Great Authors

In September 1769, 3,000 people descended on Stratford-upon-Avon to celebrate the artistic legacy of the town's most famous son, William Shakespeare. Attendees included the rich and powerful, the fashionable and the curious, eligible ladies and fortune hunters, and a horde of journalists and profiteers. For three days, they paraded through garlanded streets, listened to songs and oratorios, and enjoyed masked balls. It was a unique cultural moment - a coronation elevating Shakespeare to the throne of genius. Except it was a disaster....

A blockbuster illustrated book that captures what Americans love to read, The Great American Read: The Book of Books is the gorgeously-produced companion book to PBS's ambitious summer 2018 series.

What are America's best-loved novels? PBS will launch The Great American Read series with a two-hour special in May 2018 revealing America's 100 best-loved novels, determined by a rigorous national survey. Subsequent episodes will air in September and October. Celebrities and everyday Americans will champion their favorite novel and in the finale in late October, America's number one best-loved novel will be revealed.

The Great American Read: The Book of Books will present all 100 novels with fascinating information about each book, author profiles, a snapshot of the novel's social relevance, film or television adaptations, other books and writings by the author, and little-known facts. Also included are themed articles about banned books, the most influential book illustrators, reading recommendations, the best first-lines in literature, and more.

Beautifully designed with rare images of the original manuscripts, first-edition covers, rejection letters, and other ephemera, The Great American Read: The Book of Books is a must-have book for all book lovers.

One of the most beloved novelists of all time, Jane Austen (1775 - 1817) is also one of the most scrutinized. Since the early 20th century, she has been a favorite topic of academic researchers and scholars; at the same time, the popularity of her books has continued to grow. Why are Austen's novels the subject of scholarly tomes and doctoral dissertations, and also the inspiration for a virtual cottage industry of popular adaptations?

Recounts the story of America’s last great newspaper war between the New York Daily News and the New York Post, as both papers’ long rivalry turned existential amid the rise of digital news. The story is told through the eyes of the reporters, or “runners”, and photographers who fought the war on the ground in cities across America.

Recounts the story of America’s last great newspaper war between the New York Daily News and the New York Post, as both papers’ long rivalry turned existential amid the rise of digital news. The story is told through the eyes of the reporters, or “runners,” and photographers who fought the war on the ground in cities across America.

To coincide with the bicentennial of Thoreau's birth in 2017, this thrilling, meticulous biography by naturalist and historian Kevin Dann fills a gap in our understanding of one modern history's most important spiritual visionaries by capturing the full arc of Thoreau's life as a mystic, spiritual seeker, and explorer in transcendental realms.

"1100 Quotations from the Great French Writers of the 19th Century" is a wonderful collection of wit and wisdom from some of the greatest French writers ever. From Guy de Maupassant and Honoré de Balzac to Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas, this carefully crafted collection is guaranteed to inspire and entertain. Ideal for those needing a dose of encouragement. These French literary giants are responsible for some of the worlds most famous works, including "The Three Musketeers", "Les Misérables", "Madame Bovary" and "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame".

In Simply Joyce, author Margot Norris strips the mystery from Joyce's groundbreaking books by offering a clear introduction to why and how they were produced. Along the way, she offers insights into Joyce's life and creative inspirations by exploring his stories and novels in depth. Beginning with the more accessible early works and proceeding through Ulysses and the even more challenging Finnegans Wake, Norris provides a clear and easily understandable overview of this seminal writer.

Does your life need more amazing adventures? Do you want more fulfillment and significance? Marlene was 22, a new baby in arms, when her husband said, “I think God’s calling us to give our lives to the Philippines.” Her response? “Sounds like an adventure!” But three years into their successful ministry, Marlene loses her entire family to a plane crash, and Don and Marlene must return home to run the family business.

