Commonly acknowledged as one of the earliest first-hand written accounts of history, this classic work chronicles the war between Athens and Sparta during the fifth century B.C. Its author, Thucydides, dispassionately and accurately describes the events of this ancient Greek war in a strict chronology which includes the causes of the conflict, descriptions of battlefield strategy, political opinions, and all other aspects of the war in the brilliant...

In Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson, one of the towering figures of English literature is revealed with unparalleled immediacy and originality, in a biography to which we owe much of our knowledge of the man himself. Through a series of richly detailed anecdotes, Johnson emerges as a sociable figure, vigorously engaging and fencing with great contemporaries such as Garrick, Goldsmith, Burney and Burke, and of course with Boswell himself. Yet anxieties...

The Jungle Book is a collection of Rudyard Kipling's animal stories, wonderfully told and interweaving moral lessons with classic tales. They include the stories of Mowgli, a boy raised by wolves in the Indian jungle, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, a brave mongoose, and Toomai of the Elephants, the story of a young elephant handler. The Jungle Book was first published by Macmillan in 1894.

The Scarlet Letter is the story of three New England settlers at odds with the Puritan society in which they live. Roger Chillingworth, an ageing scholar, arrives in New England after two years' separation from his wife Hester to find her on trial for adultery. She refuses to reveal her lover's identity and is condemned to wear a scarlet letter 'A' sewn on to her clothes. Roger resolves to discover the man's identity, and over the next seven years...

Balzac's universally loved novel explores the great theme of money and its effect on the human character. Old Goriot is a lodger at Madame Vauquer's Parisian boarding house. At first, his wealth inspires respect, but as his circumstances are reduced, he is gradually shunned. He moves into smaller and less desirable rooms in the house, and soon his only remaining visitors are two beautiful young women. The mystery as to who they are and what is happening...