Books published by publisher Golding

Confucius is one of our very best thinkers, a model for living a self-aware and virtuous life. "The Complete Confucius: The Analects, The Doctrine Of The Mean, and The Great Learning," brings together the most important Confucian texts with an introduction by Nicholas Tamblyn, and is part of The Essential Series by Golding Books.Confucius lived from 551–479 BC. The principles he espoused largely reflected the values and traditions in China at the time. Rather than create a formal theory, Confucius desired that his disciples study, learning and mastering the classic older texts, and affirmed that the superior person seeks and loves learning for the sake of learning, and righteousness for the sake of righteousness.Confucianism is the cornerstone of Eastern philosophy and religion (and, similarly, Chinese and Asian philosophy and their subsequent vital influence on Western philosophy). It is a key part of religious studies and in developing an understanding of classical philosophy and its impact on modern philosophy. The sayings of Confucius (and discussions with his disciples) provide wisdom for those exploring religion and philosophy, but also in related areas such as spirituality, meditation, politics, and one's personal and public duties in society.A NOTE ON THE ANALECTS.—The Analects are a compilation of speeches by and conversations between Confucius and his disciples. Believed to have been written during China's Warring States period (475 BC–221 BC), and then finalized during the mid-Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), it is a collection of sayings and ideas that have a foremost position in the history and study of philosophy across the world.A NOTE ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN.—From The Book of Rites, this chapter known as The Doctrine of the Mean is attributed to Confucius' only grandson, Zisi (also known as Kong Ji). Its purpose is to show how the golden way is the means to gain perfect virtue, and that following the heavenly instructions of the Way will lead to the virtuous path trodden by others before, including Confucius. The phrase "doctrine of the mean" ("zhōng yōng") first occurs in Chapter 6 of The Analects; its definition is not expanded on there, but Zisi's text seeks to examine its meaning in greater detail.A NOTE ON THE GREAT LEARNING.—Also one chapter in The Book of Rites, this writing is attributed to Confucius. In that book, his writing is accompanied by nine commentary chapters by his disciple Zeng Zi. The Great Learning explores, in beautiful and scriptural-sounding language, the linked themes of self-cultivation, enquiry and examination, and their impacts upon leadership and government. Each of the texts in this book—with Mencius, the collected conversations of that scholar with various kings—together comprise the four of the Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism written in China before 300 BC.

What if the right man for the job is actually a girl? Meet MI6's new recruit. Stuck aboard a cruise ship filled with problem rich kids, Darcie Lock is about to embark on her next exciting adventure. But it could turn out to be a bumpy ride because the US President's daughter has a reputation for being out-of-control. In a boot camp for the elite, Darcie must keep her wits about her as things are about to get interesting. Finding herself embroiled in a kidnapping plot that will take her from Naples, via Cyprus, to Egypt, and on a terrifying journey through the desert Empty Quarter, Britain's youngest intelligence officer has a lot resting on her slim shoulders. This is the perfect action thriller for girls who don't want to let boys have all the fun.

Presenting The Essential Mark Twain: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court with an introduction by Nicholas Tamblyn, and illustrations by Katherine Eglund. This collection is part of The Essential Series by Golding Books.It might be said that a survey of American literature begins with Mark Twain—William Faulkner famously called him its "father," and Ernest Hemingway said that "All modern American literature comes from … Huck Finn."But he is not an author to be put at a distance from readers by critics' hyperbole. Twain was known as a humorous or engaging writer before he was viewed as the father of anything, and one of his greatest achievements is in making such important and serious subjects so readable. His name is hammered in stone and brass and assigned to awards and institutions, but as serious as his subjects were in their relationship to justice, given his irreverence and scorn for grandeur, you would not think so to read him.His novels about Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer are not only adventure stories and American classics (and not only boys fiction and action novels), but classic literature that speaks to a broader human experience, and an awareness of the need to defy injustice at any cost rather than to accept prejudices handed down to us. Facing a choice, Huck Finn rejects racism even were it ordained by a supreme being, and his fair-minded conclusions are as intuitive as they are courageous.Each of the four books in this collection is an established classic of American literature, and invites repeated readings and an instinct to share the stories with others, including our own children. In spite of certain serious themes, Twain's writing is also much in the humorous and feel-good vein, and can be enjoyed by readers of all ages and in all countries of the world.Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835 in the village of Florida, Missouri. When he was four years old, his family moved to nearby Hannibal, a port town on the Mississippi River. He was the sixth of seven children, but only three of his siblings survived childhood. His father John—who was a stern, unsmiling man—died unexpectedly of pneumonia in 1847, leaving his more fun-loving, kindly mother Jane to raise the family. They endured great poverty, and Samuel took on the role of apprentice printer at the Hannibal Courier at twelve, then occasional writer and typesetter a few years later with the Hannibal Western Union, a small newspaper owned by his brother Orion. He began learning to pilot steamboats at age twenty-one, and was a licensed pilot by 1859; he plied shoals and channels of the river, but his employment was cut short in 1861 with the outbreak of the Civil War. Twain joined the Confederate Army, but served for only a few weeks until his volunteer unit disbanded. He lived in Nevada and California over the next five years, first prospecting silver and gold but then becoming a reporter for the Virginia City Territorial Enter-prise. Around this time he adopted the pen name Mark Twain—steamboat slang for 12 feet of water (or two fathoms, a safe depth for a steamboat). In 1865, his story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" was reprinted and read across the country, and his five-month Mediterranean cruise taken in 1867 became the bestseller The Innocents Abroad (1869). Other successes followed, most notably the classic novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885); The Prince and the Pauper (1881), in a more serious historical novel style, was both praised and criticized for its social commentary, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889), in a similar style, remains one of his most popular novels. Author of numerous articles and books, as well as a lecturer and investor in new inventions and technology, Twain died in 1910 in Redding, Connecticut.

