H. G. Wells' The Time Machine, from 1895, popularized the idea of a vehicle that allows its user to travel intentionally and selectively across time, and indeed Wells is credited with coining the very term time machine.

Another visionary novel from the great science fiction writer H. G. Wells, The Island of Doctor Moreau tackles the thorny issues thrown up when humankind plays God and explores notions of society and identity, bringing the mythical chimera.

H. G. Wells' 1901 science fiction novel The First Men in the Moon tells the story of a voyage to the moon by Mr. Bedford, a businessman plagued by financial problems, and Dr. Cavor, a brilliant and somewhat eccentric scientist.

What does laughter mean? What is the basal element in the laughable?

Tarzan of the Apes is Edgar Rice Burroughs' first novel in the series starring the man raised by apes.

The Return of Tarzan is Edgar Rice Burroughs' second novel in the series starring the man raised by apes, and the story picks up where Tarzan of the Apes left off.

It is a curious fact that of that class of literature to which Munchausen belongs, that namely of Voyages Imaginaires, the three great types should have all been created in England.

Heidi is a novel for children written in 1880 which remains one of the most well-known pieces of Swiss literature.

The Hound of the Baskervilles is a crime novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle starring the great detective of Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes. Wealthy landowner Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead in the parkland surrounding his manor.

A beautiful young man, Dorian Gray, sits for a portrait. In the garden of the artist's house he falls into conversation with Lord Wotton.

The Importance of Being Earnest is the last play Oscar Wilde ever wrote, and remains his most enduringly popular.

Jane Eyre is raised in her aunt's house after the death of her parents.

Causing mass hysteria as listeners of its 1938 radio broadcast believed a Martian invasion of Earth really was taking place, H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds is perhaps the most famous novel of its genre.

Arms and the Man was George Bernard Shaw's first commercially successful play.

Oscar Wilde's play An Ideal Husband is a comedy about politics, blackmail and corruption.

Leaves of Grass is a collection of poems by Walt Whitman originally published in 1855 at the poet's own expense.

Notes from the Underground is Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1864 masterpiece following the ranting, slightly unhinged memoir of an isolated, anonymous civil servant.

There never was anybody, wrote the Spectator, who had adventures as well as Miss Bird.

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes collects together eleven stories detailing the famous exploits and adventures of Baker Street's greatest detective.

The Best American Humorous Short Stories features tales from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain and many other well known writers.