Word cloud classics

A complex and profound book, The Tale of Two Cities explores the consequences of tyranny, fate and self-sacrifice. With much of the narrative played out in Paris, during the French Revolution Dickens examines the interplay between personal action, and the flow of history. Dr Manette, having travelled to Paris finds himself imprisoned in the Bastille for 18 brutal years, unable to see his kind and loving daughter Lucy. On his eventual return to London...

Nine classic works of speculative fiction from the earliest masters of the genre.Classic Science Fiction includes nine stories from masters of early science fiction: H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Jack London, Fitz James O'Brien, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Stanley G. Weinbaum. The exploration of new concepts and technologies has driven the genre since its earliest days, and these works demonstrate how science fiction...

"Thomas Paine is one of history's most renowned thinkers and was indispensible to both the American and French revolutions. The three works included, Common Sense, The Rights of Man, and The Age of Reason, are among his most famous publications. Paine is probably best known for his hugely popular pamphlet, Common Sense, which swayed public opinion in favor of American independence from England. The Rights of Man and The Age of Reason further advocated...

"Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass is a clarion call to his country's people to join together in the "crowning growth of the United States". Its patriotic zeal made him a symbol of democracy in his country long before he achieved fame there as a poet. The intense emotion of Whitman's verse celebrates the regenerative power of nature and the immortal divinity of the human soul. His passionate beliefs are evident throughout this volume - in the radical...

A masterpiece of storytelling, this epic saga pits Ahab, a brooding and fanatical sea captain, against the great white whale that crippled him. In telling the tale of Ahab's passion for revenge and the fateful voyage that ensued, Melville produced far more than the narrative of a hair-raising journey; Moby-Dick is a tale for the ages that sounds the deepest depths of the human soul. Interspersed with graphic sketches of life aboard a whaling vessel,...

Huckleberry Finn, the best friend of Tom Sawyer, is a young boy in the 1840s, who runs away from home, and floats down the Mississippi River. It is told in the first person by Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, a friend of Tom Sawyer and narrator of two other Twain novels (Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective). It is a direct sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.The book is noted for its colorful description of people and places along the Mississippi...

"The Art of War, attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzŭ, is a profound treatise on strategy and warfare, believed to have been composed around the fifth century BC during the turbulent Warring States period. This text is not only one of the oldest but also among the most influential military strategy books ever written, offering wisdom that extends beyond the battlefield to tactics in politics, business, and everyday life....

The essential text on the early works of the famed nineteenth-century inventor, featuring hundreds of detailed illustrations. Best known for his research into the use of high-frequency alternating currents and wireless transmission, Nikola Tesla was a prolific inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist. Many of his ideas have found practical application in the modern world, and he continues to be a source of inspiration...

"The Headless Horseman faces off with Ichabod Crane in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, " a ghost story of enduring popularity that takes place at the time of the American Revolution. "Rip Van Winkle, " another traditional favorite from the same historic period, tells the tale of man who fell asleep for 20 years and found his small town in the Catskill Mountains much changed by the time he awakened. Both are included - along with many other tales - in...