florence due to his political activities, he moved to Ravenna, Italy, where he remained till his death in 1321.

About The Book

Hector Hugh Munro (December 18, 1870–november 14, 1916) was a British author who wrote under the pen name, Saki. Hailed as a master of the short story form, Saki is often compared to Dorothy Parker, Anton Chekhov, and br>o Henry. His beautifully crafted stories, laced with generous doses of sardonic humour, irony, and elements of the macabre, expertly lampoon the hypocrisies of conventional society. Through his stories, he expressed his sympathy with the oppressed, particularly children who are forced to suffer the cruel hegemony of the adult world. With cutting wit, remarkable skill, and clever use of animal imagery, he mocked the popular customs and foibles of Edwardian society and exposed its real face in stories such as ‘gabriel-earnest’, ‘Laura’, and ‘toberymoy’. many of the characters he created–outspoken Laura, outrageous Reginald, ambiguous clovis–remain perennial favourites with readers. Surprising, witty, and entertaining, they Spring to life on the pages. This collection features some of saki’s finest stories including the ‘unrest cure’, ‘the interlopers’, ‘sredni vashtar’, ‘toberymoy’, an ‘the open window’.

About Hector Hugh Munro

British author HECTOR HUGH MUNRO (December 18, 1870- November 14, 1916) wrote under the pen name, Saki. Munro was born in Akyab, Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) in 1870 His mother, Mary, died when he was only two years old. After her death, the three Munro children were sent back to Britain to live with their strict, puritanical grandmother and aunts. At 23, Munro joined the military police in Myanmar. After suffering from bouts of malaria, he resigned from his post and went back to Britain in 1895, In 1896,, he joined the Westminster Gazette as a political sketch writer. His sketches were later published as The Westminster Alice and The Not So Stories. Munro’s historical work, The Rise of the Russian Empire, was published in 1900. He became the Balkan correspondent of The Morning Post in 1902. His story, ‘Reginald’, appeared in book form in 1904, Reginald in Russia in 1910, The Chronicles of Clovis in 1911, and Beasts and Super-Beasts in 1914. The rest of his stories were published posthumously. Munro also wrote two novels, The Unbearable Bassington (1912) and When William Came (1913) as well as three short plays. When World War I broke out in 1914, Munro enlisted in the ranks. He was killed in France on November 13, 1916, by German sniper fire during the Battle of Ancre.

About The Book

In order to reach perfection, one must begin by being ignorant of a great deal. A descendant of one of Russian nobility’s oldest families, the gentle, good natured and epileptic Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin returns to St. Petersburg after spending four years in a Swiss sanatorium. Taken to be an ‘idiot’, Prince Myshkin’s life changes drastically after he stumbles upon a photograph of Nastasya Filippovna during a visit to his distant relative General Yepanchin. Entangled in a web of love, betrayal, and murder, the Christ-like Prince Myshkin struggles to negotiate a chaotic and corrupt Russian society. Regarded as Fyodor Dostoevsky’s most autobiographical work, The Idiot, as the author wrote in a letter in 1868, was meant “to depict a positively good and beautiful human being”. Through the exploration of the psychological complexities and idiosyncrasies of modern Russian society, Dostoevsky presents the life of a Russian Holy Fool in a world of moral emptiness and degradation. The Idiot remains an evergreen classic.

About Fyodor Dostoevsky