White Jacket written by Herman Melville (best known for his classic whaling novel) was first published in 1850 and is considered to be a semi-biographical book, written from Melville's own personal experiences while returning home to the Atlantic Coast from the South Seas with the American Na...

This is Oscar Wilde's long -- and remarkable -- essay on socialism. It's not what you'd think, if you know just a little of his biography. Wilde foresaw -- from his time, long before it'd been tried as a principle of governance -- that socialism was a mistaken approach; he saw the mistakes that'd co...

Most of the eleven stories in this collection were originally published in The Strand Magazine in 1899. Like Nesbit's other works, these tales are charming and will delight children of all ages. Included are such memorable stories as "The Book of Beasts," (where young Lionel is crowned king, ...

Dragon's Blood by Henry Milner Rideout was first published in 1909. One of the heroes of the story is a twenty-two year old German man by the name of Rudolph Hackh who, green and untried, is making his first trip to China as an agent for Fliegelman and Sons. On the last leg of his journey to ...

Once upon a time there was born a boy-child -- with a magic shadow.

The birth, on the night of a new moon, took place down a narrow alley. The sun never penetrated there beyond the third-storey windows -- which is why the charwoman, his mother, was so long in discovering her child's strange...