Books in Oxford Paperbacks series

Here are some of the very best short stories written for children over the last 250 years. Compiled by the well-known children's writer and Carnegie Medalist, Jan Mark, this is the first anthology to trace how children's short stories evolved, ranging from the publication of Sarah Fielding's "The Governess" in 1749, to Nadia Wheatley's "Convict Box" in 1992. Anyone who enjoys children's fiction, whether young or old, will find something to savor in The Oxford Book of Children's Stories. Fairy tales, ghost stories, adventures and escapades in and out of school, every genre is included here, peopled by good children and bad, strict parents and kindly aunts, kings and queens, giants and enchanters. Mark includes work by 44 different authors, including well-known figures such as Louisa May Alcott, Christina Rossetti, Rudyard Kipling, Max Beerbohm, and Carl Sandburg, leading modern writers such as Philippa Pearce, Richard Kennedy, Nadia Wheatley, and Jan Mark herself--plus many long-forgotten tales that are still highly entertaining today. Chronologically arranged, the anthology also serves as an introduction to the historical development of the children's short story, providing insights into the way perceptions of childhood and contemporary attitudes have influenced writers of different periods. But as Jan Mark's discriminating selection demonstrates, the ingredients of a good children's story--as well as the fictional tastes of children themselves--have remained remarkably constant, despite changes in style and outlook. This is a collection to divert and surprise: an ideal survey of the children's short story for parents, professionals--and especially for the children themselves.

The English Governess at the Siamese Court: Being Recollections of Six Years in the Royal Palace at Bangkok (1870) vividly recounts the experiences of one Anna Harriette Leonowens as governess for the sixty-plus children of King Mongkut of Siam, English teacher for his entire royal family, and translator and scribe for the King himself. Bright, young, and energetic, Leonowens was well-suited to these roles, and her writings convey a heartfelt interest in the lives, legends, and languages of Siam's rich and poor. She also tells of how she and the King often disagreed on matters domestic. After all, this was the first time King Mongkut had met a woman who dared to contradict him, and the governess found the very idea of male domination intolerable. Overworked and underpaid, Leonowens would eventually resign, but her exchanges with His Majesty--heated and otherwise--on topics like grammar, charity, slavery, politics, and religion add much to her diary's rich, cross-cultural spirit, its East-meets-West appeal. Over the years, that appeal has only increased. Eighty years after it first appeared, this memoir inspired the popular book and film, Anna and the King of Siam, and a few years later the hit musical, The King and I. Now comes yet another version, Anna and the King, the new film starring Jodie Foster and Chow Yun Fat. Here, then, is the original tale, presented with many reproductions of the fine drawings that the King had offered as gifts to Leonowens. The English Governess at the Siamese Court remains engaging as a story of adventure, fascinating as a picture of nineteenth-century Bangkok, and intriguing as an account of life inside King Mongkut's palace.

When honest young Caleb Williams comes to work as a secretary for Squire Falkland, he soon begins to suspect that his new master is hiding a secret. As he digs deeper into Falkland's past and finally unearths the horrible truth, the results of his curiosity prove calamitous when-even though Caleb has loyally sworn never to disclose what he has discovered-the Squire enacts a cruel revenge. A tale of gripping suspense and psychological power, William Godwin's novel creates a searing depiction of the intolerable persecution meted out to a good man in pursuit of justice and equality. Written to expose the political oppression and corrupt hierarchies its author saw in the world around him, Caleb Williams makes a radical call to end the tyrannical misuses of power.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Discussing diverse aspects of the environmental history of South and Southeast Asia, from a variety of perspectives, it brings together leading experts from the fields of history, history of science, archaeology, geography and environmental studies, and covers a time span from 50,000 BC to thepresent. Spanning a geographical region from Peshawar on the North-West Frontier to the Maluku Islands in eastern Indonesia, this book tells the story of the highly complex relationship between people and their environment. Among a multitude of subjects it reports on the latest findings insettlement archaeology, the history of deforestation, climate change, the history of fishing, hunting and shikar, colonial science and forest management, indigenous plant knowledge, the history of famine, the impact of coalmining and the tragic story of India's tragic story of India's tribalcommunities.

Eelie was the most unusual dog who arrived uninvited at the home of the celebrated Indian naturalist, Billy Arjan Singh, when she was a few months old, and stayed for the rest of her life to become his inseparable companion. Eelie took it upon herself to educate the three leopards which ArjanSingh reared at his home. First, there was the leopard cub, Prince, then the two sisters - Harriet and Juliette. Later came the zoo-born Tara, who returned to the jungle to produce her cubs by a wild tiger. Guided only by her instincts, Eelie somehow dominated each of these formidable cats, andlived with them on equal terms. Even when they grew to be many times her size, they never hurt her, and she formed a unique bridge between the world of humans and that of wild creatures, linking the two in a way never before seen or since.Since the publication of his books Prince of Cats and Tiger! Tiger!, Arjan Singh has been asked by many readers to tell them more about Eelie. This book is a moving memoir of her, recalling the highlights in the life of an extraordinary dog and the amazing adventures which they had together in thejungles of northern India.