Books published by publisher Waking Lion Press 2008

Manor Farm is run by its drunken owner, Mr. Jones, and his incompetent workers. Chafing under their exploitation, the animals rise up against their human masters and take over the farm. Under the guidance of the intellectually superior pigs, the animals then set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. But as time passes, their labors don't have quite the results they expected, and they begin to realize that their porcine leaders may have other purposes in mind.On one level, Animal Farm is a simple tale about barnyard animals. On a deeper level, it is a pointed political satire about corrupted ideals, class conflict, and misdirected revolution—themes as valid today as when the book was first published. As we continue to wrestle with these issues, the cutting clarity of Orwell’s masterpiece delivers an enduring warning for all who care about justice, freedom, and equality.Newly designed and typeset by Waking Lion Press.

"I was dead, and right content," the narrator says in the penultimate chapter of Phantastes. C.S. Lewis said that upon reading this astonishing 19th-century fairy tale he "had crossed a great frontier," and numerous others both before and since have felt similarly. In MacDonald's fairy tales, both those for children and (like this one) those for adults, the "fairy land" clearly represents the spiritual world, or our own world revealed in all of its depth and meaning. At times almost forthrightly allegorical, at other times richly dreamlike (and indeed having a close connection to the symbolic world of dreams), this story of a young man who finds himself on a long journey through a land of fantasy is more truly the story of the spiritual quest that is at the core of his life's work, a quest that must end with the ultimate surrender of the self. The glory of MacDonald's work is that this surrender is both hard won (or lost ) and yet rippling with joy when at last experienced. As the narrator says of a heavenly woman in this tale, "She knew something too good to be told." One senses the same of the author himself. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 6-by-9-inch format by Waking Lion Press.

When Elizabeth Bennet meets handsome bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she immediately deems him proud--arrogant, conceited, and utterly obnoxious. When she later discovers that Darcy has deliberately turned another man against her beloved sister Jane, she resolves to have nothing more to do with him. In the comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen portrays Elizabeth's prejudice toward a man who has resolved to be particularly careful to hide any sign of his admiration for her--with all of the consequent misunderstandings and entertaining reconciliations readers have come to expect from one of the finest British novelists. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 6-by-9-inch format by Waking Lion Press.

Mary Chesnut kept her diary from early in 1861, just before the Civil War began, to shortly after the end of the war, in 1865. Though not a day-by-day account of the conflict, the diary gives an up-close-and-personal view of this critical period in American history. Her commentary on the conversations and events of her day reveals a keen awareness of the oppression to which women--lack or white, slave or free--were subjected during that period. While she would not consider herself a feminist, her diary reveals sensibilities and concerns that place her far ahead of her time. The wife of a Confederate general, Mary Chesnut moved in the elite circles of Southern society and had a keen interest in politics. Her diary is an important historic document and, because of her sharp wit and often irreverent attitude, a fascinating window into Southern society of the time.

The single most useful and concise guide to mythology, Bulfinch's Mythology is a collection of timeless tales from around the world. Written not for scholars but for the common reader, Bulfinch's commentary is fascinating, a series of notes to himself that grew into this highly readable collection. For the Greek myths, Bulfinch drew on Ovid and Virgil, providing lively versions of the myths of Zeus and Hera, Venus and Adonis, Daphne and Apollo, and their cohorts on Mount Olympus; the love story of Pygmalion and Galatea; the legends of the Trojan War; and the epic wanderings of Ulysses and Aeneas. For the sagas of the North, he drew on Mallet's Northern Antiquities, depicting the joys of Valhalla, the furies of Thor, and the tales of Beowulf. The book also includes mythology from the East, stories of Zoroaster, Buddha, and the Hindus. This sterling collection belongs in the libary of every serious reader. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 6-by-9-inch format by Waking Lion Press.

By the time he dies, Ivan Ilych has come to understand the worthlessness of his life. Paradoxically, this elevates him above the common man, who avoids the reality of death and the effort it takes to make life worthwhile. In Tolstoy's own words, "Ivan Ilyich's life had been . . . most ordinary and therefore most terrible." Newly designed and typeset in a modern 5.5-by-8.5-inch format by Waking Lion Press.

One of Ours is Willa Cather's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the making of an American soldier. Claude Wheeler, the sensitive but aspiring protagonist, has ready access to his family's fortune but refuses to settle for it. Alienated from his uncaring father and pious mother, and rejected by a wife whose only love is missionary work, Claude is an idealist without ideals to cling to. Only when his country enters the Great War does he find the meaning of his life. In One of Ours, Willa Cather explores the life of a young Nebraskan whose ambitions drive him to a frontier wilder and more violent than the one tamed by his pioneer ancestors. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 6-by-9-inch format by Waking Lion Press.

Written (but left unfinished) in the 1300s by the English courtier, diplomat, philosopher, and poet Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales follows a group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury Cathedral to visit the remains of Saint Thomas á Becket. When the group stops at an inn, they agree to entertain each other on their journey by telling stories, with a reward for the traveler whose stories are best. From the noble Knight and his Squire to the spunky Wife of Bath, from the antagonistic Miller and Reeve to the Prioress, Nun, and Pardoner, Chaucer paints a vivid picture of medieval life. Even today, some 700 years after its initial publication, this classic of English literature endears itself to readers through its vivid characters, sparkling dialogue, raucus humor, and love of humanity. Important historically, it helped establish English as the language of British literature, replacing French and Latin and securing Chaucer's reputation as “the first finder of our fair language.” This classic and thoroughly entertaining work has been newly designed and typeset in a large-format edition by Waking Lion Press.

Asserting that one must first know the rules to break them, this classic reference book is an essential guide for students, teachers, editors, and writers. In this 1918 original edition, Strunk concentrates on specific questions of usage, the cultivation of good writing, and avoiding overwriting by making "every word tell." E. B. White, a writer at the New Yorker magazine who studied under Strunk, described this "little book" as a "forty-three-page summation of the case for cleanliness, accuracy, and brevity in the use of English." Newly designed and typeset by Waking Lion Press.

Why was Thomas a Becket murdered in Canterbury Cathedral? Who was Hereward the Wake? Was King Canute really trying to stop the tide? Interesting and informative, "A Child's History of England" takes readers on a fascinating journey, from Ancient England and the Romans to the reign of Queen Victoria. Full of gallant heroes and brutal villains, high adventure and terrible tragedy, it will appeal to anyone (including adults ) who enjoys a good story. As David Starkey wrote, "In 'A Child's History' we see Dickens near the height of his powers: combining a mastery of plain language, sharp if sometimes heavy irony, and the keenest eye for evocative detail. . . . Dickens had no interest in serving up the bland fare that others may have felt more suitable for a child's palate--and less threatening to the status quo. His is sectarian history: radical, opinionated, and, to most readers, all the better for it." Newly formatted and typeset in a modern 6-by-9-inch format by Waking Lion Press.