In 2015, you were introduced to Michael Webber, a corporate powerhouse who almost lost everything when his pursuit of the almighty dollar took his health, his relationships, and his spirit. Now, join Michael on the next leg of his journey, as he and Petra make a new life for themselves in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, bringing with them the lessons of the past and excitement for the future! Michael expands his skills, becoming a leadership trainer as the Webber family grows with the arrival twins, one of whom is diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

In Simply Beckett, professor Katherine Weiss provides a highly accessible and insightful introduction to the award-winning author and his paradoxical works, with a particular focus on Beckett’s theater activities, both as a writer and director. Through discussion of the written texts, significant productions of the plays, and audience and critical reactions to Beckett’s work, Weiss helps the listener understand the groundbreaking nature of his achievements and points the way toward a greater appreciation of his oeuvre.

Mark Scarbrough has been searching for something his entire life. Whether it’s his birth mother, true love, his purpose, or his sexual identity, Mark has been on a constant quest to find out who he really is, with the great Western texts as his steadfast companions. As a boy with his head constantly in a book, desperate to discover new worlds, he can hardly distinguish between their plots and his own reality.

The story of F. Scott Fitzgerald's creation of Jay Gatsby - war hero and Oxford man - at the beginning of the Jazz Age, when the City of Dreaming Spires attracted an astounding array of intellectuals, including the Inklings, W. B. Yeats, and T. S. Eliot.

Walter Besant was a novelist and historian, and his topographical and historical writings were probably best known through the detailed 10-volume Survey of London published after his death. This earlier single volume covers, in less depth, the whole period from prehistory until the 19th century. The book appears originally to have been written for boys, and, indeed, the chapters are called "Lessons". However, it is a very listenable history and provides a fascinating insight into both London's past and the government of the city at the time the book was written in 1894.

Ahoy! Have you been searching high and low, looking for the right book that will change your life in a new and better direction? Well, shiver me timbers! Then stop wasting your time. You could be walking past the best treasure map to a great fortune that you may ever encounter. To summarize the book, it's about shifting your mindset to a better and improved version of yourself, with specialized knowledge about nearly everything that can be valuable clues to achieving a great fortune as quickly as possible.

Gracias a su valor pudo ser uno de los primeros músicos de su tiempo, pues su padre odiaba la música y se opuso rotundamente a la vocación de su hijo, quien la estudió en secreto, profundizando en ella hasta hacer de su música la síntesis de los diferentes estilos de la época barroca. Aunque se formó en Halle, su ciudad natal, trabajó en distintas capitales: Hamburgo, Roma, Hannover y Londres, aprendiendo de sus distintas escuelas y estilos.

Es una novela de 1925 escrita por el autor estadounidense F. Scott Fitzgerald que sigue a un grupo de personajes que viven en la ciudad ficticia de West Egg en la próspera Long Island, en el verano de 1922. La historia hace referencia principalmente al joven y misterioso millonario Jay Gatsby, su pasión quijotesca y la obsesión por la hermosa ex debutante Daisy Buchanan.

This book is about the author growing up in the 1940s, '50s and '60s in the small town of Alliance, Ohio. Alliance was written up in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not “as the only city in the United States who’s Main Street was Dead End at both ends". It was a time that children were growing up learning to love their families, friends, nature’s outdoor, religion, and good moral codes and the value of hard work.

In 1953, Winston Churchill received the Nobel Prize - for Literature. In fact, Churchill was a professional writer before he was a politician, and published a stream of books and articles over the course of two intertwined careers. Now historian Peter Clarke traces the writing of the magisterial work that occupied Churchill for a quarter century, his four-volume History of the English-Speaking Peoples. As an author, Churchill faced woes familiar to many others - chronically short of funds, late on deadlines, scrambling to sell new projects....

In this volume, Greg Clarke and Monte Beauchamp take us on an unforgettable literary bar crawl. A Sidecar Named Desire is packed with historical factoids, anecdotes, booze trivia, and fascinating detours into the lives of our most storied literary personalities - along with literary-themed cocktail recipes such as Ernest Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon and Philip Larkin’s Gin and Tonic set to verse.