Washington Irving was an 18th century American short story writer, historian, and diplomat. He was born into a merchant family of Scottish/English descent and was the youngest of 11 children. Irving was one of the first American writers to become popular in Europe. He was admired by some of the best-known British writers, including Charles Dickens, Lord Byron, and Walter Scott. 

The audiobook includes a historical introduction, an overview, study of themes, and a list of the best famous quotes of R.L. Stevenson's popular work Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The novel revolves around an investigation carried out by a London lawyer Gabriel John Utterson concerning the strange relationship between his client - Dr. Jekyll - and Mr. Hyde. The novella had a huge impact on modern culture, so much so, that the phrase “Jekyll and Hyde” became a common way of describing someone's dual nature. 

A Tale of Two Cities is a historical fiction first published in weekly installments in 1859. The plot takes place in London and Paris between 1775 and 1792. Eighteenth-century France and England are both ruled by fear and oppression. The upper classes live in luxury while common people suffer and starve. However, there is a difference. The novel starts with the words, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," and we soon learn of the major difference between the two countries. Enjoy this timeless classic!

Unique to this collection is: A historical introduction to Lewis Carroll, his work and his life, a list of recurring themes appearing in Lewis Carroll’s works, a list of the best famous quotes from his works. You may of course skip all of it and go straight to the titles if you do not want any spoilers and come back later to the beginning. Enjoy these timeless classics!

The Epic of Beowulf dates back to CE 1000 and is considered the oldest surviving piece of work in English literature. Although written in Britain, the story of Beowulf is set in Scandinavia. The epic poem is composed in Old English and consists of 3,182 lines. It is written in the alliterative verse style, which is common for Old English poetry. The poem is about the legendary hero, Beowulf, a nobleman of the Geats. They were a North Germanic people inhabiting modern-day Gotaland in Southern Sweden.

In Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark has recently lost his father, but his mother is in a hurry to marry her late husband's brother. Hamlet is overwhelmed with grief for his father's death but also outraged because of the hurried marriage. Most people don't realize that there are three versions of Hamlet, printed at different times. There is a considerable difference between the texts of these versions, so to have a "complete" version of this play, editors had to make some adjustments. The three texts are simply different versions of the play.

In 1729, Swift published A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick known today as A Modest Proposal. In this satire, Swift grotesquely suggests how the poor could solve the problem of their numerous families which they are struggling to feed. 

"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story by American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman. In her best-known work, "The Yellow Wallpaper", Gilman writes about different kinds of oppression that women were exposed to at the time. Women were patronized and treated as mentally weak and fragile. They were believed to be prone to many "nervous conditions" and particularly hysteria. Enjoy this timeless classic!

Educated in Lebanon, United States, and France, Gibran was influenced by the European modernists of the late 19th century, but even more by Francis Marrash, who introduced poetic prose and prose poetry in the Arab world. Gibran's style of writing and ideas he wrote about are believed to have been greatly influenced by Marrash, particularly the concept of universal love.

Abraham “Bram” Stoker was born in 1847 in Dublin as the third of seven children. Stoker was bedridden with an unknown illness until the age of seven, when he made a complete recovery. He even grew up to become a successful athlete. Stoker is best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula. The novel Dracula begins when an English lawyer, Jonathan Harker, travels to Eastern Europe to meet Count Dracula, who is a client of his. When he arrives in Transylvania, he immediately notices that locals are shocked to learn where he is heading. 

Jane Austen's early novels are a comic portrait of characters and society. Pride and Prejudice depicts late 18th-, early 19th-century England where the social class system was very rigid. Behavior was very important, especially for women who were hoping to find a husband, and having good behavior meant sticking to the right manners and right forms of address. Everyone watched everyone else and noted even tache slightest changes in mannerism, so it was very important to use the right manners all the time. This applied to women much more than to men.

Shakespeare writes about the plight of Romeo and Juliet with a lot of empathy and views their tragedy as a result of bad fate, rather than a problem with their characters. We sense from the very start that their relationship is doomed. Romeo and Juliet are portrayed as sincere and virtuous young people who are madly in love, but because of the feud between their families, their relationship has to end. As they won't even consider a separation, the only way out of the situation they find themselves in is by taking their own lives.

This annotated edition of the classic Gothic novel, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelly includes an historical introduction, an overview, study of the themes present in the book, and a list of famous quotes.

This is an audio enhanced version - with music and sound effects - of a book long hailed as one of the great science fiction classics, H.G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau. It tells the story of Edward Prendick, a shipwreck survivor who is brought to an uncharted island where he encounters Doctor Moreau, a mad scientist bent on experimenting with human/animal hybrids. 

Presented is a two-volume collection of Wells' most celebrated classics of science-fiction and horror: The Time Machine and The Island of Doctor Moreau. This audio-enhanced version - with sound effects and musical soundtrack - combines Wells' groundbreaking exploration of time travel with his "youthful blasphemy" tale of animal and human hybrids.