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The Waste Land is a modernist poem written by T. S. Eliot, first published in 1922. It is considered one of the most important and influential poems of the 20th century. The poem is known for its complex structure, rich allusions, and exploration of various themes, including disillusionment, cultural decay, and the search for spiritual renewal in a post-World War I world.

The Secret of Chimneys is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by The Bodley Head in June 1925 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. It introduces the characters of Superintendent Battle and Lady Eileen "Bundle" Brent. At the request of George Lomax, Lord Caterham reluctantly agrees to host a weekend party at his home, Chimneys. A murder occurs in the house, beginning a week of fast-paced events with police among the guests. The novel was well received at first publication, described as more than a murder mystery, as it is a treasure hunt. Later reviews found it a first-class romp and one of the author''s best early thrillers.

The Sun Also Rises follows a group of young American and British expatriates as they wander through Europe in the mid-1920s. They are all members of the cynical and disillusioned Lost Generation, who came of age during World War I (1914–18).

"Moby-Dick"; or, The Whale is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is sailor Ishmael''s narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, the white whale that on the ship''s previous voyage bit off Ahab''s leg at the knee. (Wikipedia)

The Forsyte Saga, first published under that title in 1922, is a series of three novels and two interludes published between 1906 and 1921 by the English author John Galsworthy, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature. They chronicle the vicissitudes of the leading members of a large upper-middle-class English family that is similar to Galsworthy''s. Only a few generations removed from their farmer ancestors, its members are keenly aware of their status as "new money". The main character, the solicitor and connoisseur Soames Forsyte, sees himself as a "man of property" by virtue of his ability to accumulate material possessions, but that does not succeed in bringing him pleasure. . In 2003, The Forsyte Saga was listed as #123 on the BBC''s The Big Read poll of the UK''s "best-loved novel".

During his first voyage, Gulliver is washed ashore after a shipwreck and finds himself a prisoner of a race of tiny people, less than 6 inches tall, who are inhabitants of the island country of Lilliput.  After giving assurances of his good behaviour, he is given a residence in Lilliput and becomes a favourite of the court. From there, the book follows Gulliver''s observations on the Court of Lilliput. He is also given the permission to roam around the city on a condition that he must not harm their subjects. Gulliver assists the Lilliputians to subdue their neighbours, the Blefuscudians, by stealing their fleet. However, he refuses to reduce the island nation of Blefuscu to a province of Lilliput, displeasing the King and the court. Gulliver is charged with treason for, among other "crimes", "making water" in the capital (even though he was putting out a fire and saving countless lives). He is convicted and sentenced to be blinded, but with the assistance of a kind friend, he escapes to Blefuscu. Here he spots and retrieves an abandoned boat and sails out to be rescued by a passing ship, which safely takes him back home. This book of the Travels is a topical political satire.(Excerpt from Wikipedia)

Excerpt: "The field of aviation has, from the inception of successful flight by the Wright Brothers, had a wonderful fascination for the amateur mechanic. At first the strong element of mystery in the movements of this monster man-ridden bird appalled him, but an examination of approved designs has removed the mystery and has assured him that he can, with his own hands and at a cost well within his reach, build his own machine in his own back yard."

Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. (Wikipedia)

As private secretary to the Emperor Hadrian, Suetonius gained access to the imperial archives and used them (along with eye-witness accounts) to produce one of the most colourful biographical works in history. The Twelve Caesars chronicles the public careers and private lives of the men who wielded absolute power over Rome, from the foundation of the empire under Julius Caesar and Augustus, to the decline into depravity and civil war under Nero, and the recovery that came with his successors. A masterpiece of anecdote, wry observation and detailed physical description, The Twelve Caesars presents us with a gallery of vividly drawn — and all too human — individuals. (Goodreads)

