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  Anti-imperialist Writings

  Mark Twain

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  Mark Twain, was not only considered by many to be the greatest author of his time, but also a great man who sought to wield his pen as a sharp tool intended to help protect the weak, and speak against the unfair policies of the imperialist powers of the time. As an avid anti-imperialist, Twain gave many lectures and speeches, while also producing other inspiring pieces of literature to fuel his cause.Mark Twain's Anti-Imperialist Writings reflect most faithfully the fighting character, uncompromising stance, sharp humor and brilliant intelligence of the famous author. Twain recognizes the need for a revolutionary voice, pointing out how many abolitionists were undeterred by so-called "patriots" who had despised and insulted them during the time when slavery was still lawful in the United States.
  An Author's Republic audio production.

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  The Giraffe Problem

  Barry Pain

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  Barry Pain (1864-1928) was an English journalist, poet, and writer, best known as a writer of parody and lightly humorous stories.The Giraffe Problem tells the story of an evening at the Problem Club, a secret society of gentlemen in London who meet once a month in a private room above a restaurant, where one of the waiters is the admirable Leonard. Every month Leonard sets the members a problem or challenge. The one who is able to complete the feat successfully wins that month's share of the membership fees.In this tale, Leonard's challenge involves inducing an unwitting woman spontaneously to utter the words: "You ought to have been a giraffe". Which of the gentlemen will be able to do this...and in what circumstances?

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  The Master of the World

  Jules Verne

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  When a volcano suddenly seems to erupt and threaten a mountain town of North Carolina, Inspector Strock is sent to determine the danger. When an automobile race in Wisconsin is interrupted by the unexpected appearance of a vehicle traveling at many times the top speed of the entrants, Strock is again consulted. And when an odd-shaped boat is sighted moving at impossible speeds off the New England coast, Strock and his boss begin to wonder if the incidents are related. Then Strock gets a note warning him to abandon his investigation on pain of death, but he is intrigued rather than deterred. The story is set in a period when gasoline engines were new and automobiles were rare, and so the appearance of a vehicle that can move at astounding speeds on land, on water―and as later seen, underwater and through the air―marks a technological advance far beyond the reach of any nation. It is technology invented by a man who styles himself "The Master of the World" and threatens the peace of the world unless Inspector Strock can find a way to stop the mad inventor.
  
  An Author's Republic audio production.

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  Aeneid

  Virgil

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  The Aeneid (Latin: Aeneis) is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It comprises 9,896 lines in dactylic hexameter. The first six of the poem's twelve books tell the story of Aeneas's wanderings from Troy to Italy, and the poem's second half tells of the Trojans' ultimately victorious war upon the Latins, under whose name Aeneas and his Trojan followers are destined to be subsumed.The hero Aeneas was already known to Greco-Roman legend and myth, having been a character in the Iliad. Virgil took the disconnected tales of Aeneas's wanderings, his vague association with the foundation of Rome and his description as a personage of no fixed characteristics other than a scrupulous pietas, and fashioned the Aeneid into a compelling founding myth or national epic that tied Rome to the legends of Troy, explained the Punic Wars, glorified traditional Roman virtues, and legitimized the Julio-Claudian dynasty as descendants of the founders, heroes, and gods of Rome and Troy.The Aeneid is widely regarded as Virgil's masterpiece and one of the greatest works of Latin literature.

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  Rappaccini's Daughter

  Nathaniel Hawthorne

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  Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on 4th July 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, a town synonymous with the earlier Salem Witch Trials. It was instrumental in Hawthorne’s later use of American Gothic and dark romanticism in his writing. 
   
  At only four years old, his father died and his mother took him and his two sisters to live with her family and then on to their own home in Raymond, Maine. The young Hawthorne had a passion for fiction and poetry and voraciously read the works of Ann Radcliffe, Henry Fielding and Lord Byron.  
   
  He was sent to college at his maternal uncle’s insistence. During these years he met and befriended Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and future U S president Franklin Pierce. These friendships were lifelong and to have a crucial impact on his writings and career.  
   
  At college Hawthorne had made attempts at writing short stories and essays but without opportunities to publish. It was only in 1828 that he finally published his novel ‘Franshawe’ to little success and so he began work as editor for the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge.  
   
  Hawthorne’s short stories were first published in magazines but in 1837 were collected and published as ‘Twice-Told Tales’. A steady literary career still did not come his way and so he worked in a good position at Salem’s port and married the love of his life Sophia Peabody. They moved to live in ‘The Old Manse’ at Concord, Massachusetts.   
   
  Finally. in 1850 came spectacular literary and commercial success with ‘The Scarlet Letter’ followed by ‘The House of the Seven Gables’ the following year.  
   
  In 1852, Hawthorne published a biography of presidential candidate Franklin Pierce. After Pierce’s victory he was appointed consul in Liverpool, a position that offered prestige, money and fame. At the end of this appointment he returned several times to Europe before settling in Massachusetts and resuming writing and publication. 
   
  During the early 1860’s his health declined and on 19th May 1864 during a trip to Plymouth, New Hampshire. He was 59 and was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.  
   
  ‘Rapaccinni’s Daughter’ is a classic piece of literature from his pen.  Set in Italy, it is an unsettling story of romance destroyed by science.

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  Wolf and the Seven Little Kids...

  Brothers Grimm

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  A mother goat leaves her seven children at home while she ventures into the forest to find food. Before she leaves, she warns her young about the Big Bad Wolf who will try to sneak into the house and gobble them up. The wolf will pretend to be their mother and convince the kids to open the door. The young children will be able to recognize their true mother by her white feet and sweet voice.

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