Alma Books Leaves of Grass Уитмен Уолт

Впервые опубликованный в 1855 году и отредактированный, переработанный и дополненный в течение тридцати лет, "Листья травы" стал одним из самых знаменитых поэтических сборников в истории американской литературы. Мастер свободного стиха, Уолт Уитмен в своих стихах передает истинный дух своей родины и ее народа. Он исследует широкий спектр тем, охватывающих американскую идентичность и культурные ценности, демократию, природу и тайны человеческого духа • "Листья травы", включающие стихи оригинального издания 1855 года, остаются влиятельным произведением в рамках американской литературной традиции, изучаемым и ценимым во всем мире • Книга на английском языке • I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars • First published in 1855, and edited, revised and expanded over thirty years, 'Leaves of Grass' has become one of the most celebrated poetry collections in the history of American literature

A collectible new Penguin Classics series: stunning, clothbound editions of ten favourite poets, which present each poet's most famous book of verse as it was originally published. Designed by the acclaimed Coralie Bickford-Smith and beautifully set, these slim, A format volumes are the ultimate gift for poetry lovers • In 1855 Walt Whitman published his first collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass. The volume received great praise from leading Transcendentalist poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. This encouraged what would become a lifelong project as Whitman expanded and rewrote the volume until his death in 1892. Whitman's innovative use of free verse and the quotidian achieved his aim of reaching out to the everyday American. This edition, based on the earliest published version of 1855, features Whitman's most famous poem 'Song of Myself', an American epic inspired by his personal experiences

As a first-time visitor to London, De Amicis was awestruck by the bustle and magnificence of the Victorian metropolis and wrote a number of sketches in his trademark witty, observational style, which made him one of the best-selling travel writers of his age • Originally conceived as a series of newspaper articles and later published in volume form, De Amicis’s Memories of London brings back to life all the bygone charm of the capital of the British Empire. De Amicis’s impressions are paired here with a piece written by one of his contemporaries, the French writer Louis Laurent Simonin, which leaves the city’s opulence and grandeur behind and offers an uncompromising look at the poverty and squalor of its most deprived areas

Eichendorff’s prose masterpiece – a picaresque account of the wanderings of a young man who leaves home after a row with his father, and who eventually finds love with the girl of his dreams – is one of the best-known classics of German literature • Deeply imbued with the style and sentiment of German Romanticism, and philosophical and poetic in its approach to nature and existence, Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing is at once an exhilarating romp and a lively portrayal of nineteenth-century ideals

The Lives of Haydn, Mozart and Metastasio – Stendhal’s first published work – owes its inspiration to the audacious pragmatism of its author. After the collapse of the Napoleonic empire, Henri Beyle was jobless, soon destined to become a refugee and in desperate need of money. His most abiding passion in life was music, so why not write about it? Unfortunately, however, he knew next to nothing about it. So, calmly and without the slightest pang of conscience, he resolved to plunder the works of other writers – in particular those of the musicologist Giuseppe Carpani, who was annoyed and said so vociferously • The result of Stendhal’s unscrupulous plagiarism is one of the most fascinating literary enigmas of all time. How is it that what started as a blatant act of piracy evolved into a work of enduring genius? Despite its unpropitious beginnings, this work represents the wrong-headedness of a genius – and the singular Louis-Alexandre-Cesar Bomet who signed the Lives was already, in everything that mattered, the man who was to be Stendhal, one of the most enduring literary figures of the nineteenth century

Tales of Adventure and Medical Life, one of the collections Arthur Conan Doyle published at the end of his career, anthologizes some of his best short fiction outside of the Sherlock Holmes canon. As well as various tales of escapades in Egypt, London and the far-flung regions of northern Scotland, he included stories which deal with a subject that, as a physician himself, he had a unique perspective on: the medical profession • London surgeons and country doctors, male and female, are described as they deal with business and sentimental issues and encounter incredible situations – both comic and tragic. Conan Doyle displays his dazzling storytelling talents while providing a fascinating glimpse into his profession and times • Contains: ‘The Debut of Bimbashi Joyce’, ‘The Surgeon of Gaster Fell’, ‘Borrowed Scene’, ‘The Man from Archangel’, ‘The Great Brown-Pericord Motor’, ‘The Sealed Room’, ‘A Physiologist’s Wife’, ‘Behind the Times’, ‘His First Operation’, ‘The Third Generation’, ‘The Curse of Eve’, ‘A Medical Document’, ‘The Surgeon Talks’, ‘The Doctors of Holyland’, ‘Crabbe’s Practice’

