ess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman is a novel by Thomas Hardy. It initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British illustrated newspaper The Graphic in 1891 and in book form in 1892. Like much of Hardy’s work, the novel focuses partly on the declining rural society of the Victorian era, and also addresses class issues, as Tess’ father’s aspiration to transcend his class sets in motion a disastrous series of events. Though now considered a major nineteenth-century English novel and possibly Hardy’s fictional masterpiece, Tess of the d’Urbervilles received mixed reviews when it first appeared, in part because it challenged the sexual morals of late Victorian England.

This is an outstanding Christian book is presented as an autobiography of the title character (whose birth name is Robinson Kreutznaer). Daniel Defoe published Robinson Crusoe on April 25, 1719. An interesting fact is that the original title was 374 characters long: The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at last as strangely deliver’d by Pyrates

It is said that Charles Dickens invented Christmas, and within these pages you’ll certainly find all the elements of a quintessential traditional Christmas brought to vivid life: snowy rooftops, gleaming shop windows, steaming bowls of punch, plum puddings like speckled cannon balls, sage and onion stuffing, miracles, magic, charity and goodwill.

This Vintage Classics edition gathers together not only Dickens’ Christmas Books (‘A Christmas Carol’, ‘The Chimes’, ‘The Battle of Life’,’The Cricket on the Hearth’ and ‘The Haunted Man’) but also stories that Dickens wrote for the special seasonal editions of his periodicals All the Year Round and Household Words, and a festive tale from The Pickwick Papers.

Both a memoir of Orwell’s experiences during the Spanish Civil War and a heartfelt tribute to those who died, Homage to Catalonia is an extraordinary first-hand record of him time on the frontline. Written with all of the depth, passion and deep human understanding that defines Orwell’s writing this is a vivid account of the battles that were faced by ordinary working people as they fought for both their lives and their ideologies.

Although Orwell was himself near-fatally wounded he finds both bleak and comic notes in his experience which is recorded with such clarity and depth that this short work has become one of his best known.