Penguin Modern Classics

'Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic Socialism as I understand it'. Thus wrote Orwell...

Nightmarish, witty and immaculately conceived, Invitation to a Beheading unsparingly teases out the illogic of tyranny and will establish Nabokov in readers' minds as a serious and intelligent writer Written...

Hailed as the greatest modern lyrical poet of Germany, Rainer Maria Rilke's genius lies in his passion for perfection, artistic integrity and 'willingness to remain a perpetual beginner'. The verse...

It is the Day of the Dead. The fiesta in full swing. In the shadow of Popocatepeti ragged children beg coins to buy skulls made of chocolate...and the ugly pariah...

New to Penguin Modern Classics, Calvino's first novel Pin is a bawdy, adolescent cobbler's assistant, both arrogant and insecure who - while the Second World War rages - sings songs...

A breakthrough work of social and cultural criticism from one of the foremost intellectuals of his era Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his...

New translation by Robin Buss Jean-Baptiste Clamence is a soul in turmoil. Over several drunken nights he regales a chance acquaintance with his story. From this successful former lawyer and...

When a professional gambler is shot dead all except Maigret suspect his mistress is to blame Maigret is called to the home of professional gambler, Felix Nahour, who has been...

Maigret investigates the murder of a criminal he had known for twenty years Maigret finds himself back on the Rue des Acacias just ten days after cracking another case there....

Maigret is called to testify in court and reveals his doubts on the guilt of the accused Maigret receives an anonymous phone call concerning the brutal murder of a woman...

A gripping novel about the corrupt and avaricious world of politics, newly translated as part of the Maigret series. Was Maigret wrong? From one point of view, certainly, because he...

An impromptu visit to an old school friend in the Vendee draws Maigret into a disturbing local investigation The mood of the town was still jittery. It was all very...

Set in the volatile Paris summer of 1938, The Age of Reason follows two days in the life of Mathieu Delarue, a philosophy teacher, and his circle in the cafes...

The bestselling epic novel of family, treachery, rivalry, religious fervour and the turbulent fate of a people The year is 1797, and the kingdom of Segu is flourishing. The people...

The first illustrated edition of Animal Farm, based on the famous 1955 animation 2015 is the 70th anniversary of Animal Farm. To commemorate this important anniversary, Penguin Classics is republishing...

The first novel in the celebrated Faith, Hope and Charity trilogy finds Bernard Samson in rural Germany, trying to deliver a Russian defector to London Central Bernard Samson returns to...

From hustling, drug addiction and armed violence in America's black ghettos Malcolm X turned, in a dramatic prison conversion, to the puritanical fervour of the Black Muslims. As their spokesman...

A series of provocative discussions on everything from individual authors to contemporary religious thinking Against Interpretation was Susan Sontag's first collection of essays and is a modern classic. Originally published...

In her memoirs, Simone de Beavoir created a remarkable portrait of a twentieth-century woman's struggle for independence A superb autobiography by one of the great literary figures of the twentieth...

One of a handful of great film books. Born into a theatrical family, Chaplin's father died of drink while his mother, unable to bear the poverty, suffered from bouts of...

One of the finest American novels ever written, Norman Mailer's classic account of the Philippines campaign of WW2. Based on Mailer's own experience of military service in the Philippines during...

An Inspector Calls, first produced in 1946 when society was undergoing sweeping transformations, has recently enjoyed an enormously successful revival. While holding its audience with the gripping tension of a...

'The most beautifully executed, the clearest and the most important utterance yet made by the generation Kerouac himself named years ago as 'beat.' - the New York Times On the...

Maigret is determined to track down the murderer of a burglar who he had known for thirty years Set against a high-profile hunt for the latest criminal gang to hit...

In this nightmare vision of a not-too-distant future, fifteen-year-old Alex and his three friends rob, rape, torture and murder - for fun. Alex is jailed for his vicious crimes and...

An epic novel of love, war and revolution from Mikhail Sholokhov, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature One of the most important Russian masterpieces of the 20th century, And...

Flann O'Brien's first novel is a brilliant impressionistic jumble of ideas, mythology and nonsense. Operating on many levels it incorporates plots within plots, giving full rein to O'Brien's dancing intellect...

Drawing together for the first time his poems, letters, essays, songs and photographs, this wide-ranging collection is the essential record of the Beat icon Visionary poet Allen Ginsberg was one...

A collection of some of Freud's most famous essays, including ON THE INTRODUCTION OF NARCISSISM; REMEMBERING, REPEATING AND WORKING THROUGH; BEYOND THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE; THE EGO AND THE ID and...

Stella Gibbons' hilarious comic novel of rural life, new to Penguin Modern Classics When sensible, sophisticated Flora Poste is orphaned at nineteen, she decides her only choice is to descend...

Mailer's classic account of the 1967 anti-Vietnam War rally in Washington D.C., and one of the best 'nonfiction novels' ever written October 21, 1967, Washington, D.C. 20,000 to 200,000 protesters...

'A stunningly inventive fantasy about cosmic travel' - The New York Times 'There were two kinds of landscape characteristic of the inner planets of the Sun- the purposeful and the...

A gripping tale of espionage and deceit from the master of the spy novel, new to Penguin Modern Classics After a routine security check by George Smiley, civil servant Samuel...

Le Carre exposes the ugly face of international relations in this spy thriller, new to Penguin Modern Classics West Germany, a simmering cauldron of radical protests, has produced a new...

First paperback publication of Italo Calvino's phenomenally funny account of the universe as a cosmic joke Enchanting stories about the evolution of the universe, with characters that are fashioned from...

One of the seminal texts on child development, which continues to influence contemporary ideas on parenting D. W. Winnicott was one of the most influential figures in child psychiatry. In...

Virginia Woolf's playful mock 'biography' of a chameleonic historical figure, written for her intimate friend Vita Sackville-West Orlando has always been an outsider... His longing for passion, adventure and fulfilment...

First time published individually in Modern Classics, alongside CLAUDIUS THE GOD Despised for his weakness and regarded by his family as little more than a stammering fool, the nobleman Claudius...

Iris Origo's most famous book, her classic study of the life and times of a medieval Italian merchant In 1870 an astonishing cache, containing some 150,000 letters and great numbers...

Nabokov's 'other' great love story, following an extraordinary relationship across decades and continents Written in mischievous and magically flowing prose, Ada or Ardor is a romance that follows Ada from...

A gem of a book about the aggravations and great joys of cats from a literary master In the autumn of 1965, flush with the unexpected success of his first...

A tale of intense friendship and almost overwhelming grief amongst the frozen fjords of rural Norway In winter, the black ice cracks like a gunshot across the lake, growing thicker...

The book that shocked a generation and introduced Kathy Acker as the enfant terrible of the 1980s literary underground This is a book about feminism, capitalism, sex, punk, youth, the...

An extraordinary collection of Nabokov's little-known published material from across his life - from student essays to his last interviews The last major collection of Nabokov's published material, Think, Write,...

Penguin Modern Classics presents Tennessee Williams' first successful play which has continued to win audiences over ever since Abandoned by her husband, Amanda Wingfield comforts herself with recollections of her...

A stunning new series look for one of the greatest writers of the 20th century in Penguin Modern Classics Drifters in search of work, George and his simple-minded friend Lennie,...

Maigret takes over as author and gives a rare glimpse into the legendary character's psyche I can still see Simenon coming into my office the next day, pleased with himself,...

A new translation in the Penguin Maigret series- the inspector uncovers some poisonous family politics. The moon must have risen above the mist, which was now faintly incandescent, and, when...