What if the right man for the job is actually a girl? Darcie Lock is facing her toughest mission yet. Forced to take refuge in a castle on the Cornish coast, she lands in the middle of a UN peace conference that is about to spin out of control. When a hostage situation develops, she is one of the two agents left free on the inside - the only problem is that her partner is an old enemy she last met when he tried to kill her. Being a teenager has never been so dangerous. Book three in the Darcie Lock series.

Presenting The Essential Jules Verne: Journey to the Center of the Earth, From the Earth to the Moon, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Around the World in Eighty Days with an introduction by Nicholas Tamblyn, and illustrations by Katherine Eglund. This collection is part of The Essential Series by Golding Books.Jules Verne wrote in many styles and forms over his long career, yet it is in his great adventure novels that he shared an excitement about discovery and technologies past, present, and future that engaged readers then and now across the world like no other. We are bound and taken away on the ride, and the world is filled with exuberance and hope at its limitless possibilities, and in his singular work, as in few writers of any style, we grasp an uplifted and shared humanity.He was called the "father of science fiction," and his books, early science fiction though they are, are so much more, and their resilience in remaining firmly at the forefront of popular culture after so many years is a testament to that. Not merely confined to labels such as travel novel or boys fiction or sci fi classic, Verne has the power to touch each of us and perhaps even compel us to greater scientific understanding (and to better understanding the vital methods of science).There is no age-limit on discovery and fascination with adventure and reaching new ground, and every year Verne finds new fans in every country around the world, female and male, old and young. His well-crafted compositions to the human spirit will always be celebrated wherever the love of good stories is to be found.Jules Verne was born in Nantes in 1828. It was assumed that Verne, the first-born son, would follow in his father’s footsteps and become a lawyer, and in 1847 he went to Paris to study law. He was already writing both prose and poems however, and unfulfilled loves were a source of inspiration as much as misery. He used family connections to enter Paris literary salons, and also attended and wrote various plays. He revised a stage comedy with Alexandre Dumas, Les Pailles rompues (The Broken Straws), and the play opened in June 1850. He went on to write short and longer adventure stories with a basis in science that brought him increasing fame, including Cinq semaines en ballon (1863) (Five Weeks in a Balloon), Voyage au centre de la Terre (1864) (Journey to the Center of the Earth), De la terre à la lune (1865) (From the Earth to the Moon), Vingt mille lieues sous les mers: Tour du monde sous-marin (1870) (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea: An Underwater Tour of the World), and Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours (1873) (Around the World in Eighty Days). After suffering many ailments through his life, Verne died while ill with diabetes at his home in Amiens in 1905.

Talking COVID-19 with kids - living through a pandemic and moving safely on.A book for the children of 2020, When The World Went Inside is a fun, informative and reassuring family read.Intended for children aged 3-10 the book tells the story of the changes to Theo's Life.Theo loves his life just the way it is.He loves camping, hanging out at the beach, riding his bike, gardening with his Granny and having sleepovers with his friends. Suddenly Theo can't do what he loves, and he is not at all happy about it!When The World Went Inside is there to help kids understand why their lives have been so altered by COVID-19. The story acts as a conversation starter between adults and children talking about the virus and gently encouraging children to take simple precautions to protect themselves. The book offers reassurance that there is an end, and we are well on our way to getting there. This gently written book doesn't shy away from a difficult subject. It attempts to find fun, without making fun, of this profound and difficult subject. Check out the website for further information and to chat with the author: www.whentheworldwentinsidebook.com www.facebook.com/whentheworldwentinside

