Books published by publisher Hesperus Press Ltd.

Published in 1904, this forgotten classic is sci-fi and dystopia at its best, written by the creator and master of the genreFollowing extensive research in the field of "growth," Mr. Bensington and Professor Redwood light upon a new mysterious element, a food that causes greatly accelerated development. Initially christening their discovery "The Food of the Gods," the two scientists are overwhelmed by the possible ramifications of their creation. Needing room for experiments, Mr. Besington chooses a farm that offers him the chance to test on chickens, which duly grow monstrous, six or seven times their usual size. With the farmer, Mr. Skinner, failing to contain the spread of the Food, chaos soon reigns as reports come in of local encounters with monstrous wasps, earwigs, and rats. The chickens escape, leaving carnage in their wake. The Skinners and Redwoods have both been feeding their children the compound illicitly—their eventual offspring will constitute a new age of giants. Public opinion rapidly turns against the scientists and society rebels against the world's new flora and fauna. Daily life has changed shockingly and now politicians are involved, trying to stamp out the Food of the Gods and the giant race. Comic and at times surprisingly touching and tragic, Wells' story is a cautionary tale warning against the rampant advances of science but also of the dangers of greed, political infighting, and shameless vote-seeking.

One of Tolstoy’s most exquisitely constructed novellas is presented here with The Devil, a further work exploring the powerful and destructive nature of obsession.On learning of Ivan Ilyich’s sudden demise, his former colleagues begin vying for promotion; it seems in neither life nor death has Ivan Ilyich made any lasting impression. And, as the author takes us back to Ilyich’s early days, we are shown a life of futility, emptiness, and spiritual barrenness. Yet, in the end, Tolstoy reveals Ivan Ilyich’s final resolute gesture to come to terms with his mortality and to embrace his impending death. Leo Tolstoy wrote two of Russia’s greatest novels, Anna Karenina and War and Peace, as well as many short stories and essays.

A chance encounter in a Parisian café leads to a series of unfortunate misunderstandings that threaten to bring to a premature and irreconcilable end the envisioned marriage between a pair of young lovers. When eligible bachelor Dick Naseby meets the lovely young Esther Van Tromp—a woman estranged from her cherished father, a talented artist whose success takes him around the world—he is too well-bred and smitten with her to confess the truth: he knows her father well. He wrongly believes that to reveal the truth would cause great harm, and the consequences of his deceit soon become tangible.

Journey to Oz with new heroes Cap'n Bill and Trot, who, with the help of the Scarecrow, overthrow the cruel King Krewl of JinxlandCap'n Bill, a sailor with a wooden peg-leg, and his friend, a little girl named Trot, set out on a calm day in California for a short trip in their rowing boat. Rapidly, however, the weather takes a turn for the worse and an enormous storm develops, washing them overboard. Rescued by mermaids, they are taken to a nearby cave. Thereafter Cap'n Bill and Trot encounter a variety of characters: the strangely shaped, ostrich-like Ork; the Bumpy Man, who deals in sugar and molasses; and Button Bright, a young boy in a sailor's outfit who constantly gets lost. With the aid of some friendly birds and magical berries, the group is eventually carried safely across the deadly desert to Oz. However, things rapidly take a turn for the worse as the motley group finds themselves in Jinxland, a country riven by political intrigue and instability, and currently ruled by the infamous Krewl. Will Glinda be able to help depose the despot Krewl and save the lives of Cap'n Bill and the Princess?

Presenting the complete 1855 Christmas number of Dickens' periodical Household Words, so popular after its original publication that it was immediately adapted for the stage A journeying gentleman finds himself snowed in at the Holly-Tree Inn, and resolves to entertain himself by recording the stories he hears from his fellow tenants. Trapped for a week, he is regaled with tales from all around him, including the barmaid and the landlord. The fictional delights he feasts upon include an intriguing mystery by a master innovator of the genre, Wilkie Collins, as well as classically Dickensian sparks of humor and romance.

Building on the success of his Christmas number for 1852, Dickens used the same framing concept for 1853’s Another Round of Stories by the Christmas Fire. This wide-ranging round features tales of angels, ghosts, and marriages that are as treacherous as they are inspiring. With more than one horrifying account of murder, the stories carry warning about love’s dangers as well as its delights. An impressive contributor list includes Elizabeth Gaskell and George A. Sala, whose poignant tales rival Dickens’ own.

In May 1913, Rupert Brooke embarked on a year-long expedition of North America, visiting the United States, Canada, and finally the South Seas. He sent his impressions home in a series of letters, written for publication in the Westminster Gazette, describing all his various experiences and reflections: the beauty of arriving by boat at night in New York; the novelties of a baseball game; the awesome grandeur of Niagara Falls and the Canadian wilderness; and "the full deliciousness of traveling in an American train by night through new scenery." He is blunt in his judgments on society, business, and cities; playful in his accounts of Anglo-American relations; and finally humbled by the vastness of the landscape in which he finds himself. Henry James's foreword to the collection on its publication in 1916 is included here as an afterword.

In a German Pension is a remarkable collection of short stories, displaying all Katherine Mansfield’s skill in the genre. Written shortly after the author visited Germany as a young woman, these short stories form a series of satirical sketches of German characters. From a young wife’s preoccupation with her husband’s stomach, to a society lady’s inability to see beyond the latest fashion, Katherine Mansfield depicts, in exquisite detail, the minute changes of human behavior. In a German Pension reveals her as a true disciple of Chekhov. A key figure in the Modernist movement, Katherine Mansfield is most remarkable for perfecting the art of the short story.

Undisputed king of jazz-age writing, F. Scott Fitzgerald perfectly encapsulated all the glamour and despair of 1920s' society. These three short stories are supreme examples of his craft. With wealth and privileges beyond measure, 'rich boy' Anson Hunter had every reason to expect life to be a breeze. Yet one by one his dreams fade away, leaving him with nothing. Slowly, painfully he realises that beneath the sparkle and fizz of his glittering life lies only failure and disillusionment - the self-same emptiness that pervades the beautiful people of The Last of the Belles and The Bridal Party.