The Double is a novella written by the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky. It tells the tragic but comic tale of the polite and well-established titular councilor Yakov Petrovitch Golyadkin. His problems begin when his exact double enters his life and begins to take over. Golyadkin turns to his colleagues for help, but no matter whom he talks to, he increasingly feels surrounded by enemies. The novel begins with Golyadkin waking at his usual hour of 8am. He counts his 750 rubles in his notebook before checking on his servant Petrushka. Petrushka is talking to some fellow lackeys and Golyadkin...

The Communist Manifesto reflects an attempt to explain the goals of Communism, as well as the theory underlying this movement. It argues that class struggles, or the exploitation of one class by another, are the motivating force behind all historical developments. Class relationships are defined by an era's means of production. However, eventually these relationships cease to be compatible with the developing forces of production. At this point, a revolution occurs and a new class emerges as the ruling one. This process represents the "march of history" as driven by larger economic forces.

Las Aventuras de Robinson Crusoe constituye una novela emblematica y un autentico clasico de la literatura de aventuras. Es la historia de un hombre que abandonando los sabios consejos y ensenanzas recibidos de sus padres se hace a la mar y naufraga. Sin embargo, el ir a parar a una isla desierta no lo convierte en un animal desesperado por el infortunio, sino que le hace encontrarse consigo mismo. En la soledad del oceano descubre su capacidad para sobrevivir en un medio hostil, a Dios y a si mismo."

A Tale of Two Cities is concerned with events in Paris and London before and during the French Revolution. The story focuses on Charles Darnay, the self-exiled nephew of French nobility, and his wife, Lucie Manette, daughter of Dr. Alexandre Manette. As the first of the novel's three sections begins, Jarvis Lorry is on his way to Paris to reunite Dr. Manette with the daughter who thought he has been dead for the past 18 years. Over this time Dr. Manette has forgotten his past life; he sits in a small attic room and makes shoes. Slowly, Jarvis and Lucie Manette

The Prince Summary The Prince begins with an address to Lorenzo de Medici, in which Machiavelli explains that he is seeking favor with the prince by offering him some of his knowledge. He then proceeds to classify the various kinds of states: republics, hereditary princedoms, brand-new princedoms, and mixed principalities. New states are his primary focus, for those are the hardest to deal with. A conquered state whose original prince was its sole ruler is difficult to conquer, but easy to maintain; a conquered state in which the prince shared power with the barons is easy to conquer, but...

The Woman in White, published in 1860, is one of the earliest and most-beloved mystery novels, but at the time, critics were not exactly so positive. Novelist and critic Edward Bulwer-Lytton, for example, called the novel 'great trash.' On the other hand, the public loved the mystery and intrigue behind the identity of the mysterious Woman in White and anxiously waited to read the continuation of the story each week as a new chapter showed up in the weekly publication All the Year Round. The story still intrigues people; it was turned into a PBS Mystery presentation and an Andrew Lloyd...

Marcus Aurelius (121 - 180 AD) was Roman Emperor from 161 to 180, and is considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers. What today we call the Meditations take the form of a personal notebook; they weren't intended for publication and he called them "Writings To Myself." They were written in Greek, even though his native tongue was Latin, and were probably composed while Marcus was on military campaigns in central Europe, c. AD 171-175. He died, most likely from the plague or cancer, on a military campaign in present day Austria.