Серия книг «Penguin English Library» — 116 книг

"Curiouser and curiouser!" cried Alice (she was so surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English). "Now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Goodbye, feet!"'

'I had sent my heroine straight down a rabbit-hole ... without the least idea what was to happen afterwards,' wrote Lewis Carroll, describing how Alice was conjured up one 'golden afternoon' in 1862 to entertain his child-friend Alice Liddell. His dream worlds of nonsensical Wonderland and the back-to-front Looking Glass kingdom depict order turned upside-down: a baby turns into a pig, time is abandoned at a disorderly tea-party and a chaotic game of chess makes a seven-year-old girl a Queen. But amongst the anarchic humour and sparkling word play, puzzles and riddles, are poignant moments of nostalgia for lost childhood.

"Curiouser and curiouser!" cried Alice (she was so surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English). "Now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that…

A searing, shocking tale of women as consumer items in a man's world, The House of Mirth sees Lily Bart, beautiful and charming, living among the wealthy families of New York City but reluctant to finally commit herself to a husband. In her search for freedom and the happiness she feels she deserves, Lily is ultimately ruined by scandal.
Edith Wharton's shattering novel created controversy on its publication in 1905 with its scathing portrayal of the world's wealthy and the prison that marriage can become.

A searing, shocking tale of women as consumer items in a man's world, The House of Mirth sees Lily Bart, beautiful and charming, living among the wealthy families of New York City…

"Lady Audley's Secret" (1862) subtly undermined the Victorian myth that female self-assertion was a form of insanity.
At the same time it established the prolific Mary Elizabeth Braddon as a leading "sensation" novelist, a rival to the master of the genre, Wilkie Collins. Flouting the Victorian convention of the "blue-eyed wax-doll" heroine, Braddon presented a sexually attractive woman with great depth and complexity of character: a woman, as one contemporary critic put it, "high-strung... full of passion, purpose, and movement - very liable to error". This novel can now be seen as an anticipation of Ibsen's great dramas, and as an unabashed bid for freedom from the constraints of Victorian womanhood.
This edition includes: introduction; textual note; bibliography chronology; explanatory notes.
Edited with an introduction and notes by David Skilton.

"Lady Audley's Secret" (1862) subtly undermined the Victorian myth that female self-assertion was a form of insanity.
At the same time it established the prolific Mary…

E.M.Forster's forst novel is a witty comedy of manners that is tinged with tragedy. It tells the story of Lilia Herriton, who proves to be an embarrassment to her late husband's family as, in the small Tuscan town of Monteriano, she begins a relationship with a much younger Italian man - classless, uncouth and highly unsuitable.

E.M.Forster's forst novel is a witty comedy of manners that is tinged with tragedy. It tells the story of Lilia Herriton, who proves to be an embarrassment to her late husband's…

"Only connect" is the idea at the heart of this book, a heartbreaking and provocative tale of three families at the beginning of the twentieth century: the rich Wilcoxes, the gentle, idealistic Schlegels and the lower-middle-class Basts. As the Schlegel sisters try desperately to help the Basts and educate the close-minded Wilcoxes, the families are drawn together in love, lies and death.
Frequently cited as E. M. Forster's finest work, Howards End brilliantly explores class warfare, conflict and the English character.

"Only connect" is the idea at the heart of this book, a heartbreaking and provocative tale of three families at the beginning of the twentieth century: the rich Wilcoxes, the…

The greater part of every family is always odious; if there are one or two good ones in a very large family, it is as much as can be expected' Written with great humour, irony and honesty, "The Way of All Flesh" exploded perceptions of the Victorian middle-class family in its radical depiction of Ernest Pontifex, a young man who casts off his background and discovers himself. The awkward but likeable son of a tyrannical clergyman and a priggish mother, and destined to follow his father into the church, Ernest gleefully rejects his parents' respectability, and chooses instead to find his own way in the world.

The greater part of every family is always odious; if there are one or two good ones in a very large family, it is as much as can be expected' Written with great humour, irony and…

Ardent, impulsive, thirsty for knowledge, Maggie Tulliver is one of the great heroines of literature.
George Eliot drew on her own anguished childhood when she depicted the stormy relationship between Maggie and Tom Tulliver. Maggie's often tormented battle to do her duty and belong on the one hand, and to be herself, wild and natural on the other, propels her from one crisis to another. As the Tulliver fortunes decline and fall, the rift between Maggie and her family becomes almost irreconcilable. But Maggie's biggest mistake of all is to fall in love with Stephen Guest who is engaged to another woman.
Both a sharp and observant picture of English rural life and a profoundly convincing analysis of a woman's psychology, The Mill on the Floss is a novel that tackles the complexities of morality versus desire.

