Bill Homewood

HarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics. 'From that hour we had no further occasion for the exercise of reason, or judgment, or skill, or contrivance. We were henceforth to be hurled along, the playthings of the fierce elements of the deep.' In Verne's science-fiction classic, Professor Lidenbrock chances upon an ancient manuscript and pledges to solve the mysterious coded message that lies within it. Eventually...

The Four Just Men (1905) is a political thriller by Edgar Wallace. The book that launched Wallace's career as one of England's leading popular fiction writers, The Four Just Men was released in conjunction with a newspaper competition allowing readers to guess the truth behind the unsolved mystery at the end of the novel. Like many of Wallace's stories and novels, The Four Just Men was adapted into a silent film in 1921 before being made into a popular...

Idylls of the King (1859-1885) is a cycle of narrative poems by British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Written while Tennyson was serving as Poet Laureate, Idylls of the King reworks the medieval Arthurian legend in blank verse and with an elegiac tone. Based on Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and the early British Mabinogion manuscripts, Tennyson's work connects an ancient tradition to the reign and ideals of Queen Victoria. "The Coming of Arthur"...

The Scarlet Pimpernel is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy set during the Reign of Terror following the start of the French Revolution, first published in 1905. The novel was written after Orczy's stage play of the same title enjoyed a long run in London and popular success earlier in 1905, after a first run in Nottingham in 1903. The Scarlet Pimpernel is the name of a chivalrous Englishman, Sir Percy Blakeney, in...

In Spain, the Just Men stalk a mysterious English doctor The beggar limps toward the outdoor café looking for a familiar face. He finds Manfred sitting alone and tells the gentleman to follow. Only when the beggar leans close and speaks in his true voice does Manfred recognize him as Gonsalez, master of disguise and an ally in the fight against crime. When they are joined by the rakish Poiccart, the Three Just Men are together at last. Feared throughout...

In the brutal Prussian winter of 1807, Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte's Grande Armée suffered massive losses to the Russians in the Battle of Eylau. Many thousands died. Young Colonel Chabert falls heroically, his actions having turned the tide of the battle, but he is buried anonymously on the battlefield in a mass grave. Incredibly he is alive but severely injured, and digs himself out. On his eventual return to Paris, he finds his wife, the beautiful...

Zorro Rides Again is the third novella featuring Zorro, the Robin Hood of Old California. Reina de los Angeles is being terrorized by a masked swordsman who marks the faces of his victims with Zorro's trademark Z. But is this the real Zorro? The Governor of California offers a reward for the capture of Don Diego Vega (who is known to have previously been Zorro) dead or alive, while an army - led by the ruthless Captain Rocha - is in hot pursuit of...

In the 1880's in southern Africa, Allan Quatermain, a hunter and guide, joins forces with a sea captain and an English nobleman to find the latter's missing brother, who disappeared while searching for King Solomon's legendary lost diamond mines.

Many of the greatest lovers, and the greatest love scenes in Western literature are to be found in Shakespeare. The fresh but impassioned Romeo and Juliet, the resilient wit of Petruchio and Kate, the ardent exchanges of Lorenzo and Jessica and the anguished tragedies of Othello and Desdemona, and Antony and Cleopatra — they all show love and courtship in its many forms. The darker side of love is here too — the spine-chilling wooing of Lady Anne...

The poignant and passionate relationship of Julien Sorel and Madame de Renal.