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  The Wind in the Willows

  Kenneth Grahame

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  The Wind in the Willows is a children's novel by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Alternately slow moving and fast-paced, it focuses on four anthropomorphised animals in a pastoral version of Edwardian England. The novel is notable for its mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality and camaraderie, and celebrated for its evocation of the nature of the Thames Valley. 
  Narrated by Michael Ward.

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  Hard Times

  Charles Dickens

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  Hard Times by Charles Dickens is a powerful exploration of the struggles and hardships faced during the Industrial Revolution. Set in the fictional Coketown, it delves into themes of social injustice, rigid education, and the dehumanizing effects of industrialization. Through the intersecting lives of factory workers, educators, and industrialists, Dickens crafts a poignant critique of utilitarianism and class inequality, highlighting the enduring human spirit amidst adversity.

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  War Of The Worlds - The Classic...

  H. G. Wells

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  The War of the Worlds is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialized in 1897 by Pearson's Magazine in the UK and by Cosmopolitan magazine in the US. The novel's first appearance in hardcover was in 1898 from publisher William Heinemann of London. Written between 1895 and 1897, it is one of the earliest stories to detail a conflict between mankind and an extraterrestrial race. The novel is the first-person narrative of both an unnamed protagonist in Surrey and of his younger brother in London as southern England is invaded by Martians. The novel is one of the most commented-on works in the science fiction canon. 
   
  The plot has been related to the invasion literature of the time. The novel has been variously interpreted as a commentary on evolutionary theory, British imperialism, and generally Victorian superstitions, fears, and prejudices. Wells said that the plot arose from a discussion with his brother Frank about the catastrophic effect of the British on indigenous Tasmanians. What would happen, he wondered, if Martians did to Britain what the British had done to the Tasmanians? At the time of publication, it was classified as a scientific romance, like Wells's earlier novel The Time Machine. 
   
  The War of the Worlds has been both popular (having never been out of print) and influential, spawning half a dozen feature films, radio dramas, a record album, various comic book adaptations, a number of television series, and sequels or parallel stories by other authors. It was most memorably dramatized in a 1938 radio program directed by and starring Orson Welles that allegedly caused public panic among listeners who did not know the Martian invasion was fictional. The novel has even influenced the work of scientists, notably Robert H. Goddard, who, inspired by the book, helped develop both the liquid-fuelled rocket and multistage rocket.

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  Tess of the d'Urbervilles

  Thomas Hardy

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   Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy: "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" tells the tragic story of Tess Durbeyfield, a young woman from a poor rural family who discovers her aristocratic heritage. The novel explores themes of fate, morality, and the rigid social norms of Victorian England. As Tess's life is shaped by events beyond her control, including a tumultuous romance with the charismatic Alec d'Urberville and her relationship with the compassionate Angel Clare, Hardy's narrative examines the harsh consequences of society's judgment on female purity. With its powerful critique of societal double standards and its portrayal of a flawed yet resilient heroine, "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" remains a timeless classic in English literature.

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  Silas Marner (Legend Classics)

  George Eliot

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  “Nothing is so good as it seems beforehand.” 
  Silas Marner is a simple weaver from Lantern Yard, an impoverished area of Northern England. He is the main protagonist who is wrongly accused of being a robber. Silas loses his sweetheart, reputation, and as a result, has to move out of the town. He dedicates the next fifteen years of his life to earning money. Despite developing an unhealthy obsession, he is still the same just and honest person albeit rather stingy by this time as monetary enrichment became the sole purpose of his being. But when injustice strikes again, Silas is about to change his perception of life forever. What he first considers to be the ultimate disaster of his existence, turns into the thing that gives a new meaning to his life. This moral tale will set things in the right place presenting a picture of justice and love that rise above ignorance and greed. 
  The work is regarded as a pastoral novel and a moral tale with fairytale elements. A notable feature is Eliot's representation of the effects of industrialisation. Indeed, upon Silas's return to his home town in his old age, he can barely recognise the town where new buildings and factories have been erected. The author deploys her signature technique of setting the novel in a more distant past, which gives her the advantage of scope and hindsight. Published a year before Hugo's world-famous Les Misérables, Silas Marner tackles many similar tropes as effectively and authentically but in a more condensed form – in particular, finding the meaning in life when there seems to be nothing left to hold on to. 
  The Legend Classics series:Around the World in Eighty DaysThe Adventures of Huckleberry FinnThe Importance of Being EarnestAlice's Adventures in WonderlandThe MetamorphosisThe Railway ChildrenThe Hound of the BaskervillesFrankensteinWuthering HeightsThree Men in a BoatThe Time MachineLittle WomenAnne of Green GablesThe Jungle BookThe Yellow Wallpaper and Other StoriesDraculaA Study in ScarletLeaves of GrassThe Secret GardenThe War of the WorldsA Christmas CarolStrange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeHeart of DarknessThe Scarlet LetterThis Side of ParadiseOliver TwistThe Picture of Dorian GrayTreasure IslandThe Turn of the ScrewThe Adventures of Tom SawyerEmmaThe TrialA Selection of Short Stories by Edgar Allan PoeGrimm Fairy TalesThe AwakeningMrs DallowayGulliver’s TravelsThe Castle of OtrantoSilas MarnerHard Times

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  Loss of Breath

  Edgar Allan Poe

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  Loss of Breath is a humorous short story by Edgar Allan Poe that first appeared in a 1832 issue of The Philadelphia Saturday Courier.

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