Wordsworth

The 22-year old James Boswell first met Johnson, who was then aged 54, in 1763. Nine years later he wrote in his journal of his ‘constant plan to write the life of Mr Johnson’. Boswell was tireless in his search for authenticated proof, and his training as a lawyer helped him sift the evidence of friends and to operate forensically on Johnson himself. Boswell drew him out as no one else could, and although three-quarters of the book concerns the last twenty years of Johnson’s life, his skill in constructing the early years is remarkable. The text of this complete and unabridged edition is that of the 1791 first edition, and it remains, by common consent, the greatest biography in the English language. Johnson’s centrality in 18th century letters is established not only by Boswell’s record of his life and conversations, but also by the success of the work in placing him in a literary and cultural context. James Boswell (1740-95) was educated at Edinburgh and Glasgow universities as a lawyer. He moved to London in 1760, and was by turns a libertine and a Puritan. Introduced by his friends Sheridan and Garrick, Boswell met Johnson in 1763, and discovered a life’s calling.

With an Introduction and Notes by Martin Scofield, University of Kent at Canterbury Henry James was arguably the greatest practitioner of what has been called the psychological ghost story. His stories explore the region which lies between the supernatural or straightforwardly marvellous and the darker areas of the human psyche. This edition includes all ten of his ghost stories, and as such is the fullest collection currently available. The stories range widely in tone and type. They include 'The Jolly Corner', a compelling story of psychological doubling; 'Owen Wingrave', which is also a subtle parable of military tradition; 'The Friends of the Friends', a strange story of uncanny love; and 'The Private Life', which finds a shrewd, high comedy in its ghostly theme. The volume also includes James's great novella The Turn of the Screw, perhaps the most ambiguous and disturbing ghost story ever written.

This book features an Introduction by John S. Whitley, University of Sussex. This collection of Poe's best stories contains all the terrifying and bewildering tales that characterize his work. As well as the Gothic horror of such famous stories as «The Pit and the Pendulum», «The Fall of the House of Usher», «The Premature Burial» and «The Tell-Tale Heart», all of Poe's Auguste Dupin stories are included. These are the first modern detective stories and include «The Murders in the Rue Morgue», «The Mystery of Marie Roget» and «The Purloined Letter».

With an Introduction by David Stuart Davies ‘… the shadow turned round; and I saw a terrible death’s-head, which darted a look at me from a pair of scorching eyes. I felt as if I were face to face with Satan…’ Erik, the Phantom of the Paris Opera House, is one of the great icons of horror literature. This tormented and disfigured creature has made his home in the labyrinthine cellars of this opulent building where he can indulge in his great passion for music, which is a substitute for the love and emotion denied him because of his ghastly appearance. It is in the Opera House that he encounters Christine Daaé whom he trains in secret to become a great singer. Erik’s passionate obsession with a beautiful woman beyond his reach is doomed and leads to the dramatic tragic finale. Gaston Leroux’s novel is a marvellous blend of detective story, romance and spine-tingling terror which has fascinated readers ever since the work was first published.

From the unsurpassed imagination of the creator of Conan, Robert E. Howard, here are twenty-one tales of suspense, high adventure and Lovecraftian horror. Foul sacrifices are made to a reptilian God in Hungary, a werewolf prowls the corridors of a castle in strife-torn Africa, criminal masterminds on both sides of the Atlantic vie for world domination, an enchanted ring exerts a terrible influence upon its wearer… …And, as written in the pages of the accursed «Necronomicon» and «Unaussprechlichen Kulten», the Great Old Ones watch our world from beyond the void – and wait…

‘Moving, his candle was instantly extinguished, and in the very moment of being left in the darkness he saw, standing in the doorway, a woman, resembling her who had haunted his dream overnight. He rushed with outstretched hands to seize her, but clutched only air.’ «Night Shivers» presents a treasure trove of the stories of Mrs J. H. Riddell, one of the greatest Victorian writers of ghost stories. These tales, many of which have been out of print for years, take the reader on fearful journeys into the gloomy haunts of old neglected houses, into a world of prophetic dreams, out onto the wild terrain of Ireland to encounter a frightful banshee and even down into Hell itself. In these fourteen short stories and one novella, «The Uninhabited House», there is the distillation of the best and most effective of Riddell’s spine-tingling supernatural fiction.

