During one of his several adventurous voyages in the 1600s, an Englishman becomes the sole survivor of a shipwreck and lives for nearly thirty years on a deserted island. Illustrated notes throughout the text explain the historical background of the story

Huck tells of his adventures travelling down the Mississippi on a raft with an escaped slave, and of the many people they encounter, including a pair of swindlers and two families in a feud.

The Dialogues of Plato, written between 427 and 347 b.c., rank among the most important and influential works in Western thought. Most famous are the first four, in which Plato casts his teacher Socrates as the central disputant in colloquies that brilliantly probe a vast spectrum of philosophical ideas and issues. Socrates' ancient words are still true, and the ideas found in Plato's Dialogues still form the foundation of a thinking person's education....

A beautifully designed edition of one of the most beloved science fiction novels of all time...First published in 1895, The Time Machine won author H.G. Wells immediate recognition and has been regarded ever since as one of the great masterpieces in the literature of science fiction. It popularized the concept of time travel and introduced the concept of a "time machine" device that could travel forwards and backwards through the years.It is the story...

A monster assembled by a scientist from parts of dead bodies develops a mind of his own as he learns to loathe himself and hate his creator.

Heart of Darkness: Based on Conrad's own 1890 trip up the Congo River, the story is told by Marlow, the novelist's alter ego. It is the journey into darkness and horror, both literally, as the narrator descends into a sinister jungle landscape, and metaphorically, as he witnesses the depts of moral depravity symbolized by the agent Kurtz. The Secret Sharer: The tale of a young sea captain's first command as he sails into the Gulf of Siam, and into...

"50 Great Short Stories is a comprehensive selection from the world's finest short fiction ..."--Cover.