Presenting The Essential Robert Louis Stevenson: Treasure Island, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Kidnapped, and The Master of Ballantrae with an introduction by Nicholas Tamblyn, and illustrations by Katherine Eglund. This collection is part of The Essential Series by Golding Books.The life of Robert Louis Stevenson was nearly as unusual and extraordinary as his literary output. By the end of his life, he had settled in the village of Vailima on the Samoan Island of Upolu, having journeyed around the Pacific and bought 400 acres of land there in 1890, and he was buried on Mount Vaea in 1894 at age forty-four.His name is synonymous with far-flung adventure, his books remain amongst the most translated in the world, and his tales are the most set out upon, and then set out upon again, of an abundance of adventures and otherwise interesting tales where, after the passing of so much time, his Treasure Island and other works reign supreme.More than simply pirate novels and sailing or sea classics, or for that matter adventure classics or boys classics (or boys fiction or boys literature), Stevenson's fantasy adventure novels that are also sea novels and children's classics are just as enjoyable and meaningful reading for adults; no less meaningful is Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It is a novella apparently quite different to his other celebrated adventure novels; yet in fact, the ideas of human personality and the good and evil in all people explored in the story influenced Stevenson’s earliest writings.While many interpret the story—through its omnipresence now in popular culture—as a cautionary tale of our duality, Vladimir Nabokov observed that Dr Jekyll is not a paragon of virtue; written during the Victorian era, it contains more shades of gray than merely "good versus evil," and depicts the striving for respectability in our wider community alongside the inward forces, sometimes darker, that drive or exist in each of us.Robert Louis Stevenson was born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1850 (he would change the spelling to Louis at about age eighteen, and dropped Balfour in 1873). His mother’s side of the family were gentry, and his father, maternal grandfather, and his father's two brothers were all in the profession of lighthouse design. A sickly boy and only child, Stevenson found it difficult to fit in at school and sometimes had private tutors. He went on to study law and passed the bar, but he never practised. He traveled to various parts of Europe, including the French Riviera to recuperate his fragile health, and then devoted himself entirely to travel and writing, before moving to America in 1879 to be with the woman he had fallen in love with in France, Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne. They married in 1880, and spent the next decade traveling to Europe, the Hawaiian Islands, and other southern islands. His most famous works are Treasure Island (1883), Kidnapped (1886), and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886). He died at Upolu, an island in Samoa where he had purchased land in 1890, of a likely cerebral haemorrhage in 1894.

Presenting The Essential L. M. Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, and Anne's House of Dreams with an introduction by Nicholas Tamblyn, and illustrations by Katherine Eglund. This collection is part of The Essential Series by Golding Books.The character of Anne Shirley, first appearing in Anne of Green Gables (1908), has become beloved around the world. She is a character for all seasons—romantic, imaginative, passionate, and sensitive, and therefore she is kind, loving, and creative at heart.She gains considerable knowledge over the years and, through that knowledge, becomes a teacher and a kind-hearted protector of others. As inescapable as the struggles and doubts of life can be, she chooses to be courageous in the face of daunting odds—this is why Anne Shirley will always be one of the most affectionately admired of literary companions.A feel-good novel (or collection of them) in the truest sense, Anne's adventures are not merely young adult fiction or children's classics or girls fiction (as some of the marketability or book design might suggest), and their popularity around the world and with people of different ages shares the truth of this. Anne is a strong female lead with a truly soft side, and her coming of age story (particularly in Anne of Green Gables, but further in Anne of Avonlea and the others) will appeal to the better nature of all readers, young and old. L. M. Montgomery's classics of Canadian fiction and North American literature present a strong female protagonist, but the feminist message of the story speaks to common human experience and a meaningful and powerful humanist literature.Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in Clifton on the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island in 1874. She felt that her lonely childhood and the creation of many imaginary friends developed her artistic expression. Writing as L. M. Montgomery, she published 20 novels and hundreds of short stories and poems, but she is most celebrated as the author of the Prince Edward Island-set Anne of Green Gables (1908) and its numerous sequels (the lead character Anne Shirley appears in a major role in six books and in a lesser role in three other books and two collections of short stories). In 1935, Montgomery was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. She died in Toronto in 1942.