‘As I fell the thing sprang across me and seemed to throw itself upon the captain. When I last saw him on his feet his face was white and his lips set. It seemed to me that he struck a violent blow at the dead being, and then he, too, fell forward upon his face, with an inarticulate cry of horror.’ This unique collection contains all the supernatural works of the prolific F. Marion Crawford (1854 – 1909), including his classic chillers ‘For Blood is the Life’, ‘The Upper Berth’ and the title story, ‘The Screaming Skull’ which was based on a true horror legend. Also included in this volume is his amazing novel «The Witch of Prague» which Dennis Wheatley described as a ‘classic of occult fiction.’ For a potent blend of horror, fantasy and fear Crawford’s tales have rarely been surpassed. Most of these stories have long been out of print, so this collection is a special treat for all lovers of supernatural mysteries.

Over half a century before the rise of the great ‘Queens of Crime’, Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, Amelia B. Edwards was an expert practitioner of crime fiction and murder mysteries, of which the best dozen are included in this volume. These gripping tales range from ingenious ‘whodunnits’ — ‘All Saints’ Eve’ and ‘The Tragedy in the Palazzo Bardello’ — to encounters with homicidal lunatics — ‘Cain’ and ‘A Railway Panic’ — clairvoyant visions preventing disaster or imminent murder — ‘The Professor’s Story’ and ‘A Night on the Borders of the Black Forest’ — and ghost stories ‘The Four-fifteen Express’, ‘Number Three’, ‘In the Confessional’, ‘Sister Johanna’s Story’, and ‘Was It An Illusion?’ — in which supernatural visitations explain earlier crimes and murders. These tales, many of which have been long out of print, are an ideal read for those who like their mystery stories tinged with a touch of the supernatural.

‘In the great mirror opposite I saw myself, and right behind, another wicked fearful self, so like me my soul seemed to quiver within me, as though not knowing to which similitude of body it belonged…’ Elizabeth Gaskell is better known today for her pioneering social novels such as «Mary Barton» (1848) but she also wrote some fascinating tales of the supernatural and the macabre, which are collected here in this volume. The real charm of this dark anthology is its variety. Unlike so many writers of this kind of material, Gaskell allows the story to fit the style rather than the other way around and as result there is a charming freshness to each tale. This remarkable author uses different voices, tones and topics to engage her readers and as you turn from one story to the next you cannot be quite sure what to expect.

William Tyndale is the finest English translator of the Bible, and his «New Testament» one of the most influential works in English Literature. As a young man in pre-Reformation England, where unauthorised translation of the Bible was illegal, he heard a pompous divine claim that 'we were better be without God's law than the Pope's'. Tyndale's answer was: 'I defy the Pope and all his laws, and if God spares my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the scripture than thou dost'. Unable to do this in England, he spent the rest of his life in exile on the Continent and was executed as a heretic in 1536. His translations — of the entire «New Testament» and much of the «Old Testament» — were smuggled into England, where an eager public risked their lives to read them. His «New Testament» with its clear, vivid style and resonant phrases, is a masterpiece of English prose and was the basis of the Authorized Version of 1611.

The Aylmer Vance stories date from the Edwardian period, and there are echoes in them of the Sherlock Holmes adventures which had proved so popular in the preceding decade. The friendship between Aylmer Vance and Dexter is not unlike that between Sherlock Holmes and Watson, and the two investigators approach the world of the supernatural in the same fearless and enquiring spirit in which Conan Doyle's heroes approach the world of crime. The parallel is not exact: Dexter, with his clairvoyant powers, is a more useful (and intelligent) ally than Watson, and Vance for the most part does not 'solve' mysteries the way Holmes does. What we get instead is a loosely-connected series of stories in which surprise is the major element, a world where not all ghosts are bad, where it is not always clear whether they are ghosts, and where being dead may for some be better than being alive.

Robert Murray Gilchrist (1868-1917) is perhaps best known for his interest in topography, and for his stories set in Derbyshire's Peak District. But he was also a master of mystery and horror, as this richly varied collection shows. If you are looking for a conventional horror story, in which the supernatural element is paramount, try «The Crimson Weaver», «Dame Inowslad», «Witch In-Grain», or «A Night on the Moor». If you are more taken with the psychology of the participants, often allied to a fascination with the killing of friends or lovers, then «Francis Shackerley», «The Noble Courtesan», «Althea Swathmore», and «My Friend» will be right up your street. For humour we are offered the Peakland comedy of «The Panicle» or «A Witch in the Peak». And when it comes to love, there are the tragic and poignant tales we might expect («The Return», «The Lost Mistress. The Madness of Betty Hooton»), but also the engaging and unusual «Bubble Magic» — a story of romantic betrayal which hints at a happy ending.