Ardent, impulsive, thirsty for knowledge, Maggie Tulliver is one of the great heroines of literature.
George Eliot drew on her own anguished childhood when she depicted the…

In this comic and sharply incisive satire of excess and affectations, beautiful young Evelina falls victim to the rakish advances of Sir Clement Willoughby on her entrance to the world of fashionable London. Colliding with the manners and customs of a society she doesn't understand, she finds herself without hope that she should ever deserve the attention of the man she loves. Frances Burney's first novel brilliantly sends up eighteenth-century society - and its opinions of women - while enticingly depicting its delights. The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

In this comic and sharply incisive satire of excess and affectations, beautiful young Evelina falls victim to the rakish advances of Sir Clement Willoughby on her entrance to the…

"What can I do?.. I must get up in the morning and do what everyone else does. It is all like a dance set beforehand. I seem to see all that can be - and I am tired and sick of it. And the world is all confusion to me". George Eliot's last, most controversial novel opens as the spoiled Gwendolen Harleth, poised at a roulette table about to throw away a small fortune, captivates Daniel Deronda. As their lives become intertwined, they are also transformed by suffering, misfortune, revelations and Daniel's fascination with the Jewish singer Mirah. "Daniel Deronda" shocked Victorian readers with its portrayal of the Jewish experience in British society, and remains a moving and epic portrayal of human passions. This is the Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

"What can I do?.. I must get up in the morning and do what everyone else does. It is all like a dance set beforehand. I seem to see all that can be - and I am tired and sick of…

'It was so hard that the pleasant waters of his little stream should be disturbed and muddied ...that his quiet paths should be made a battlefield: that the unobtrusive corner of the world which been allotted to him ...made miserable and unsound'. Trollope's witty, satirical story of a quiet cathedral town shaken by scandal - as the traditional values of Septimus Harding are attacked by zealous reformers and ruthless newspapers - is a drama of conscience that pits individual integrity against worldly ambition. In "The Warden" Anthony Trollope brought the fictional county of Barsetshire to life, peopled by a cast of brilliantly realised characters that have made him among the supreme chroniclers of the minutiae of Victorian England. This is the first book in the "Chronicles of Barsetshire".

'It was so hard that the pleasant waters of his little stream should be disturbed and muddied ...that his quiet paths should be made a battlefield: that the unobtrusive corner of…

With an essay by John Kenneth Galbraith.
'What! to come here a stranger, a young, unknown, and unfriended stranger, and tell us, in the name of the bishop his master, that we are ignorant of our duties, old-fashioned, and useless!'
Trollope's comic masterpiece of plotting and backstabbing opens as the Bishop of Barchester lies on his deathbed. Soon a pitched battle breaks out over who will take power, involving, among others, the zealous reformer Dr Proudie, his fiendish wife and the unctuous schemer Obadiah Slope.
Barchester Towers is one of the best-loved novels in Trollope's Chronicles of Barsetshire series, which captured nineteenth-century provincial England with wit, worldly wisdom and an unparalleled gift for characterization.
The second book in the Chronicles of Barsetshire.
The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

With an essay by John Kenneth Galbraith.
'What! to come here a stranger, a young, unknown, and unfriended stranger, and tell us, in the name of the bishop his master, that we…

Doctor Thorne, considered by Trollope to be the best of his works, is a telling examination of the relationship between money and morality.
It recounts the story of the son of a bankrupt landowner, Frank Gresham, who is intent on marrying his beloved Mary Thorne despite her illegitimacy and apparent poverty. Frank's ambitious mother and haughty aunt are set against the match, however, and push him to make a good marriage to a wealthy heiress. Only Mary's loving uncle, Doctor Thorne, knows of the fortune she is about to inherit - but believes she should be accepted on her own terms.

Doctor Thorne, considered by Trollope to be the best of his works, is a telling examination of the relationship between money and morality.
It recounts the story of the son of…

A chilling masterpiece of the horror genre, Dracula illuminates the dark corners of Victorian sexuality. When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to advise Count Dracula on a London home, he makes a horrifying discovery. Soon afterwards, a number of disturbing incidents unfold in England: an unmanned ship is wrecked at Whitby; strange puncture marks appear on a young woman's neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the arrival of his 'Master', while a determined group of adversaries prepares to face the terrifying Count.

