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Great Expectations (Penguin Classics)

A Tale of Two Cities (Penguin Classics)

Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Richard Maxwell.

Lock and Key

“Ruby, where is your mother?”

Ruby knows that the game is up. For the past few months, sheÂ’s been on her own in the yellow house, managing somehow, knowing that her mother will probably never return.

That’s how she comes to live with Cora, the sister she hasn’t seen in ten years, and Cora’s husband Jamie, whose down-to-earth demeanor makes it hard for Ruby to believe he founded the most popular networking Web site around. A luxurious house, fancy private school, a new wardrobe, the promise of college and a future—it’s a dream come true. So why is Ruby such a reluctant Cinderella, wary and defensive? And why is Nate, the genial boy next door with some secrets of his own, unable to accept the help that Ruby is just learning to give?

Best-selling author Sarah Dessen explores the heart of a gutsy, complex girl dealing with unforeseen circumstances and learning to trust again.

America's Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation

Kenneth C. Davis, author of the phenomenal New York Times bestseller Don't Know Much About History, presents a collection of extraordinary stories, each detailing an overlooked episode that shaped the nation's destiny and character. Davis's dramatic narratives set the record straight, busting myths and bringing to light little-known but fascinating facts from a time when the nation's fate hung in the balance.

Spanning a period from the Spanish arrival in America to George Washington's inauguration in 1789, America's Hidden History details these episodes, among others:

• The story of the first real Pilgrims in America, who were wine-making French Huguenots, not dour English Separatists
• The coming-of-age story of Queen Isabella, who suggested that Columbus pack the moving mess hall of pigs that may have spread disease to many Native Americans
• The long, bloody relationship between the Pilgrims and Indians that runs counter to the idyllic scene of the Thanksgiving feast
• The little-known story of George Washington as a headstrong young soldier who committed a war crime, signed a confession, and started a war!

Full of color, intrigue, and human interest, America's Hidden History is an iconoclastic look at America's past, connecting some of the dots between history and today's headlines, proving why Davis is truly America's Teacher.

Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned (Don't Know Much About...)

Finally, someone who tells history like it was, without the old textbook gloss that's put so many students into premature naptime and misinformed the few who stayed awake. Davis corrects the myths and misconceptions from Columbus up through the Clinton administration, and shows that truth is more entertaining than propaganda.

Kenneth Davis's aim in this program, as it is in all the titles of this popular series, is to make learning relevant and fun. He succeeds marvelously. Davis has an easygoing style and a good sense of humor. And most importantly, he knows how to present the "big picture." His history of the United States is not a series of isolated incidents that happened long ago with no bearing on contemporary American life. Listening to this presentation, we recognize patterns, notice how problems of the past resurface in our own present, and realize that history is what makes us today. We are also presented with a look at American history that is far more honest than anything gleaned from traditional textbooks. Heroes and villains alike are presented, warts and all, and the "less savory moments" in America's past are discussed frankly. For, as Davis explains, "the real picture is much more interesting than the historical tummy tuck." The theme running through the program, from pre-European settlement to the Reagan years, is the struggle for power--the never-ending battle between the haves and have-nots that is the "essence of history." Six hundred years of history are broken up into manageable segments though a series of questions (spoken in a number of different voices to help distinguish them from the main narration), each of which is given a specific answer and then discussed in the context of its contemporary setting and perhaps past and future events. This is a crash course that focuses on the basics but will inspire listeners to want to know more--which is really what learning's all about. (Running time: six hours, four cassettes) --Uma Kukathas

Who really discovered America? What was "the shot heard 'round the world"? Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: Did he or didn't he?

From the arrival of Columbus through the bizarre election of 2000 and beyond, Davis carries readers on a rollicking ride through more than 500 years of American history. In this updated edition of the classic anti-textbook, he debunks, recounts, and serves up the real story behind the myths and fallacies of American history.

"Don¿t Know Much About Kenneth C. Davis: An Interview with the Author

In this new and completely revised, expanded and updated edition of the million-selling book that launched the Don't Know Much About® series, Kenneth C. Davis uses humor, wit, great stories and his trademark question-and-answer style to bring Americans a fresh new take on history. Perfect for history buffs and history-phobes alike.

A new, completely revised, expanded and updated edition of the million-selling New York Times bestseller that launched the entire Don't Know Much About® series

When Don't Know Much About® History first appeared thirteen years ago, it created a sensation. With humor, wit, great stories, and a trademark conversational style, the book brought Americans a fresh new take on history. Shattering myths and vividly bringing the past to life, it spent thirty-five consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Davis proved that Americans don't hate history -- they just hate the dull textbook version they were force-fed in school. The book became an instant classic, an ""anti -textbook"" that has sold more than 1.3 million copies.

