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  Morphine - This story is perhaps...

  Mikhail Bulgakov

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  Mikhail Bulgakov was born on 15th May 1891 in Kiev, in the Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire, into a Russian family.  He was one of seven children. 
   
  In 1901, Bulgakov attended the First Kiev Gymnasium, and developed a keen interest in Russian and European literature, theatre and opera.  After the death of his father in 1907, his mother assumed responsibility for his education.  After graduating Bulgakov entered the Medical Faculty of Kiev University and then took up a post as physician at the Kiev Military Hospital. 
   
  At the outbreak of the First World War, he volunteered as a doctor and was sent directly to the front, where he was badly injured at least twice.  To suppress chronic pain, especially in the abdomen, he injected morphine.  It took years to wean himself off. 
   
  He now took up medical posts in various towns and in 1919, he was mobilised by the Ukrainian People's Army and assigned to the Northern Caucasus.  There, he became seriously ill with typhus and barely survived.  
   
  After this illness, Bulgakov abandoned his medicine to pursue writing.  He moved to Vladikavkaz and had two plays staged there with great success.  He wrote too for various newspapers and other outlets, but his critics were many.  And growing. 
   
  When a Moscow's theatre director severely criticised Bulgakov, Stalin personally protected him, saying that a writer of Bulgakov's quality was above ‘party words’ like ‘left’ and ‘right’.   Indeed, it is said that Stalin watched ‘The Days of the Turbins’ at least 15 times. 
   
  It was not to last and by March 1929, Bulgakov's career was ruined when Government censorship stopped publication of any of his work and plays. 
   
  In despair, Bulgakov wrote a personal letter to Stalin.  He requested permission to emigrate.  He received a phone call from the Soviet leader, who asked the writer whether he really desired to leave. He replied that a Russian writer cannot live outside of his homeland.  Stalin thus gave him permission to continue working. In May 1930, he re-joined the theater, as stage director's assistant.  
   
  During the last stressful decade of his life, and in poor health, Bulgakov continued to work on ‘The Master and Margarita’, wrote plays, critical works, stories, and continued translations and dramatisations of novels.  Many of them were not published, others were derided by critics.  
   
  On 10th March 1940, Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov died from nephrosclerosis.  He was 48. 
   
  ‘The Master and Margarita’ was not published in any form until the mid-1960’s 
   
  In this story Bulgakov relates the terrifying and hellish descent into addiction that seems so avoidable and yet so chillingly not.

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  The Life and Adventures of Santa...

  L. Frank Baum

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  The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is a 1902 children's book, written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by Mary Cowles Clark.Taking the beloved symbol of merriment out of his conventional trappings and into the world of imaginative folklore, Baum gives Santa Claus an exciting life that evokes all the charm, warmth, and fantasy that made his Oz stories American classics.

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  Pirates - Short Stories

  Howard Pyle

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  Ahoy there! Are you ready for a swashbuckling adventure on the high seas? Then look no further than the digital audio book versions of "Captain Scarfield" and "The Ruby of Kishmoor"! 
   
  These two classic short stories about pirates will transport you to a world of treasure, danger, and daring escapades. "Captain Scarfield" tells the tale of a notorious pirate who will stop at nothing to claim his rightful share of the spoils. Meanwhile, "The Ruby of Kishmoor" follows the adventures of a young orphan boy who finds himself embroiled in a quest to find a priceless ruby that has been stolen from the pirate captain who once held him captive. 
   
  Whether you're a fan of classic adventure tales or just looking for some high-seas excitement, "Captain Scarfield" and "The Ruby of Kishmoor" are sure to satisfy. 
   
  So grab your eye patch, hoist the Jolly Roger, and set sail with these unforgettable tales of piracy and adventure. Get your copy of the digital audio book versions of "Captain Scarfield" and "The Ruby of Kishmoor" today!

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  Dracula

  Bram Stoker

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  Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England so he may find new blood and spread undead curse, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing. Dracula has been assigned to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature. The novel touches on themes such as the role of women in Victorian culture, sexual conventions, immigration, colonialism, and post-colonialism. Although Stoker did not invent the vampire, he defined its modern form, and the novel has spawned numerous theatrical, film and television interpretations.

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  Flatland - A Romance of Many...

  Edwin A. Abbott

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  As a satire, Flatland offers pointed observations on the social hierarchy of Victorian culture. However, the novella's more enduring contribution is its examination of dimensions; in a foreword to one of the many publications of the novella, noted science writer Isaac Asimov described Flatland as "the best introduction one can find into the manner of perceiving dimensions." As such, the novella is still popular amongst mathematics, physics, and computer science students. The story is about a two-dimensional world referred to as Flatland. All existence is limited to length and breadth in Flatland, its inhabitants unable even to imagine a third dimension. The amiable narrator, A Square, provides an overview of this fantastic world-its physics and metaphysics, its history, customs, and religious beliefs. But when a strange visitor mysteriously appears and transports the incredulous Flatlander to Spaceland, a land of three dimensions, his worldview is forever shattered.

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  The Mysterious Stranger

  Mark Twain

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  The Mysterious Stranger is Mark Twain's final novel. It was worked on periodically from roughly 1890 up until 1910. The body of work is a serious social commentary by Twain addressing his ideas of the Moral Sense and the "damned human race".The story tells of the adventures of Satan, the sinless nephew of the biblical Satan, in an Austrian village in the Middle Ages. Classic storytelling. A very interesting side of Twain's writings.

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