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  Old New York

  Edith Wharton

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  Spanning four decades in the mid-nineteenth century, the interconnected novellas of Old New York lay out in vivid detail the complex and inscrutable codes, customs, and taboos of New York society in one of Wharton's sharpest dissections of American aristocracy.
  False Dawn (1840s): Lewis Raycie, the idealistic son of a wealthy New York family, is sent to Europe to acquire art that will elevate the family's cultural standing. But when he returns, his family is horrified because he has purchased works by then‑unknown painters – which will one day be priceless—rather than the "approved" Old Masters his father expects.
  The Old Maid (1850s): A heartbreaking story about the devastating cost of maintaining social respectability, The Old Maid is the best known of the stories in this collection. Charlotte Lovell, a quiet, dutiful woman, has an illegitimate daughter, Tina, fathered by a man who died before they could marry. To protect Tina's future, Charlotte allows her glamorous (married) cousin Delia to raise the child as her own.
  
  As Tina grows up, Charlotte becomes the "old maid" who hovers on the margins of the household, loving her daughter but unable to claim her.
  The Spark (1860s): Hayley Delane was a schoolboy when the Civil War started. He ran off to join the war, was wounded at Bull Run, and spent a long time recovering in a hospital camp in Washington. There he met a mysterious stranger—a poet—whom Hayley has never forgotten.
  New Year's Day (1870s): A scandal erupts when Lizzie Hazeldean is seen leaving a hotel with a man who is not her husband. Society assumes the worst and ostracises her, but the relationship is not at all what it seems in this story that exposes how easily gossip becomes "truth" in a society eager to condemn women.
  
  Born into an old, wealthy, New York family, Edith Wharton (1862–1937) was an American novelist, short‑story writer, and cultural critic best known for her sharp, elegant portrayals of New York's Gilded Age elite. She spent much of her adult life in Europe and eventually settled in France, where she supported refugees during World War I and earned several French honours for her humanitarian work.
  
  Wharton published more than forty books, including The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome andThe Age of Innocence (for which she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction). Her work explores themes of social constraint, desire, class, and the quiet tragedies of lives shaped by rigid expectations. She continued writing until her death in 1937, leaving behind a body of work that remains a cornerstone of American literature

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  How a Muzhik Fed Two Officials -...

  Mikhail Saltykov

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  The bookshelves of European literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors.  From this continent their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure.  Among them is Mikhail Saltykov.

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  The Fall of the House of Usher...

  Edgar Allan Poe

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  Edgar Allen Poe is regarded as one of the greatest American writers and a pioneer of the horror genre, and this collection brings together some of his most celebrated tales. Themes of guilt, fear and revenge abound as the master of gothic horror transports readers to mysterious worlds, carries them on dangerous sea voyages, and investigates gruesome murders. Exploring the hidden depths of the human mind, these are tales full of thrills and intrigue. 
   
  Includes: 
  • The Fall of the House of Usher 
  • The Tell-Tale Heart 
  • The Black Cat 
  • The Cask of Amontillado 
  • The Masque of the Red Death 
  • The Pit and the Pendulum

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  The Count of Monte Cristo Volume 4

  Alexandre Dumas

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  "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas is a tale of betrayal, revenge, and redemption. Edmond Dantès, a young sailor, is wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he did not commit by jealous rivals. During his confinement, he discovers a hidden treasure and reinvents himself as the enigmatic Count of Monte Cristo. With wealth and cunning, he orchestrates intricate plans to punish those who betrayed him while rewarding those who remained loyal. Set against a backdrop of intrigue and adventure, the novel explores themes of justice, forgiveness, and the moral complexities of vengeance. A masterful blend of drama and suspense, it remains a timeless classic of love, ambition, and the human spirit’s resilience.

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  1984

  George Orwell

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  It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.
  
  The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a metre wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features.
  
  Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut off during daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive in preparation for Hate Week. The flat was seven flights up, and Winston, who was thirty-nine and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle, went slowly, resting several times on the way. On each landing, opposite the lift-shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move.
  
  BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran.

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  Teddy Roosevelt The Rough Riders...

  Teddy Roosevelt

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  The Rough Riders was a nickname given to the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one to see combat. The United States Army was small, understaffed, and disorganized in comparison to its status during the American Civil War roughly thirty years prior. Following the sinking of USS Maine, President William McKinley needed to muster a strong ground force swiftly, which he did by calling for 125,000 volunteers to assist in the war. The U.S. had gone to war in opposition to Spanish colonial policies in Cuba, which was then torn by a rebellion.[1] The regiment was also nicknamed "Wood's Weary Walkers" for its first commander, Colonel Leonard Wood. This reflected their dissatisfaction that despite being cavalry, they ended up fighting in Cuba as infantry since their horses were not sent there with them. 
   
  Wood's second in command was former Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, a strong advocate for the Cuban War of Independence. When Wood was promoted to become commander of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, the regiment became known as "Roosevelt's Rough Riders." That term was borrowed from Buffalo Bill, who called his traveling Western show "Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World." 
   
  The original plan called for the regiment to be composed of frontiersmen from the Indian Territory, the New Mexico Territory, the Arizona Territory, and the Oklahoma Territory. However, after Roosevelt joined the ranks, it attracted an odd mixture of Ivy League athletes, glee club singers, Texas Rangers, and Native Americans. All accepted into the regiment had to be skilled horsemen and eager to see combat. The Rough Riders would receive more publicity than any other Army unit in that war, and they are best remembered for their conduct during the Battle of San Juan Hill.

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