Vintage books The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Stories По Эдгар Аллан

For centuries, scientists had only one way to study the brain: wait for misfortune to strike - strokes, seizures, infections, lobotomies, horrendous accidents, phantom limbs, Siamese twins - and see how the victims changed afterwards. In many cases their survival was miraculous, and observers marvelled at the transformations that took place when different parts of the brain were destroyed. Parents suddenly couldn't recognise their children. Pillars of the community became pathological liars and paedophiles. Some people couldn't speak but could still sing. Others couldn't read but could write • The stories of these people laid the foundations of modern neuroscience and, century by century, key cases taught scientists what every last region of the brain did

Even in an age of soaring skyscrapers and cavernous sports stadiums, the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence still retains a rare power to astonish. Yet the elegance of the building belies the tremendous labour, technical ingenuity and bitter personal strife involved in its creation. For over a century after work on the cathedral began in 1296, the proposed dome was regarded as all but impossible to build because of its enormous size. The greatest architectural puzzle of its age, when finally completed in 1436 the dome was hailed as one of the great wonders of the world. It has gone down in history as a masterpiece of Renaissance architecture • This book tells the extraordinary story of how the cupola was raised and of the dome's architect, the brilliant and volatile Filippo Brunelleschi

'I'll tell you what happened because it will be a good way to introduce my brother. His name's Simon. I think you're going to like him. I really do. But in a couple of pages he'll be dead. And he was never the same after that.' • There are books you can't stop reading, which keep you up all night • There are books which let us into the hidden parts of life and make them vividly real • There are books which, because of the sheer skill with which every word is chosen, linger in your mind for days • The Shock of the Fall is all of these books • The Shock of the Fall is an extraordinary portrait of one man's descent into mental illness. It is a brave and groundbreaking novel from one of the most exciting new voices in fiction

'As good as anything Tolstoy ever wrote... Self-assured, vital, unforgettable' Guardian • The title story of this collection is about a man battling a mysterious illness. His family visit his bedside, their faces masks of concern. His colleagues pay their respects but only think of the advantages created by his death. This intensely moving story of Ivan Ilyich's lonely end is one of the masterpieces of Tolstoy's late fiction

В доме на улице Морг обнаружены два женских трупа. У полиции нет ни мотивов, ни улик этого загадочного преступления. Ясно лишь одно: убийца не только обладает нечеловеческой силой, но и способен растворяться в тумане ночи... И тогда за дело берется один из лучших детективов Франции Огюст Дюпен. Он умело распутывает все узелки и собирает куски головоломки в единое целое • Опубликовав в апреле 1841 г. рассказ "Убийства на улице Морг" , американский писатель Эдгар По заложил основы детективного жанра и ввел в литературный обиход нового героя - благородного сыщика, наделенного выдающимися умственными способностями и "даром анализа", при помощи которых он виртуозно расследует самые трудные загадки и преступления • Также в сборнике представлены рассказы "Сердце-обличитель", "Маска Красной смерти" и "Падение дома Ашеров"

The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories is a collection of stories that emerged from a profound spiritual crisis, during which Leo Tolstoy believed that he had encountered death itself. This Penguin Classics edition is translated with an introduction by Anthony Briggs, David McDuff and Ronald Wilks • These seven compelling stories explore, in very different ways, Tolstoy's preoccupation with mortality. 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich' is a devastating account of a man fighting his inevitable end, and asks the existential question: why must a good person be taken before his time? In 'Polikushka', a light-fingered drunk's chance to prove himself has tragic repercussions, while 'Three Deaths' depicts the last moments of an aristocrat, a peasant and a tree, and 'The Forged Coupon' shows a seemingly minor offence that leads inexorably to ever more horrific crimes

Вашингтон Ирвинг - первый романтик американской литературы, "первый посол Нового мира в Старом", по выражению У. Теккерея. Мистические рассказы о привидениях, исторические легенды и реальность, картины старой Англии и сцены повседневной американской жизни сочетаются в сочинениях В. Ирвинга • В сборнике представлено 31 произведение Ирвинга, включая "Легенду о Сонной лощине" • Книга на английском языке • HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics • 'There was a contagion in the very air that blew from that haunted region; it breathed forth an atmosphere of dreams and fancies infecting all the land.' • Featuring 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' and 'Rip Van Winkle', this collection of inspired essays, stories and sketches established Washington Irving's reputation as one of America's foremost authors

The writings of one of the great woman adventurers of the twentieth century - the 'female Lawrence of Arabia' - and the subject of a new film starring Nicole Kidman • In the last century, few people lived more astounding - or influential - lives than Gertrude Bell. During World War I, she worked her way up from spy to army major to become one of the most powerful woman in the British Empire. After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, she was instrumental in drawing the borders that define the region today, including creating an independent Iraq. This is the epic story of Bell's life, told through her letters, military dispatches, diary entries, and other writings. It offers a unique and intimate look behind the public mask of a woman who shaped nations

Nikolai Gogol, an early 19th century Ukrainian-born Russian novelist, humorist, and dramatist, created some of the most important works of world literature and is considered the father of modern Russian realism. Gogol satirized the corrupt bureaucracy of the Russian Empire through the scrupulous and scathing realism of his writing, which would ultimately lead to his exile. Among some of his finest works are his short stories. Together in this collection are collected some of the best of these stories, they include the following: The Diary of a Madman, The Viy, The Mysterious Portrait, The Fair of Sorotchinetz, An Evening in May, Mid-Summer Evening, and The Carriage (The Calash)

Leo Tolstoy combined detailed physical description with perceptive psychological insight to sweep aside the sham of surface appearances and lay bare man’s intimate gestures, acts, and thoughts. Murder and sacrifice…greed and devotion…lust and affection…vanity and love—one by one, in this volume of great stories, Tolstoy dissects the basic drives, emotions, and motives of ordinary people searching for self-knowledge and spiritual perfection

Featuring ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ and ‘Rip Van Winkle’, this collection of inspired essays, stories and sketches established Washington Irving’s reputation as one of America’s foremost authors. Irving’s timeless characters, including Ichabod Crane, Rip Van Winkle and the headless Hessian trooper, jostle for space alongside 31 equally atmospheric and lyrical works in this haunting anthology from one of America’s most distinctive literary voices

Первоначально опубликованный в журнале Graham`s Magazine в 1841 году, "Убийства на улице Морг" считается первым классическим рассказом о расследовании, давшим начало жанру криминальной фантастики, который мы знаем и любим сегодня • В нем был представлен сыщик С. Огюст Дюпен, и за этой головоломкой в жанре "запертая комната" последовали еще два приключения месье Дюпена: Тайна Мари Роже и Похищенное письмо. Кроме того, читатели могут насладиться ранним детективным рассказом Эдгара По "Ты - мужчина!", в котором предпринимается попытка раскрыть убийцу богатого Барнабаса Шаттлуорти, и беспрецедентным приключением некоего Ганса Пфааля, с его попыткой достичь Луны на революционно новом воздушном шаре! • Книга на английском языке • Originally published in Graham's Magazine in 1841, The Murders in the Rue Morgue is considered to be the first classic tale of detection that gave birth to the genre of crime fiction which we know and love today