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Set in turn-of-the-century New York, E.L. Doctorow's "Ragtime" seamlessly blends fictional characters and realistic depictions of historical figures to bring to life the events that defined American history in the years before the First World War. This "Penguin Modern Classics" edition includes an introduction by Al Alvarez. Welcome to America at the turn of the twentieth century, where the rhythms of ragtime set the beat. Harry Houdini astonishes audiences with magical feats of escape, the mighty J. P. Morgan dominates the financial world and Henry Ford manufactures cars by making men into machines. Emma Goldman preaches free love and feminism, while ex-chorus girl Evelyn Nesbitt inspires a mad millionaire to murder the architect Stanford White. In this stunningly original chronicle of an age, such real-life characters intermingle with three remarkable families, one black, one Jewish and one prosperous WASP, to create a dazzling literary mosaic that brings to life an era of dire poverty, fabulous wealth, and incredible change - in short, the era of ragtime. E.L. Doctorow (b.1931) is one of America's most accomplished and acclaimed living writers. Winner of the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award (twice), the PEN/Faulkner Award, and the National Humanities Medal, he is the author of nine novels that have explored the drama of American life from the late 19th century to the 21st, including "Ragtime", "The Book of Daniel" and "Billy Bathgate". If you enjoyed "Ragtime", you might like John Dos Passos' "U.S.A.", also available in "Penguin Classics". "In its perfection it stuns and holds from beginning to end". ("Daily Mail"). "Witty, lyrical, put together with admirable craft ...dazzling economy and insight...Mr Doctorow knows what he is doing and has done it beautifully". ("Guardian"). "One of the best American novels for years". ("Economist").

The latest "Penguin Guide Yearbook" is the essential companion volume to the acclaimed "Penguin Guide to Compact Discs". Not only does it review the many hundreds of CDs that have appeared once the publication of the main guide in 2005, but it also takes a close look at some of the more unusual areas of the classical music repertoire, and includes extensive sections on concerts and recitals.

The latest "Penguin Guide Yearbook" is the essential companion volume to the acclaimed "Penguin Guide to Compact Discs". Not only does it review the many hundreds of CDs that have appeared once the publication of the main guide in 2005, but it also takes a close look at some of the more unusual areas of the classical music repertoire, and includes extensive sections on concerts and recitals.

Elie Wiesel's harrowing first-hand account of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust, "Night" is translated by Marion Wiesel with a preface by Elie Wiesel in "Penguin Modern Classics". Born into a Jewish ghetto in Hungary, as a child, Elie Wiesel was sent to the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. This is his account of that atrocity: the ever-increasing horrors he endured, the loss of his family and his struggle to survive in a world that stripped him of humanity, dignity and faith. Describing in simple terms the tragic murder of a people from a survivor's perspective, "Night" is among the most personal, intimate and poignant of all accounts of the Holocaust. A compelling consideration of the darkest side of human nature and the enduring power of hope, it remains one of the most important works of the twentieth century. Elie Wiesel (b. 1928) was fifteen years old when he and his family were deported by the Nazis to Auschwitz. After the war, Wiesel studied in Paris and later became a journalist. During an interview with the distinguished French writer, Francois Mauriac, he was persuaded to write about his experiences in the death camps. The result was his internationally acclaimed memoir, "La Nuit" or "Night", which has since been translated into more than thirty languages. If you enjoyed "Night", you might also like Primo Levi's "The Periodic Table", also available in "Penguin Modern Classics". "A slim volume of terrifying power". ("The New York Times"). "To the best of my knowledge no one has left behind him so moving a record". (Alfred Kazin). "Wiesel has taken his own anguish and imaginatively metamorphosed it into art". (Curt Leviant, "Saturday Review").

Victor Frankenstein is obsessed with the secret of resurrecting the dead. But when he makes a new 'man' out of plundered corpses, his hideous creation fills him disgust. Rejected by all humanity, the creature sets out to destroy Frankenstein and everyone he loves. And as the monster gets ever closer to his maker, hunter becomes prey in a lethal chase that carries them to the very end of the earth.

