Gogol N The Government Inspector and Other Works

The mayor and local officials of a small provincial town in Russia have got it made: corruption is rife and they have all the power. Yet, when they learn that an undercover government inspector is about to make a visit, they face a mad dash to cover their tracks. Soon, the news that a suspicious person has recently arrived from St Petersburg and is staying in a local inn produces a series of events and misunderstandings that lead to a hilarious denouement • Often quoted as Russian literature's greatest comedy, The Government Inspector is a trenchant satire of the corruption, greed and stupidity of petty officialdom, and the crowning achievement of Gogol's skills as a playwright

Nikolai Gogol's short fiction, collected here as The Diary of a Madman, The Government Inspector and Selected Stories, deeply influenced later Russian literature with powerful depictions of a society dominated by petty bureaucracy and base corruption. This Penguin Classics edition is translated with notes by Ronald Wilks, and an introduction by Robert A. Maguire • This volume includes a selection of Gogol's most admired short fiction and his most famous drama. A hilarious and biting political satire, 'The Government Inspector' has been popular since its first performance and was regarded by Nabokov as the greatest Russian play ever written. The stories gathered here, meanwhile, range from comic to tragic and describe the isolated lives of low-ranking clerks, lunatics and swindlers

The mayor and local officials of a small provincial town in Russia have got it made: corruption is rife and they have all the power. Yet, when they learn that an undercover government inspector is about to make a visit, they face a mad dash to cover their tracks. Soon, the news that a suspicious person has recently arrived from St Petersburg and is staying in a local inn produces a series of events and misunderstandings that lead to a hilarious denouement. Often quoted as Russian literature's greatest comedy, The Government Inspector is a trenchant satire of the corruption, greed and stupidity of petty officialdom, and the crowning achievement of Gogol's skills as a playwright • Alma Classics is committed to make available the widest range of literature from around the globe

Howard Lovecraft (1890—1937) was an American writer who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction. Despite the fact that he was virtually unknown before he died, today he is known as the most influential author in his genre. "The Dunwich Horror and Other Stories" is a collection of wonderful short stories such as "The Rats in the Walls", "The Strange High House in the Mist" and others. These stories, full of mystery and fantastic creatures, have captured the minds of readers all over the world

Таинственный город Каркоза, полный древних проклятий и тёмной магии. Ужасная пьеса «Король в жёлтом», сводящая своих читателей с ума. Полубог из другого измерения, жаждущий захватить мир • Приводящие в ужас и наполненные потусторонними кошмарами рассказы Роберта Чамберса оказали большое влияние на становление жанра хоррор. Они вдохновили поколения писателей, среди которых Роберт Ирвин Говард, Карл Эдвард Вагнер и Говард Филлипс Лавкрафт, а также Ник Пиццолатто – создатель сериала «Настоящий детектив» • В сборнике «The Yellow Sign and Other Stories» ценители жанра хоррор найдут рассказы «Восстановитель репутаций», «Маска», «Во дворе дракона», «Создатель Лун», «The Harbour-Master» и др • Книга на английском языке • A mysterious city called Carcosa filled with ancient curses and dark magics

The Penguin English Library edition • Many readers would claim that The Adventure of the Copper Beeches or The Man with the Twisted Lip was their favourite Sherlock Holmes story - but then that would be doing an injustice to The Adventure of the Yellow Face and The Problem of Thor Bridge. It is just as well that in the end we do not have to choose - as if we did then there would be no doubt it should be The Adventure of the Six Napoleons

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, travel writer, and essayist. His most famous works are "Treasure Island" and "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Now he is one of the most translated authors in the world. This volume includes amazing short stories like "Will o the Mill," "Markheim," and "The Merry Men" itself

Sara, the American wife of a French aristocrat, has had two encounters with her compatriot Cedric Killian, one a youthful idyll in North Carolina and the other during the First World War, when he was a soldier about to go to battle. When, years later and after the death of her husband, Cedric contacts her out of the blue, Sara finds herself eager to see him again – against the wishes of her in-laws – and to find out the secret of this man she loves yet knows so little about • A poignant tale of thwarted love, ‘The Intimate Strangers’ explores many of Fitzgerald’s favourite themes, such as the constraints of society on romance and the American fascination for Old Europe. This volume also includes other lesser-known stories he wrote from the mid-1930s until the end of his life, revealing new facets to the author of The Great Gatsby and Tender Is the Night

When the Americans Mr and Mrs Otis and their four children move into Canterville Chase, its previous occupant Lord Canterville warns them that the ghost of his ancestor still haunts the house. Their disbelief is soon shattered by the nightly sound of rattling chains in the hallways and the appearance of mysterious bloodstains in the living room. However, the ghost struggles to intimidate his new victims, as they counter his ghoulish behaviour with typically transatlantic pragmatism, offering lubricator for his chains and cleaning up the stains with detergent. As the spirit is deserted by his capacity to scare, Virginia, the Otises’ daughter, gets to know him and learns the tragic tale behind his sad fate • Sparkling with his trademark wit, this classic tale is one of Oscar Wilde’s finest stories and is presented here with three other comic mystery stories, ‘Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime’, ‘The Sphinx without a Secret’ and ‘The Model Millionaire’, all of which were first published together in 1891