Books in the Collins Classics series

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.'I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world...'In London, 1888, the razor-sharp detective skills of Sherlock Holmes are to be put to the test. Mary Morstan reports two seemingly unconnected and inexplicable events: the disappearance of her father, a British Indian Army Captain, and the arrival of pearls by post from an unknown sender. Driven on by its complexity, Holmes and Watson slowly begin to unravel an intricate web of exotic treasure, secret pacts and mysterious deaths.One of only four novels featuring Sherlock Holmes and his trusty sidekick Watson, 'The Sign of the Four' will delight those who have been captivated by Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories.

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.'People glorify all sorts of bravery except the bravery they might show on behalf of their nearest neighbours.'An epic study of provincial life at a time when England was facing rapid industrialization and increasingly fluid social mobility, Eliot's depiction of the small community of Middlemarch weaves an intricate web of different characters disparate lives as they strive to adapt to the changing world around them. Eliot was one of the first of her female contemporaries to write a novel that dealt with real-life issues and complex yet ordinary human life.

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.Little Men is the delightful unofficial sequel to Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, reprising the much-cherished characters of the March family and friends, as well as some unforgettable new ones.The warm-hearted and fiesty Jo March returns (now as Jo Bhaer) and, together with husband Friedrich and the inheritance of an estate from Aunt March, opens Plumfield Estate, an unconventional school based on individuality and diversity. Jo's own boys, a number of rescued orphans, and her nieces are all encouraged to be kind, helpful, and self-sufficient, tending their own gardens and running their own businesses. Fun and learning go hand in hand, and pillow fights are even permitted on Saturdays.Personal relationships are key to the school, as well as to the novel, and the lovable characters get up to plenty of scrapes and adventures, but in the end, even the troublesome among them find redemption in the love and support of the extended March family.

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.' "e;...Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"e;Quoth the Raven, "e;Nevermore."e; 'This selection of Edgar Allan Poe's poetical works includes some of his best-known pieces, including the triumphant, gleeful 'The Bells', the tragic ode 'Annabel Lee' and his famous gothic tour de force, 'The Raven'. Some present powerful, nightmarish images of the macabre and bizarre, while others have at their heart a profound sense of love, beauty and loss. All are linguistic masterpieces that demonstrate Poe's gift for marrying rhythm, form and meaning.An American writer of primarily prose and literary criticism, Edgar Allen Poe never ceased writing poetry throughout his turbulent life, and is today regarded as a central figure of American literary romanticism. He died in 1849.

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert are expecting a young orphan boy to help them with farmwork at Green Gables. But when a skinny, red-haired girl turns up instead, immediately certain she's home, they get much more than they bargained for. Spirited, adventurous and imaginative, Anne Shirley quickly charms her way into the hearts of the Cuthberts, the entire town of Avonlea and, over 100 years later, the hearts of generations of readers.

The shocking first-hand account of one man's remarkable fight for freedom; now an award-winning motion picture.'Why had I not died in my young years - before God had given me children to love and live for? What unhappiness and suffering and sorrow it would have prevented. I sighed for liberty; but the bondsman's chain was round me, and could not be shaken off.'1841: Solomon Northup is a successful violinist when he is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Taken from his family in New York State - with no hope of ever seeing them again - and forced to work on the cotton plantations in the Deep South, he spends the next twelve years in captivity until his eventual escape in 1853.First published in 1853, this extraordinary true story proved to be a powerful voice in the debate over slavery in the years leading up to the Civil War. It is a true-life testament of one man's courage and conviction in the face of unfathomable injustice and brutality: its influence on the course of American history cannot be overstated.

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER was banned on its publication in 1928, creating a storm of controversy. Lawrence tells the story of Constance Chatterley's marriage to Sir Clifford, an aristocratic and an intellectual who is paralyzed from the waist down after the First World War. Desperate for an heir and embarrassed by his inability to satisfy his wife, Clifford suggests that she have an affair. Constance, troubled by her husband's words, finds herself involved in a passionate relationship with their gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors. Lawrence's vitriolic denunciations of industrialism and class division come together in his vivid depiction of the profound emotional and physical connection between a couple otherwise divided by station and society.