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.

Student! Your life is your own. You have only yourself to thank for what you are, have been and will be.

According to the great horror writer H.P. Lovecraft The Ghost Pirates . . . is a powerful account of a doomed and haunted ship on its last voyage, and of the terrible sea-devils.

This first novel in Sax Rohmer's series, The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu combined together previously written short stories into a single story about the dealings of this criminal mastermind.

William Dean Howells' 1885 novel, The Rise of Silas Lapham tells the story of its protagonist's materialistic aspirations; his rise from rags to riches.

The Devil's Dictionary was begun in a weekly paper in 1881, and was continued in a desultory way at long intervals until 1906.

In Edgar Rice Burroughs' At the Earth's Core the narrator tells of his travels in the Sahara where he encounters David Innes, the pilot of an amazing vehicle and the owner of a remarkable story.

Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905) follows two women to Italy: the widowed Lilia Herriton and her traveling companion Caroline Abbott.

If only things had been different,Diane Tanner thought before discovering her alternate reality.

Quill hits the jackpot according to Liam and Kevin, when he hacks into secret files detailing joint.

When "Lucky" Luke Ray, a cocky young American pilot volunteers to fly for the French in World War I.

Describes the busy life of Senator Dianne Feinstein of Californiaseen.

A simple, everyday tale of classroom life with an open-ended conclusion.