So rich in drama that it has been adapted many times for stage and screen, "Les Mis" blends adventure with social commentary. A convict's heroic struggle for justice and redemption plays out against a fiery backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. This edition features the excellent original translation and a sensitive abridgment. Standard abridgement of the Pagnerre, Paris, 1862 edition.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo, A. L. Alger A gypsy girl's beauty and charm captivate a priest, a vagabond, a soldier, and a deformed bell-ringer, in a gripping tale that culminates in a riot and murder.
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux Mystery classic featuring the "ghost" of the famed Paris landmark holds readers captive as it tells a gripping tale of human desire, fear, and violence.
The Last Day of a Condemned Man by Victor Hugo, Arabella Ward, David Dow In this profoundly moving classic by the author of Les Misérables, a condemned man facing the guillotine looks back on his life and writes of his anguish inside prison walls.
The Trial by Franz Kafka, David Wyllie From its gripping first sentence onward, this novel exemplifies the term "Kafkaesque." Its darkly humorous narrative recounts a bank clerk's entrapment in a bureaucratic maze, based on an undisclosed charge.
