"James Fenimore Cooper's romantic adventure brings the wilds of the American frontier and the drama of the French-Indian War vividly to life. The most popular of Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, The Last of the Mohicans portrays the inevitable conflict of opposed cultures and stands as a testament to the ways in which this struggle has been mythologized. Featuring the well-loved noble woodsman Natty Bumppo, or "Hawk-eye," Cooper's novel is a memorable...

A retelling of the medieval poem about a group of travelers on a pilgrimage to Canterbury and the tales they tell each other. With their astonishing diversity of tone and subject matter, The Canterbury Tales have become one of the touchstones of medieval literature. Translated here into modern English, these tales of a motley crowd of pilgrims drawn from all walks of life-from knight to nun, miller to monk-reveal a picture of English life in the fourteenth...

The merrymaking of the play causes chaos and confusion when Viola, disguised as a boy, begins to work for the Duke Orsino, who insists that she woo the noble lady Olivia on his behalf.

One of William Shakespeare's most farcical comedies, "The Comedy of Errors" is notable for its use of mistaken identity to achieve a slapstick comedic effect. Ripe with the bard's characteristic word play, the comedy concerns the lives of two sets of identical twins that were accidentally separated shortly after their birth. The play begins by the elderly Syracusian trader Egeon relating the back-story of his family. When Egeon was young, he married...

Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbevilles, and meeting her "cousin" Alec proves to be her downfall. When Angel Clare offers her love and salvation, she must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future.

Readers will recognize their favorite horror stories in the collection "The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings." Edgar Allen Poe was a master of suspense, horror, and mystery, and his stories, while truly terrifying, are also delightfully entertaining. In "The Tell-Tale Heart," the narrator has just killed a man and buried him under his floor. As he sits right above the body, he begins to hear the dead man's heart thumping loudly in his ears. Guilt...

Shakespeare's play depicting the waning years of both a king and a thief-and a young heir's changing relationship with each of them. Prince Hal has proven his worth on the battlefield, but even as the elder Henry's condition grows weaker, Hal's ability to follow in his father's footsteps may be in doubt. His longtime friendship with the drunken, thieving, yet thoroughly alluring Falstaff, and the influence of their rowdy tavern companions, are tempting...