Contemporary fiction. 'I walk'd about on the shore, lifting up my hands, and my whole being, as I may say, wrapt up in the contemplation of my deliverance . . . reflecting upon all my comrades that were drown'd, and that there should not be one soul sav'd but my self . . . ' Who has not dreamed of life on an exotic isle, far away from civilization? Here is the novel which has inspired countless imitations by lesser writers, none of which equal the...

Dr. Manette is released from the Bastille after eighteen years' confinement, which has driven him to the edge of madness. He is "recalled to life" by the joyous reconciliation with his daughter Lucie, and returns with her to England. But Manette's maniacal obsession with shoemaking, developed during his long incarceration, is not quite over, for there are dark secrets surrounding his "crime" that have yet to emerge; secrets involving the reprehensible...

Ship's surgeon Lemuel Gulliver is stranded on the island of Lilliput after his boat founders. In the first of many weird and wonderful adventures he meets a diminutive people prepared to wage war over the correct way to crack an egg. The castaway also visits a land full of giants, with wasps the size of partridges; a floating island where the best brains are engaged in trying to extract sunshine from cucumbers; and a land of civilized, rational-minded...

Follow the yellow brick road! Dorothy thinks she is lost forever when a terrifying tornado crashes through Kansas and whisks her and her dog, Toto, far away to the magical land of Oz. To get home Dorothy must follow the yellow brick road to Emerald City and find the wonderfully mysterious Wizard of Oz. Together with her companions the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion whom she meets on the way, Dorothy embarks on a strange and enchanting...

Tom Sawyer lives with his Aunt Polly and his half-brother Sid. Tom dirties his clothes in a fight and is made to whitewash the fence the next day as a punishment. He cleverly persuades his friends to trade him small treasures for the privilege of doing his work. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer revolves around the youthful adventures of the novel's schoolboy protagonist, Thomas Sawyer, whose reputation precedes him for causing mischief and strife. Tom...

In the year 1792, Sir Percy and Lady Marguerite Blakeney are the darlings of British society-he is known as one of the wealthiest and most fashionable men in England, and a dimwit; she is French, a stunning fomer actress, and "the cleverest woman in Europe" - and they find themselves at the center of a deadly political intrigue. The Reign of Terror controls France and everyday, aristocrats in Paris fall victim to Madame la Guillotine. Only one man...

While going through the possessions of a deceased guest who owed them money, the mistress of the inn and her son, Jim Hawkins, find a treasure map that leads to a pirate fortune as well as great danger. Jim sets out for Treasure Island with honest Captain Smollett, heroic Dr. Livesey, and obtuse Squire Trelawney, encountering Long John Silver and his band of pirates along the way. The unexpected and complex relationship that develops between Silver...

A little girl falls down a rabbit hole and discovers a world of nonsensical and amusing characters. Alice has two adventures: first she follows a rabbit into a curious world where she meets the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts. In Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There (written 1870; orig. U.S. pub. 1899; St. Martin, 1977; Knopf, 1986; Schocken, 1987; Morrow, 1993), she steps through a mirror into a backward world. Davy and the Goblin,...

"At the age of five, little orphan Heidi is sent to live with her grandfather in the alps. Everyone in the village is afraid of him, but Heidi is fascinated by his long beard and bushy gray eyebrows. She loves her life in the mountains, playing in the sunshine and growing up amongst the goats and birds. But one terrible day, Heidi is collected by her aunt and made to live with a new family in the city. Heidi can't bear to be away from her grandfather....

"Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is considered by many readers to be the Great American Novel. But most don't know that since its appearance in 1851, it has been revised in substantial ways that alter its original meaning. Melville's masterpiece is described as a "fluid text": it exists in multiple versions, each revealing shifting intentions. The new Longman Critical Edition offers unprecedented access to the revisions that Melville made, the further...