NCW Libraries

The first modern treatise of political philosophy, The Prince remains one of the world's most influential and widely read books. Machiavelli reveals nothing less than the secrets of power: how to gain it, how to wield it, and how to keep it. But curiously, this work of outspoken clarity has, for centuries, inspired myriad interpretations as to its author's true message. The introduction by noted Italian Renaissance scholar Albert Russell Ascoli...

The only paperback edition of the definitive translation of the first part of Marcel Proust's legendary seven-part cycle. In part one, the narrator recalls his childhood, aided by the famous tea-soaked madeleine; M. Swann describes his passion for Odette.

A nineteenth-century tale of life aboard a New England whaling ship whose captain is obsessed with the pursuit of a large white whale.

An accessible and comprehensive gathering of the works of the metaphysical English poet John Donne, a writer who has continued to loom large on the literary landscape (after a long period of obscurity) since his championing by TS Eliot and others. With a new introduction, in a volume edited by Charles Coffin.

When Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthy relations at Mansfield Park she seems shy and withdrawn beside her witty and vivacious cousins. But Fanny's steadfast and purposeful character makes her an indispensable part of the household. As the others become entangled in a maze of flirtation and intrigue, it is only Fanny whose deep but secret love for Edmund Bertram remains true despite his fascination with her brilliant but frivolous cousin...

A marvelous, incisive social satire that gleefully exposes the greed and corruption raging in England during the turmoil of the Napoleonic wars through its tracing of the changing fortunes of two unforgettable women. It is a comic masterpiece that still resonates today.

Set during the French and Indian Wars, The Deerslayer vividly captures both the murderous humanity and the natural beauty that distinguished the history of America's founding. The last of Cooper's famous Leatherstocking Tales to be written, it is first in the chronology of the frontier adventures of the noble backwoods scout Natty Bumppo and his loyal companion Chingachgook.

"Nominated for a National Book Critics Circle award, Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs gathers together Wallace Stegner's most important and memorable writings on the American West: its landscapes, diverse history, and shifting identity: its beauty, fragility, and power. With subjects ranging from the writer's own "migrant childhood" to the need to protect what remains of the great western wilderness (which Stegner dubs "the geography...

This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition combines the two most important African American slave narratives into one volume. Frederick Douglass's Narrative, first published in 1845, is an enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life; his narrative is an unparalleled account of the dehumanizing effects of slavery and Douglass's own triumph over it. Like Douglass, Harriet...

"This rollicking novel is rife with unscrupulous politicians, colorful plutocrats, and blindly optimistic speculators caught up in a frenzy of romance, murder, and surefire deals gone bust. First published in 1873 and filled with unforgettable characters such as the vainglorious Colonel Sellers and the ruthless Senator Dilsworthy, The Gilded Age is a hilarious and instructive lesson in American history."--Publisher description.