Presenting The Essential Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden, Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess, and The Lost Prince with an introduction by Nicholas Tamblyn, and illustrations by Katherine Eglund. This collection is part of The Essential Series by Golding Books.Rare among children's fiction, Frances Hodgson Burnett's fantasy novels have touched the imagination of readers for generations like few others. Her children's classics The Secret Garden and A Little Princess in particular, with their strong female leads and unique coming of age stories, have greatly appealed to children (and girls), yet the truth is they were written for, and will appeal to, readers of any age that enjoy naturalist and classic literary fiction.Her novels contain a deeply humanist message, and in promoting a regard for nature and simply for life itself, while being feel-good stories they are also written with an impassioned sense of what is true and with a rare realism. The books could be called children's literature or young adult novels or feminist fiction, but this is finally as incorrect and limiting as calling the books of Mark Twain or Robert Louis Stevenson suited to boys or to men, when they have a great appeal and meaning for readers that goes beyond these false labels.A few words from Nicholas Tamblyn's introduction: "There is a sense of wonder and gratitude that permeates the work of Frances Hodgson Burnett. Some may label this childlike wonder, given that her novels have appealed so potently and irresistibly to children, but wonder is not of an age but something we carry with us all our lives."Frances Eliza Hodgson was born in 1849 in Cheetham, England. Her father died in 1852, and the family immigrated in 1865 to near Knoxville, Tennessee. Frances wrote to help earn money for the family, and published stories in magazines from 1868. Her mother died in 1870, and she married Swan Burnett in 1872. They lived for two years in Paris, having two sons, Lionel and Vivian, then settled in Washington D.C. Frances wrote novels to critical and public acclaim, in the form of both children’s and romantic adult fiction. She wrote and helped produce stage versions of her two successful books, Little Lord Fauntleroy and A Little Princess. Lionel died of tuberculosis in 1890, after which Frances relapsed into depression. In the mid-1890s she bought Great Maytham Hall in Kent, England, inspiring her to write The Secret Garden. In 1898, after two years living separately, the Burnetts were divorced; in 1900 she married Stephen Townsend, but divorced him in 1902. She settled soon after in Nassau County, Long Island, where she continued to write, and died there in 1924.

Presenting The Essential Louisa May Alcott: Little Women, Little Men, and Jo’s Boys with an introduction by Nicholas Tamblyn, and illustrations by Katherine Eglund. This collection is part of The Essential Series by Golding Books.Louisa May Alcott's Little Women trilogy about the March family—comprising of Little Women, Little Men, and Jo's Boys—insists that ideas and love are of the greatest importance. In all three books, children are depicted as individuals with feelings and interests that mirror those of adults; they must be gently molded and respected in their unique talents and aspirations rather than condescended to.Alcott wanted to inspire the readers of her time to view new kinds of freedom in womanhood, and even though many characters are forced or choose to conform to the traditional role of woman in the home, her writings share ideas of individuality and natural ambition that influenced many girls and women then and that still have great relevance today in families and societies that seek to stifle uniqueness and impose a general conformity.The novels entreat us to follow what is true in our heart and, wherever our lives take us, to be true to ourselves. This self-empowering message shared in Alcott's early feminist novels featuring strong female characters (which should in no way be called simply fiction for girls, women's literature, or feminist literature that would not equally be called humanist literature, when the world the novels share, and the coming of age stories of several characters, share a human message of compassion and embracing equality of aspiration), takes various forms and, in the end, several generations to play out in the Little Women Trilogy.The story of Little Women is loosely based on that of Alcott and her three sisters. Characteristics of Meg, Beth, and Amy can each be found respectively in Anna, Lizzie, and May Alcott, and similarly Jo was based on Louisa May Alcott herself.Alcott wrote various other novels, including several under the pseudonym A. M. Barnard (and one anonymously), and also a number of short story collections for children, but none of these reached the levels of popularity or finally the longevity of Little Women and its sequels.Some novels have the feeling of sitting down and talking with an old friend, where memories cheerful and sad, and hopes alive and tested, remind us of our strivings to mature but moreover of our shared humanity. Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy (the other title by which Little Women is known) is a book not only for all time but for every kind of reader, with no restriction on age and class, nationality, race, and gender.Louisa May Alcott was born in 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Taught by her father, educator and writer Amos Bronson Alcott, she also studied informally with family friends such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Theodore Parker. Alcott worked chiefly as a domestic servant and teacher from 1850 to 1862 in Boston and Concord to support her family; an abolitionist and feminist, she worked as a nurse in Washington, D.C., during the Civil War. Writing in various forms under pseudonyms since adulthood, the bestselling status of Little Women (1868-9) granted Alcott financial independence and popular acclaim. She wrote several more novels, with Little Men (1871) and Jo’s Boys (1886) following on from Little Women, and others including An Old-Fashioned Girl (1870), Work: A Story of Experience (1873), Under the Lilacs (1878), and Jack and Jill: A Village Story (1880). After suffering poor health in later life, Alcott died of a stroke caused by a likely autoimmune disease (such as lupus) in 1888.