Excerpt: "Jack Redgrave was a jolly, well-to-do young squatter, who, in the year 185—, had a very fair cattle station in one of the Australian colonies, upon which he lived in much comfort and reasonable possession of the minor luxuries of life. He had, in bush parlance, “taken it up” himself, when hardly more than a lad, had faced bad seasons, blacks, bush-fires, bushrangers, and bankers (these last he always said terrified him far more than the others), and had finally settled down into a somewhat too easy possession of a couple of thousand good cattle, a well-bred, rather fortunate stud, and a roomy, cool cottage with a broad verandah all covered with creepers. The climate in which his abode was situated was temperate, from latitude and proximity to the coast. It was cold in the winter, but many a ton of she-oak and box had burned away in the great stone chimney, before which Jack used to toast himself in the cold nights, after a long day’s riding after cattle. He had plenty of books, for he did not altogether neglect what he called his mind, and he had time 2to read them, as of course he was not always out on the run, or away mustering, or doing a small—sometimes very small—bit of business at the country town, just forty miles off, or drafting or branding his cattle. He would work away manfully at all these avocations for a time, and then, the cattle being branded up, the business in the country town settled, the musters completed, and the stockmen gone home, he used to settle down for a week or two at home, and take it easy. Then he read whole forenoons, rather indiscriminately perhaps, but still to the general advantage of his intelligence. History, novels, voyages and travels, classics, science, natural history, political economy, languages—they all had their turn. He had an uncommonly good memory, so that no really well-educated prig could be certain that he would be found ignorant upon any given subject then before the company, as he was found to possess a fund of information when hard pressed."

It was a time of bloody confrontation between the white man and the red man, a time when the pioneers of a new nation were pushing out across the Great Plains and yet the powerful spirits of an ancient mystical religion still held sway over the Indians. In this troubled, dangerous time, there is a man who has the privilege - and the curse - of belonging to both worlds. He is Gray Cloud, a disciple of the ageing shaman Owl Carver. A handsome young half-breed, he is chosen by the Great Turtle to become the mystical leader of the Sauk people...and summoned by his French-born aristocratic father to inherit the vast estate of Victoire. (Goodreads)

These Sketches were made during a year''s service as a camion driver with the French army in the Chemin-des-Dames sector and a year''s service with the A.E.F. as an infantry private on special duty with "The Stars and Stripes," the official A.E.F. newspaper. Most of them were drawn at odd minutes during the French push of 1917 near Fort Malmaison, at loading parks and along the roadside while on truck convoy, and while on special permission to draw and paint with the French army given me by the Grand Quartier Gènèral during the time I was stationed at Soissons. The rest were drawn on American fronts from the Argonne to Belgium as my duties took me from one offensive to another. (Google)

George du Maurier''s 1891 novel relates the story of two young lovers who are separated in childhood and then drawn together by destiny years later, even after they die. (Amazon)

Excerpt: "The sea lay low in the offing, and as far as the eye could reach, immense white-caps rode upon it as quietly as pond-lilies on the bosom of a lake. Fleecy clouds dotted the sky, and far off toward the horizon a full-rigged four-masted cat-boat lugged and luffed in the calm evening breezes. Her sails were piped to larboard, starboard, and port; and as she rolled steadily along in the heavy wash and undertow, her companion-light, already kindled, shed a delicate ray across the bay to where the dull red disk of the sun was dipping its colors. Her cordage lay astern, in the neat coils that seamen know so well how to make. The anchor had been weighed this half-hour, and the figures put down in the log; for Captain Bliffton was not a man to put off doing anything that lay in the day’s watch. Away to eastward, two tiny black clouds stole along as if they were diffident strangers in the sky, and were anxious to be gone. Now and again came the report of some sunset gun from the forts that lined the coast, and sea-robins flew with harsh cries athwart the sloop of fishing-boats that were beating to windward with gaffed topsails. “Davy Jones’ll have a busy day to-morrow,” growled Tom Bowsline, the first boatswain’s mate. “Meaning them clouds is windy?” answered the steward, with a glance to leeward.""

