Secondhand Classics Bargain Book Box DSH1137

Secondhand Classics Bargain Book Box

This monumental collection brings together 21 essential works spanning centuries of human thought, literature, and philosophy, primarily featuring revered Penguin Classics editions. From the political machinations of Machiavelli and the timeless romance of Brontë, to the deep introspection of Plato and powerful Russian memoirs, this box offers a comprehensive exploration of literary history. Discover fundamental texts, major philosophical works, and gripping novels that have shaped the Western canon and continue to challenge and inspire readers worldwide. Each book is secondhand and may show signs of wear.

1. The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
   This foundational work of political philosophy offers a ruthless and pragmatic analysis of how political power is acquired, maintained, and lost. Written in the 16th century, it famously argues that morality must often be set aside in favor of effective statecraft and the maintenance of authority. It remains a deeply influential and controversial study of leadership and control.

2. Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
   Nietzsche's radical philosophical novel introduces the concept of the Übermensch (Overman), challenging traditional morality and religious dogma. It follows the travels and speeches of the prophet Zarathustra, urging readers to reject conventional values and embrace self-mastery. This epic work is fundamental to modern thought on individualism and human potential.

3. Short Stories: Volume 1: A Sahibs' War and Other Stories by Rudyard Kipling
   This collection transports the reader to the intense, complex world of colonial India and the lives of British soldiers and administrators. Kipling captures the exotic environment and the rigid social codes of the era with sharp, unsentimental precision. These stories offer a nuanced look at empire, duty, and the human condition under duress.

4. The Last Days of Socrates by Plato
   This volume contains Plato's powerful dialogues surrounding the trial and death of his teacher, Socrates, including the Apology, Crito, and Phaedo. These texts detail Socrates' defense against accusations of impiety and corruption, his refusal to escape prison, and his final philosophical discussions on the immortality of the soul. It provides a moving portrait of courage and intellectual integrity.

5. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
   A tale of intense, destructive passion set against the bleak, wild moors of Yorkshire, following the tempestuous relationship between Catherine Earnshaw and the dark, brooding Heathcliff. Brontë’s only novel is a powerful exploration of love, obsession, class barriers, and all-consuming revenge. It remains one of the most significant and emotionally raw English novels.

6. Cancer Ward by Solzhenitsyn
   Set in a Soviet hospital in 1950s Tashkent, this novel uses the experience of cancer patients as a powerful metaphor for the stagnant, morally sick society under Stalin's regime. The diverse characters, united by disease, reflect on their lives, fate, and the meaning of suffering. Solzhenitsyn’s work is a poignant and critical examination of life under totalitarianism.

7. Childhood, Boyhood, Youth by Tolstoy
   This early, semi-autobiographical trilogy captures the gradual development of a young man, Nikolenka, charting his emotional and intellectual awakening across his formative years. Tolstoy observes the complex process of growing up, marked by sharp, vivid memories of family, class, and the painful path to self-awareness. It offers deep insight into the author’s early life and Russian society.

8. Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
   Set in 1900 Australia, this novel describes the baffling disappearance of three schoolgirls and their teacher during a Valentine’s Day picnic at a remote, ancient geological formation. The subsequent search and failure to find them drives the school and the surrounding community into emotional turmoil. It is a haunting, atmospheric mystery that questions the boundary between nature and civilization.

9. The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley
   The elderly narrator recounts the pivotal summer of 1900 when, as a thirteen-year-old boy, he became an unwitting messenger for a forbidden, passionate affair between an upper-class woman and a local farmer. This elegant and poignant novel explores the themes of class difference, forbidden love, and the traumatic loss of childhood innocence. The opening line remains one of literature's most famous: "The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there."

10. The Bacchae and Other Plays by Euripides
    This collection features some of the most dramatic and psychologically complex tragedies from the great Greek playwright Euripides. The Bacchae is a shocking exploration of religious ecstasy and the dangers of denying the irrational power of the gods, specifically Dionysus. These plays are foundational texts of Western drama, known for their powerful choruses and stark realism.

11. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
    Michael Henchard, a passionate and deeply flawed man, drunkenly sells his wife and daughter at a country fair, an act that haunts the rest of his life. As he rises to become the mayor of Casterbridge, his past returns to destroy his carefully built existence. Hardy’s tragic masterpiece explores character, fate, and the social constraints of rural Victorian England.

12. My Childhood by Gorky
    Maxim Gorky’s raw and vivid memoir recounts his early years in 19th-century Russia, detailing a childhood marked by extreme poverty, cruelty, and the overwhelming presence of his deeply dysfunctional family. Despite the harsh realities, the book captures Gorky’s tenacious spirit and his early introduction to the richness of human life and literature. It provides a powerful view of Czarist Russia’s underclass.

13. Cousin Phillis and Other Tales by Elizabeth Gaskell
    This collection showcases Gaskell’s mastery of the short story form, centering on quietly observed domestic life and the intense emotional experiences of women in Victorian society. Cousin Phillis, the titular novella, is a delicate and moving story of a young woman’s thwarted first love. Gaskell’s work is praised for its social awareness and subtle realism.

14. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
    A colossal work of history that charts the trajectory of the Roman Empire from its height through its eventual collapse in the West and the later struggles of the Byzantine Empire. Gibbon’s monumental scholarship and elegant, often ironic prose remain hugely influential. This volume is a vital historical narrative that shaped Enlightenment views of civilization and collapse.

15. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
    Austen’s delightful satire gently mocks the excesses of the popular Gothic novel genre of her time. The young, imaginative heroine, Catherine Morland, visits the mysterious Northanger Abbey and confuses everyday events with the melodramatic scenarios she reads in her books. This novel charmingly explores the difference between literary fantasy and the often more complex reality of human nature.

16. Persuasion by Jane Austen
    Austen’s final completed novel centers on Anne Elliot, who, years earlier, was persuaded by her family to break off her engagement to the man she loved because he lacked fortune and connection. Now twenty-seven, she encounters Captain Wentworth again, now a successful naval officer. This moving story explores second chances, quiet suffering, and the endurance of true affection.

17. The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch
    Charles Arrowby, a celebrated, narcissistic theater director, retires to a seaside house hoping to write his memoir and escape his demanding past. When he becomes obsessively fixated on his childhood sweetheart, he attempts to manipulate events to reclaim her, leading to increasingly complex and bizarre situations. Murdoch delivers a compelling, intricate study of self-delusion and obsessive love.

18. The Nature of Things by Lucretius
    A remarkable philosophical poem from the 1st century BC that articulates the Epicurean philosophy, explaining the workings of the universe through atomic theory. Lucretius argues against superstition and fear of death, advocating for a rational, pleasurable life centered on tranquility. This ancient text is a powerful combination of scientific thought and poetic expression.

19. The Oxford Book of Light Verse by W. H. Auden
    Edited and introduced by the eminent poet W. H. Auden, this anthology collects verse characterized by humor, wit, charm, and grace, distinguishing "light verse" from merely "comic verse." The collection features a vast range of poets from Chaucer to contemporary writers, celebrating craftsmanship and joy in language. Auden’s critical introduction is a seminal essay on the genre.

20. The Prelude by William Wordsworth
    An epic, deeply personal autobiographical poem that Wordsworth revised throughout his life, intended as a philosophical examination of the growth of the poet’s mind and imagination. It chronicles his early experiences in the Lake District and his reactions to the French Revolution. This monumental work is a central text of the Romantic movement in English literature.

21. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
    This deceptively simple philosophical fable, narrated by a pilot stranded in the desert, tells the story of his encounter with a young prince fallen from a distant asteroid. Through their conversations, the book offers profound and poignant insights into loneliness, friendship, love, and loss. It is a timeless classic appreciated by readers of all ages for its gentle wisdom.