Catherine Carswell was one of the most loyal and dependable of D. H. Lawrence's friends. When he died in 1930, with the controversy over «Lady Chatterley's Lover» still raging, the abuse heaped on him prompted her into writing this warm and intimate account of his life. «The Savage Pilgrimage» traces Lawrence's troubled existence back to his working-class origins and gives a particularly moving and intimate description of his life during the First World War after «The Rainbow» had been banned, no-one would publish his work, and he became desperately poor. This is an essential book for anyone interested in the life of one of Britain's greatest and most controversial writers and includes details of Lawrence's everyday behaviour, and insights into his character, which could only have been provided by someone who was as close to him as its author.

'I have tried with an almost filial regard to render the vibration of life in the great world of waters, in the hearts of simple men who have traversed its solitudes, and also that something sentient which seems to dwell in ships — the creatures of their hands and the objects of their care' — Joseph Conrad on «The Mirror of the Sea». 'An imaginative and exact rendering of authentic memories may serve worthily that spirit of piety towards all things human which sanctions the conceptions of a writer of tales, and the emotions of a man reviewing his own experience' — «A Personal Record».These two autobiographical works differ greatly in scope and form. In «The Mirror» (1906) Conrad draws upon his career as a mariner in France and then in the British Merchant Service to consider and dramatise the relationships between men, ships and the sea in an era when his beloved sailing ships gave way to the age of steam. «A Personal Record» (1912) pivots on two crucial turning points in Conrad's amazing life: his decision as a sixteen year old to leave Poland for the 'call' of the sea, and his decision fifteen years later to begin his first novel, «Almayer's Folly», in English, his third language. «The Mirror» has been called 'the epic of the sailing ship' and 'The Bible of the Sea'. «A Personal Record» is a humorous, moving account of a young man's struggle, against all the odds, to create 'a coherent, justifiable personality both in its origin and its action'.

This title comes with an Introduction by Dr Beau Riffenburgh, Scott Polar Research Institute. Ernest Shackleton led two Antarctic expeditions, and died shortly after the beginning of the third. His first expedition was not a total success (they did not reach the South Pole), and the second was, in some senses, a total failure (they never reached the Antarctic mainland at all). Yet it is the second for which he is remembered. His expedition ship Endurance was trapped, then crushed in the ice, before his party could be landed, leaving his men in a hopeless situation. For months Shackleton held his party together before taking to boats and bringing everyone to safety to Elephant Island. His open-boat journey to South Georgia, and the eventual rescue of the party left behind, are now legendary.Visitors to Shackleton's grave in South Georgia, stepping over the lounging elephant seals that keep the dead company, pay homage to the man who had the vision, bravery and strength to open up Antarctica for all who followed. Shackleton showed the flame of leadership as few in the history of exploration have done, and nowhere does this come through more clearly than in the two accounts in this volume.

'He was very fat indeed, yet he walked with the light dainty step of a woman. His cheeks were as chubby as a baby's, his skin ivory tinted, his black hair close-cropped, his amber eyes slanting.' A family secret leads to murder in a house without locks... Someone is prepared to kill to procure a valuable set of pearls, and a parrot fluent in Chinese knows too much... A Scotland Yard Inspector is about to close his final case, but someone is prepared to kill to keep the mystery unsolved... Three very different crimes, with one thing in common... He's Honolulu's greatest detective — prepare to savour the wisdom of Charlie Chan. From Hawaii to San Francisco, no crime is too baffling, no clue too insignificant for Charlie. Long out of print, Charlie Chan's first three cases, «The House Without a Key», «The Chinese Parrot», and «Behind That Curtain», have been collected in one volume for your entertainment and bafflement.

Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) is famed for his magical stories, «Alice in Wonderland» and «Through the Looking-Glass», here illustrated throughout the inner pages by Sir John Tenniel's much loved drawings. However, inspired by the insatiable Victorian appetite for party games, tricks and conundrums, this eccentric and polymathical Englishman also wrote many other works of a humorous, witty, whimsical and nonsensical nature such as the mock-heroic nonsense verse «The Hunting of the Snark», as well as dozens of other verses, stories, acrostics and puzzles, all of which are included in this volume. Oxford scholar, Church of England Deacon, University Lecturer in Mathematics and Logic, academic author of learned theses, gifted pioneer of portrait photography, colourful writer of imaginative genius and yet a shy and pedantic man, Lewis Carroll stands pre-eminent in the pantheon of inventive literary geniuses.

Presents tales of high adventure and low intrigue from masters of the genre like John Buchan and Robert Louis Stevenson, classics of crime and detection from veteran thriller writers like Edgar Wallace and Arthur Conan Doyle, and spine-chillers from the pens of Ambrose Bierce.

