Showing results by publisher "HarperCollins Publishers Limited" in Classics

Published in 1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin was an immediate success, was influential in securing the abolition of slavery, and established Harriet Beecher Stowe as America's first major woman novelist. With a compelling narrative and memorable characters, the novel vividly explores the relationship between slave, trader, and owner, and exposes a system in which men, women, and even children were property to be bought and sold for profit or to settle debts.

Jim goes to sea full of dreams of heroism and boyish adventure. But, under pressure, his own conduct falls far below the ideal he has set himself. Condemned even more by himself than by his fellow men, Jim leaves the world and seeks his redemption in the remote forests of Patusan. It is there he finds fame, love, and success. It is there also that he faces the final and biggest test of his courage and faith, and comes through it in tragic triumph.

Tess, the young and lovely heroine of Hardy's classic tale, knows instinctively that the path she is choosing is the wrong one. But, a child of her times, what can she do but follow the dictates of her family?

The story deals with the life of David Copperfield from childhood to maturity. David is born in England in about 1820. David's father had died six months before he was born, and seven years later, his mother marries Mr. Edward Murdstone. David is given good reason to dislike his stepfather and has similar feelings for Mr. Murdstone's sister Jane, who moves into the house soon afterwards.

The masterful stories in this collection relate Holmes and Watson's involvement with the case of an eminent physiologist inexplicably savaged by his faithful wolfhound, of the priceless stolen Crown diamond found in the pocket of a peer, and of the mysterious figure who means to buy Mrs Maberley's house and all of its contents, whatever the cost, while Holmes himself tells the story of a Boer war hero set to inherit a fortune who mysteriously disappears from the family seat.

The seven ages are: infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon and second childishness ready by Sir John GielgudThe seven ages are: infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon and second childishness. The speach about the seven ages of man happens in 'As You Like It'. The words are spoken by the character Jaques in Act 2, Scene 7:' All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances....

Esther Summerson is an orphan who comes to live with John Jarndyce and is a companion to his wards Richard Carstone and Ada Clare, who are in love. Soon a mysterious connection comes to light between Esther and Lady Dedlock and the romantic tangle of trails is followed by three unforgettable sleuths, Guppy, Tulkinghorn and Bucket. When Lady Deadlock's astonishing secrets are revealed it becomes plain that she has been concealing an all-too-passionate past.

Paul Scofield evokes all the warmth and laughter of the unlikely adventures of the immortal Samuel Pickwick and the other members of the Pickwick Club - Tracy Tupman, Nathaniel Winkle and Augustus Snodgrass. Helped by Sam Weller, Pickwick's faithful manservant, the Pickwickians bumble through hilarious romantic misadventures and other twists of plot.

The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1594. The main plot depicts the courtship of Petruchio, a gentleman of Verona, and Katherina, the headstrong, obdurate shrew. Initially, Katherina is an unwilling participant in the relationship, but Petruchio tempers her with various psychological torments — the "taming" — until she is an obedient bride.

Grace Melbury, the only daughter of a timber-merchant, arrives home in Little Hintock after an expensive education and her father looks to find a husband for her. There are two rivals for her hand: Giles Winterborne, a good-hearted yeoman and her childhood sweetheart; and Edred Fitzpiers, an ambitious young doctor of good family. Fitzpiers wins her, but the mismatch brings unhappiness not just to the young couple, but to a wider circle in the woodland community.

Victory was the last of Conrad's novels to be set in the Malay Archipelago. It tells the story of Axel Heyst, who has retreated from the world of commerce to live alone on the island of Samburan. But his solitary existence ends when he rescues an English girl and brings her back to the island. She recalls him to love and to life, until the world breaks in on them once more with tragic consequences.

An immediate success when it was first published in 1874, Thomas Hardy's "pastoral tale" of the wilful and capricious Bathsheba Everdene, her three suitors, the faithful shepherd Gabriel Oak, the lonely widower Farmer Boldwood, and the dashing but faithless Sergeant Troy, and the tragic consequence of her eventual choice remains one of the most enduring and popular English novels.

When the clever and appealing Helena cures the ailing king of France of an illness, she asks for the hand of Bertram (a proper young Englishman) in return. Her efforts to win Bertram's love are rendered with wit and verve by a distinguished cast, including Claire Bloom, John Stride, Dame Flora Robson, Eric Portman, and Jack MacGowan. This performance brings to life this surprisingly modern play.

"Cordially hated and dreaded by all the mothers of the town because he was idle, and lawless, vulgar, and bad , and because all their children admired him so", Huckleberry Finn, the 14-year-old son of the town drunkard, joins runaway slave Jim on an exciting journey down the mighty Mississippi River on a raft.

Set mainly in the Scottish Highlands in the years following the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, Kidnapped follows the fortunes of the young David Balfour as he endeavours to claim the inheritance of which he has been cheated by his scheming Uncle Ebenezer. A tale of kidnap, shipwreck, murder, and pursuit, Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure-story is as compelling now as when it was first published in 1886.

Condemned as immoral when it was first published in 1890, Oscar Wilde's tale of the beautiful young man who "sold himself to the devil for a pretty face" follows the fortunes of Dorian Gray when his prayer for eternal youth as he contemplates his newly finished portrait is answered.

Gulliver's Travels describes the four voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon. In Lilliput he discovers a world in miniature; towering over the people and their city, he is able to view their society from the viewpoint of a god. However, in Brobdingnag, a land of giants, tiny Gulliver himself comes under observation, exhibited as a curiosity at markets and fairs.

Harry Tabor is about to receive the Man of the Decade award. As he enters his twilight years, this distinction seems like the culmination to a life well lived. A perfect life. A life spent helping Jewish refugees from all over the globe find better lives in America, giving them a second chance. Harry knows all about second chances. He has the perfect marriage - his wife, Roma, is an eminent child psychologist, and they tell each other almost everything. His three grown children, Phoebe, Camille, and Simon, are all accomplished.

Sixteen modern fiction superstars shine a startling light on the romance and pain of the infamous literary pair Heathcliff and Cathy. Short stories to stir the heart and awaken vital conversation about love.