Books published by publisher Digireads.com Publishing

First serialized in “The Century Magazine” between 1893 and 1894, Mark Twain’s “Pudd’nhead Wilson” is a murder mystery set before the American Civil War in Missouri, more specifically, on the Mississippi River. During infancy, a light-skinned black baby and a white-skinned baby were switched at birth by a slave mother. Because the black baby grows up thinking he is white, he is highly racist toward his slaves. The white baby, who thinks he is a slave, grows up with no guidance and makes a living stealing, drinking, and doing other immoral things. During a murder trial, the town lawyer Puddn’head Wilson, who is seen as a peculiar fellow by the townsfolk, is able to expose the boys’ true identities. “Puddn’head Wilson” is a story carried by themes of racism, Southern customs, and questions of identity. On the surface it is a witty and satirical tale but as one digs deeper a biting social commentary of racial inequality can be found. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

First published serially between 1893 and 1894, “The Jungle Book” is Rudyard Kipling’s classic collection of jungle tales in which we first meet Mowgli, a child lost in the jungles of India and raised by a pack of wolves. To survive in the jungle Mowgli most learn from the animals to abide by the laws of the jungle. A cast of interesting creatures surround Mowgli, including Baloo the bear and Bagheera the black panther, who help the young man to survive, and the tiger Shere Khan, who is envious of Mowgli and wishes his demise. Also contained in this collection are the stories of Kotick, a white seal in search of a new home for his tribe were they will not be hunted, and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, a mongoose who defends an Indian family against a pair of cobras. Several other tales of the jungle grace this collection which is interspersed with beautiful poetry relating to the stories. One of the most popular collections of short stories for children ever written, “The Jungle Book” was inspired by Kipling’s own experiences as a youth in India, where he would spend many of his formative years. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper and includes illustrations by John L. Kipling, William H. Drake, and Paul Frenzeny.

First published anonymously in December 1689, John Locke’s “Two Treatises of Government” are considered to be some of the most important works of political philosophy ever written. In the first treatise Locke disputes the divine right of monarchial rule principle that is put forth in the book “Patriarcha” by Sir Robert Filmer. The first treatise is in fact a sentence by sentence refutation of “Patriarcha.” Filmer asserts the idea that absolute authority over the world flows from the Biblical Adam and his ownership of the world and that the heir of Adam is the rightful inheritor of this authority. Locke dismisses this line of reasoning that authority flows from some divine lineage to the first man in favor of a system based on natural laws and consent of the people. In the second treatise Locke sets forth the basic principles of natural law that lay the foundation for basic human rights and the government of man. Also contained within this volume is the shorter work, “A Letter Concerning Toleration.” These works collectively represent some of the first and most important rejections of monarchial rule and helped to lay the foundation towards the representative governments that now dominate the Western world. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper and includes an introduction by Henry Morley.

American author and expatriate, Henry James is regarded as one the principal figures of 19th century literary realism. His work, which often features Americans traveling to Europe, is noted for its intimate examination of the consciousness of his characters. In this volume we find two of his most popular works. “The Turn of the Screw” is an intense psychological tale of terror. Beginning in an old house on Christmas Eve, it is the story of a governess who comes to live with and take care of two young children, whose parents have recently died. The governess loves her new position in charge of the young children; however she is soon disturbed when she begins to see ghosts. “The Aspern Papers” is the story of an unnamed narrator who travels to Venice in search of Juliana Bordereau, whom he believes is in possession of some personal letters of the famous and now dead American poet, Jeffrey Aspern. This edition includes a preface by Henry James.

First published in English in 1912, “Gitanjali”, or “Song Offerings”, is a collection of poems translated by the author, Rabindranath Tagore, from the original Bengali. It contains over 100 inspirational poems by India’s greatest poet and earned Tagore the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. Tagore, known as the “Bard of Bengal”, was born in 1861 to a wealthy family and started writing poetry as a child and began publishing critically acclaimed verses as a teenager. Tagore went on to write novels, stories, and dramas, work which would reshape Bengali literature and culture. He first published the “Gitanjali” collection of poems, widely considered to be one of his best works, in his native Bengali language in 1911. The original Bengali version contained over 150 verses and many were combined or edited out when Tagore translated them into English. Deeply spiritual and devotional, Tagore’s poems are primarily concerned with love and the conflict between earthly desires and spiritual passions and longings. Tagore also spoke eloquently and movingly of his connection to the natural world. This volume includes the introduction by William Butler Yeats that accompanied the original 1912 English language version. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

The title of this novel is a combination of two Sanskrit words, “siddha,” which is defined as “achieved,” and “artha” which is defined as “meaning” or “wealth.” The word serves as the name for the principal character, a man on a spiritual journey of self-discovery during the time of the first Buddha. Siddhartha is the son of a wealthy Brahmin family who decides to leave his home in the hopes of gaining spiritual illumination. Siddhartha is joined by his best friend Govinda. The two renounce their earthly possessions, engage in ritual fasting and intense meditation and ultimately seek out and speak with Gautama, the original Buddha. Here the two go their separate ways, Govinda joining the order of the Buddha, Siddhartha traveling on in search of spiritual enlightenment. In order to complete this novel Hesse immersed himself in the sacred teachings of both Hindu and Buddhist scriptures and lived a semi-reclusive life in order to achieve his own spiritual enlightenment. Considered one of Hesse’s most important works, “Siddhartha” remains to this day as one of his most popular. It is a work that deals with the quest that we all undertake in some way or another, to define our lives in an environment of conflicting dualities and ultimately find spiritual awareness. This edition includes a biographical afterword.