Sebastian Blackwood

Written in 1791 and 1792 this two-part declaration, Rights of Man, was in response to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. Part One argued for political independence and social reform. This seminal work on freedom and equality, written by Thomas Paine, one of the most influential writers and reformers of his age, is considered to be a classic statement of faith in democracy and egalitarianism and is Paine's most widely read work....

One of the patriarchs of the science fiction genre, H. G. Wells (1866-1946) produced a vast collection of important works on the topics of scientific progress, politics, history and social commentary. One work in particular marked a watershed moment in the English author's career. With the publication of "When the Sleeper Wakes" in 1899, later republished under the title "The Sleeper Awakes," Wells gave the world its first dystopia novel. The story...

Following a shipwreck, a young naturalist finds himself on an island run by a mad scientist intent on creating a strain of beast men.

Thomas Paine, a seminal figure in American History, was an Englishman by birth who immigrated to America in 1774, where he quickly took up the cause of the independence of the American colonies from England. His famous work "Common Sense", published in 1776, helped to gain public support for the American Revolution and established him as a central figure among the founding fathers. Later, while living in France during the French Revolution, Paine...

A remarkably handsome youth, Dorian Gray, meets Lord Henry Wotton and is corrupted into a life of terrible evil. Granted eternal youth, Dorian Gray lives a wild, dissipated life while his portrait grows old and haggard. Oscar Wilde's story of a fashionable young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty is one of his most popular works... full of stinging epigrams and shrewd observations, the tale of Dorian Gray's moral disintegration caused...

A travelling salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking to find himself transformed into a large, monstrous insect-like creature. He becomes burdensome to his parents and sister, who are repulsed by the horrible, verminous creature Gregor has become.

The Door in the Wall, considered by both readers and critics, to be Wells's finest tale, examines an issue to which Wells returned repeatedly in his writing: the contrast between aesthetics and science and the difficulty of choosing between them. This collection also includes The Star, A Dream of Armageddon, The Cone, A Moonlight Fable, The DiamondMaker, The Lord of the Dynamos, and The Country of the Blind.

The Wild Swans is one of the eighteen stories featured in this timeless collection of fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen. The story tells of a faraway kingdom where lives a widowed King with his twelve children: eleven princes and one princess. One day, he decides to remarry. He marries a wicked queen who was a witch. Out of spite, the queen turns her eleven stepsons into swans and forces them to fly away. The queen then tries to bewitch their...

H.G. Wells' "scientific romance," published first in serial form and then as a book in 1898, attained perhaps its greatest fame in another form, the infamous realistic 1939 radio broadcast "Invasion from Mars" by Orson Welles. It was also made into an early 1950s science fiction adventure movie. Stover (emeritus, Illinois Institute of Technology) describes Wells' story as "a prophecy of startling originality foreseeing the coming of totalitarianism...

Journey into a world of enchantment and resilience with "The Snow Queen and Other Tales" by Hans Christian Andersen. This captivating collection unfurls the tale of Gerda's brave quest to rescue her best friend Kay from the icy clutches of the Snow Queen. Alongside this epic adventure, discover other timeless stories filled with magical creatures, intricate plots, and deep moral lessons. Perfect for readers of all ages, these narratives are a testament...