This work starts with an introduction by J.H. Stape, St Mary's University College, Strawberry Hill. Written in 1930, Bernard Shaw: An Unauthorised Biography (1930) appeared shortly after Frank Harris' death. Shaw read the revised proofs, also making a few corrections and adding a short postscript. With the help of an American journalist and an anarchist of European reputation, Harris managed to finish his last completed work. Like much of his biographical writing, this work offers an impressionistic and unconventional portrait of a man of genius — or, rather, of qualified genius (as Harris sees Shaw) — and a man of talent, Harris himself.Eschewing conventional chronology, although Harris begins with Shaw's family background and ends with a chapter on the future, this kaleidoscopic attempt to pin Shaw down succeeds mainly by indirection, in its casual insights and off-the-cuff observations. A portrait with Shaw's warts unflinchingly in place, it is only partly an assessment of a social critic and playwright, with Harris on the loose, seeking to get his word out, one last time, on dramatic censorship, the First World War or on sex and religion.

This work contains an Introduction by M.J. Elliot. The sixteenth-century Puritan Solomon Kane has a thirst for justice which surpasses common reason. Sombre of mood, clad in black and grey, he 'never sought to analyse his motives and he never wavered once his mind was made up. Though he always acted on impulse, he firmly believed that all his actions were governed by cold and logical reasonings... A hunger in his soul drove him on and on, an urge to right all wrongs, protect all weaker things, and avenge all crimes against right and justice'. Immune to the attractions of the opposite sex, he seems drawn by some psychological distress beacon to places where he knows only that he will be called upon to defend the helpless or (more often) exact retribution on their behalf. Himself a Christian, possessed of enormous strength and skill in swordplay, he yet has little hesitation in calling upon the assistance of his Voodoo-practising friend N'Longa when strength, skill and Christian belief are not enough.

Demobilised officer, finding peace incredibly tedious would welcome diversion. Legitimate if possible; but crime, of a comparatively humorous description, no objection. Excitement essential. Bulldog Drummond was the original daredevil adventurer who, with his various friends, made it their mission to fight all enemies of Britain in the uncertain years following the First World War. Fearless, resourceful and debonair, Drummond could easily have been the father of James Bond. In the first four novels of the series, Bulldog Drummond, The Black Gang, The Third Round, The Final Count, all of which are contained within this volume, Hugh Drummond finds himself pitting his wits again Carl Peterson, a criminal genius with an insatiable passion for power and world domination. He has the great facility of disguise and his chameleon appearances are one of the joys of these thrilling tales. Peterson s constant companion is the sinister but beautiful Irma. The Drummond books are exciting page-turning adventures for grown up boys and girls.

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu is best known today as one of the Victorian period's leading exponents of supernatural fiction, and was described by M R James as standing 'absolutely in the first rank as a writer of ghost stories.' The House by the Churchyard is perhaps his best novel in this genre. Set in the village of Chapelizod, near Dublin, in the 1760s the story opens with the accidental disinterment of an old skull in the churchyard, and an eerie late-night funeral. This discovery relates to murders, both recent and historical whose repercussions disrupt the complacent pace of village affairs and change the lives of many of its notable characters forever. Charm and chilling darkness abound in equal measure in one of this greatest novels of a Victorian master of mystery.

Arthur Conan Doyle is best remembered today as the creator of the world's most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. But he was much more than that. Apart from being a popular and prolific author — his literary output included historical novels, science fiction and histories of the Boer War and the First World War — his passion for a wide range of subjects make him a colourful and fascinating character in his own right. He was an early champion of the Channel Tunnel, he played cricket for the MCC, was a staunch advocate of Spiritualism, introduced cross country skiing to Switzerland and he was acquainted with many of the notable public figures of the late Victorian and Edwardian period. His fascinating account of his life is a wonderful record of a unique individual. This volume has the added bonus of a perceptive and illuminating introduction by David Stuart Davies who throws some light into the darker areas of Conan Doyle's life.

Beowulf is the longest surviving poem of Anglo-Saxon England. Beowulf, a young warrior of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, king of the Danes, in his time of need. He first fights the hellish Grendel, then struggles with Grendel's no less fearsome mother in her hall beneath the cold waters of the mere. More than fifty years later Beowulf, now king of the Geats, must face his final challenge in the shape of a huge and terrifying dragon. But Beowulf is not just an adventure story. Other tales of war, feuding, and loss in less mythical worlds are interwoven with the main plot in such a way as to force readers to ask questions about the heroic code; equally thought-provoking are the juxtaposition of virtuous and vicious characters, the presence of some women who are helpless victims and others who exert a strong influence on men, and above all the fact that the characters are pagan while the poet is clearly (though not insistently) Christian. Marc Hudson's thoughtful modern English version combines readability with detailed attention to both the spirit and the meaning of the original poem.