In his irreverent and popular question-and- answer style, Davis now returns with a completely revised edition that brings history right up to the moment -- covering such topics as the end of the Cold War, Clinton's impeachment, the bizarre election of 2000, and the events that led to September 11.

Incorporating new research and discoveries, Davis also updates and expands on such long-standing American controversies as the Jefferson-Hemings affair, the Alger Hiss trial, and the Rosenberg spy case. And he includes an expanded ""civics lesson"" that examines some of America's hottest social and political issues, such as the death penalty, gun control, and school prayer.

Crime and Punishment (Enriched Classics)

The talented Alex Jennings creates an atmosphere of gripping psychological tension and brings a variety of characters to life in this new audio edition of a crime classic. When the student Raskolnikov puts his philosophical theory to the ultimate test of murder, a tragic tale of suffering and redemption unfolds in the dismal setting of the slums of czarist, prerevolutionary St. Petersburg. While Jennings's adept repertoire of British accents works to demonstrate the varying classes of characters, it occasionally distracts the listener from the Russian setting. However, Dostoyevsky's rendering of 18th-century Russia emerges unscathed, bringing the dark pathos (such as wretched poverty and rampant suffering) to life. (Running time: 315 minutes; 4 cassettes)

Dostoyevsky's penetrating study of a man for whom the distinction between right and wrong disappears, and a riveting portrait of guilt and retribution.

• A concise introduction that gives readers important background information

• A chronology of the author's life and work

• A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context

• An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations

• Detailed explanatory notes

• Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work

• Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction

• A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience

This epic tells the story of Raskolnikov, a student who believes he is superior and entitled. He commits a crime and the book traces his downfall. After being shipped off to Siberia for a prison sentence, Raskolnikov finds suffering to be a means by which the soul is purified of all its sins.

With the help of CliffsNotes you'll understand the overall structure of the work, actions and motivations of the characters, and the social and cultural perspectives of the author.

101 Great American Poems (Dover Thrift Editions)

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

"The most consistently brilliant science fiction writer in the world."
--John Brunner
THE INSPIRATION FOR BLADERUNNER. . .
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was published in 1968. Grim and foreboding, even today it is a masterpiece ahead of its time.
By 2021, the World War had killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remained coveted any living creature, and for people who couldn't afford one, companies built incredibly realistic simulacrae: horses, birds, cats, sheep. . .
They even built humans.
Emigrees to Mars received androids so sophisticated it was impossible to tell them from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial humans could wreak, the government banned them from Earth. But when androids didn't want to be identified, they just blended in.
Rick Deckard was an officially sanctioned bounty hunter whose job was to find rogue androids, and to retire them. But cornered, androids tended to fight back, with deadly results.
"[Dick] sees all the sparkling and terrifying possibilities. . . that other authors shy away from."
--Paul Williams
Rolling Stone

Crime and Punishment

With the same suppleness, energy, and range of voices that won their translation of The Brothers Karamazov the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Prize, Pevear and Volokhonsky offer a brilliant translation of Dostoevsky's classic novel that presents a clear insight into this astounding psychological thriller. "The best (translation) currently available"--Washington Post Book World.

Notes From Underground

This collection showcases Dostoyevsky's evolving outlook on man's fate. The compelling works presented here were written at distinct periods in the author's life, at decisive moments in his groping for a political philosophy and a religious answer.

Includes: Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dreams of a Ridiculous Man, and selections from The House of the Dead.

I am a sick man. ... I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man. I believe my liver is diseased. However, I know nothing at all about my disease, and do not know for certain what ails me. I don't consult a doctor for it, and never have, though I have a respect for medicine and doctors. Besides, I am extremely superstitious, sufficiently so to respect medicine, anyway (I am well-educated enough not to be superstitious, but I am superstitious). No, I refuse to consult a doctor from spite. That you probably will not understand. Well, I understand it, though. Of course, I can't explain who it is precisely that I am mortifying in this case by my spite: I am perfectly well aware that I cannot "pay out" the doctors by not consulting them; I know better than anyone that by all this I am only injuring myself and no one else. But still, if I don't consult a doctor it is from spite. My liver is bad, well - let it get worse! I have been going on like that for a long time - twenty years. Now I am forty. I used to be in the government service, but am no longer. I was a spiteful official. I was rude and took pleasure in being so. I did not take bribes, you see, so I was bound to find a recompense in that, at least. (A poor jest, but I will not scratch it out. I wrote it thinking it would sound very witty; but now that I have seen myself that I only wanted to show off in a despicable way, I will not scratch it out on purpose!)