George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. Since Shaw's death scholarly and critical opinion has varied about his works, but he has regularly been rated as second only to Shakespeare among British dramatists; analysts recognise his extensive influe... Read More
English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy was highly critical of much in Victorian society, especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain. Many of his novels concern tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances, and they are often set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex. An Imaginative Woman was first published as a serial in Pall Mall Magazine in... Read More
Thomas Hardy, an English novelist and poet, failed to find a publisher for his first novel. He then showed it to his mentor and friend, the Victorian poet and novelist, George Meredith, who felt that The Poor Man and the Lady would be too politically controversial and might damage Hardy's ability to publish in the future. So Hardy followed his advice and he did not try further to publish it. He... Read More
Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented is a novel by Thomas Hardy. It initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British illustrated newspaper The Graphic in 1891. The “fine and handsome” daughter of a poor country peddler, with evidently little more than her brimming emotions and her “large innocent eyes” to distinguish her from the other gi... Read More
H.G. Wells was a famous science fiction writer. The science fiction historian John Clute describes Wells as "the most important writer the genre has yet seen", and notes his work has been central to both British and American science fiction. Science fiction author and critic Algis Budrys said Wells "remains the outstanding expositor of both the hope, and the despair, which are embodied in the t... Read More
H. G. Wells was a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction. His writing career spanned more than sixty years, and his early science fiction novels earned him the title of "The Father of Science Fiction". Wells’ first, The Time Machine, is a critique of utopian ideas, set in the year 802701. The story reflects Wells's own socialist political views, his view on life and abundance, and the... Read More
The Jungle Book was published in 1894 and is actually a collection of seven short stories. The settings and characterizations are drawn from Kipling’s own experiences during his nineteenth-century travels around the British Empire and include locations like India, Afghanistan and the Bering Sea. The stories all feature talking animals, and though geared toward children, are set with themes that... Read More
The Second Jungle Book is a sequel to The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. First published in 1895, it features five stories about Mowgli and three unrelated stories, all but one set in India, most of which Kipling wrote while living in Vermont. From all accounts, Kipling loved the outdoors, not least of whose marvels in Vermont was the turning of the leaves each fall. He described this moment i... Read More
Jack London was born in 1876 and began life as a sailor at the tender age of fourteen. He cruised most of the world this way and eventually landed back in California in the wave of the gold prospectors. He settled into a home there and began to write about some of the things he'd experienced and learned on his journeys. Jack London wrote many short stories, which were loved by critics and usual... Read More
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-British writer. He was regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language. During his lifetime Conrad was admired for the richness of his prose and his renderings of dangerous life at sea and in exotic places. But his initial reputation as a masterful teller of colourful adventures of the sea masked his fascination with the individual when face... Read More
Joseph Conrad wrote numerous full-length novels. His narrative style and anti-heroic characters have influenced numerous authors. A writer of complex skill and striking insight, but above all of an intensely personal vision, he has been increasingly regarded as one of the greatest English novelists. Literary critic Harold Bloom wrote that Heart of Darkness had been analysed more than any other... Read More
Joseph Conrad was born in Berdyczow, which, at the time of his birth, on December 3, 1857, was a city in Ukraine. Determined to be a sailor, Conrad left home at 16 and moved to Marseilles, France, where he began his apprenticeship, working entry-level positions on several merchant ships. His career floundered, however, when he learned that to continue this line of work he needed the permission... Read More
Ambrose Bierce, in full Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, was an American newspaperman, wit, satirist, and author of sardonic short stories based on themes of death and horror. Bierce was born in a log cabin at Horse Cave Creek in Meigs County, Ohio, on June 24, 1842, to Marcus Aurelius Bierce and Laura Sherwood Bierce. He was of entirely English ancestry: all of his forebears came to North America betw... Read More
Ambrose Bierce was an American writer of sardonic short stories based on themes of death and horror. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is about a man named Peyton Farquhar. He was a well-off southern planter from Alabama. Peyton, who was “ardently devoted to the Southern cause,” was prevented from joining the army by circumstance and was eager to serve the South in any way possible. One evening... Read More
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce’s literary reputation is based primarily on his short stories about the Civil War and the supernatural, a body of work that makes up a relatively small part of his total output. Often compared to the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, these stories share an attraction to death in its more bizarre forms, featuring depictions of mental deterioration, uncanny, otherworldly manifesta... Read More
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist. Bierce professed to be mainly concerned with the artistry of his work, but critics find him more intent on conveying his misanthropy and pessimism. In his lifetime Bierce was famous as a California journalist dedicated to exposing the truth as he understood it, regardless of whose reputa... Read More
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American satirist, critic, short story writer, editor and journalist. Bierce lived and wrote in England from 1872 to 1875, contributing to Fun magazine. His first book, The Fiend's Delight, a compilation of his articles, was published in London in 1873 by John Camden Hotten under the pseudonym "Dod Grile". Today, he is best known for his short story, An Occurrence... Read More
Ambrose Bierce was an American newspaperman and author of short stories. Known for his satirical wit and sardonic view of human nature, he earned the nickname "Bitter Bierce." Ambrose Bierce is perhaps most famous for his serialized mock lexicon, The Devil's Dictionary, in which, over the years, he scathed American culture and accepted wisdom by pointing out alternate, more practical definition... Read More
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short-story writer, and satirist, today best known for his Devil's Dictionary, which lampooned, among other things, religion and politics. Because of his penchant for biting social criticism and satire, Bierce's long newspaper career was often steeped in controversy. On several occasions, his columns stirred up a storm of hostile... Read More
Ambrose Bierce was an American journalist, short story writer and, editorialist. His main occupations were in the writing or editing field, although he also played the satire. He had a very distinctive style of writing which embraced an abrupt beginning, dark imagery, limited descriptions, the theme of war, impossible events, and vague references to time. Bierce wrote realistically of the terri... Read More