Presenting The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne with illustrations by Nicholas Tamblyn and Katherine Eglund. These classics are part of The Great Books Series by Golding Books.A preeminent figure of early American literature, Nathaniel Hawthorne is also an important figure in feminist literature and as an author of realist fiction (The Scarlet Letter has also been called a dark novel, a political novel, and a pessimistic novel ahead of its time). Hester Prynne is a unique character in classic American fiction, a complex and enduring heroine, called "among the first and most important female protagonists in American literature."The House of the Seven Gables is a Gothic novel that explores themes of guilt, retribution, and atonement, Hawthorne's follow-up novel to the highly successful The Scarlet Letter. H. P. Lovecraft called it "New England's greatest contribution to weird literature" (in his essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature"). It also falls under the banner of dark fiction, and has been an influence on many important writers since.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts. Graduating from Bowdoin College, he published his first novel, Fanshawe, in 1828, but later tried to suppress it due to its perceived deficiencies. Publishing several short stories in periodicals, these were collected in 1837 as Twice-Told Tales, which gained him a small amount of notice. Subsequent popular novels include The Scarlet Letter (1850), The House of the Seven Gables (1851), and The Blithedale Romance (1852). Suffering from failing health in later life, Hawthorne died at Plymouth, New Hampshire, in 1864.

Presenting My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin and The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson with illustrations by Nicholas Tamblyn and Katherine Eglund. These Australian coming of age classics are part of The Great Books Series by Golding Books.My Brilliant Career is one of the most celebrated Australian novels, a unique coming of age classic with a memorable and strong female lead in Sybylla Melvyn, an aspiring artist and an individual who is in many ways ahead of her time. Miles Franklin's first novel, written while she was still a teenager, also influenced Australian history (and Australian literature) in many ways that the author could not have predicted, being a key launching pad for her long career and its culmination in the prestigious Miles Franklin Award, and just as significant a launching pad for film luminaries (involved in making the film of the novel in 1979) such as director Gilliam Armstrong and actors Judy Davis and Sam Neill.Just as important in Australian feminist literature, and Australian fiction in general, is The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson. It presents another strong female character in Laura Tweedle Rambotham, an imaginative storyteller that undergoes great challenges at a Melbourne boarding school (based on Richardson's own experiences). As with My Brilliant Career, a film of the novel (made in 1978) was significant in the Australian film industry (and beyond), being directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Susannah Fowle, John Waters, and Barry Humphries (of Dame Edna Everage fame).Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin, known as Miles Franklin, was born in 1879 in Talbingo, New South Wales. She is best known for her novel My Brilliant Career, published in 1901 with the help of writer Henry Lawson. Though she wrote throughout her life, her other popular novel, All That Swagger, was not published until 1936. In 1906, Franklin moved to Chicago and undertook secretarial work for Australian Alice Henry at the National Women's Trade Union League, and also co-edited the league's magazine, Life and Labor. After volunteering as a hospital cook attached to the Serbian army near Lake Ostrovo later in World War I, from 1919 to 1926 she worked as Secretary with the National Housing and Town Planning Association in London. After the death of her father in 1931, Franklin resettled in Australia. She resolutely encouraged writers and the growth of Australian literature, and her endowment of the annual Miles Franklin Award rewards works about "Australian Life in any of its phases." Franklin died at the age of 74.Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson, known by her pen name of Henry Handel Richardson, was born in East Melbourne, Victoria, in 1870. Her family lived in various Victorian towns, including Chiltern, Queenscliff, Koroit, and Maldon; her mother was postmistress at Maldon (her father having died of syphilis when she was nine). Richardson went to board at the Presbyterian Ladies' College in Melbourne from ages 13 to 17, excelling there in the arts and music, and some of these experiences were the basis for The Getting of Wisdom (1910). In 1888, her mother took the family to Europe to enable Richardson to continue her musical studies at the Leipzig Conservatorium. While in Leipzig—where her first novel, Maurice Guest (1908), is set—she met the Scot John George Robertson (a student and later teacher of German literature). In 1894 they married in Munich; his subsequent posting at University College would take them to London. Richardson returned to Australia in 1912 to research family history for her trilogy The Fortunes of Richard Mahony (comprising novels Australia Felix (1917), The Way Home (1925), and Ultima Thule (1929)—the latter awarded the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal for 1929), but this would be her last return home. A proponent of psychic research, she and her sister Lillian were also passionate suffragettes. Richardson died in Hastings, England, in 1946.