Books published by publisher Signet.

This enduring novel of crime and retribution vividly reflects the social and moral values of New England in the 1840s. Nathaniel Hawthorne's gripping psychological drama concerns the Pyncheon family, a dynasty founded on pious theft, who live for generations under a dead man's curse until their house is finally exorcised by love. Hawthorne, by birth and education, was instilled with the Puritan belief in America's limitless promise. Yet - in part because of blemishes on his own family history - he also saw the darker side of the young nation. Like his twentieth-century heirs William Faulkner and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hawthorne peered behind propriety's façade and exposed the true human condition.

Herman Melville's thrilling nautical adventure—a timeless allegory and an epic saga of heroic determination and conflict. At the heart of Moby-Dick is the powerful, unknowable sea—and Captain Ahab, a brooding, one-legged fanatic who has sworn vengeance on the mammoth white whale that crippled him. Narrated by Ishmael, a wayfarer who joins the crew of Ahab’s whaling ship, this is the story of that hair-raising voyage, and of the men who embraced hardship and nameless horrors as they dared to challenge God’s most dreaded creation and death itself for a chance at immortality. A novel that delves with astonishing vigor into the complex souls of men, Moby-Dick is an impassioned drama of the ultimate human struggle that the Atlantic Monthly called “the greatest of American novels.” With an Introduction by Elizabeth Renker and an Afterword by Christopher Buckley

In these wonderfully illustrated tales, renowned storyteller Howard Pyle carries us back to the enchanting world of King Arthur and his Round Table. The book chronicles the adventures of Arthur as he draws the sword Excalibur from the anvil, proving his right to the throne, and as he courts and wins the heart of Guinevere. Later he suffers the treachery of the wicked Morgana le Fay and witnesses the tragic fate of the Enchanter Merlin. In Pyle’s classic retelling, the legends come alive in unsurpassed vividness. More powerful than any of Merlin’s spells, The Story of King Arthur and His Knights has enthralled and delighted generations of readers fascinated by chivalry, magic, and the unforgettable drama of medieval times.

A man's thirst for power ends in tragedy in this Signet Classics edition of one of William Shakespeare's most powerful works.When a trio of witches foretell that Macbeth will become King of Scotland, the brave general is consumed by ambition. Encouraged by his wife to seize the throne, their quest for power leads down a blood-strewn path that ends in madness and death in this play that explores the consequences of guilt and corruption. This title in the Signet Classics Shakespeare series includes: • An overview of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater • A special introduction to the play by the editor, Sylvan Barnet• Selections from Raphael Holinshed's The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, the source from which Shakespeare derived Macbeth • Dramatic criticism from A. C. Bradley, Elmer Edgar Stoll, Mary McCarthy, and others • A comprehensive stage and screen history of notable actors, directors, and productions of Macbeth • Text, notes, and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable format • Recommended readings

This edition of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1 uses a variety of approaches to Shakespeare, including historical and cultural studies approaches. Shakespeare's text is accompanied by an intriguing collection of thematically arranged historical and cultural documents and illustrations designed to give a firsthand knowledge of the contexts out of which Henry IV, Part 1 emerged. Hodgdon's intelligent and engaging introductions to the play and to the documents (most of which are presented in modern spelling and with annotations) offer a richly textured understanding of Elizabethan culture and Shakespeare's work within that culture.

THE WORLD’S GREATEST WAR NOVEL Humans and gods wrestling with towering emotions. Men fighting to the death amid devastation and destruction. Perhaps the Western world’s first and best storyteller, Homer draws the reader in with bated breath. His masterful tale contains some of the most famous episodes in all of literature: the curse on the prophet Cassandra; the siege of Troy; the battle between Hector and Achilles; the face that launched a thousand ships; and of course, the deception of the Trojan Horse. To this day, the heroism and adventure of The Iliad have remained unmatched in song and story. In his “plain English” translation, W.H.D. Rouse makes a point to keep the language as colloquial as Homer’s original was, never pedantic, high-flown, or clichéd. In fact, it is the nearest contemporary English equivalent to the epic Homer’s audience heard at their banquets. With an Introduction by Seth L. Schein And a New Afterword

At Plumfield, an experimental school for boys, the little scholars can do very much as they please, even slide down banisters. For this is what writer Jo Bhaer, once Jo March of Little Women, always wanted: a house “swarming with boys…in all stages of…effervescence.” At the end of Little Women, Jo inherited the Plumfield estate from her diamond-in-the-rough Aunt March. Now she and her husband, Professor Bhaer, provide their irrepressible charges with a very different sort of education—and much love. In fact, Jo confesses, she hardly knows “which I like best, writing or boys.” Here is the story of the ragged orphan Nat, spoiled Stuffy, wild Dan, and all the other lively inhabitants of Plumfield, whose adventures have captivated generations of readers.

Rudyard Kipling’s beloved collection of short stories about a boy raised by wolves who learns the Laws of the Jungle.Mowgli, lost in the deep jungle as a child, is adopted into a family of wolves. Hunted by Shere Khan, the Bengal tiger, Mowgli is allowed to run with the wolf pack under the protection of Bagheera, the black panther, and Baloo, the brown bear who teaches wolf cubs the Laws of the Jungle. Through his many adventures, Mowgli evolves from a man-cub to a just and compassionate human being who at last returns to join—perhaps to lead—his own kind.W. Somerset Maugham calls Kipling “our greatest short story writer,” and in The Jungle Books, he says, Kipling’s “great and varied gifts find their most brilliant expression.” His most famous work effortlessly captures the imagination and has inspired beloved film adaptations, including Disney's The Jungle Book, as well as readers the world over. With an Introduction by Alberto Mangueland an Afterword by Alev Lytle Croutier