Dr. No, a sinister recluse with mechanical pincers for hands and a sadistic fascination with pain, holds James Bond firmly in his steely grasp. Bond and Honey Rider, his beautiful and vulnerable girl Friday, have been captured trespassing on Dr. No's secluded Caribbean island. Intent on protecting his clandestine operations from the British secret service, Dr. No sees an opportunity to dispose of an enemy and further his diabolical research. Soon, Bond and Rider are fighting for their lives in a murderous game of Dr. No's choosing...

Streetwise George and his big, childlike friend Lennie are drifters, searching for work in the fields and valleys of California. They have nothing except the clothes on their back, and a hope that one day they'll find a place of their own and live the American dream. But dreams come at a price. Gentle giant Lennie doesn't know his own strength, and when they find work at a ranch he gets into trouble with the boss's daughter-in-law. Trouble so bad that even his protector George may not be able to save him.

The publication of "Leaves of Grass" in July 1855 was a landmark event in literary history. Ralph Waldo Emerson judged the book "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America has yet contributed." Nothing like the volume had ever appeared before. Everything about it - the unusual jacket and title page, the exuberant preface, the twelve free-flowing, untitled poems embracing every realm of experience - was new. The 1855 edition broke new ground in its relaxed style, which prefigured free verse; in its sexual candor; in its images of racial bonding and democratic togetherness; and in the intensity of its affirmation of the sanctity of the physical world.

Now the subject of a major new film from director Baz Luhrmann ("Romeo+Juliet", "Moulin Rouge!"), starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan, "The Great Gatsby" is F. Scott Fitzgerald's brilliant fable of the hedonistic excess and tragic reality of 1920s America. This "Penguin Classics" edition is edited with an introduction and notes by Tony Tanner. Young, handsome and fabulously rich, Jay Gatsby is the bright star of the Jazz Age, but as writer Nick Carraway is drawn into the decadent orbit of his Long Island mansion, where the party never seems to end, he finds himself faced by the mystery of Gatsby's origins and desires. Beneath the shimmering surface of his life, Gatsby is hiding a secret: a silent longing that can never be fulfilled. And soon, this destructive obsession will force his world to unravel. In "The Great Gatsby", Fitzgerald brilliantly captures both the disillusionment of post-war America and the moral failure of a society obsessed with wealth and status. But he does more than render the essence of a particular time and place, for - in chronicling Gatsby's tragic pursuit of his dream - Fitzgerald re-creates the universal conflict between illusion and reality. Like Jay Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) has acquired a mythical status in American literary history, and his masterwork. "The Great Gatsby" is considered by many to be the 'great American novel'. In 1920 he married Zelda Sayre, dubbed 'the first American Flapper', and their traumatic marriage and Zelda's gradual descent into insanity became the leading influence on his writing. As well as many short stories, Fitzgerald wrote five novels "This Side of Paradise", "The Great Gatsby", "The Beautiful and the Damned", "Tender is the Night" and, incomplete at the time of his death, "The Last Tycoon". After his death "The New York Times" said of him that 'in fact and in the literary sense he created a "generation"'. "A classic, perhaps the supreme American novel". (John Carey, "Sunday Times" Books of the Century).

it's a busy day at the shop. Lotty and Dot are rushed off their feet! Stanley Stubbs needs some plasters and Mrs Skipps is looking for something special. Can they help? Find out in this busy town story book.

It's a busy day at school. it's Cilla's first day and everything's noisy and new. Will she be okay? Find out in this busy town story book.

it's a busy day at the firestation. Grandma Lizzie is stuck up a tree and Mrs Bun's barbeque is smoking. Firemen Fred and Jim to the rescue!

It's a busy day on the building site. Bruce, Brian and Jack are putting up their scaffolding and looking at plans. What are they going to build? A house? A skyscraper? Find out in this busy town story book.

it's a busy day at the hospital. Horace has banged his head and Clive has hurt his foot. Nurse Becky is looking after them. Will they be ok? Find out in this busy town story book.

From Incy Wincy Spiderto Three Blind Mice, this wonderful collection of nursery rhymes will encourage early sound and word recognition. Children will love to hear these rhymes over and over again. With bright and colourful illustrations, this collection is the perfect introduction to nursery rhymes.

Pete and Carla are both students at the University of Bath. One day in summer they are walking round the city and decide to look at some very old coins and stamps in a shop. Pete wants to buy some, but they are too expensive. Later that afternoon the coins are missing from the shop and the shopkeeper wants to find Pete.