Waverley, Sir Walter Scott's first prose fiction, is often regarded as the first historical novel. It was wildly popular, and the first of the -Waverley Novels- that include -Ivanhoe- and -Rob Roy-, that made Scott the most famous writer of his day.

Upon the restoration of Charles II, theatre burst back into popularity across the stages of England. For the first time since the rise of Cromwell, it was possible to make a living from writing verse, and the theatres attracted poets in their dozens. One of them was the young John Dryden (1631 1700). In this sprightly 1826 biography, reissued here in one volume, Walter Scott (1771 1832) brings Dryden's work, philosophy and historical context vividly to life. He begins with Dryden's literary origins in the Restoration theatre, exploring the flops and then the successes that earned the poet his...

When young Francis Osbaldistone discovers that his vicious and scheming cousin Rashleigh has designs both on his father's business and his beloved Diana Vernon, he turns in desperation to Rob Roy for help. Chieftain of the MacGregor clan, Rob Roy is a brave and fearless man, able and cunning. But he is also an outlaw with a price on his head, and as he and Francis join forces to pursue Rashleigh, he is constantly aware that he, too, is being pursued--and could be captured at any moment. Set on the eve of the 1715 Jacobite uprising, Rob Roy brilliantly evokes a Scotland on the verge of...

"Fight on, brave knights Man dies, but glory lives "

Banished from England for seeking to marry against his father's wishes, Ivanhoe joins Richard the Lion Heart on a crusade in the Holy Land. On his return, his passionate desire is to be reunited with the beautiful but forbidden lady Rowena, but he soon finds himself playing a more dangerous game as he is drawn into a bitter power struggle between the noble King Richard and his evil and scheming brother John. The first of Scott's novels to address a purely English subject, Ivanhoe is set in a highly romanticized...

The first historical novel and an international bestseller

Sir Walter Scott was one of the bestselling novelists of the nineteenth century and is credited with establishing the historical novel. His first novel, Waverley (1814), tells the story of Edward Waverley, a naive young man who is posted to Scotland with his regiment. Edward must decide whether he will follow the civilization he has always known, or be drawn into an older world of honor. This edition is based on the authoritative Edinburgh version edited by Peter Garside.
For more than seventy years, Penguin...

One of the most enduringly popular historical adventure novels of all time, 'Ivanhoe' features action, intrigue and romance plus a cast of characters that includes Richard the Lionheart, Robin Hood, noble knights and fair maidens.

In January 1912, Britain's Captain Robert F. Scott reached the South Pole, only to find he had been beaten by Roald Amundsen's Norwegian expedition. Scott and his companions faced an 850-mile march to safety. All perished on the return. A few months later, a search party found Scott's body and the journals that told his tragic story.
Scott's own account was published to extraordinary acclaim in 1913. This new edition draws on ninety years of reflection on the Antarctic disaster to illuminate Scott's journals, publishing for the first time a complete list of the changes made to Scott's...

This novel, which has always been regarded as one of Scott's finest, opens with the Edinburgh riots of 1736. The people of the city have been infuriated by the actions of John Porteous, Captain of the Guard, and when they hear that his death has been reprieved by the distant monarch they ignore the Queen and resolve to take their own revenge. At the center of the story is Edinburgh's forbidding Tolbooth prison, known by all as the Heart of Midlothian.
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In Ivanhoe Scott fashioned an imperial myth of national cultural identity that has shaped the popular imagination ever since its first appearance at the end of 1819. With the secret return of King Richard and the disinherited Saxon knight Ivanhoe, Scott confronts his splendid and tumultuous romance, featuring the tournament at Ashby-de- la-Zouche, the siege of Torquilstone, and the clash of wills between the wicked Templar Bois-Guilbert and the sublime Rebecca. Based on the 1830 text of Ivanhoe, this is the first edition to make corrections against Scott's working materials and incorporates...

By turns thrilling and comic, Rob Roy contains Scott's most sophisticated treatment of the Scottish Highlands as an imaginary space where the modern and the primitive come together. Newly edited from the Magnum Opus' text of 1830, this edition includes full explanatory notes and a critical introduction exploring the originality and complexity of Scott's achievement.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's...