Basho, one of the greatest of Japanese poets and the master of haiku, was also a Buddhist monk and a lifelong traveller. His poems combine 'karumi', or lightness of touch, with the Zen ideal of oneness with creation. Each poem evokes the natural world and these translations capture the artistry of the originals.

This novel began as a simple rewrite of an obscure little narrative, in which Israel Potter tells the story of his sad fall from revolutionary hero to London peddler. Following its opening chapter Melville's novel retells that tale, then alternately moves between invented episodes and historical sources unrelated to the original.

'Pride and Prejudice' is one of the best loved and most intimately known of Jane Austen's novels. Her sense of comedy and satire makes this an enduring classic of English literature.

This selection brings together the poetry of three of the most distinctive and moving voices to emerge from the First World War.

"Shamela" is a parody of Samuel Richardson's "Pamela", Fielding's heroine uses coyness and mock modesty as techniques to catch a rich husband. "Joseph Andrews" can also be seen as a response to Richardson as the lascivious Lady Booby sets out to seduce her comically chaste servant Joseph.

Written in the second century AD by a Greek traveller, this study of the buildings, traditions and myths of ancient Greece describes the glory of the classical country shortly before its decline in the third century.

In this poignant comedy of early Victorian life, Elizabeth Gaskell explores the effects of Victorian commerce and imperial expansion on the survival of customs from earlier times. This new edition includes an introduction by Patricia Ingham that places the novel in its literary and historical context.

This novel is part of the 'Rougon-Macquart' series about two branches of a French family traced through several generations. The behaviour of the two families is shown to be conditioned by environment and inherited characteristics, chiefly drunkenness and mental instability.