Publisher: Greenbooks Editore
Named after the Polynesian term for a rover, or someone who roams from island to island, Omoo chronicles the tumultuous events aboard a South Sea whaling vessel and is based on Melville's personal experiences as a crew member on a ship sailing the Pacific.
Henry Miller’s famously banned book is “a matter-of-fact celebration of chucking one’s dreary life and following your heart to Paris” (Richard Price). Now hailed as an American classic, Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller’s masterpiece, was banned as obscene in this country for twenty-seven years after its first publication in Paris in 1934. Only a historic court ruling that changed American censorship standards, ushering in a new era of freedom and frankness in modern literature, permitted the publication of this first volume of Miller’s famed mixture of memoir and fiction, which chronicles with unapologetic gusto the bawdy adventures of a young expatriate writer, his friends, and the characters they meet in Paris in the 1930s. Tropic of Cancer is now considered, as Norman Mailer said, “one of the ten or twenty great novels of our century.”Show book
When beautiful, aristocratic, and married Anna falls madly in love with the dashing Count Vronsky, their affair shocks Russian society, tears her family apart, and leads, inevitably, to tragedy. Count Leo Tolstoy's epic story of passion, infidelity, vengeance, and retribution has held readers spellbound since it was first published in the late 1800s. Set against the fatal attraction of Anna and Vronsky, unfolding in perfect symmetry, is another love story: of the melancholy nobleman Constantin Levin and his devoted wife, Kitty. In doubt about the meaning of life, haunted by thoughts of suicide, Levin's struggles echo Tolstoy's own spiritual crisis.Filled with unforgettable characters, rich in history and social realism, Anna Karenina is a masterpiece of world literature, a story that fires the imagination and touches the heart.Show book
Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774) was an Irish novelist, playwright and poet. In The History of the Man in Black he describes the cynical journey of a generous and benevolent young man from dire pecuniary circumstances to riches, achieved by divesting himself of any moral considerations for others.Show book
William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic prose and verse read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly remastered stories are now available to download for the first time. ‘No, no, I am but shadow of myself: You are deceived, my substance is not here.’ Henry VI Part I is part of Shakespeare’s trilogy centred on the Wars of the Roses. After Henry V's death and while Henry VI is young, nobles rule England and fight the French, including Joan of Arc. As Henry VI becomes King, the noble houses begin to divide and take sides between York and Lancaster. The war with France winds down, and the nobles try to find Henry a wife and disagree about who Henry chooses. All of the Shakespeare plays within the ARGO Classics catalogue are performed by the Marlowe Dramatic Society and Professional Players. The Marlowe was founded in 1907 with a mission to focus on effective delivery of verse, respect the integrity of texts, and rescue neglected plays by Shakespeare’s contemporaries and the less performed plays of Shakespeare himself. The Marlowe has performed annually at Cambridge Arts Theatre since its opening in 1936 and continues to produce some of the finest actors of their generations. Thurston Dart, Professor of Music at London University and a Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge, directed the music for this production. The full cast includes: Richard Marquand; David King; Carleton Hobbs; Terrence Hardiman; Denis McCarthy; Roger Croucher; Peter Orr; Frank Duncan; John Tydeman; Gary Watson; William Devlin; Gordon Gardner; Cyril Luckham; John Nettleton; John Shrapnel; Raymond Clark; Brian Batchelor; David Rowe-Beddoe; Anthony Arlidge; Bob Jones; Patrick Garland; Clinton Baddele; John Hopkins; John Tracy-Phillips; David Buck; John Bartom; Ronald Grey; Mary Morris; Yvonne Bonnamy; Freda Dowie. The top performing cast of Henry VI, Pt.1 delivers a riveting performance, making it one of the best European theatre productions. Shakespeare's storytelling shines through, captivating audiences with its intricate plot and timeless themes. For fans of Richard Parsons (GCSE English Shakespeare Text Guide), and Arthur Miller (Incident at Vichy).Show book
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov was born on 28th March 1868, in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Better known as Maxim Gorky he was orphaned at 11 and ran away from home at 12. At 19 he had already attempted suicide and thereafter travelled, by foot, across the Russian Empire for 5 years. His first book ‘Essays & Stories’ in 1898 was a sensation and so began a long career as an author of short stories, novels and plays. Gorky saw writing as a moral and political act that would help to change the unjust world around him. He was an ardent early advocate of the emerging Marxist movement and publicly opposed the Tsarist regime leading several times to his arrest. In 1904 he began his own theatre but the censor banned every play and Gorky was forced to abandon the project. But Gorky was a financially successful author, editor, and playwright and gave monies to political parties as well as for civil rights and social reform. The brutal shooting of workers, which set in motion the Revolution of 1905, pushed Gorky more decisively toward radical solutions. In 1906 he went to the United States to raise funds for the Bolsheviks. Those experiences including a scandal over travelling with his lover and not his wife deepened his contempt for the ‘bourgeois soul.’ Gorky now moved to Capri in Italy, both for health reasons and to escape the increasingly repressive times in Russia. An amnesty for the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty saw him return to Russia in 1914. His politics remained close to the Bolshevik cause. But soon, after the 1918 revolution, his essays referred to Lenin as a tyrant for his senseless arrests and repression. He was soon appealing to the outside world for food aid after the catastrophic crop failure. In October 1921 Gorky returned to Italy, now in Fascist hands, and settled in Sorrento until 1932. His health worsened with the onset of tuberculosis. He wrote several successful books there but now decided to find an understanding with the communist regime. Stalin invited him home and his return was hailed as a major propaganda victory. He was decorated with the Order of Lenin, and a province, a park, and various streets re-named in his honour. But he had his faults too. In 1933, Gorky co-edited a book on the White Sea-Baltic Canal and denied even a single prisoner died during its construction, but thousands had. As well, knowing that some Nazis were homosexual, a phrase was attributed to him that said ‘exterminate all homosexuals and fascism will vanish’. Although he was himself was quoting another he was decidedly homophobic. With the increase of Stalinist repression in 1935 Gorky was placed under unannounced house arrest. Maxim Gorky died on the 18th June 1936 from pneumonia. He was 68. Stalin and Molotov were among those who carried Gorky's urn of ashes at his funeral. In Gorky’s story, a thief, Chelkash, ensnares a young man into his scheme to steal silk from a ship. When he then sells the stolen goods he is set upon by the young accomplice. What happens then is as unexpected as it is remarkable.Show book
French professor Pierre Aronnax and his servant join the Abraham Lincoln, an American frigate, on a mission to find and destroy a "sea-unicorn of colossal dimensions, armed not with a halberd, but with a real spur, as the armored frigates." The undersea monster is thought to be responsible for the disappearance of over 200 ships. When they encounter the "gigantic cetacean," it disables the Abraham Lincoln and knocks Professor Aronnax, his servant, and the hot-tempered harpooner Ned Land overboard. The three must cling to the beast or drown; however, they soon realize that the "beast" is really a man-made underwater vehicle. Captain Nemo captures the men and holds them prisoner on the Nautilus, his incredible submarine. The captain and his unwilling passengers thus embark on a deep-sea odyssey that stretches from the palm-strewn Indian Ocean to the frozen peril of the South Pole. But the enigmatic Nemo has a darker purpose for his voyage: revenge on humanity. Not just a suspense-ridden drama, this classic novel, written in 1873, predicts with astonishing accuracy the advanced technology and inventions of the twentieth century, and it has inspired generations of science fiction writers.Show book
