Samuel Butler

Translated by Samuel Butler, introduction by Michael Dirda. Homer's two epics of the ancient world, 'The Iliad' and 'The Odyssey', tell stories as riveting today as when they were written between the eighth and ninth century BC. The Iliad is an unforgettable tale of nations as war and of the courage and compassion heroic soldiers show upon the field of battle. The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus and the many marvels and challenges he encounters during his ten year voyage home to Ithaca after the end of the Trojan War. One in a series of high quality leatherbound volumes that would make an elegant addition to any home library.

The greater part of every family is always odious; if there are one or two good ones in a very large family, it is as much as can be expected'. Written with great humour, irony and honesty, "The Way of All Flesh" exploded perceptions of the Victorian middle-class family in its radical depiction of Ernest Pontifex, a young man who casts off his background and discovers himself. The awkward but likeable son of a tyrannical clergyman and a priggish mother, and destined to follow his father into the church, Ernest gleefully rejects his parents' respectability, and chooses instead to find his own way in the world. This is the Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

The heroic story of the siege of Troy is as enthralling today as it ever was. The Greeks are entering the tenth year of their war with the Trojans, but their armies are fractured and their best warrior Achilles has abandoned the battle on a mission of revenge. Only the death of his best friend Patroclus persuades Achilles to return to battle and confront the Trojan leader Hector in single combat. The Iliad is the oldest surviving work of Western literature and provides a powerful glimpse into the horrors and heroics of war - a message which undoubtedly endures today. This collector's edition, presented in a handsome slipcase, provides an accessible prose translation by the classical scholar and novelist Samuel Butler. Butler is considered one of the finest English writers of the late Victorian era, and his translation one of the most accessible and satisfying.