This book provides an insight into Jewish culture through the accounts of ordinary Jewish people handed down over the generations. At times these stories are humorous and at others are poignant, and reflect the long history of the Jewish diaspora

The thirteen stories in this collection, by C. Martín Gaite, R. Sánchez Ferlosio, J. Fernández Santos, Ana Mª Matute and other postbellum Spanish writers reflect the situation in Spain in the aftermath of the Civil War, when a crippled economy and repressive totalitarian government dominated the lives of ordinary Spaniards.

Published as a 'shilling shocker', Robert Louis Stevenson's dark psychological fantasy gave birth to the idea of the split personality. The story of respectable Dr Jekyll's strange association with the 'damnable young man' Edward Hyde; the hunt through fog-bound London for a killer; and the final revelation of Hyde's true identity is a chilling exploration of humanity's basest capacity for evil.

Edmund Pevensie is finding it hard to get along with his brother and sisters at their new guardian, Professor Kirke's house, and when he follows his little sister, Lucy, into an old wardrobe things get much, much worse for Edmund. For it is in Narnia, the land beyond the wardrobe, that Edmund meets the White Witch and has his first delicious and disastrous taste of her bewitching Turkish Delight. How can Edmund escape from her clutches and help save Narnia, and his family, from a terrible fate?

A novel about a couple whose love for one another gives way to disillusion and disappointment - a tale about what women do to hold on to love, and what men do to get away from it.

The ELE series are collections of texts from various sources that increase in difficulty with each book. This book is aimed at beginners, and includes crosswords, simple articles, recipes and other information on sociocultural aspects of Spain.

This book describes what human beings are capable of doing to other human beings when democratic values have been destroyed and replaced by an ideology advocating intolerance, hate and violence. The book presents facts about the Holocaust and attempts to explain how the unimaginable became reality.

Very short fables, partly in verse form, written by such greats as Schopenhauer, Lichtwer, and Lessing amongst many others.

The eight short stories in this collection, by Marcel Aymé, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Raymond Queneau and other French writers, have been selected both for their literary merit and as a representative of contemporary French writing. The English translations that are printed in a parallel text are literal rather than literary. This volume is intended primarily to help English-speaking students of French, but the stories also stand on their own and make excellent reading in either language

The summer holidays are dragging on and Harry Potter can't wait for the start of the school year. It is his fourth year at Hogwards School of Witchcraft and wizardry, and there are spells to be learnt, potions to be brewed and Divination lessons (sigh) to be attended. Harry is expecting these: however, other quite unexpected events are already on the march ...

Precious Ramotswe, that cheerful Botswana private investigator of "traditional build", is finally married to Mr J.L.B. Matekoni of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, her detective agency is busy and life could not be better ... Well ... it could, actually. If Mma Ramotswe hadn't listened to a plea of particular misfortune, she wouldn't have suffered her own mishap - a collision between her tiny white van and a bicycle. That unfortunate crash echoes another unhappy meeting - a clash of personalities. For her assistant, Mma Makutsi, has a spectacular disagreement with one of the garage apprentices. He is enraptured by a fast piece with a Mercedes, and everyone knows where that sort of thing can lead ...

The story of Kostia, a Russian woman who would like to discover the West. On holidays at her grandmother's house near Chernobyl, where the power plant has recently exploded, she meets Elena, a little girl whose father has been drafted in to extinguish the raging fires

This book is about the life of Benjamin, an obese adolescent, which is a sensitive subject in today's society. He feels self-conscious of the look of others, especially when he meets his first love

The story of Mandy, a little girl whose parents act as foster parents to other children. She doesn't want to share her parents any longer. Unfortunately for her, one evening her parents return with a very bizarre little boy, a mute who is dressed in dirty black clothes. Little by little she becomes attached to him, especially once she realises his telepathic abilites, and helps him save a maltreated little girl

The five plays translated here are those on which Strindberg's international reputation as a dramatist principally rests and this edition embraces his crucial transition from Naturalism to Modernism, from his two finest achievements as a psychological realist.

In "morality for Beautiful Girls", Precious Ramotswe, founder and owner of Botswana's only detective agency for the "concerns of both ladies and others," investigates the alleged poisoning of the brother of an important "Government Man," and the moral character of the four finalists of the Miss Beauty and Integrity Contest, the winner of which will almost certainly be a contestant for the title of Miss Botswana. Meanwhile, the agency is having money problems, and when unexpected difficulties arise at the Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, she discovers that her fiance, the reliable Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, is more complicated than he seems.

Bill Bryson is an unabashed Anglophile who, through a mistake of history, happened to be born and bred in Iowa. Righting that error, he spent 20 years in England before deciding to repatriate: "I had recently read that 3.7 million Americans according to a Gallup poll, believed that they had been abducted by aliens at one time or another, so it was clear that my people needed me." That comic tone enlivens this account of Bryson's farewell walking tour of the countryside of "the green and kindly island that had for two decades been my home."

