Zane Grey's debut novel, which he self-published in 1905, "Betty Zane" is the first book in Grey's "Frontier Trilogy" and tells the true biographical story of Elizabeth "Betty" Zane, a hero of the American Revolutionary War and direct ancestor of the author. While under siege at Fort Henry by American Indian allies of the British Army and faced with dwindling supplies, the lovely and sixteen-year-old Betty bravely volunteers to venture out of the...

A classic historical western of the eighteenth-century American frontier by the celebrated author of Riders of the Purple Sage . First published in 1906, The Spirit of the Border is a vivid and brutal tale based on true events as chronicled in the journals of Zane Grey's ancestor Col. Ebenezer Zane. It tells the story of Moravian Church missionaries and their efforts to bring peace to the Ohio Valley -- efforts that met a tragic end in the destruction...

The Island of Doctor Moreau is a classic work of early science fiction and one of H. G. Wells' most visionary novels. It recounts the harrowing ordeal of Edward Prendick, an Englishman who survives a shipwreck in the southern Pacific Ocean. Rescued by a man named Montgomery, Prendick finds himself on an island belonging to Dr. Moreau, formerly an eminent physiologist in London who was expelled from his homeland for his cruel vivisection experiments. Prendick...

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby' is a sprawling adventure that follows young Nicholas' journey across England to defend his family's honour and regain their lost fortune. After the death of Nicholas' father, the Nickleby family is on the brink of collapse, and they must rely on their treacherous uncle Ralph to survive. Nicholas is sent to work at a Yorkshire school but quickly learns that it is run by belligerent ghouls. After a violent...

"This collection includes many of the most familiar cases Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson ever solve, including "Silver Blaze," "The Greek Interpreter," and "The Musgrave Ritual." As Holmes's fame grows, it brings him a notoriety that piques the ire of London's criminal underworld, who begin to scheme against him. It is in "The Final Problem" that Dr. Watson relates the grisly, fatal, and shocking tale of how Holmes finally meets his match, encountering...

Mormon elders in the town of Cottonwoods pressure the widow Jane Withersteen to remarry so that her lands and herds will remain in their control. Gradually they frighten away most of her cowboys, and rustlers steal away her cattle, but the gunfighter Lassiter stands by her as the inevitable confrontation draws near.

"If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others?" - CANDIDE Candide is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. It is the absurdly melodramatic story of a young man, Candide, living a sheltered life who clings desperately to "the best of all possible worlds," one which is abruptly interrupted by a series of painfully disillusioning events that set him off on a wide-ranging journey....

"Haunted since its construction by fraudulent dealings, accusations of witchcraft, and sudden death, the House of the Seven Gables is now home to shop-keeper Hepzibah Pyncheon and her brother Clifford, who has just completed a thirty-year sentence for murder. Their wealthy but unpleasant cousin, Judge Pyncheon, arrives for a visit, hoping to find the deed to the house, but his plans fall apart when someone is murdered. The House of the Seven Gables...

Considered by many to be E. M. Forster's greatest novel, Howards End is a beautifully subtle tale of two very different families brought together by an unusual event. The Schlegels are intellectuals, devotees of art and literature. The Wilcoxes are practical and materialistic, leading lives of "telegrams and anger." When the elder Mrs. Wilcox dies and her family discovers she has left their country home-Howards End-to one of the Schlegel sisters,...

A blow on the head transports a Yankee to 528 A.D. where he proceeds to modernize King Arthur's kingdom by organizing a school system, constructing telephone lines, and inventing the printing press.