Books in Harper's modern classics series

A deliciously satirical attack on a money-mad society, Vanity Fair, which first appeared in 1847, is an immensely moral novel, and an immensely witty one. Vanity Fair features two heroines: the faithful, loyal Amelia Sedley, and the beautiful and scheming social climber Becky Sharp. It also engages a huge cast of wonderful supporting characters as the novel spins from Miss Pinkerton's academy for young ladies to affairs of love and war on the Continent to liaisons in the dazzling ballrooms of London. William Makepeace Thackeray's forte is the bon mot, and it is amply exercised in a novel filled with memorably wicked lines. Lengthy and leisurely in pace, the novel follows the adventures of Becky and Amelia as their fortunes rise and fall, creating a tale both picaresque and risque. Thackeray mercilessly skewers his society, especially the upper class, poking fun at their shallow values and pointedly jabbing at their hypocritical "morals." His weapons, however, are not fire and brimstone but an unerring eye for the absurd and a genius for observing the foibles of his age. An enduring classic, this great novel is a brilliant study in duplicity and hypocrisy-and a mirror with which to view our own times.

"Mark Twain's autobiography is a classic of American letters, to be ranked with the autobiographies of Benjamin Franklin and Henry Adams. . . . It has the marks of greatness in it—style, scope, imagination, laughter, tragedy."—From the Introduction by Charles NeiderMark Twain was a figure larger than life: massive in talent, eruptive in temperament, unpredictable in his actions. He crafted stories of heroism, adventure, tragedy, and comedy that reflected the changing America of the time, and he tells his own story with the same flair he brought to his fiction. Writing this autobiography on his deathbed, Twain vowed to be "free and frank and unembarrassed" in the recounting of his life and his experiences.With an introduction by Charles Neider, and featuring sixteen pages of photographs, this edition was the first to arrange Twain's autobiographical writings in chronological order, and it presents a man who is more than a match for the expanding America of riverboats, gold rushes, and the vast westward movement that provided the material for his beloved novels.

A stunning hardback edition of the classic novel.Animal Farm is one of the most famous warnings ever written. Orwell's immortal satire — 'against Stalin' as he wrote to his French translator — can be read on many levels. With its piercing clarity and deceptively simple style it is no surprise that this novel is required reading for schoolchildren and politicians alike. This fable of the steadfast horses Boxer and Clover, the opportunistic pigs Snowball and Napoleon, and the deafening choir of sheep remains an unparalleled masterpiece.One reviewer wrote "In a hundred years' time perhaps Animal Farm... may simply be a fairy story: today it is a fairy story with a good deal of point." Over sixty years on in the age of spin, it is more relevant than ever.Rejected by such eminent publishing figures as Victor Gollancz, Jonathan Cape and T.S. Eliot, Animal Farm was published to great acclaim by Martin Secker and Warburg on August 17, 1945 in an edition of 4500 copies. In the centenary year of Martin Secker, Ltd., Harvill Secker is proud to publish this special edition with a new introduction.

"Vile Bodies" is both a celebration of the hedonism of the young and a warning to those who believe that their license to indulge is infinite, unquestionable and without consequence. A whole host of wonderful characters are introduced throughout Waugh's thought-provoking and satirical story, which follows protagonist Adam from the perils and pitfalls of being a gossip columnist to the trials and tribulations in attempting to secure his marriage to Nine Blount. Roll on an eccentric (verging on senile) potential father-in-law, parties as 10 Downing Street, high times at Shepheard's hotel, where the wine is always flowing (until your bill is due), and the shocking and brilliant misbehaviour of Agatha Runcible, who eventually finds motor racing a little 'too, too, sick-making!' Not without pathos and serious undertones, Waugh works a winning formula to produce an accomplished and mature 'funny' novel. This audiobook is narrated by three of Britain's best-loved actors: Nathaniel Parker, Emilia Fox and Tobias Menzies.