Other books that might interest you

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  The First Men in the Moon

  H. G. Wells

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  Published in 1901, The First Men in the Moon is one of the earliest science-fiction novels in the English language. An impecunious businessman, Bedford, retreats to the Kent coast where he meets the archetypal absent-minded scientist, Dr Cavor, who is on the point of producing a gravity-defying material. His experiments prove successful, making possible one of man’s oldest dreams: a journey to the moon. The two men embark on this fantastic voyage – Bedford motivated by the prospect of wealth, and Cavor by the thirst for knowledge. However, when they arrive, they find a world of freezing nights and sweltering days, and signs of a threatening alien presence, from which they may never escape.The novel invites obvious comparisons with its predecessor, Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon, though Wells’s approach markedly differs from that of his French counterpart, with Wells being more concerned by the adventure on the moon, even at the expense of scientific plausibility.

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  Top 10 Short Stories The - The...

  D H Lawrence, G K Chesterton, A...

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  Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart.  A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. 
   
  In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?  
   
  The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme.  Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature. 
   
  Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made.  If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something. 
   
  In this volume our authors, from all the social classes, make their observations on life as they journey through a fascinating decade of need and greed.  What they reveal may be all in hindsight for us but through their words, the reality of their prose the decade is beautifully dissected and captured. 
   
  01 - The Top 10 - The 1920's - The English - The Men - An Introduction 
  02 - The Horse Dealer's Daughter by D H Lawrence 
  03 - The Resurrection of Father Brown by G K Chesterton 
  04 - Rats by M R James 
  05 - The Death Room by Edgar Wallace 
  06 - Running Wolf by Algernon Blackwood 
  07 - Mrs Amworth by E F Benson 
  08 - Major Wilbraham by Hugh Walpole 
  09 - Smee by A M Burrage 
  10 - As the Crow Flies by John Davys Beresford 
  11 - The Dabblers by W F Harvey

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  Christmas Formula - From their...

  Stella Benson

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  Stella Benson was born on the 6th January 1892 in Easthope, Shropshire to parents who were landed gentry. 
  Her early years involved frequent household moves which was difficult for the child as she suffered from ill-health.  Some of her early education was spent at schools in Germany and Switzerland and by 10 she had developed a lifelong habit of keeping a diary. 
  In the following years her parents separated, and she rarely saw her father. When she did, he encouraged to pause her writing until she had further experience and could better make sense of the world.  When he died, she learned he had been an alcoholic. 
  A winter spent in the West Indies provided material for her first novel ‘I Pose’ published the following year in 1915. 
  During the War years she became involved in the women's suffrage movement and dedicated time outside of writing to support the troops and help the poor. 
  In 1918 she decided to travel spending much time in California, where she also tutored at the University of California, and continued to write.  In China she met her future husband and after marrying in London, journeyed with him to his various Custom postings through Nanning, Beihai, and Hong Kong and the Far East. 
  The works continued to flow novels, short stories, travel essays all helped to build a deserved and burgeoning reputation. 
  Although her works are now in the forgotten and neglected department her writing style, characters, and narratives more than capably demonstrate her obvious talents.   
  Stella Benson died of pneumonia on the 7th December 1933, at Hạ Long in the Vietnamese province of Tonkin.  She was 40.

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  Death at 830 - From their pens...

  Christopher St John Sprigg

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  The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors.  From these Isles their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure.  Among them is Christopher St John Sprigg.

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  The Autobiography of an...

  James Weldon Johnson

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  'I was not white enough to be white, nor black enough to be black.'
  
  First published anonymously in 1912, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man became one of James Weldon Johnson's most famous works, and remains a testament to the lives and experiences of both Johnson and his peers.
  
  Although primarily a work of fiction, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man offers many parallels with the life of Johnson himself. Set shortly after the Civil War, this powerful fictional memoir recounts the life of a biracial man, grappling with questions around identity, race and justice. Born to a Black mother and white father, our protagonist moves through different social worlds – from Black communities to elite white circles – witnessing heinous crimes against Black people and having to make the painful decision to 'pass' as white to keep safe. Deeply poignant and revolutionary for its time, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man cements itself as a classic of American literature.
  James Weldon Johnson (1871 – 1938) was an American writer and activist. A dedicated campaigner during the civil rights movement, he was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People. His literary work is famed for championing the poems and spirituals of Black culture, and is still widely read to this day.

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  H G Wells - Six of the Best -...

  H G Wells

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  Six has always been a number we group things around – Six of the best, six of one half a dozen of another, six feet under, six pack, six degrees of separation and a sixth sense are but a few of the ways we use this number. 
   
  Such is its popularity that we thought it is also a very good way of challenging and investigating an author’s work to give width, brevity, humour and depth across six of their very best. 
   
  In this series we gather together authors whose short stories both rivet the attention and inspire the imagination to visit their gems in a series of six, to roam across an author’s legacy in a few short hours and gain a greater understanding of their writing and, of course, to be lavishly entertained by their ideas, their narrative and their way with words. 
   
  These stories can be surprising and sometimes at a tangent to what we expected, but each is fully formed and a marvellous adventure into the world and words of a literary master. 
   
   1 - Six of the Best - H G Wells - An Introduction 
  2 - H G Wells - An Introduction 
  3 - The Crystal Egg by H G Wells 
  4 - The Man Who Could Work Miracles by H G Wells 
  5 - The Sea Raiders by H G Wells 
  6 - The Magic Shop by H G Wells 
  7 - The Flowering of the Strange Orchid by H G Wells 
  8 - A Dream of Armageddon - Part 1 by H G Wells 
  9 - A Dream of Armageddon - Part 2 by H G Wells

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