Soon after the American Civil War, Confederate soldier John Carter joins the gold rush in Arizona. After striking a vein of gold, Carter runs into trouble with the natives of the area. In attempts to evade their pursuit, Carter hides in a cave, unaware of its magical properties. Mysteriously, Carter is transported to Mars, which the planet inhabitants call "Barsoom". When Carter discovers that the gravity difference between Mars and Earth has granted...

Controversial, scandalous and almost universally censored and criticized upon its first release in 1899, Kate Chopin's "The Awakening" is a pioneering novel of female independence and sexual exploration and was one of the earliest American works of fiction to examine the societal oppression that beset married women in the last 19th century. Set in the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, the plot centers around young Edna Pontellier, a married woman who is chafing...

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Charles Dickens', A Tale of Two Cities, begins with these famous words. On the eve of the French Revolution of 1789, the story follows Charles Darney, a French aristocrat-turned-revolutionary, and Sydney Carton, a purposeless British lawyer in love with Darney's wife, Lucie. Sydney's love for Lucie inspires him to join the Revolution alongside his friend Darney, at a time when both

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A team of explorers makes an expedition into an Icelandic crater which leads to the centre of the earth and to incredible and horrifying discoveries.

The Ambassadors, by Henry James, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: • New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars • Biographies of the authors • Chronologies of contemporary...

In the fifth book in the series, Anne's own true love, Gilbert Blythe, is finally a doctor, and, in the sunshine of the old orchard among their dearest friends, they are about to speak their vows. Soon, the happy couple will be bound for a new life together in their own dream house on the misty purple shores of Four Winds Harbor. But a new life means fresh problems to solve-and fresh surprises. As Anne and Gilbert begin to build that new life, some...

First published in Russian in 1866, "The Gambler", by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, is a gripping narrative of the dangers of gambling. As was common with Dostoyevsky's other writings, he draws upon his own life in a semi-autobiographical way. Dostoyevksy himself suffered from a compulsion to gambling and had to complete "The Gambler" under a strict deadline to pay off his own debts. These first-hand experiences bring a depth of realism to the novel and to...

Returning to Egdon Heath from Paris, Clym Yeobright intends to settle down and improve the lives of his townspeople. But the alluring and mysterious Eustacia Vye has other plans. She believes Clym can provide the cosmopolitan life she craves, if only they return to Paris. When their ideals prove incompatible, desperation breeds tragedy, and lives are changed in ways Clym and Eustacia never could have foretold.

A frog fishing from his lily pad boat doesn't catch any fish, but one catches him.

Jane Austen's unfinished novel Sanditon (1817) tells the story of a quaint seaside village and its inhabitants. Charlotte Heywood is invited by Mr. and Mrs. Parker to stay the summer with them at Sanditon, where Mr. Parker spent his youth and where he now wants to create a tourist resort. While there, Charlotte gets to know and observe the many colorful residents of Sanditon, including the wealthy, twice-widowed Lady Denham; her ward, Clara Crereton,...