Children of the Ghetto by Israel Zangwill was published in 1892. It documents the lives of immigrant Jews who lived and worked in the Yiddish-speaking streets and densely packed alleys emptying into London's Petticoat Lane, the East End bazaar that was both marketplace and communal watering hole. Zangwill's portrayal of the uncertain situation of 'his people, ' which all too often had been painted in dreadfully sombre tones by earnest social reformers and drum-beating evangelists, is insightfully told with affectionate honesty and wryness of humour. Introduction by social historian and...

Three plays by the well-known American dramatist and translator, Frank J. Morlock. THE YIDDISH HAMLET, adapted from a story by Israel Zangwill, focuses on a conceited Jewish playwright who's penned a "modern" version of Hamlet. His satisfaction at having his drama produced turns to horror when he discovers that Goldberg, the manager, has converted his "masterpiece" into a comedy THE CONGRESSMAN'S NIGHTMARE, suggested by a French play, occurs when the statesman's beautiful but spendthrift ex-wife, now a call girl, forces her way back into his apartment, thereby threatening his appointment as...

Regarded as the first full-length locked room mystery, The Big Bow Mystery focuses on a murder that has occurred inside a locked room, with no clear indication as to the weapon used, the perpetrator of the horrendous crime, or a possible escape route. Scotland Yard is stumped. Yet the seemingly unsolvable case has, as Inspector Grodman says, ""one sublimely simple solution"" that is revealed in a final chapter full of revelations and a shocking denouement. The Big Bow Mystery has been almost continuously in print since 1891 and has been used as the basis for three commercial films.