This collection of Somerset Maugham's short stories includes stories based in England, France and Spain, as well as the South Pacific. It includes Rain, the tradgedy of a missionary and a prostitute and The Three Fat Women of Antibes, a sardonic tale of abstention and greed.

A historical tale marking a new turn in Doyle's writing. Born in the slums of Dublin in 1902, his father a one-legged whorehouse bouncer, Henry Smart has to grow up fast. He eventually becomes a Fenian, a rebel, a republican legend — one of Michael Collins's boys, an assassin on a stolen bike.

Written in 1944 but first published in 1985, The Tenth Man is set in a prison in occupied France during World War II and concerns Lewis Chavel, a captured rich lawyer who is probably going to be shot in a German act of reprisal. In a prison in Occupied France one in every ten men is to be shot. The prisoners draw lots among themselves — and for lawyer Louis Chavel it seems that his whole life has been leading up to an agonizing failure of nerve. Hysterical with panic, fear, and a sense of injustice, he offers to barter everything he owns for someone to take his place.

A celebrated writer by the time the war broke out in 1914, Somerset Maugham was dispatched by the Secret Service to Lucerne — under the guise of completing a play. An assignment whose danger and drama appealed both to his sense of romance and of the ridiculous. The stories collected in ASHENDEN are rooted in Maugham's own experiences as an agent, reflecting the ruthlessness and brutality of espionage, its intrigue and treachery, as well as absurdity.

Far Eastern Tales is a collection of short stories born of Maugham's experiences in Malaya, Singapore and other outposts of the former British Empire. Whether portraying a ship-borne flight from a lover's curse, murder in the jungle, or a marriage shattered by a past indiscretion, they all reveal Maugham at his best — sometimes caustic, sometimes gently comic, but always the shrewd and human judge of character and soul.

Set in the bohemian cafe society of Paris at the turn of the nineteenth century, Maugham's exploration of hypnotism and the occult was inspired by the sinister black magician Aleister Crowley. At the start of this compulsive gothic horror story, Arthur and his beautiful, innocent fiancee Margaret look forward to an idyllic life together, until they encounter the mesmerising and repulsive Oliver Haddo...

A guide to returning depth, meaning and spirituality to personal relationships, showing how a rich, meaningful love can be rediscovered by restoring the missing element of spirituality. Chopra presents the timeless laws of love, together with suggestions for bringing them into daily use.

Every year on his birthday, Ned Dunstan is cursed with visions of horror committed by a savage figure he calls Mr. X. This year, Ned's visions will become flesh and blood — as a journey into his family's past brings him face-to-face with his darkest nightmares.

The photographs by Annie Leibovitz in Women, taken especially for the book, encompass a broad spectrum of subjects: a rap artist, an astronaut, two Supreme Court justices, farmers, coal miners, movie stars, showgirls, rodeo riders, socialites, reporters, dancers, a maid, a general, a surgeon, the First Lady of the United States, the secretary of state, a senator, rock stars, prostitutes, teachers, singers, athletes, poets, writers, painters, musicians, theater directors, political activists, performance artists, and business women. Each of these pictures must stand on its own, Susan Sontag writes in the essay that accompanies the portraits. But the ensemble says, So this is what women are now — as different, as varied, as heroic, as forlorn, as conventional, as unconventional as this.

The application of advanced philosophical techniques in a defence of historical materialism made the first edition of this book, published in 1978, a flagship for analytical Marxism. In this edition, the author re-constructs the theory, discussing the implictions and his reservations.

«#1 «NEW YORK TIMES» BESTSELLER A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, an evil legacy long believed dead is stirring. Now the dark side of the Force threatens to overwhelm the light, and only an ancient Jedi prophecy stands between hope and doom for the entire galaxy. On the green, unspoiled world of Naboo, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, arrive to protect the realm's young queen as she seeks a diplomatic solution to end the siege of her planet by Trade Federation warships. At the same time, on desert-swept Tatooine, a slave boy named Anakin Skywalker, who possesses a strange ability for understanding the «rightness» of things, toils by day and dreams by night--of becoming a Jedi Knight and finding a way to win freedom for himself and his beloved mother. It will be the unexpected meeting of Jedi, Queen, and a gifted boy that will mark the start of a drama that will become legend. This special edition features a brand-new Darth Maul short story by «New York Times» bestselling author James Luceno!»

Ten rules for being human convey a universal wisdom to benefit all. The author explains there are no mistakes in life, only lessons that are repeated, offering insights on self-esteem, respect, acceptance, forgiveness, ethics, compassion, humility etc. Learn to create a more fulfilling life using the inner wisdom.

A group of people have elected ambiguous and fascinating Mischa Fox to be their God. While Mischa is charming his devotees, his alter ego Calvin Blick, is inspiring fear, and Rosa Keepe, a high-minded bluestocking under Mischa's spell (who also loves two Polish brothers) is swept into the battle between sturdy common sense and dangerous enchantment.

In the healing waters of Ennistone the townspeople seek health and regeneration, righteousness and ritual cleansing. To this town of subterranean inspiration the Philosopher returns. And there he exerts an almost magical influence, especially over George McCaffrey, his old pupil.

The facts about Pontius Pilate are very few — when he was born and when he died is unknown. Nor is anything known about his career before he became Governor of Judea, or after he was recalled by Tiberius. This book is about all the Pilates, real, half-real and invented.

Domestic travel is hot this season, as more and more Americans discover the pleasure of packing up and hitting the road. Fodor's has the guides for every traveler in every region. With Fodor's Road Guide USA to get them there, Compass American for the history of the region, and Gold Guides for dining, lodging, and shopping options, your customers will never make a wrong turn.

Somebody was in there. Somebody — or some thing... There is no room thirteen in the creepy Crow's Nest Hotel, where Fliss and her friends are staying on a school trip. Or is there? For at the stroke of midnight, something peculiar happens to the door of the linen cupboard next to room l2. And something is happening to Ellie-May Sunderland, too — something very sinister... This is a gripping page-turner from a master of spooky suspense, award-winning Robert Swindells. Don't read this under the covers at midnight!

This seductive and evocative epic tells the extraordinary story of a geisha girl. It reveals the cruelty and ugliness of life behind the rice-paper screens, and summons up more than 20 years of Japan's most dramatic history.

History offers few eras richer in drama than the last years of imperial Russia. Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Empress Alexandra, presided over a glittering world of huge palaces, lavish balls, and incomparable luxury. Then their cherished son Alexis was born. His hemophilia led to their tragic entanglement with the bizarre Siberian mystic Rasputin and eventually to the disintegration of their empire. Nicholas and Alexandra is the unforgettable intimate account of the entire imperial family, now in a trade paperback format for the first time. Told with scrupulous historical accuracy and stunning narrative power, Nicholas and Alexandra is a masterpiece of the biographer's art.

Bring your child's classroom with the wonderfully imaginative Step-Ahead series. Proven educational methods reinforce what is taught in preschool through the elementary grades. Simple instructions, delightful graphics, and fun-to-do activities, such as this book with peel-and-stick stickers, motivate your child to master skills and turn the page for more.