Books published by publisher Benediction Classics

Treasure Island, a coming of age novel, is perhaps the best adventure story of all time. It is certainly the quintessential pirate tale, and together with its many movie adaptations it has created our idea of the pirate world: treasure maps with an "X", the one legged pirate, the parrot on the shoulder, the eye-patch, the black spot and even phrases like "shiver my timbers," and the captain's eternal song: "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-- Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!Drink and the devil had done for the rest-- Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"The young Jim Hawkins is hired by an old seadog Billy Bones to look out for a sailor with one leg. Despite this precaution, Bones is found dead in suspicious circumstances. Searching through his belongings Jim finds a treasure map, which he shows to the local doctor and a wealthy squire. They engage a ship and captain, but unwittingly they hire the ruthless and immensely strong Long John Silver, who has designs on the treasure, as their cook ...This edition contains 74 illustrations by Louis Rhead, the well known children's book illustrator. In addition, each chapter begins with an illustrated capital. The text is modern crisp easy to read font and would be a pleasure for children or adults to read.The Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson, a celebrity during his lifetime, is best known for Treasure Island, Kidnapped, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, A Child's Garden of Verse. While being a writer he was great traveller, journeying to Europe, America and the South Pacific, where spent his last years in Samoa. There he was loved by the Samoans who called him Tusitala (Samoan for "Teller of Tales").

Times are tough around the little brown house! The widowed Mrs. Pepper sews all day long just to earn enough to pay the rent and feed the five growing Peppers. But she faces poverty and trouble with a stout heart, a smiling face, and the help of her jolly brood: blue-eyed Ben, the eldest and the man of the house at the age of 11; pretty Polly, so eager to cook for the family and make everyone happy and comfortable; and the three littlest Peppers, Joel, Davie, and baby Phronsie. A favorite of children, parents, and teachers for generations, this heartwarming classic first appeared in 1880. Since then, it has inspired countless young imaginations with its tender tales in which courage and good cheer overcome adversity.

“The name of Alexandre Dumas is more than French, it is European; it is more than European, it is universal.” – Victor Hugo" [Dumas was] the most generous, large-hearted being in the world. He also was the most delightfully amusing and egotistical creature on the face of the earth. His tongue was like a windmill – once set in motion, you never knew when he would stop, especially if the theme was himself." – Watts Phillips, playwright and artist.“Words never failed Alexandre Dumas. In his maniacally productive writing career, he pumped out millions and millions of them: some good, some bad and all indifferent to any value other than propelling a story forward at the giddiest possible pace, if not, perhaps, with optimum fuel efficiency. Dumas’s novels are shameless word-guzzlers, big and plush and almost sinfully comfortable: ideal vehicles for the long, scenic excursions into French history he regularly conducted for the newspaper readers of mid-19th-century Paris.” -- Terrence Rafferty, New York Times.The Three Musketeers has it all. Alexandre Dumas’ most famous novel and one of the most popular adventure stories of all time is filled with fast-paced adventure, suspense, romance, and comradeship – all in a historical setting. It was hugely popular; after being serialized in the French newspaper Le Siècle in 1844, it appeared in no less than three English translations within the next three years. The novel has been translated into numerous languages and has been adapted to almost every medium – films, stage plays, musicals, animations and even manga and computer games. The phrases “The Three Musketeers” and “All for one and one for all” have entered common usage.The Three Musketeers recounts the adventures of d'Artagnan, a poor young nobleman, who leaves home and travels to Paris to enter the elite Musketeers of the Guard. He joins the three most formidable musketeers of the age—Athos, Porthos and Aramis—and, together, they get involved in affairs of the state and court. They need to employ all their valour and swordsmanship to triumph over the machiavellian Cardinal Richelieu and the unscrupulous seductress Countess de Winter. This swashbuckling classic is a riveting easy read and one of the most famous historical novels ever written. This edition is complete and unabridged. Alexandre Dumas was a larger-than-life character. His published works include novels, plays and non-fiction and occupy 100,000 pages of text. His unpublished works continue to be discovered even into the twenty-first century. Dumas’ gifts extended beyond writing. Over the years he employed over seventy skilled assistants to help him complete his many projects, but the storytelling and character development always carry his stamp. In addition, he was a shrewd marketer of his work and this ensured financial success. Always full of ideas, Dumas founded a theatre in Paris in the 1840s and spent three years in Italy participating in Italian unification. He was known for his generosity, his extravagant lifestyle, and his many mistresses. Dumas’ life was further complicated by the fact that his father was a freed slave born in Haiti. He is often known as Alexandre Dumas père, as his son Alexandre Dumas fils was also a successful writer. Today Alexandre Dumas is most remembered for his historical novels The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Man in an Iron Mask.

The Great Plague of London instilled terror in the residents of London; a mysterious unseen enemy striking down a hundred thousand, no less than one in five citizens. Defoe goes to great pains to achieve an effect of verisimilitude, identifying specific neighbourhoods, streets, and even houses in which events took place. He provides tables of casualty figures and discusses the credibility of various accounts and anecdotes received by the narrator. In fact, A Journal of the Plague Year is often compared to the actual, contemporary accounts in the diary of Samuel Pepys. Defoe's account is far more systematic and detailed than Pepys's first-person account. All in all, A Journal of the Plague Year is a gripping realistic narrative.

A non-fiction classic from Orwell. Part I documents his sociological investigations of the living conditions amongst the working class in Lancashire and Yorkshire in the industrial north of England in the 1930s. Part II covers his middle-class upbringing, the development of his political conscience, and a discussion of British attitudes towards socialism.

David Brainerd, missionary to the Native Americans, has long been admired for his single minded perseverance. This book, edited by Jonathan Edwards, American's greatest theologian, has inspired missionaries and preachers since its publication in 1749. Indeed, John Wesley, Brainerd's contemporary, urges 'Let every preacher read carefully over the Life of David Brainerd'.This is Edwards' most reprinted book..

Charles Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol" in six weeks at the end of 1843, during a particularly intense time of creativity. He was having financial difficulties and was determined to have the manuscript ready for publication for the Christmas market. This book contains an original size clear copy Dickens' one and only manuscript, written by his hand, with his revisions and corrections evident on every page. The revisions show how Dickens made the verbs become more active, the number of words became fewer, achieving greater immediacy and vividness. This manuscript was handed to the printer in this form and was published on 19th December 1843. This edition has each of the 66 pages of the original manuscript copied onto the left hand page and the corresponding words typed on the right hand page. The book also contains the eight original illustrations by John Leech, the four color illustrations are on the cover of the book.