Philip Francis Nowlan (1888 – February 1, 1940) was an American science fiction author, best known as the creator of Buck Rogers. Nowlan’s novella “Armageddon—2419 A.D.” tells about America in the 25th century, conquered by Hans in 2109 AD and only now beginning to rebel. Sometime after World War I, nearly all the European powers joined forces against the United States. Although the US won the war, both sides were devastated by the conflict. Taking advantage of the chaos that followed, the ''Russian Soviets'' (USSR) joined forces with the ''Mongolians'' to take over Europe. The US collapsed economically and stagnated while the ''Mongolians'' turned against the Russians and defeated them as part of their campaign of world conquest. American efforts to avoid war with the ''Mongols'' failed and in 2109 AD, they attacked the US using fleets of airships armed with disintegrator rays. They attacked from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and down from Canada. After conquering the US and Canada, these ''Airlords of Han'' ruled North America as a province of the world empire from fifteen great cities they established across the continent. They ignored the Americans who were left to fend for themselves in the forests and mountains as their advanced technology prevented the need for slave labor.[1] From time to time, they raid American land "to keep the ''wild'' Americans on the run within the shelter of their forests, and prevent their becoming a menace to the Han civilisation." (Excerpt from Wikipedia)

The Consolation of Philosophy is a short work of literature, written in the form of a prosimetrical apocalyptic dialogue (i.e. a dialogue with a mythical, imaginary, or allegorical figure). It contains five Books, which are written in a combination of prose and verse. The dialogue is between Ancius Boethius, a prominent and learned official of the Roman Empire, and the person of Philosophy.

Robert Erskine Childers DSC (25 June 1870 – 24 November 1922), universally known as Erskine Childers, was the author of the influential novel The Riddle of the Sands and an Irish nationalist who smuggled guns to Ireland in his sailing yacht Asgard. He was executed by the authorities of the nascent Irish Free State during the Irish Civil War. “The Riddle of the Sands: A Record of Secret Service” is a 1903 novel by Erskine Childers. The book, which enjoyed immense popularity in the years before World War I, is an early example of the espionage novel and was extremely influential in the genre of spy fiction. It has been made into both a film and TV film. (Excerpt from Wikipedia)

Le Grand Meaulnes est un roman d''Alain-Fournier publié en 1913. Le roman est l''œuvre littéraire française la plus traduite et lue dans le monde juste après Le Petit Prince. Il totalisait à la fin du XXe siècle plus de quatre millions d''exemplaires vendus en format de poche.

Featuring the full contents of Robert Frost''s first three volumes of poetry—A Boy''s Will, North of Boston, and Mountain Interval—this superbly designed collection is a testament to the beauty of the master’s writing. It gathers more than 100 of Frost’s most renowned poems, including “Mending Wall,” “The Road Not Taken,” and “The Death of the Hired Man.” (Amazon)

"The Defence of Duffers Drift" is a fictional account of a young, inexperienced British officer, who is tasked with holding a river crossing with 50 troops against a larger enemy force. His initial failures and eventual victory serve as an entertaining and instructive vehicle to convey the principles of small unit tactics. Because it deals with principles, this definitive work has endured to this day and is still on some of the required reading lists of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. (Goodreads)

The Duel is a novel by Russian author Aleksandr Kuprin published in 1905. It is generally considered his best work; even though Kuprin''s 1896 short story Moloch first made his name known as a writer it was The Duel (1905) which made him famous. Because of it "Kuprin was highly praised by fellow writers including Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky, Leonid Andreyev, Nobel Prize-winning Ivan Bunin" and Leo Tolstoy who acclaimed him a true successor to Chekhov. The story concerns an intelligent young officer, Second Lieutenant Romashov, stationed at a dull military garrison in southern Russia where he can not stomach his sadistic and stupid colleagues and military life. He falls in love with the wife of a superior officer, a cold and calculating woman whose one ambition is her husband''s advancement. The affair leads in the end to the duel of the title, both externally, and figuratively through the young man''s naive dreams of grandeur confronting the degeneration of military life and society of the time.

