From Moses to Nelson Mandela speeches have changed the way we see the world & the way the world is shaped The Penguin Book of Historic Speeches gathers together the world's greatest speeches bringing together the words of over one hundred men & women These brilliant & passionate declarations by Socrates Robespierre Lincoln Queen Elizabeth I Churchill Washington Pankhurst Gandhi & many others provide a vivid glimpse of history in the making while retaining their power to move & inspire today' Impeccable Mac Arthur prefaces each address with a short but scholarly historical explanation that sets the scene perfectly An attractive volume' Andrew Roberts Sunday Times' Works well not just as an anthology but as a history' Independent on Sunday ...

The Penguin Book of Irish Poetry features the work of the greatest Irish poets from the monks of the ancient monasteries to the Nobel laureates WB Yeats & Seamus Heaney from Jonathan Swift & Oliver Goldsmith to Eilean Ni Chuilleanain & Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill along with a profusion of lyrics love poems satires ballads & songs Reflecting Ireland's complex past & lively present this collection of Irish verse is an indispensable guide to the history culture & romance of one of Europe's oldest civilizations In his introduction to this new Penguin Classics edition Patrick Crotty explores the traditions of poetry in Ireland & relates the rich variety of the poems to the long & frequently troubled history of the island ...

Fully revised & updated Whether it was Churchill rousing the British to take up arms or the dream of Martin Luther King Fidel Castro inspiring the Cuban revolution or Barack Obama on Selma & the meaning of America speeches have profoundly influenced the way we see ourselves & society Gathered here are some of the most extraordinary & memorable speeches of the last century
- from Lenin to Reagan Thatcher to Malala Some are well known others less so but all helped form the world we now inhabit
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' This readable anthology is a good introduction to a civilization that fascinates like few others in this book there are animals who talk princesses who are locked up at the top of towers wicked stepmothers & many other themes An enjoyable book by a skilled author' Financial Times The civilization we know as Ancient Egypt stretched over three thousand years What was life like for ancient Egyptians? What were their beliefs
- & how different were they from ours? Myths & Legends of Ancient Egypt uses Egypt's vivid narratives to create a panorama of its history from the earliest settlers to the time of Cleopatra Gathered from pyramid texts archaeological finds & contemporary documents these stories cover everything from why the Nile flooded annually to Egyptian beliefs about childbirth & what happened after death They show us what life was really like for rich & poor man & woman farmer & pharaoh Myths & Legends of Ancient Egypt brings a long-dead culture back to life
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' Burning ice biting flame; that is how life began' The extraordinary Scandinavian myth cycle is one of the most enduring exciting dramatic & compelling of the world's great stories The Penguin Book of the Norse Myths compellingly retells these stories for the modern reader taking us from the creation of the world through the building of Asgard's Wall to the final end in Ragnarok You'll discover how Thor got his hammer & how Odin lost his eye the terrible price of binding the wolf Fenrir & why Loki the trickster can never be trusted The Norse myths are as thrilling to read as they are of vast cultural & historical importance In this gripping book Kevin Crossley-Holland brings alive the passion cruelty & heroism of these unforgettable stories ...

For the puzzle fanatic A collection of challenges from throughout history featuring some of the greatest ever puzzle masters -------------------------- A Sumerian Riddle (circa 18th Century) There is a house The blind enter it & then come out seeing What is that house? --------------------------A Charade I have wings yet never fly
- I have sails yet never go
- I cant keep still if I try Yet forever stand just so-------------------------- From the riddles of the ancients to puzzles that perplex the greatest minds of today The Penguin Book of Puzzles is a glorious compendium of conundrums from throughout history These challenges will require all the reader's wits to solve but range from the easy to the brain-bending & are suitable for novice & veteran puzzlers alike There is something here to suit every taste including crosswords mathematical challenges word games & logic conundrums but also some intriguing types of puzzles that have been unearthed from centuries gone by Timeless & entertaining there are hours of fun waiting in this miscellany of puzzlement

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The era between the accession of Henry VIII & the crisis of the English republic in 1659 formed one of the most fertile epochs in world literature This anthology offers a broad selection of its poetry &

