"In the whole of European literature there is no poet who can furnish the texts for a more significant variety of discourse than Virgil. [He] symbolizes so much in the history of Europe, and represents such central European values..." —T.S. Eliot The Eclogues (38 BC), also known as the Bucolics, is a work by Roman poet Virgil. Although less prominent than The Aeneid, Virgil's legendary epic of the Trojan hero Aeneas and his discovery of what would...

"The Incredulity of Father Brown" is a 1926 collection of mystery short stories by English writer G. K. Chesterton. Set in the early twentieth century, each of the stories centres around the cunning investigations of Father Brown, an amateur detective who uses his incredible intuition to solve a variety of perplexing mysteries. The stories include: "The Resurrection of Father Brown", "The Arrow of Heaven", "The Oracle of the Dog", "The Miracle of...

The Traditional History and Characteristic Sketches of the Ojibway Nation (1850) is a work of Indigenous American history by George Copway. Written while he was living with his wife and daughter in New York, The Traditional History and Characteristic Sketches of the Ojibway Nation helped establish Copway's reputation as a leading Native American author of the nineteenth century. Recognized as one of the first books of its kind written by an indigenous...

Botchan (1906) is a novel by Natsume Sōseki. Inspired by his experience as a teacher on the island of Shikoko, Sōseki composed a beloved tale of growth and moral decency that continues to be read in Japan and around the world to this day. Filled with humorous asides and heartwarming scenes, Botchan is a classic bildungsroman from one of Japan's most successful twentieth century writers. Ever since his childhood days in Tokyo, Botchan has experienced...

When W.B. Yeats discovered Rabindranath Tagore's work in translation, he felt an intense kinship with a man, whose work was similarly grounded in spirituality and opposition to the British Empire. For the Irish poet, Tagore's poems were at once deeply personal and essentially universal, like a secret kept by all and shared regardless: "I have carried the manuscript of these translations about with me for days, reading it in railway trains, or on the...

From the author of the esteemed epic poem, Paradise Lost, comes one history's most influential arguments against censorship. John Milton was known for his linguistic genius and political activity, often writing to support his views. During the height of the English Civil War, Milton published Areopagitica. Structured like an oral speech but delivered by pamphlets that Milton illegally printed and distributed, Areopagitica argues against censorship...

During the catastrophic economic depression of the 1890s, young Jack London found himself in the same situation as many others-homeless and unemployed. After a failed American investment and crop failure, the nation found itself in a panic. As London recounts these times, he tells stories of hopping on freight trains, consequently being forcefully removed. While living as a hobo, London often had to beg for food and money, and frequently found himself...

The Confessions of Nat Turner (1831) is a historical pamphlet by Nat Turner and Thomas Ruffin Gray. Published shortly after Turner's execution, The Confessions of Nat Turner is comprised of an interview with the revolutionary in the days leading up to his death, as well as independent research conducted by Gray, an attorney who represented some of the rebels involved. "And on the 12th of May, 1828, I heard a loud noise in the heavens, and the Spirit...

Published posthumously in 1766, A Journal to Stella by Jonathan Swift is a complete collection consisting of sixty-five letters he wrote to Esther Johnson, whom he bestowed the name of Stella. It is, known that Stella is the name Swift gave to Esther Johnson. They met when she was only eight years old and knew each other for the entirety of the rest of their lives. Swift was first a mentor to young Esther. He taught her to read and write then introduced...

Ten Days in a Mad-House (1887) is a book by American investigative journalist Nellie Bly. For her first assignment for Joseph Pulitzer's famed New York World newspaper, Bly went undercover as a patient at a notorious insane asylum on Blackwell's Island. Spending ten days there, she recorded the abuses and neglect she witnessed, turning her research into a sensational two-part story for the New York World later published as Ten Days in a Mad-House. Checking...