Essays Books

Critical Miscellanies, Vol. 1 (Essay 4 - Macaulay )

John Morley

'After glancing my eye over the design and order of a new book,' says Gibbon, 'I suspended the perusal till I had finished the task of self-examination, till I had revolved in a solitary walk all that..

Critical Miscellanies, Vol. 2 (Essay 1 - Vauvenargues )

John Morley

One of the most important phases of French thought in the great century of its illumination is only thoroughly intelligible, on condition that in studying it we keep constantly in mind the eloquence, ..

Critical Miscellanies, Vol. 2 (Essay 2 - Condorcet)

John Morley

Of the illustrious thinkers and writers who for two generations had been actively scattering the seed of revolution in France, only Condorcet survived to behold the first bitter in gathering of the ha..

Shakespeare's Sonnets

William Shakespeare

Shakespeare's sonnets are poems that William Shakespeare wrote on a variety of themes. When discussing or referring to Shakespeare’s sonnets, it is almost always a reference to the 154 sonnets that we..

Defence of Harriet Shelley

Mark Twain

"In Defense of Harriet Shelley" is an excellent literary classic for all ages. Twain took much of his ideas and inspiration for his stories and tall tales from real experiences as a river boat pilot, ..

Essays on Paul Bourget

Mark Twain

The wit and wisdom of Mr Twain are evident in this book. The reader may derive more pleasure from it by first dabbling in the works of Bourget. The pretense of the book is that it is a dialogue with B..

Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences

Mark Twain

"Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses" is an 1895 essay by Mark Twain, written as a satire and criticism of the writings of James Fenimore Cooper. Drawing on examples from The Deerslayer and The Pathfi..

What Is Man?

Mark Twain

What Is Man? is a short story by American writer Mark Twain, published in 1906. It is a dialogue between a Young Man and an Old Man regarding the nature of man. The title refers to Psalm 8:4, which be..