Manners and morality are also victims of Wilde's sharp wit in Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance and An Ideal Husband, in which snobbery and hypocrisy are laid bare. In Salomé and A Florentine Tragedy, Wilde makes powerful use of historical settings to explore the complex relationship between sex and power. The range of these plays displays Wilde's delight in artifice, masks and disguises, and reveals the pretentions of the social world in which he himself played such a dazzling and precarious part.Richard Allen Cave's introduction and notes discuss the themes of the plays and Wilde's innovative methods of staging. This edition includes the excised 'Gribsby' scene from The Importance of Being Earnest.

    Here in one volume are his immensely popular novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray; his last literary work, “The Ballad of Reading Gaol,” a product of his own prison experience; and four complete plays: Lady Windermere’s Fan, his first dramatic success, An Ideal Husband, which pokes fun at conventional morality, The Importance of Being Earnest, his finest comedy, and Salomé, a portrait of uncontrollable love originally written in French and faithfully translated by Richard Ellmann.Every selection appears in its entirety–a marvelous collection of outstanding works by the incomparable Oscar Wilde, who’s been aptly called “a lord of language” by Max Beerbohm.

    Here are courtships and legacies; the worlds of literature, theatre, and the popular press; the paradoxes of temperament and the constraints of custom; the clash of conscience and desire. Stylistically, the stories allowed James to experiment with tones and devices quite different from his novels—dramatic plot twists and surprise endings, swift pacing and ebullient humor. The brilliance of his technical command allowed him to transform the tiniest of suggestions—a fleetingly observed gesture, an anecdote dropped at a dinner party—into fiction remarkable for its lambent surfaces and intricate psychological counterpoint.The twenty-one stories in this volume represent James at the peak of his storytelling powers. Among them are “The Turn of the Screw,” one of his most popular works, and a terrifying exercise in psychological horror centering on the corruption of childhood innocence; “The Real Thing,” a playful consideration of the illusion of art and the paradoxes of authenticity; “The Figure in the Carpet,” “The Death of the Lion,” and “The Middle Years,” three very different expositions of the mysteries of authorship, embodying some of James’s most profound insights into the nature of his own art; “The Altar of the Dead,” a somber, ultimately wrenching meditation on the relation of the living to the dead; and “In the Cage,” an extended evocation of the inner life of a young woman trapped in a dehumanizing job at a postal-and-telegraph office.

    He constructs stories where action and drama are implied rather than described openly, and which leave much to the reader's imagination. This collection contains some of the most important of his earliest and shortest comic sketches, as well as examples of his great, mature works. Throughout, the doctor-turned-writer displays compassion for human suffering and misfortune, but is always able to see the comical, even farcical aspects of the human condition. With an Introduction and Notes by Joe Andrew, Professor of Russian Literature, Keele University.Overseasoned --The night before Easter --At home --Champagne --The malefactor --Murder will out --The trousseau --The decoration --The man in a case --Little Jack --Dreams --The death of an official --Agatha --The beggar --Children --The troublesome guest --Not wanted --The robbers --Lean and fat --On the way --The head gardener's tale --Hush! --Without a title --In the ravine.

    Known for her gentle folk wisdom, Aunt Jane vividly describes a picturesque way of life in the rural South of the nineteenth century.

    Kingsley, the award-winning author of "Titus: A Comrade of the Cross." Florence Kingsley has written another gripping drama that begins seventeen years after the crucifixion. Rich in biblical history, Mrs. Kingsley portrays the chilling events that climax at the devastating destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. In the midst of this deep tribulation, hope is birthed during one of the most tragic events in history. If you enjoyed Titus, you will not want to miss this classic!

    In Christie, the King's Servant, a young man named Jack, both goes for an extended holiday to Runswick Bay in Yorkshire, England, to pursue his work as an artist. There, he is invited by a couple of children to open air religious services and goes just to satisfy them. The children's father is a preacher and the family invites Jack to visit them. Through a series of events Jack is led back to the Lord. We don’t’ want to spoil the surprises or the connections to the characters in the first book but read for yourself to find out. Meet The AuthorAmy Catherine Walton, better known as Mrs O F Walton, was a British author of Christian children's and teenage books, mainly but not exclusively fiction. Then in 1874 came one of her best known books, Christie's Old Organ, which has been regularly reprinted up to the present day. It is the story of orphaned Christie and his friend the aged organ-grinder Treffy.

    Orphaned and living with a resentful family that begrudges him so much as a kind word, Reuben longs for a better life, but something always hinders him. Desperate for comfort, Reuben turns to his mother’s Bible, and soon learns that the events in his life he thought were hindrances were actually opportunities that he failed to recognize! Soon Reuben has a new outlook on life; and with the words of his mother’s Bible to guide him, he hopes to bring some happiness to the people who once did him the most harm. This edition of the classic 1898 Christian novel includes a biography of the author.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    The stories include "Lou and Liz," "The Day of Silence," "A Poor Gentleman," "Fleet-Footed Hester," "A Freak of Nature," and "Humplebee."

    Wonderful collection of the greatest and most popular plays of one of our finest playwrights. Includes Mrs. Warren's Profession, Arms and the Man, Caesar and Cleopatra, Man and Superman, Major Barbara, Androcles and the Lion, Heartbreak House, and the play on which the popular My Fair Lady was based -- Pygmalion.

    The three stories read here in public performance, are now available as a single iPod or MP3 audiobook. Please select the version appropriate to your player.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    THE WEST SEA SAILINGII. THE BAIRN-SLAYERSIII. THE HOLY ISLEIV. THE ISLAND SPELLV. ANDREAS THE HERMITVI. THE HALL OF LIOTVII. THE VERDICT OF THE SWORDVIII. IN THE CELL BY THE ROOSTIX. THE MESSAGE OF THE RUNESX. KING BUE'S FEASTXI. THE HOUSE IN THE FORESTXII. THE MAGICIANXIII. ARROW AND SHIELDXIV. THE MIDNIGHT GUESTXV. THE LAST OF THE LAWMANXVI. KING ESTEINXVII. THE END OF THE STORY

    The narrator, a young governess, arrives at a remote English country estate to care for Miles and Flora, her at once angelic and mischievous charges. Two apparitions --a former valet and a former governess, both dead - soon make themselves manifest to the governess. Are the ghosts nothing more than figments of an overactive imagination? Or are they something far more palpable and malevolent that has corrupted the children?Washington Square (1881) is a subtle exploration of the thoughts and feelings of its central female character. Catherine Sloper is the plain, sheltered daughter of a wealthy New York widower. Catherine's only suitor - an idle, handsome man-about-town named Morris Townsend - proposes marriage, but Catherine's farther forbids the union, convinced the young man is only interested in his daughter's future inheritance. The muted conflict between father and daughter will forever change Catherine's life.

    We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.