Ivanhoe Sir Walter Scott http://www.feedbooks.com/book/203 urn:isbn:0486436772 en 1820 Novels War Ivanhoe is the story of one of the remaining Saxon noble families at a time when the English nobility was overwhelmingly Norman. It follows the Saxon protagonist, Wilfrid of Ivanhoe, who is out of favour with his father owing to his courting the Lady Rowena and for his allegiance to the Norman king Richard I of England. The story is set in 1194, after the end of the Third Crusade, when many of the Crusaders were still returning to Europe. King Richard, having been captured by the Duke of Saxony, on his way back, was still supposed to be in the arms of his captors. The legendary Robin Hood, initially under the name of Locksley, is also a character in the story, as are his 'merry men,' including Friar Tuck and, less so, Alan-a-Dale. (Little John is merely mentioned.) The character that Scott gave to Robin Hood in Ivanhoe helped shape the modern notion of this figure as a cheery noble outlaw. Other major characters include Ivanhoe's intractable Saxon father Cedric, a descendant of the Saxon King Harold Godwinson; various Knights Templar and churchmen; the loyal serfs Gurth the swineherd and the jester Wamba, whose observations punctuate much of the action; and the Jewish moneylender, Isaac of York, equally passionate of money and his daughter, Rebecca. The book was written and published during a period of increasing struggle for Emancipation of the Jews in England, and there are frequent references to injustice against them. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/203.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/203.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/203.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/203.mobi Grimm's Fairy Tales Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm Wilhem Karl Grimm http://www.feedbooks.com/book/187 urn:isbn:0517229250 en 1812 Young Readers Collections Children's and Household Tales (German: Kinder- und Hausmärchen) is a collection of German origin fairy tales first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the Brothers Grimm. The collection is commonly known today as Grimms' Fairy Tales (German: Grimms Märchen). http://www.feedbooks.com/book/187.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/187.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/187.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/187.mobi Mansfield Park Jane Austen http://www.feedbooks.com/book/358 urn:isbn:019280264X en 1814 Novels At the age of ten, Fanny Price leaves the poverty of her Portsmouth home to be brought up among the family of her wealthy uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram, in the chilly grandeur of Mansfield Park. She gradually falls in love with her cousin Edmund, but when the dazzling and sophisticated Crawfords arrive, and amateur theatricals unleash rivalry and sexual jealousy, Fanny has to fight to retain her independence. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/358.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/358.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/358.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/358.mobi The Jungle Upton Sinclair http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3384 en 1906 Novels Politics The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by author and socialist journalist Upton Sinclair. It was written about the corruption of the American meatpacking industry during the early 20th century. The novel depicts in harsh tones the poverty, absence of social programs, unpleasant living and working conditions, and hopelessness prevalent among the "have-nots", which is contrasted with the deeply rooted corruption on the part of the "haves". The sad state of turn-of-the-century labor is placed front and center for the American public to see, suggesting that something needed to be changed to get rid of American "wage slavery". The novel is also an important example of the "muckraking" tradition begun by journalists such as Jacob Riis. Sinclair wanted to persuade his readers that the mainstream American political parties offered little means for progressive change. Upton Sinclair came to Chicago with the intent of writing The Jungle; he had been given a stipend by the socialist newspaper The Appeal to Reason. Upon his arrival in the lobby of the Chicago Transit House, a hotel near the stockyards, he was quoted as saying, "Hello! I'm Upton Sinclair, and I'm here to write the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the Labor Movement!" (Arthur, 43). He rented living quarters and immediately immersed himself in the city by walking its streets, talking to its people, and taking pictures. One Sunday afternoon, he worked his way into a group of Asian immigrants getting together for a wedding party – "Behold, there was the opening scene of my story, a gift from the gods". He was welcomed to the festivities and stayed until two o'clock in the morning. The novel was first published in serial form in 1906 by The Appeal to Reason. "After five rejections", its first edition as a novel was published by Doubleday, Page & Company on February 28, 1906, and it became an immediate bestseller. It has been in print ever since. Source: Wikipedia This work was published before 1923 and is in the public domain in the USA only. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3384.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3384.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3384.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3384.mobi Little Women Louisa May Alcott http://www.feedbooks.com/book/139 urn:isbn:0517214628 en 1868 Novels Little Women or, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Written and published in two parts in 1868 and 1869, the novel follows the lives of four sisters — Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March — and is loosely based on the author's childhood experiences with her three sisters. The first part of the book was an immediate commercial and critical success and prompted the composition of the book's second part, also a huge success. Both parts were first published as a single volume in 1880. The book is an unquestioned American classic. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/139.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/139.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/139.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/139.mobi A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens http://www.feedbooks.com/book/59 urn:isbn:1580495796 en 1843 Novels Young Readers In his "Ghostly little book," Charles Dickens invents the modern concept of Christmas Spirit and offers one of the world’s most adapted and imitated stories. We know Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, not only as fictional characters, but also as icons of the true meaning of Christmas in a world still plagued with avarice and cynicism. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/59.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/59.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/59.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/59.mobi The Things that Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away Cory Doctorow http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2746 en 2008 Short Fiction Science Fiction Please read the legal notice included in this e-book and/or check the copyright status in your country. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2746.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2746.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2746.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2746.mobi The Call of the Wild Jack London http://www.feedbooks.com/book/92 urn:isbn:0753454939 en 1903 Novels Adventure The Call of the Wild is a novel by American writer Jack London. The plot concerns a previously domesticated and even somewhat pampered dog named Buck, whose primordial instincts return after a series of events finds him serving as a sled dog in the treacherous, frigid Yukon during the days of the 19th century Klondike Gold Rushes. Published in 1903, The Call of the Wild is one of London's most-read books, and it is generally considered one of his best. Because the protagonist is a dog, it is sometimes classified as a juvenile novel, suitable for children, but it is dark in tone and contains numerous scenes of cruelty and violence. London followed the book in 1906 with White Fang, a companion novel with many similar plot elements and themes as The Call of the Wild, although following a mirror image plot in which a wild wolf becomes civilized by a mining expert from San Francisco named Weedon Scott. This work is available for countries where copyright is Life+70 and in the USA. http://www.feedbooks.com/book/92.png http://www.feedbooks.com/book/92.pdf http://www.feedbooks.com/book/92.epub http://www.feedbooks.com/book/92.mobi