Publisher: anamsaleem
Before his literary career took off and he emerged as one of America's foremost men of letters, Mark Twain worked as a steamboat pilot in the antebellum South and Midwest. This fascinating account offers a brief history of commercial boating in the period and a probing, insightful, and eminently entertaining look at Twain's own experiences.
Written in 1885, “King Solomon’s Mines” by Henry Rider Haggard is at first glance, very much a book of its time. Its narrator, Alan Quartermain, is the archetype Colonial white hunter and adventurer. He thinks nothing of bagging an elephant or two for its tusks or a giraffe for its meat, and his attitude towards the natives of South Africa is undoubtedly paternal at best. However, by the end of his exciting tale there is no doubting his admiration and affection for the brave warriors whom he finds himself fighting alongside. And an exciting story it is! Upon reading it we soon realise how it has influenced the Epic Adventure story ever since, from Kipling and Conan Doyle to “The Lord of the Rings” and “Indiana Jones”.Show book
Headless horsemen were staples of Northern European storytelling, featuring in German, Irish (e.g. Dullahan), Scandinavian (e.g. the Wild Hunt) and English legends and were included in Robert Burns's "Tam o' Shanter" (1790), and Burger's Der wilde Jager, translated as The Wild Huntsman (1796). Usually viewed as omens of ill-fortune for those who chose to disregard their apparitions, these specters found their victims in proud, scheming persons and characters with hubris and arrogance. The chief part of the stories, however, turned upon the favorite specter of Sleepy Hollow, the Headless Horseman, who had been heard several times of late, patrolling the country; and, it was said, tethered his horse nightly among the graves in the churchyard. The story was immediately matched by a thrice marvelous adventure of Brom Bones, who made light of the Galloping Hessian as an arrant jockey. He affirmed that on returning one night from the neighboring village of Sing Sing, he had been overtaken by this midnight trooper; that he had offered to race with him for a bowl of punch and should have won it too, for Daredevil beat the goblin horse all hollow, but just as they came to the church bridge, the Hessian bolted, and vanished in a flash of fire. All these tales, told in that drowsy undertone with which men talk in the dark, the countenances of the listeners only now and then receiving a casual gleam from the glare of a pipe, sank deep in the mind of Ichabod.Show book
Herbert George "H. G." Wells (1866 - 1946) was an English writer.He was prolific in many genres, including the novel, history, politics, social commentary, and textbooks and rules for war games. Wells is now best remembered for his science fiction novels and is called a "father of science fiction"AN UNSUSPECTED MASTERPIECE: "I felt as though I had disturbed the graves of the long departed," he said with a grimace, and then addressing the egg: "Forgive me the sacrilege: they sold you to me as new laid, a mere thing of yesterday.Show book
The Age of Innocence is Edith Wharton's masterful portrait of desire and betrayal during the sumptuous Golden Age of Old New York, a time when society people "dreaded scandal more than disease."This is Newland Archer's world as he prepares to marry the beautiful but conventional May Welland. But when the mysterious Countess Ellen Olenska returns to New York after a disastrous marriage, Archer falls deeply in love with her. Torn between duty and passion, Archer struggles to make a decision that will either courageously define his life—or mercilessly destroy it.Show book
Poezest contains works of legendary author Edgar Allan Poe reworked and reimagined by Mike Bennett, who has intertwined elements of Edgar Allan Poe's character with well-known works such as 'The Black Cat', 'The Raven', 'The Tell-Tale Heart', 'The Premature Burial' and many more. Written in verse and prose, this body of work captures the spirit of Poe whilst retaining an originality that is as comedic as it is macabre, replete with murder, mystery and Machiavellian intrigue. The music underscore has been provided by Guy Cavill, capturing the mood of the creepy tale that helps to take the listener on a journey that has more twists and turns than Brands Hatch.Show book
Prince Rohan, a handsome prince who was cursed by a ruthless witch, and on the day of his coronation, Prince Rohan turned to a hideous creature, a monster covered with horns and fur. After the magicians failed to revive his handsome appearance, the prince creature abandoned his rightful place at king Mile's fortress and went to live in the forest where he met Tilda, the witch's daughter and fell in love not knowing that she was the witch's daughter. The witch who cursed him. They said true love will break the curse, or so they thought.Show book
