"For the first time in his life Gulliver felt ashamed of himself and his fellow-humans." Gulliver is a travel-hungry and adventurous ship's doctor, who has the odd misfortune of being ship-wrecked four times in as many voyages. Through Jonathan Coe's expert retelling of Swift's famous satire about our human hubris and desires, today's young readers are swept along as Gulliver finds himself a giant among tiny humans in Lilliput; a tiny human among giants in Brobdignag; on the flying island of Laputa, with its most impractical intellectuals; and finally in the land of the Houyhnhnms, talking horses who think precious little of human "Yahoos".

You used to have everything and now you have nothing. Who’s madder than you? Old King Lear has decided to retire from his royal duties. He calls his three daughters to him, and asks each to tell him how much they love him. The eldest two, Goneril and Regan, flatter him with their words. Cordelia – the youngest and, until now, his favourite – only says that she loves him as a daughter must love her father. Furious, he disinherits her and divides his kingdom between her two sisters. But Goneril and Regan turn against Lear, forcing him to wander in the wilderness with only his court jester for company, desperately hoping for a reconciliation with Cordelia…

A MODERN MASTER'S WRY AND ENTERTAINING TAKE ON HISTORY'S BEST-KNOWN LOVER In Don Juan, Peter Handke offers his take on the famous seducer. Don Juan's story―"his own version"―is filtered through the consciousness of an anonymous narrator, a failed innkeeper and chef, into whose solitude Don Juan bursts one day. On each day of the week that follows, Don Juan describes the adventures he experienced on that same day a week earlier. The adventures are erotic, but Handke's Don Juan is more pursued than pursuer. What makes his accounts riveting are the remarkable evocations of places and people, and the nature of his narration. This is, above all, a book about storytelling and its ability to burst the ordinary boundaries of time and space. In this brief and wry volume, Handke conjures images and depicts the subtleties of human interaction with an unforgettable vividness. Along the way, he offers a sharp commentary on many features of contemporary life.

France's best tale of love and panache, retold for children Cyrano de Bergerac is in possession of a cadet-position in the French Army, a poet's soul and a very, very large nose. He is also in love with Roxane, but believes himself too ugly to be loved by her in turn. When the handsome but unpoetic new cadet Christian de Neuvillette himself falls for the beautiful Roxane, he asks Cyrano to help him win her heart ... Dave Eggers says, of the series: I couldn't be prouder to be a part of it. Ever since Alessandro conceived this idea I thought it was brilliant. The editions that they've complied have been lushly illustrated and elegantly designed.