Ecclesiastical History of the English People (2P)
This is the most admired work of Bede ``The Venerable,`` an English theologian who lived at the turn of the eighth century. It records the earliest inhabitants of England, but focuses on the spread of Christianity o...
Emma (6P)
Beautiful, clever, rich – and single Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of ot...
The History of the Kings of Britain (2P)
The lore of King Arthur begins with this historical text. Written a bit in the style of Herodotus-wandering and captivating-we find no simple, factual recounting; rather, a delightful teaching of lessons reflecting ...
The Last Days of Socrates (1P)
The trial and death of Socrates (469-399 B.C.) have almost as central a place in Western consciousness as almost any historical event. In four superb `dialogues`, Plato provided the classic account. Soft 234p...
Lysistrata and Other Plays (4P)
Brilliantly written and translated, this book contains one of Aristophanes` most famous plays, Clouds, which irreverently skewers the sophists and sceptics of his day. When the King of Syracuse asked Plato what he s...
Moby-Dick or, The Whale (6P)
"Call me Ishmael." So echo the famous opening lines of this American classic about the maniacal pursuit of the white whale. Every student should come aboard the Pequod on the voyage. But beware of Captain Ahab! T...
Notes from Underground and the Double (6P)
A predecessor to such monumental works as "Crime and Punishment" and "The Brothers Karamazov", "Notes From Underground" represents a turning point in Dostoyevsky's writing towards the more political side. In this wo...
Paradise Lost (6P)
In brief, Milton is fully recognizable as a Renaissance literary artist. His service to his God is inseparable from his service to poetry and to the cultivated and aesthetically beautiful handling of language. It is...
Pensees (6P)
If we submit everything to reason our religion will be left with nothing mysterious or supernatural’ Blaise Pascal, the precociously brilliant contemporary of Descartes, was a gifted mathematician and physicist, ...
The Portable Enlightenment Reader (6P)
The Age of Enlightenment of the eighteenth century, also called the Age of Reason, was so named for an exultant intellectual movement that shook the foundations of Western civilization. In championing radical ideas ...
The Prince (5P)
This famous treatise on statecraft holds such power to shock `men of goodwill` that at one time Machiavelli (1469-1527) was identified with Satan himself. In his own turbulent times he was concerned not with lofty ...
Reflections on the Revolution in France (3P)
Without a doubt, the finest political/philosophical conservative text published in its time. Burke saw what the French revolution was about and attacked it root and branch. Understanding the French Revolution is imp...
Robinson Crusoe (6P)
Life is a dangerous struggle for Robinson Crusoe as he finds himself stranded alone on an unknown island off the coast of South America. He must rely on his own wits to find food, shelter and clothing. Find out wh...
The Social Contract
The Social Contract, a classic book of political theory, was revolutionary in its time and continues to stir controversy today. Rousseau argues for a “social contract” between all citizens as the source of sover...
The Song of Roland (2P)
The Song of Roland is the earliest, the most famous, and the greatest of those Old French Epics which are called Songs of Deeds. Writing around the end of the 11th century, and recalling an actual disaster in 778, t...