When the last fire goes out, time too will be finished'Italo Calvino was one of the most joyful and imaginative writers of the twentieth century. Here he muses on what the things we lea...
Elizabeth Bennet, the daughter of an English country gentleman, meets Mr Darcy, a rich man who owns land. At first, Elizabeth hates him and thinks he is proud, but slowly her feelings start to chan...
On the Road swings to the rhythms of 1950s underground America, jazz, sex, generosity, chill dawns and drugs, with Sal Paradise and his hero Dean Moriarty, traveller and mystic, the living epitome ...
'It is possible for man to snatch the world from the darkness of absurdity'How should we think and act in the world? These writings on the human condition by one of the twentieth centur...
'Women so empowered are dangerous'Written with a 'black woman's anger' and the precision of a poet, these searing pieces by the groundbreaking writer Audre Lorde are a celebration of fe...
No one knows why the ice has come, and no one can stop it. Every day it creeps further across the earth, covering the land in snow and freezing everything in its path. Through this bleached, devast...
There are certain words which possess, in themselves, when properly used, a virtue which illumines and lifts up towards the good'The philosopher and activist Simone Weil was one of the ...
Karl Rossman has been banished by his parents to America, following a family scandal. There, with unquenchable optimism, he throws himself into the strange experiences that lie before him as he slo...
Kafka's gripping work of psychological horror, with a new introduction and notes by Carolin DuttlingerA terrifying psychological trip into the life of one Joseph K., an ordinary man who...
Henry James's great masterpiece, now in a stunning Penguin clothbound edition designed by the acclaimed Coralie Bickford-Smith.When Isabel Archer, a beautiful, spirited American, is bro...
The true horror of the trenches is brought to life in this selection of poetry from the front line.Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black ...
he Steel Flea is an uproarious and alcohol-soaked shaggy-dog story from one of Russia's great comic masters.Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Litt...
Do you see your son, standing over there, in the antechamber? Well, I am going to shoot him.'The story of the great and mad Cambyses, King of Persia, told by part-historian, part-mythma...
Three disturbing, mysterious and moving stories from Wells, science-fiction pioneer.Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebr...
What makes a leader? How does their character affect the fate of their people? Plutarch illustrates the rise and fall of Athens through nine lives, from the legendary days of Theseus, the city's fo...
Can I bear to leave these blue hills?'A generous selection from three of the greatest and most enjoyable of Chinese poetsIntroducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Peng...
New to Classics, a wide-ranging survey of the Jewish mystical tradition'The Torah is both hidden and revealed . there is a secret meaning to the holy Torah that is not written down expl...
SummaryOne of the greatest translations of all time: Scott Moncrieff's classic version of Proust, published in three volumesProust's masterpiece is one of the seminal works of the...
'Unlike any other person I had come across, Welch seemed to be speaking particularly to me' Alan Bennett'Vivid ... surprising ... an exquisite balance of pain and beauty' Guardian...
The Old Man of the Moon is Shen Fu's intimate and moving account of his marriage - from early passion to the trials of poverty and separation - and his great, enduring love for his wife in eighteen...