The eight short stories in this collection by Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, Camillo José Cela and other Spanish writers, have been chosen both for their literary merit and for being representative of the contemporary trend in Spanish-American writing. The English translations that are printed in a parallel text are literal rather than literary. This volume is intended primarily to help English-speaking students of Spanish, but the stories also stand on their own and make excellent reading in either language

A short story about long lost friends who meet up in Madrid's Plaza Mayor and tell each other the story of their lives. Aimed at students with an intermediate level of Spanish.

"Penguin Readers" is a series of simplified novels, film novelizations and original titles that introduce students at all levels to the pleasures of reading in English. Originally designed for teaching English as a foreign language, the series' combination of high interest level and low reading age makes it suitable for both English-speaking teenagers with limited reading skills and students of English as a second language

In "The Birds" and five more superb stories of suspense from Daphne du Maurier, the weak, the dispossessed and the exploited wreak their vengeance on a complacent world.

Mma Ramotswe, who became engaged to Mr J.L.B Matekoni at the end of "The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency", remains unmarried. She wonders when a day for the wedding will be named, but is anxious to avoid putting too much pressure on her fiance. For indeed he has other things on his mind - notably a frightening request made of him by Mma Potokwani, pushy matron of the Orphan Farm.

When the body of Sir Charles Baskerville is found in his garden, there are no signs to explain his death. Did he die of fright? Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson have another mysterious case to solve. The terrible spectacle of the beast, the fog of the moor, the discovery of a body, this classic horror story pits detective against dog. When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead on the wild Devon moorland with the footprints of a giant hound nearby, the blame is placed on a family curse. It is left to Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson to solve the mystery of the legend of the phantom hound before Sir Charles' heir comes to an equally gruesome end. The Hound Of The Baskervilles gripped readers when it was first serialised and has continued to hold its place in the popular imagination.

Along comes Gez Walsh with another collection of odd odes and dubious ditties. Apart from old favourites such as Wilf, the central character, trying to come to terms with the knowledge that life is just the pits (or maybe the zits?) sometimes, we have the wilder flights of Gez\'s fantasy, embodied in the \"Rocking Vicar\" and the tale of \"Poorly Julie\" who ate that most unhealthy of foods, broccoli, and \"Grandma\", who mistakenly nibbled rabbit droppings. Giggle again at the rude, crude lewdness of it all and join the Gez Walsh fan club with its growing band of spotmaniacs. Kids! - if you\'ve ever suffered the embarrassment of watching your dad disco dancing at a party whilst telling everyone he\'s Baby Spice, this book is for you!

In less than an hour, Sean has a meeting with a mestizo gangster. On the other side of town, Rosa listens for her husband’s car, and thirteen-year-old Vincente is watching for the man who pays money for street-kids’ dreams. Tonight, these disparate lives will violently collide ...

Thinasonke is thirteen, born in prison. Along with her mother, her older brother Mangaliso, three younger siblings and her grandma, she lives in Guguletu, one of the townships on the edge of Cape Town where violence is omnipresent.

New Directions, Second Edition is a thematic reading-writing book aimed at the most advanced ESL learners. The Student's Book prepares students for the rigors of college-level writing by having them read long, challenging, authentic readings as a precursor to writing. This emphasis on reading gives New Directions its distinctive character. Each of the five topic-based chapters contains three core readings and five additional readings. The readings come from a variety of genres and are accompanied by exercise material. The second edition represents a major revision. It contains two entirely new chapters and many new readings and activities in the other three. Another significant new feature is a section at the end of the first chapter that takes students through the writing process. Students work through it for their first writing assignment and return to this thorough treatment of the writing process for each subsequent major writing assignment.

This book is intended for students whose mother tongue is not English but who are studing English literature, and teaches students how to appreciate and criticise creative writing

Study Reading is a course for learners of intermediate level or above who need to develop their reading skills for study purposes. It is ideal for students working on their own, and contains a detailed answer key. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 introduces basic reading skills. Part 2 is theme based, with texts from a variety of disciplines, and aims to extend the skills introduced in Part 1. Part 3 covers the reading skills required for project, dissertation and thesis work. By doing a variety of task-based, problem-solving activities – and through direct advice - learners are encouraged to refine their reading strategies through exposure to the ideas of others. The Second Edition of Study Reading includes more recent texts in the academic disciplines represented and also takes account of new media, including on-line resources. Activities are also included for IELTS practice.

This book gives up-to-date information on all aspects of British life and institutions. It explains everything that other nationalities find interesting, amusing, puzzling or even frustrating about Britain and the British