Green Mansions follows Abel, a young Venezuelan revolutionary who escapes into the remote Guyana jungle and meets Rima, a mysterious girl who lives in harmony with the forest and speaks the language of birds. As love grows between them, Abel learns of Rima’s search for her origins among a lost people. Their journey through the wild reveals beauty, danger, and the tragic cost of a world unable to accept innocence and difference.

It is a cause of very great regret to me that this task has taken so much longer a time than I had expected for its completion. It is now many months—over a year, in fact—since I wrote to Georgetown announcing my intention of publishing, IN A VERY FEW MONTHS, the whole truth about Mr. Abel. Hardly less could have been looked for from his nearest friend, and I had hoped that the discussion in the newspapers would have ceased, at all events, until the appearance of the promised book. It has ...

The warm sun of a bright spring day, in the year of grace 1574, shone down on the beautiful city of Leyden, on its spacious squares and streets and its elegant mansions, its imposing churches, and on the smooth canals which meandered among them, fed by the waters of the sluggish Rhine. The busy citizens were engaged in their various occupations, active and industrious as ever; barges and boats lay at the quays loading or unloading, some having come from Rotterdam, Delft, Amsterdam, and oth...

First published in 1885, "The Purple Land" is a novel by Argentinian naturalist and author William Henry Hudson. It tells the story of a young Englishman called Richard Lamb who elopes with a teenage Argentinian girl to Uruguay. Once there, Lamb sets off to find work, but instead finds himself at the centre of an epic adventure. This exciting and beautifully-written page-turner is not to be missed by fans and collectors of Hudson's wonderful work, and it would make for a worthy addition to...

"The Story of Nelson" chronicles the life and achievements of Horatio Nelson, one of Britain's most famous naval heroes. Nelson played a crucial role in the Napoleonic Wars, particularly during the Battle of Trafalgar, where he led the British Royal Navy to victory against the combined French and Spanish fleets but tragically lost his life in the process.In this biography, Kingston likely recounts Nelson's early life, his rise through the ranks of the navy, his famous victories, and his pe...

There is really no need, perhaps, for me to tell you that all these stories have been told before. But, though you know it already, I like to say it again, because I can never say often enough how grateful I am to those who told the world first of Arthur, of Guinevere, of Lancelot, and of Gawain; of Galahad, of Percivale, and of Percivale's sister; of the Siege Perilous and of the Holy Grail. If you do not now count Sir Thomas Malory a dear friend, as I do, learn to do it, and you will be ...

It was a half-holiday. One of our fellows who had lately taken his degree and passed as Senior Wrangler had asked it for us. He had just come down for a few hours to see the Doctor and the old place. How we cheered him! How proudly the Doctor looked at him! What a great man we thought him! He was a great man! for he had won a great victory,—not only over his fellow-men, not only over his books, by compelling them to give up the knowledge they contained,—but over his love of pleasure; over ...

We had come home from school much earlier than usual, on account of illness having broken out there; but as none of the boys were dangerously ill, and those in the infirmary were very comfortable, we were not excessively unhappy. I suspect that some of us wished that fever or some other sickness would appear two or three weeks before all the holidays. However, as we had nothing to complain of at school, this, I confess, was a very unreasonable wish. The very day of our arrival home, when w...

The title of this little volume was chosen because it seems to indicate a characteristic possessed in common by the otherwise unrelated essays here brought together. They may all be described in a general way as holiday tasks—the results of many hours of quiet but rather aimless browsing among books, and not of special investigations, undertaken with a view to definite scholastic ends. They are, moreover, as will readily be seen, completely unacademic in style and intention. Three of the p...

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

This charming travelogue from William Henry Hudson, expert birdwatcher and renowned chronicler of English country life, gives readers unparalleled access to the quaint rhythms of village existence at the turn of the twentieth century. These essays and observations will please readers who have a love for English culture and the great outdoors.

A fine emigrant ship, her voyage happily terminated, had just entered her destined port in the northern island of New Zealand. Her anchor was dropped, the crew were aloft furling sails, and several boats were alongside ready to convey the passengers to the shore. All was bustle and excitement on board, each person anxious to secure his own property,—and people were running backwards and forwards into the cabins, to bring away any minor articles which might have been forgotten. The water wa...