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The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of WormsBy Charles Darwin

The Odyssey, Homer's epic tale of Odysseus and his ten-year journey home after the Trojan war, is one of the earliest and greatest works of literature. It is a wonderful story that has entranced generations over the last two and a half millennia. The characters and events are well known, and the form - a long journey of discovery and testing - has become a standard device in storytelling.Odysseus is known as "polytropos," a man of many twists and turns and tricks, a man who lives by his wits. As the Greeks leave for Troy, it is Odysseus' cleverness that allows him to find the hero Achilles who is crucial to their victory. Then, after ten years camped outside Troy and the loss of countless lives on both sides, he brings the Trojan war to a dramatic conclusion with the now famous Trojan horse. One expects Odysseus' story to end with his returning home as a hero. Instead, Homer and the fates send him on another ten years of travels. This is the story of the Odyssey. But it is much more than an exciting story; it is also about faithful marital love, and the love of home and country. Aristotle says that while The Iliad is about events, The Odyssey is about character. The word "odyssey" has entered the English language, and many regard The Odyssey as the world's most enduring narrative.Plato called Homer "the teacher of all Greece" and "the leader of Greek culture." Indeed, in the classical age, the Greeks regarded the Iliad and Odyssey as more than works of literature; they knew much of them by heart, and they valued them not only as symbols of Hellenic unity and heroism but also as sources of moral and even practical instruction. Homer's works have been studied, quoted and translated in every corner of Europe and his influence on the Western imagination is immense.This unabridged prose edition was translated by Samuel Butler, the iconoclastic English author of the Utopian satirical novel Erewhon and the semi-autobiographical novel The Way of All Flesh. The latter was published posthumously as he was afraid to publish it in his lifetime.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë are the world's most famous literary siblings. They were very close and during childhood developed their imaginations first through oral storytelling and play set in an intricate imaginary world, and then through the collaborative writing of increasingly complex stories set therein. Their work has grown in popularity over the almost two centuries since they were written.This edition collects their great novels: Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë), Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë), and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Brontë).

"The name of Alexandre Dumas is more than French, it is European; it is more than European, it is universal." - Victor Hugo" [Dumas was] the most generous, large-hearted being in the world. He also was the most delightfully amusing and egotistical creature on the face of the earth. His tongue was like a windmill - once set in motion, you never knew when he would stop, especially if the theme was himself." - Watts Phillips, playwright and artist."Words never failed Alexandre Dumas. In his maniacally productive writing career, he pumped out millions and millions of them: some good, some bad and all indifferent to any value other than propelling a story forward at the giddiest possible pace, if not, perhaps, with optimum fuel efficiency. Dumas's novels are shameless word-guzzlers, big and plush and almost sinfully comfortable: ideal vehicles for the long, scenic excursions into French history he regularly conducted for the newspaper readers of mid-19th-century Paris." -- Terrence Rafferty, New York Times.The Three Musketeers has it all. Alexandre Dumas' most famous novel and one of the most popular adventure stories of all time is filled with fast-paced adventure, suspense, romance, and comradeship - all in a historical setting. It was hugely popular; after being serialized in the French newspaper Le Siècle in 1844, it appeared in no less than three English translations within the next three years. The novel has been translated into numerous languages and has been adapted to almost every medium - films, stage plays, musicals, animations and even manga and computer games. The phrases "The Three Musketeers" and "All for one and one for all" have entered common usage.The Three Musketeers recounts the adventures of d'Artagnan, a poor young nobleman, who leaves home and travels to Paris to enter the elite Musketeers of the Guard. He joins the three most formidable musketeers of the age-Athos, Porthos and Aramis-and, together, they get involved in affairs of the state and court. They need to employ all their valour and swordsmanship to triumph over the machiavellian Cardinal Richelieu and the unscrupulous seductress Countess de Winter. This swashbuckling classic is a riveting easy read and one of the most famous historical novels ever written. This edition is complete and unabridged. Alexandre Dumas was a larger-than-life character. His published works include novels, plays and non-fiction and occupy 100,000 pages of text. His unpublished works continue to be discovered even into the twenty-first century. Dumas' gifts extended beyond writing. Over the years he employed over seventy skilled assistants to help him complete his many projects, but the storytelling and character development always carry his stamp. In addition, he was a shrewd marketer of his work and this ensured financial success. Always full of ideas, Dumas founded a theatre in Paris in the 1840s and spent three years in Italy participating in Italian unification. He was known for his generosity, his extravagant lifestyle, and his many mistresses. Dumas' life was further complicated by the fact that his father was a freed slave born in Haiti. He is often known as Alexandre Dumas père, as his son Alexandre Dumas fils was also a successful writer. Today Alexandre Dumas is most remembered for his historical novels The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Man in an Iron Mask.

Over a hundred years ago James Allen discovered that one's thoughts profoundly affect one's character, physical health, achievement and even circumstances, and penned this classic to help others discover this themselves. Since then, his insight, a cornerstone of New Age thought, has been rediscovered many times. "This little volume, the result of meditation and experience … is suggestive rather than explanatory. Its object being to stimulate men and women to the discovery and perception of the truth that- 'they themselves are makers of themselves'by virtue of the thoughts, which they choose and encourage; that mind is the master-weaver, both of the inner garment of character and the outer garment of circumstance, and that, as they may have hitherto woven in ignorance and pain they may now weave in enlightenment and happiness." - James Allen.

Othello is one of Shakespeare's four major tragedies. With its varied and enduring themes of love, jealousy, betrayal, racism, sexism, revenge and repentance, Othello is perhaps Shakespeare's most accessible tragedy. It is frequently performed in professional and community theatre, and has been the source for numerous operatic, film, and literary adaptations.

Much Ado About Nothing, with its sparkling wordplay, spirited heroine, battle of the sexes, and of course eventual romance, all mixed with a good dose of burlesque, is one of Shakespeare's most performed and studied comedies. Benedick summarizes the plot: "Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably."

Ryle offers no easy way to holiness but produces that "hunger and thirst after righteousness", which is the only indispensable condition to being "filled." An essential guide to the Christian life. J.C. Ryle's method is obvious--scriptural and expository. He never starts with a theory into which he fits scriptures. He always begins with the Word and expounds it clearly and logically. The result is a clear enunciation of doctrine and a call to action and is entirely free from the sentimentalityoften described as "devotional." He has drunk deeply from the wells of the Puritans, and his writing is a distillation of true Puritan theology presented in a highly readable modern form. Ryle offers no easy way to holiness but produces that "hunger and thirst after righteousness", which is the only indispensable condition to being "filled." Holiness is an essential guide to the Christian life. John Charles Ryle (1816 -1900) was a committed evangelical and the first Anglican bishop of Liverpool. He wrote numerous tracts and books, many still in print.

Douglass' powerful account of his journey, by way of determined self education, from slavery to being one of America's great statesmen and orators."Considered merely as narrative, we have never read one more simple, true, coherent and warm with genuine feeling" -- New York TribunePublished in 1845, this little book was widely read by the public in the North who knew little about the inner workings of slavery. It was favorably reviewed in the New York Tribune: "Considered merely as narrative, we have never read one more simple, true, coherent and warm with genuine feeling", and it had a great influence on public opinion across the Atlantic: "Taking all together, not less than one million of persons in Great Britain and Ireland have been excited by the book and its commentators." Here then is Douglass' powerful account of his journey, by way of determined self education, from slavery to being one of America's great statesmen and orators. Here then is Douglass' powerful account of his journey, by way of determined self education, from slavery to being one of America's great statesmen and orators.