Magnificent pyramids, the silent Sphinx, gigantic temples of stone, a land and people shrouded by the mists of time. Here's a subject that promises to captivate coloring book enthusiasts and anyone intrigued by the life and customs of ancient Egypt. Forty-four authentically detailed drawings by artist John Green recall the glory of a magnificent civilization -- from the beginning of the dynasties (ca. 300 B.C.), through the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms (ca. 2700-2010 B.C.), to the rule of the Ptolemies and the Roman conquest (30 B.C.)Included are expertly drawn and well-researched full-page...

First published between 1668 and 1693, the Fables of La Fontaine rank among the masterpieces of French literature. This volume contains 75 of the best, in the original French with new English line-for-line literal translations. "The Cicada and the Ant," "The City Rat and the Country Rat," "The Fox and the Grapes," many more.

This classic novel of self-discovery has inspired generations of seekers. With parallels to the enlightenment of the Buddha, Hesse's Siddhartha is the story of a young Brahmin's quest for the ultimate reality. His quest takes him from the extremes of indulgent sensuality to the rigors of ascetism and self-denial. At last he learns that wisdom cannot be taught -- it must come from one's own experience and inner struggle. Steeped in the tenets of both psychoanalysis and Eastern mysticism, Siddhartha presents a strikingly original view of man and culture, and the arduous process of...

One of the most important Latin-American writers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Nicaraguan poet and essayist Ruben Dario (the pen name of Felix Ruben Garcia Sarmiento) is considered the high priest of the modernismo school of literature, known for its dazzling verbal virtuosity and technical perfection. The present volume contains a rich selection of Dario's best poems and stories, carefully chosen from Azul (Blue), Prosas profanas (Worldly Hymns), Cantos de vida y esperanza (Songs of Life and Hope), El canto errante (The Wandering Song), and...

Widely regarded as one of the creators of prose poems, Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) was also a forerunner of the Surrealists. The works in this excellently translated collection, written by the author when he was between 15 and 20 years old, became a rallying point of the poetic avant-garde during the late nineteenth century throughout Western Europe and the United States. They have remained a source of inspiration for their youthful, rebellious spirit and unmatched verbal allure. Included among the works are the complete versions of Rimbaud's autobiographical "A Season in Hell"; his entire...

At the turn of the twentieth century, the city of Prague hosted a cosmopolitan culture whose literary scene abounded in experimental writers. Two of the city's natives are featured in this dual-language volume: Franz Kafka, whose fiction is synonymous with the anguish of modern life; and the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, whose stories unfold in the same transcendent lyricism as his verse.
Twelve of Kafka's stories from the compilation Ein Landarzt (A Country Doctor) appear here, along with two tales from Ein Hungerkunstler (A Hunger Artist). Rilke's stories include -Die Weise von...

An overnight sensation upon its 1774 publication, "The Sorrows of Young Werther" became one of the first European best-sellers and secured its young author both fortune and fame. Loosely based on Goethe's personal experiences, the novel is written mostly in the form of letters in which Werther recounts his unrequited love for a married woman. Its "Sturm und Drang" style, portraying the rebellion of youthful genius against conventional standards, makes it a perennial favorite with readers of every era. Includes the original German with English translation on the facing pages.

Recipient of the 1956 Nobel Prize for Literature, Jian Ramon Jimenez (1881-1958) ranks among the foremost Spanish poets. The early influences of German Romanticism and French Symbolism led Jimenez to the development of his unique voice, and he became a leader in the vanguard known as the modernistas, who staged a Spanish literary revival at the turn of the twentieth century.
Jimenez's most popular work, Platero y yo, unfolds in his native Andalusia. A series of autobiographical prose poems about the wanderings of a young writer and his donkey, it first appeared in a shorter...

The passionate life and violent death of Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936) retain an enduring fascination for readers around the world. Murdered by Nationalists at the outset of the Spanish Civil War, Lorca died at the peak of his creative powers. He remains his country's most widely translated writer, surpassed only by Cervantes in terms of critical commentary.
This selection includes 55 of the 68 poems that comprised Lorca's 1921 Libro de poemas, all of them in their entirety and in their original sequence. Imbued with the spirit and folklore of the poet's native Andalusia, these...