Excerpt: "The time may come when there will be no portion of the earth’s surface that has not been surveyed and explored by man. The work of enterprising travellers has now been carried on within a measurable distance of the North Pole; the highest mountain ranges are gradually succumbing to the geological surveyor; the heart of Africa is giving up to us its secrets and its treasures, and plans of all the desert places of the earth are being made and tabulated. The bottom of the deep sea was until quite recently one of these terræ incognitæ. It was regarded by most persons, when it entered into their minds to consider it at all, as one of those regions about which we do not know anything, never shall know anything, and do not want to know anything."

Nicht ist erregender als die Wahrheit war sein Credo. Egon Erwin Kisch war Reporter, Kommunist und Jude. Er kampfte fur das Proletariat und gegen den deutschen Faschismus. Neben denkwurdigen Ereignissen interessieren ihn vor allem Themen aus der Schattenwelt des Lumpenproletariats.

Pan is an 1894 novel by Norwegian author Knut Hamsun. He wrote it while living in Paris and in Kristiansand, Norway. It remains one of his most famous works. Lieutenant Thomas Glahn, a hunter and ex-military man, lives alone in a hut in the forest with his faithful dog Aesop. Upon meeting Edvarda, the daughter of a merchant in a nearby town, they are both strongly attracted to each other, but neither understands the other''s love.

A masterful retelling of the story of the siege of Troy, as contained in The Iliad. Written especially for younger readers, this book provides a perfect introduction to the storyline contained in the classic work, starting from the events which led to the ten-year siege of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, and ending with the death of Hector after the climactic final battle which featured the hero warrior Achilles. The reader will meet the famous characters Paris, Helen, Hector, Ajax, and many others, all of whom have passed into the realms of European folklore, even though the events of The Iliad occurred over 2,500 years ago. Along with The Odyssey, The Iliad is among the oldest existing works of Western literature, with the earliest written version dating to around the eighth century BC. It is a vital work for anyone seeking a well-rounded classical education. (Amazon)

The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel is a sequel book to the classic adventure tale, The Scarlet Pimpernel. Written by Baroness Orczy and first published in 1919, the book consists of eleven short stories about Sir Percy Blakeney''s exploits in rescuing various aristos and French citizens from the clutches of the guillotine. (Wikipedia)

The elusive Pimpernel returns for another swashbuckling adventure in El Dorado. The still-raging French Revolution continues to claim lives, and the shadow of the guillotine draws ever nearer to the young Dauphin, son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. No one dares to attempt to liberate the little prince — no one, that is, but the mysterious Sir Percy Blakeney, also known as the Scarlet Pimpernel. Sir Percy takes on one of Robespierre''s agents, the scheming Citizen Chauvelin, in a suspenseful blend of action and political intrigue, recounted with captivating period detail. (Goodreads)

Lord Tony''s Wife, by Baroness Orczy is a sequel book to the classic adventure tale, The Scarlet Pimpernel. It was first published in 1917. The year is 1789 and Pierre Adet, a young French peasant, is incensed at the unfair treatment of the local peasantry, who are no better off than slaves to the local aristocrat. His brother-in-law is about to be hanged for poaching two pigeons from the woods belonging to the Duc de Kernogan in Nantes and this proves the final straw. After months of planning Pierre leads a mob against the Duc against the advice of his father. (Wikipedia)

The Laughing Cavalier is a 1913 adventure novel by Baroness Orczy, which revolves around Percy Blake, a foreign adventurer and ancestor of Orczy''s famous character, the Scarlet Pimpernel. The story takes place in Holland in 1623/1624 and is partly inspired by Frans Hals'' painting The Laughing Cavalier: in the novel, Blake is Frans Hals'' adopted son and the man who poses for the painting of the Laughing Cavalier. The sequel to this book, continuing the story of Percy Blake, is The First Sir Percy. (Wikipedia)