A murderer is forced to reveal his crime by the sound of a beating heart, a mysterious figure wreaks havoc among a party of noblemen during the time of the plague, a grieving lover awakens to find himself clutching a box of his beloved blood-stained teeth, a man is obsessed with the fear of being buried alive - these are only some of the memorable characters and stories included in this volume, which exemplify Poe's inventiveness and natural talent as a storyteller • Immensely popular both during and after his lifetime, and a powerful influence on generations of writers and film-makers to this day, Edgar Allan Poe is still counted among the greatest short-story writers of all time and seen as one of the initiators of the detective, horror and science-fiction genres

These five stories were collected and published as Tales of Unrest in 1898, shortly before Heart of Darkness, the first of Conrad's major novels. Ranging from the faraway and unfamiliar, where the acquisitiveness of colonial adventure is damningly exposed, to an ostensibly ordinary London household, these disparate tales display Conrad's ability to explore and lay bare human nature • Set in Central Africa, 'An Outpost of Progress' is suffused with irony and represents a ruthlessly mocking view of European imperialism. 'Karain' and 'The Lagoon' are exotic tales of the Malay Archipelago, with the former telling of disharmony and discord between Western traders and the indigenous inhabitants. 'The Return' recounts the story of, in the author's own words, "a desirable middle-class town residence which somehow manages to produce a sinister effect"

Life of Dante brings together the earliest accounts of Dante available, putting the celebratory essay of literary genius Giovanni Boccaccio together with the historical analysis of leading humanist Leonardo Bruni. Their writings, along with the other sources included in this volume, provide a wealth of insight and information into Dante’s unique character and life, from his susceptibility to the torments of passionate love, his involvement in politics, scholastic enthusiasms and military experience, to the stories behind the greatest heights of his poetic achievements. Not only are these accounts invaluable for their subject matter, they are also seminal examples of early biographical writing. Also included in this volume is a biography of Boccaccio, perhaps as great an influence on world literature as Dante himself

On a boat in the Thames estuary, Marlow tells his travelling companions of his reconnaissance expedition for a Belgian trading company to its most remote outpost in central Africa, which brought him on the trail of the elusive Kurtz, a brilliant idealist gone rogue. His account relates not only the perils he encounters on his quest, but also the deterioration of his state of mind as he is confronted with a world that is hostile and alien to him • Renowned for its stylistic boldness and dramatic descriptions, Heart of Darkness is a stark yet subtle examination of the powers of the subconscious and the workings of western imperialism. This edition includes Conrad’s Complete Congo Diary

Although he is best known to the public as the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories and other pioneering works of detective fiction, Arthur Conan Doyle successfully contributed to other genres, such as historical fiction, as demonstrated by this collection he compiled in 1922 • These vivid and enthralling stories – which take the reader to Roman Britain, ancient Carthage, Mecca at the time of the Prophet Muhammad and many other evocative settings – showcase the author’s knack for bringing to life diverse times and places and crafting enduring narratives. Tales of Long Ago is an entertaining and invaluable read for all those interested in this lesser-known facet of Conan Doyle’s writing • Contains: ‘The Last of the Legions’, ‘The Last Galley’, ‘Through the Veil’, ‘The Coming of the Huns’, ‘The Contest’, ‘The First Cargo’, ‘An Iconoclast’, ‘Giant Maximin’, ‘The Red Star’, ‘The Silver Mirror’, ‘The Homecoming’, ‘A Point of Contact’

When an army of invading Martians lands in England, panic and terror seize the population. As the aliens traverse the country in huge three-legged machines, incinerating all in their path with a heat ray and spreading noxious toxic gases, the people of the Earth must come to terms with the prospect of the end of human civilization and the beginning of Martian rule. Inspiring films, radio dramas, comic-book adaptations, television series and sequels, The War of the Worlds is a prototypical work of science fiction which has influenced every alien story that has come since, and is unsurpassed in its ability to thrill, well over a century since it was first published