Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  The Tapestried Chamber - From...

  Sir Walter Scott

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  Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, FRSE, was a Scottish playwright, novelist and poet who became the first English-language author to be internationally celebrated within their own lifetime. Although he wrote extensively, he was by profession an advocate and judge, and continued to practice alongside his writing career.  Scott was fascinated by the oral tradition of the Scottish borders, with its poetry, folklore and legend, and he collected stories throughout his youth and as a young man, almost obsessively.  Scott’s friend, James Ballantyne, had founded a printing press in 1796 , and had published much of Scott’s early work, including the Lay of the Last Minstrel which firmly established Scott’ position in the Scottish literary tradition, and that of English literature as a whole.  Scott was by now printing regularly with the Ballantynes and convinced them to relocate their press to Edinburgh and became a partner in their business.  In 1813 Scott was offered the post of Poet Laureate, but turned the offer down and the position was taken by Robert Southey. Until now he had predominately written poetry however he became interested in the novel form despite its comparative unpopularity for a supposed aesthetic inferiority. Owing to this he published his first novel, Waverley, anonymously, in 1814. Its success encouraged several more novels, all of which were published under “Author of Waverley” as a means of piggybacking the success of Waverley and because Scott feared his traditional father would disapprove of such a trivial pursuit as novel writing. Scott came to be known as the “Wizard of the North” for his writing, and among literary circles it was an open secret that he was the author of these novels. In 1815 the Prince Regent, George, dined with him as he wished to meet the “Author of Waverley”.  By 1825 a banking crisis was crippling the nation and the Ballantyne printing company went under with Scott left with debts of £130,000 (approx. £10mil in 2014).  His pride kept him from accepting financial aid (even from his admirer, King George) or declaring himself bankrupt.  He resolved to continue writing until he could pay his debts. Compounding these unfortunate circumstances was the death of his wife in 1826. However, he maintained his enormous literary output until 1831 by which point his health had begun to fail and he died on September 21st 1832. At his death he was still in debt, the continuing sales of his work ensured that all debt was discharged shortly after he died.

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  The Requiem

  Anton Chekhov

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  "The Requiem"  is an 1886 short story by Anton Chekhov.
  Andrey Andreyitch, a shopkeeper, comes to the local village church to ask for prayers for his recently deceased daughter Maria, and is chided by the priest for the wrong kind of language that he'd used in his written request. The shopkeeper's daughter was an actress, and quite a well known one, and he simply fails to understand why the clergymen are so offended by the word 'harlot' with which he described her occupation. The rendition of the prayers awaken in Andrey Andreyitch some tender memories of his beautiful, sensitive and intelligent girl, yet even mentally he keeps referring to her as 'harlot' for he can't see how an actress could be described otherwise.

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  Life on the Mississippi

  Mark Twain

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  "The river is a book—and no one reads it better than Mark Twain."
  
  Before he was the world-famous author of Huckleberry Finn, Samuel Clemens was a cub pilot learning the dangerous and shifting currents of the mighty Mississippi. In Life on the Mississippi, Twain chronicles the high-stakes world of steamboat piloting, where a pilot had to memorize every snag, sandbar, and bend in 1,200 miles of water. Part memoir and part travelogue, the book transitions from the "golden age" of the river to Twain's return years later, after the Civil War and the rise of the railroad had forever altered the soul of the South.
  
  A Masterclass in Storytelling: Twain's signature wit is on full display as he populates the river with colorful characters, legendary river boatmen, and humorous anecdotes. He captures the dialect, the danger, and the sheer majesty of the water that shaped the American identity.
  
  History in Motion: This isn't just a personal story; it is a vital historical document. Twain provides a firsthand account of the transition from a frontier economy to an industrial one, making it an essential read for anyone interested in the evolution of the United States.
  
  Step onto the deck of history. Purchase "Life on the Mississippi" today.

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  The Spoils to the Victor - From...

  J S Fletcher

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  Joseph Smith Fletcher was born on the 7th February 1863 in Halifax, West Yorkshire.  At 8 months of age his clergyman father died and thereafter he was brought up by his grandmother on a farm near Pontefract. 
  After an education at Silcoates school in Wakefield he studied law for a short time and then, aged 20, entered journalism as a sub-editor in London before returning to Yorkshire to work for various other papers. 
  His first published book, in 1879, was poetry.  Thus began a very prolific career as a writer but it was not until 1914 that Fletcher wrote the first of over a hundred detective novels.  Across his career he wrote in excess of 230 books across poetry, fiction, non-fiction as well as the many short stories for the periodicals of the day. 
  In 1927 he married the Irish writer Rosamund Langbridge with whom he had a son. 
  J S Fletcher died in Surrey on the 30th of January 1935.  He was 71.

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  War and Peace Book 4

  Leo Tolstoy

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  In Book 4 of War and Peace, personal dramas unfold against the backdrop of impending war. Natasha Rostova’s engagement to Prince Andrei Bolkonsky faces turmoil when he demands a year’s wait, leaving her vulnerable to Anatole Kuragin’s manipulations. Heartbroken, Natasha attempts to elope with Anatole, shattering her reputation and betraying Andrei. Meanwhile, Pierre Bezukhov grows restless, seeking purpose amidst societal superficiality. The Rostov family grapples with financial strain and Nikolai’s military aspirations. Tolstoy intertwines individual struggles with broader themes of honor, love, and betrayal, highlighting how personal choices echo within the larger tapestry of history.

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  The Boys' Book of Famous Rulers...

  Lydia Hoyt Farmer

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  The great rulers for young readers, from Agamemnon and Cyrus through Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and Alfred to Richard the Lionheart, Robert Bruce, Philip II, Gustavus Adolphus, Louis XIV, Peter the Great, Frederick the Great and Napoleon — each life told as a single story, with the dates at the head of the chapter. Lydia Hoyt Farmer wrote a shelf of such books for American children in the 1880s. She is drawn to the moment when a ruler first gives an order and it is obeyed, which is a good instinct for the subject. Its 63 original illustrations have been carefully restored and coloured for this edition.

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