Young, beautiful, proud and independent, Bathsheba Everdene moves to rural England to live with her aunt and uncle. A young and loyal shepherd, an older gentleman farmer and a dashing Sergeant all vie for her affections. But changes in fortune and circumstances as much as her own pride and independence, thwart her efforts to find true love and happiness. Thomas Hardy is well known for both his sensational story telling and evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes for good reason.

Orphaned early in life, Jane Eyre endures life with a cruel aunt, harsh boarding school and generous lashings of cruelty. From this grew Jane's strength of character and quest for freedom and equality. Jane eventually secures a job as a governess and falls in love with the owner of the manor, Edward Rochester. Despite her plainness, she captures his heart. But can they overcome differences in social status, age and experience? Will a secret he has come between them? Will she follow her convictions even if it meant losing her true love? Will love conquer all? Jane Eyre is a sensational love story Bronte style with truckloads of gutsy character building material to boot.

The Analects is the representative work of Confucianism. The philosophy of Confucius emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. The Analects records the words and acts of the central Chinese thinker and philosopher Confucius and his disciples. Confucianism is one of the worlds major thought systems and remains very relevant for understanding East Asia.

The Iliad is one of the two major ancient Greek epic poems of Homer and the first and greatest achievement of Classical Greek civilization. It tells of the last years of the siege of the city of Ilion (Troy) by the Greeks under King Agamemnon. It explores the conflict between love and honour, rage and control, a long life and a glorious life; all under the watchful and meddling Gods.

The Lady With the Dog is one of Chekhov's most famous stories. What seems like a brief affair between two married people becomes a threat to their family lives as they find they cannot forget each other. Chekhov is now the most popular playwright in the English-speaking world after Shakespeare, but many think that his short stories are his greatest achievement. Chekhov's stories are ranked No.9 on Time magazine's list of the "10 Greatest Books of all time", January 2007.

The Praise of Folly is considered one of the most influential works of literature in Western civilization and one of the catalysts of the Protestant Reformation. It starts as a piece of virtuoso foolery but then moves into some darker orations praising self-deception and madness. Published in 1511, Folly's influence echoed down the subsequent centuries and in part spawned the art of adoxography, the praise of worthless subjects.

The Underground Railroad says of itself: "An authentic record of the wonderful hardships, hairbreadth escapes, and death struggles which mark the track from slavery to freedom in the United States." The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes helping African Americans escape to 'free states' or Canada. Between 1810 and 1850 the Railroad may have moved as many 100,000 people to freedom.