Penguin Anecdotes of the Cynics

This is the first anthology capacious enough to celebrate the full diversity and energy of its writers, subjects and tones. The most famous authors are here, and many others, including some magnificent stories never republished since their first appearance in magazines and periodicals. The Penguin Book of the British Short Story has a permanent authority, and will be reached for year in and year out. This volume takes the story from the 1920s to the present day

'The Boy-scouts mistook my signal, and have killed the postman. I've had very little practice in this sort of thing, you see' • The British short story tradition is probably the richest, most varied and historically extensive in the world. This new anthology celebrates the full diversity and energy of its writers, subjects and tones, from the story's origins with Defoe, Swift and Fielding, to the 'golden age' of the fin de siecle and Edwardian period, ending with the First World War. Including the most famous authors as well as some magnificent, little-known stories never republished since their first appearance in magazines and periodicals, these stories are by turns topical and playful, ghostly and theatrical, rumbustious and sublime • Edited with an introduction by Philip Hensher

The seventh heart-warming, uplifting instalment in the much-loved Railway Girls series is available to pre-order now! • Manchester, 1943 • Emily is enjoying her new job as a station porter until she learns that a trusted friend at work may be involved in something underhand • Persephone's romance with Matt is blossoming - but can two people from such different walks of life really make a go of it? • All is going well with wedding planning for Mabel until someone divulges a secret about Harry, which could threaten their future • As war rages around them, the railway girls must face their own battles. With the support of one another, will they make the right decisions when it comes to matters of the heart?

Learn all about the mysterious and exciting legends of the gods and heroes in Ancient Greece, from the birth of Heracles and the adventures of Theseus, to the first fall of Troy and the battle of the giants. Penguin Readers is a series of popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction written for learners of English as a foreign language. Beautifully illustrated and carefully adapted, the series introduces language learners around the world to the bestselling authors and most compelling content from Penguin Random House. The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework and include language activities that help readers to develop key skills

Come into the world of the vikings. The gods and giants are enemies. Loki's mother is a goddess but his father is a giant. Is he the gods friend or is he their enemy? They don't know... Penguin Readers is a series of popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, written for learners of English as a foreign language. The series is aligned to the Common European Framework and includes language activities that help develop key skills. Myths of the Norsemen, a Starter level Reader, is A1 in the CEFR framework. Starter level is ideal for readers who are learning English for the first time. Short sentences contain a maximum of two clauses, using the present simple and continuous tenses, possessives, regular and irregular verbs, and simple adjectives

Любовь и преступление причудливо переплелись в судьбе юной Тэсс, нищей наследницы древнего рода, обреченной на роль содержанки - и готовой переломить эту судьбу ценой собственной жизни! Став жертвой богатого повесы-соблазнителя, она протестует против грубого посягательства на человеческое достоинство и вынуждена пойти на крайние меры • "Тэсс из рода д`Эрбервиллей" Томаса Гарди - классический роман о страсти, трагедии и об испытаниях, стоящих на пути к счастью • Книга на английском языке • The Penguin English Library Edition of Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy • "I would be content, ay, glad, to live with you as your servant, if I may not as your wife; so that I could only be near you, and get glimpses of you, and think of you as mine... I long for only one thing in heaven or earth or under the earth, to meet you, my own dear! Come to me - come to me, and save me from what threatens me!" • When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall

A new edition of the classic African American autobiography, now with with the inclusion of Douglass's other works • The pre-eminent American slave narrative published in 1845, the Narrative powerfully details the life of the abolitionist Frederick Douglass from his birth into slavery in 1818 to his escape to the North in 1838: how he endured the daily physical and spiritual brutalities of his owners and drivers, how he learned to read and write, and how he grew into a man who could only live free or die • Also included in this edition are Douglass's famous oration The Meaning of the Fourth of July to the Negro and his only known work of fiction, the novella The Heroic Slave • Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born into slavery in 1818 in Tuckahoe, Maryland

Haunting, terrifying and hilarious, The Day of the Oprichnik is a dazzling novel and a fierce critique of life in the New Russia • Moscow 2028: Andrei Danilovich Komiaga, oprichnik, member of the czar's inner circle of trusted courtiers, rouses himself from a drunken stupor and prepares for another day of debauchery, violence, terror and beauty. In this New Russia, futuristic technology combine with the draconian world of Ivan the Terrible to create a dystopia chillingly akin to reality. Over the twenty-four-hour span of the novel, Komiaga will rape, pillage and torture, in the name of the czar he fears and adores. Shimmering with invention, fierce social commentary and razor-sharp wit, Day of the Oprichnik imagines a near future too disturbing to contemplate and too close to reality to ignore

Dramatic artist, natural scientist and philosopher, Plutarch is widely regarded as the most significant historian of his era, writing sharp and succinct accounts of the greatest politicians and statesman of the classical period. Taken from the Lives, a series of biographies spanning the Graeco-Roman age, this collection illuminates the twilight of the old Roman Republic from 157-43 bc. Whether describing the would-be dictators Marius and Sulla, the battle between Crassus and Spartacus, the death of political idealist Crato, Julius Caesar's harrowing triumph in Gaul or the eloquent oratory of Cicero, all offer a fascinating insight into an empire wracked by political divisions. Deeply influential on Shakespeare and many other later writers, they continue to fascinate today with their exploration of corruption, decadence and the struggle for ultimate power

Brendan has always lived a careful, constrained life. A salesman who never liked the work, he's a man who has stayed in his marriage and his faith because it was what was expected of him. But now, having lost his job after corporate downsizing and on the cusp of sixty, he finds himself scrambling to somehow stay afloat in the only Los Angeles work on offer to a man his age - driving for Uber • When one of his rides, a retired professor named Elise, asks to be dropped off outside an abortion clinic where she now volunteers, Brendan finds himself driving right into the virulent epicentre of one of the major issues of our time, engulfing his life in the process • A novel of high suspense and considerable moral complexity, Afraid of the Light is a tough, affecting social thriller that speaks volumes about the corrosive divisions of our troubled times

From the bestselling author of The Story of the British Isles in 100 Places comes this inspiring and beautifully written meditation on the wisdom inherited from our ancestors • For all we have gained in the modern world, simple peace of mind is hard to find. In a time that is increasingly fraught with complexity and conflict, we are told that our wellbeing relies on remaining as present as possible. But what if the key to being present lies in the past? • In Wisdom of the Ancients, Neil Oliver takes us back in time, to grab hold of the ideas buried in forgotten cultures and early civilizations. From Laetoli footprints in Tanzania to Keralan rituals, stone circles and cave paintings, Oliver takes us on a global journey through antiquity. A master storyteller, drawing on immense knowledge of our ancient past, he distils this wisdom into twelve messages that have endured the test of time, and invites us to consider how these might apply to our lives today

When Kurt Austin rescues the crew of a Scottish trawler, he finds himself trying to save them not once but twice. First, from the violent storm that dashes their vessel into jagged rocks and, second, from the deadly gunmen desperate to get their hands on its lost cargo of stolen Egyptian artefacts • Soon Kurt - with the assistance of resourceful MI5 agent Morgan Manning - is on the hunt for the source of these artefacts. It's a journey that takes them around the world and draws the fury of the mysterious Bloodstone group - an international network of murderous individuals who'll kill anyone in their way • But what do gunmen want with ancient loot? • One thing is for sure, if Kurt is to find out he's going to be in the cross hairs of some ruthless and well-armed foes