Includes:: a wide range of works by the great poets of the age
- notably Sir Philip Sidney Edmund Sepnser John Donne William Shakespeare & John Milton Poems by less well-known writers also feature prominently
- among them significant female poets such as Lady Mary Wroth & Katherine Philips Compelling & exhilarating this landmark collection illuminates a time of astonishing innovation imagination & diversity



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'A bold anthology alive with provocations & insights' John Carey Sunday Times' The Boy-scouts mistook my signal & have killed the postman I've had very little practice in this sort of thing you see' The British short story tradition is probably the richest most varied & historically extensive in the world This new anthology celebrates the full diversity & energy of its writers subjects & tones from the story's origins with Defoe Swift & Fielding to the 'golden age' of the fin de siecle & Edwardian period ending with the First World War Including the most famous authors as well as some magnificent little-known stories never republished since their first appearance in magazines & periodicals these stories are by turns topical & playful ghostly & theatrical rumbustious & sublime Edited with an introduction by Philip Hensher ...

' Eclectic entertaining almost all British if not human life is here' Boyd Tonkin Independent' Mind-stretching heart-breaking beautifully-crafted fiction' Claire Harman Evening Standard' She would tear the house down
- shatter the windows slash the furniture flood the baths fire the curtains!' Hilarious exuberant surreal subtle tender brutal spectacular & above all unexpected this extraordinary selection celebrates the British short story from the 1920s to the present day From Angela Carter to V S Pritchett Elizabeth Taylor to J G Ballard Ali Smith to a host of little-known works from magazines & periodicals & including tales of air-raids phone sex snobbery modern-day slavery grief desire the familiar & the strange here is the short story in all its limitless possibilities Edited & with an introduction by Philip Hensher the award-winning novelist critic & journalist
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The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle are the complete adventures of the original & best detective containing four novels & fifty-six short stories about the most engaging detective of all time with a foreword by crime writer Ruth Rendell The detective Sherlock Holmes
- who continues to enthral millions in film & TV adaptations starring actors like Robert Downey Jr & Benedict Cumberbatch
- was the creation of Arthur Conan Doyle whose crime stories have thrilled readers for well over a century Sherlock Holmes is not only the most famous character in crime fiction but arguably the most famous character in all fiction In sixty adventures that pit his extraordinary wits & courage against foreign spies blackmailers cultists petty thieves murderers swindlers policemen (both stupid & clever) & his arch-nemesis Moriarty Sherlock Holmes together with his faithful sidekick Doctor John H Watson proves himself to be not only the quintessential detective but also the most engaging & entertaining company any reader could ask for The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes allows readers to experience the entire case-history of Holmes & Dr Watson from start to finish
- the stories that have spawned such infamous characters as the devilish Moriarty the devious Irene Adler & of course the legendary hound of the Baskervilles This edition

Includes:: a foreword written by crime writer Ruth Rendell Penguin also publishes in individual volumes A Study in Scarlet The Sign of Four The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes The Hound of the Baskervilles The Valley of Fear His Last Bow & The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes' The immense talent passion & literary brilliance that Conan Doyle brought to his work give him a unique place in English letters Personally I'd walk a million miles in tight boots just to read his letters to the milkman' Stephen Fry' Holmes has a timeless intelligence that puts him head shoulders & deer-stalker above all other detectives' Alexander Mc Call Smith' Now as in his lifetime cab drivers statesmen academics & raggedy-assed children sit spellbound at his feet No wonder then if the pairing of Holmes & Watson has triggered more imitators than any other duo in literature' John Le Carre Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) studied medicine at Edinburgh University where he became the clerk to a surgeon whose diagnostic methods provided the model for the science of deduction perfected by Sherlock Holmes He set up as a doctor & it was while waiting for patients that he began to write Sherlock Holmes first appeared in A Study in Scarlet (1887) The Holmes stories soon attracted such a following that Conan Doyle felt the character overshadowed his other work In The Final Problem (1893) Conan Doyle killed him off but was obliged by public demand to restore the detective to life




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