A saintly Black man endures the depredations of slavery and the torments of a cruel overseer.

Trying to forget his past and live an honest life, escaped convict Jean Valjean risks his freedom to take care of a motherless young girl during a period of political unrest in Paris.

The Moonstone is a beautiful yellow diamond that was stolen from the statue of a Moon god in India. When Franklin Blake brings it to Rachel Verinder's house in Yorkshire for her birthday, it brings bad luck with it. How many people will the Moonstone hurt? How many must die before the diamond's revenge is complete?

Two European siblings travel to New England to meet their American cousins in this classic satire. Henry James's short novel The Europeans, which made its debut in serial form in the Atlantic Monthly, is the beloved tale of Eugenia Münster and her brother, Felix Young, who travel to Boston after having spent most of their lives in France, Italy, Spain, and Germany. At the heart of the story rest the concerns that most intrigued the iconic author:...

A Timeless Classic of Societal Customs, Cultural Disputes, and The Cost of Non-Conformity Henry James' novella Daisy Miller, features one of his greatest heroines. At first glance it seems to be a simple story of a lovely young, independent American girl traveling through Europe. But her flouting of social conventions has the potential to lead to catastrophe as she disrupts the rigid social rules of the Old World, attracting and scandalizing all...

From the author of The Scarlet Letter: The thrilling tale of three American artists whose search for artistic inspiration leads to romance and murder. The sculpture galleries and classical architecture of nineteenth-century Rome set the stage for Nathaniel Hawthorne's gothic romance The Marble Faun. While touring the Eternal City in search of inspiration and authentic beauty, American artists Miriam, Hilda, and Kenyon soon discover that their Italian...

Completed a short time before his death in 1885, the Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant is recognized today as one of the most significant American military memoirs of all time. In an honest and intelligent voice, the celebrated Civil War general and former President offers a detailed and intimate telling of the events of the Mexican-American war, and the American Civil War and his role within it as a Union General. At the time of its publication,...

"How the Other Half Lives is a riveting account of life in New York's Lower East Side tenements of the last century written by one of the Progressive Era's preeminent reformers. Drawn from the author's long career as a police reporter and photographer, the book captures the stark realities of life for the destitute and represents one man's campaign to reform society by challenging the social injustices of his times. First published in 1890, the book...

Anthony Trollope was a masterful satirist with an unerring eye for the most intrinsic details of human behavior and an imaginative grasp of the preoccupations of nineteenth-century English novels. In The Last Chronicle of Barset, Mr. Crawley, curate of Hogglestock, falls deeply into debt, bringing suffering to himself and his family. To make matters worse, he is accused of theft, can't remember where he got the counterfeit check he is alleged to have...

Recounts the author's experiences in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Cape Cod and his observations on human nature.