We have called our stories Fairy Tales though few of them speak of fairies (For some recent views on fairies and tales about fairies, see Notes.)

Another visionary novel from the great science fiction writer H. G. Wells, The Island of Doctor Moreau tackles the thorny issues thrown up when humankind plays God and explores notions of society and identity, bringing the mythical chimera.

H. G. Wells' 1901 science fiction novel The First Men in the Moon tells the story of a voyage to the moon by Mr. Bedford, a businessman plagued by financial problems, and Dr. Cavor, a brilliant and somewhat eccentric scientist.

Sir Joshua Reynolds laid down principles of art from the point of view of a man of genius who had made his power felt, and with the clear good sense which is the foundation of all work that looks upward and may hope to live.

Selecting his cut and uncut jewels from very various Buddhistic sources, Mr. Bowden has here supplied those who buy and use the book with rubies and sapphires and emeralds of wisdom, compassion, and human brotherhood.

Causing mass hysteria as listeners of its 1938 radio broadcast believed a Martian invasion of Earth really was taking place, H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds is perhaps the most famous novel of its genre.

Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, from 1871, is a children's novel that is often put in the genre literary nonsense.

The Best American Humorous Short Stories features tales from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain and many other well known writers.

When Robert Browning first met the ailing Elizabeth Barrett in 1845 it must have seemed to him like something from a gothic novel.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's second novel starring the great detective Sherlock Holmes, The Sign of the Four weaves together a complex plot involving stolen treasure, a secret pact between guards and prisoners, and the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

Inspiring countless business, political and military leaders (Napoleon, Mao Zedong and General MacArthur among them), The Art of War is a Chinese military treatise by Sun Tzu from the 6th century BC.

The School for Husbands (L'École des maris) is a work by Molière (the stage name of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin), a French playwright who is often considered to be one of Western literature's great masters of comedy.

The Brothers Grimm, Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859), were born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, in the German state of Hesse.

Nicholas Nickleby is left responsible for his mother and sister when his father dies.

Helen Keller's autobiography, The Story of My Life, tells of her early life and of her experiences with Annie Sullivan, her teacher and companion.

British writer John Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps is the first of five adventure novels to star Richard Hannay, a man with a remarkable knack for getting out of sticky situations, and indeed getting into them in the first place.

In this autobiography, also titled The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Mohandas K. Gandhi recounts his life from childhood up until 1921, noting that my life from this point onward has been so public.

J M Barrie's most famous character, Peter Pan, originated in a whimsical story from his book The Little White Bird.

Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol under financial duress, but it became one of his most popular and enduring stories.

H. G. Wells' comic 1910 novel, The History of Mr. Polly, stars Alfred Polly, a timid man who is more successful at daydreaming than working in the local draper's shops.