A chilling masterpiece of the horror genre, Dracula illuminates the dark corners of Victorian sexuality. When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to advise Count Dracula on a…

Jane Eyre is one of the great romantic heroines of world literature.
Orphaned into cold charity at the hands of her rich cousins and, later, at Lowood School, Jane escapes to take up a position as governess to the young ward of Mr Rochester. Their love affair, Jane's discovery of Rochester's secret - hideously concealed in the attic of Thornfield Hall - and her desperate flight are told in a drama of passionate intensity whose pace never slackens.
Jane Eyre is a love story with a happy ending, rare in its time for its sympathetic portrayal of the love of a married man for another woman. It is, as Thackeray said, "The masterwork of a great genius".

Jane Eyre is one of the great romantic heroines of world literature.
Orphaned into cold charity at the hands of her rich cousins and, later, at Lowood School, Jane escapes to…

A major precursor of the modern mystery novel - with multiple narrators, a reconstruction of the crime, red herrings and a "locked-room" puzzle - The Moonstone sets out the tale of a large Indian diamond that carries a terrible curse.
When Rachel Verinder is given the Moonstone for her birthday, its theft at her party triggers a series of increasingly horrific events that seem set to ruin everyone and everything she loves. In this classic of the Victorian sensation genre, only Sergeant Cuff's famous detective skills offer a glimpse of hope for the diamond's helpless victims.

A major precursor of the modern mystery novel - with multiple narrators, a reconstruction of the crime, red herrings and a "locked-room" puzzle - The Moonstone sets out the tale…

Introduction and Notes by Dr Ella Westland, University of Exeter Dickens had already achieved renown with The Pickwick Papers. With Oliver Twist his reputation was enhanced and strengthened. The novel contains many classic Dickensian themes - grinding poverty, desperation, fear, temptation and the eventual triumph of good in the face of great adversity. Oliver Twist features some of the author's most enduring characters, such as Oliver himself (Who dares to ask for more), the tyrannical Bumble, the diabolical Fagin, the menacing Bill Sykes, Nancy and "the Artful Dodger".

Introduction and Notes by Dr Ella Westland, University of Exeter Dickens had already achieved renown with The Pickwick Papers. With Oliver Twist his reputation was enhanced and…

This violent, profound, baroque and blackly humorous novel is the story of Melmoth, who has sold his soul in exchange for immortality in a satanic bargain, and now preys on the helpless in their darkest moments, offering to ease their suffering if they will take his place and release him from his centuries of tortured wanderings.
"Melmoth the Wanderer" (1820) blended Gothic fiction and psychological realism to create a work of hallucinatory power.

This violent, profound, baroque and blackly humorous novel is the story of Melmoth, who has sold his soul in exchange for immortality in a satanic bargain, and now preys on the…

Be they shocking, ambitious, or simply brilliant, these novels continue to enthrall today as they did at the time they were written. Now, Penguin Classics is proud to present them in gorgeous clothbound editions-vibrant volumes sure to become as treasured to readers as the magnificent tales they tell.

Be they shocking, ambitious, or simply brilliant, these novels continue to enthrall today as they did at the time they were written. Now, Penguin Classics is proud to present them…

The night after a shooting star is seen streaking through the sky from Mars, a cylinder is discovered on Horsell Common in London. At first, naive locals approach the cylinder armed just with a white flag only to be quickly killed by an all-destroying heat-ray, as terrifying tentacled invaders emerge. Soon the whole of human civilisation is under threat, as powerful Martians build gigantic killing machines, destroy all in their path with black gas and burning rays, and feast on the warm blood of trapped, still-living human prey. The forces of the Earth, however, may prove harder to beat than they at first appear.

The night after a shooting star is seen streaking through the sky from Mars, a cylinder is discovered on Horsell Common in London. At first, naive locals approach the cylinder…

On board the whaling ship "Pequod" a crew of wise men and fools, renegades, and seeming phantoms is hurled through treacherous seas by a crazed captain hell-bent on hunting down the mythic White Whale. As the "great flood-gates of the wonder-world" swing open, Melville transforms the little world of the whale-ship into a crucible where mankind's fears, faith and frailties are pitted against a relentless fate. Teeming with ideas and imagery, and with its extraordinary, compressed intensity sustained by a buoyant, mischievous irony and by moments of exquisite beauty, Melville's masterpiece is both a great American epic and one of the most profoundly imaginative creations in literary history.

On board the whaling ship "Pequod" a crew of wise men and fools, renegades, and seeming phantoms is hurled through treacherous seas by a crazed captain hell-bent on hunting down…