Zeba Books Classics

Written and published anonymously by Jonathan Swift in 1729, A Modest Proposal—full title A Modest Proposal For preventing the Children of Poor People From being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and For making them Beneficial to the Publick—is a satirical essay which mocks the heartless attitudes towards the poor. In order to improve their economic troubles, the essay suggests that the impoverished Irish sell their children as food to rich gentlemen and ladies. Written and published anonymously by Jonathan Swift in 1729, A Modest Proposal—full title A Modest Proposal For preventing the Children of Poor People From being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and For making them Beneficial to the Publick—is a satirical essay which mocks the heartless attitudes towards the poor. In order to improve their economic troubles, the essay suggests that the impoverished Irish sell their children as food to rich gentlemen and ladies.

A parody of traveler’s tales and a satire of human nature, “Gulliver’s Travels” is Jonathan Swift’s most famous work which was first published in 1726. An immensely popular tale ever since its original publication, “Gulliver’s Travels” is the story of its titular character, Lemuel Gulliver, a man who loves to travel. A series of four journeys are detailed in which Gulliver finds himself in a number of amusing and precarious situations. In the first voyage, Gulliver is imprisoned by a race of tiny people, the Lilliputians, when following a shipwreck he is washed upon the shores of their island country. In his second voyage Gulliver finds himself abandoned in Brobdingnag, a land of giants, where he is exhibited for their amusement. In his third voyage, Gulliver once again finds himself marooned; fortunately he is rescued by the flying island of Laputa, a kingdom devoted to the arts of music and mathematics. He subsequently travels to the surrounding lands of Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan. Finally in his last voyage, when he is set adrift by a mutinous crew, he finds himself in the curious Country of the Houyhnhnms. Through the various experiences of Gulliver, Swift brilliantly satirizes the political and cultural environment of his time in addition to creating a lasting and enchanting tale of fantasy. This edition is illustrated by Milo Winter and includes an introduction by George R. Dennis.

Jane Austen is without question, one of England's most enduring and skilled novelists. With her wit, social precision, and unerring ability to create some of literature's most charismatic and believable heroines, she mesmerises her readers as much today as when her novels were first published. With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, 'Emma' is often seen as Jane Austen's most flawless work. Beautiful, clever, rich—and single—Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protégée Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. 'Emma' is the story of 19th century romance and relationships and is a timeless classic from the era. Will Emma marry or will she remain a single girl? Read this classic and discover for yourself.

Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, published in late 1871, is a sequel to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. While the previous book begins with Alice falling down a rabbit hole into a world of playing cards, this volume finds her step through a parlor mirror into a realm totally designed like a game of chess.

The humorous novel The Expedition of Humphry Clinker follows a conflicted and loving family as they tour Britain through letters. Their humorous accounts of Bath, London, Scotland, and other places expose social follies, socioeconomic inequalities, medical trends, and national biases. Humphry Clinker, a humble servant, is the centre of this upheaval, and his sincerity reveals his victims' weaknesses. By blending satire, trip narrative, and epistolary genre, Tobias Smollett captures eighteenth-century life.

Walt Whitman's Patriotic Poems, based on his views during the American Civil War and his profound sadness following Abraham Lincoln's assassination, depict a nation in turmoil and renewal. Whitman's patriotic poems, from the elegiac "O Captain! My Captain!" to the sweeping celebrations of the American landscape, altered the American spirit by emphasizing inclusion, resilience, and ongoing transformation.

Middlemarch, widely regarded as one of the best English novels, is a thorough "study of provincial life," as the subtitle implies. The novel takes place in a fictitious Midlands town, chronicling the lives of its citizens in the early 1830s. The story revolves around the lives of Dorothea Brooke, a woman who dreams of a full life based on marriage and helping others, and Tertius Lydgate, a young doctor driven by professional ambition. It provides a very realistic view of society's complex interactions, the impacts of political change, and the profound psychological aspects of human nature.

Jonathan Swift's 1704 prose parody, which satirized various religious and academic issues of the day, is a well-known example.