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Christabel is a long narrative poem in two parts. Coleridge planned three additional parts, but these were never completed. The story of Christabel concerns a central female character of the same name and her encounter with a stranger called Geraldine, who claims to have been abducted from her home by a band of rough men. Coleridge aimed to write Christabel using an accentual metrical system, based on the count of only accents: even though the number of syllables in each line can vary from four to twelve, the number of accents per line never deviates from four. Kubla Khan; or, A Vision in a Dream is a poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. According to Coleridge''s Preface the poem was composed one night after he experienced an opium-influenced dream after reading a work describing Xanadu, the summer palace of the Mongol ruler and Emperor of China Kublai Khan. Upon waking, he set about writing lines of poetry that came to him from the dream until he was interrupted by a person from Porlock. The poem could not be completed according to its original 200-300 line plan as the interruption caused him to forget the lines. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834) was an English poet, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets.

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is the original 1818 ''Uncensored'' Edition of Frankenstein as first published anonymously in 1818. This original version is much more true to the spirit of the author''s original intentions than the heavily revised 1831 edition, edited by Shelley, in part, because of pressure to make the story more conservative. Many scholars prefer the 1818 text to the more common 1831 edition. Frankenstein is a novel written by Mary Shelley about a creature produced by an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was nineteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. Shelley had travelled in the region of Geneva, where much of the story takes place, and the topics of galvanism and other similar occult ideas were themes of conversation among her companions, particularly her future husband, Percy Shelley. The storyline emerged from a dream. Mary, Percy, Lord Byron, and John Polidori decided to have a competition to see who could write the best horror story. After thinking for weeks about what her possible storyline could be, Shelley dreamt about a scientist who created life and was horrified by what he had made. She then wrote Frankenstein.

The Pirate is a novel by Walter Scott, based on the life of pirate John Gow who features as Captain Cleveland. The setting is the southern tip of the main island of Shetland (which Scott visited in 1814), around 1700. The arrival of the shipwrecked captain, Cleveland, spoils young Mordaunt''s relationship with the Troil girls, and soon a bitter rivalry grows between the two men. Minna falls in love with Cleveland, not knowing his true profession. Brenda, however, is in love with Mordaunt. The pirates capture the Troils, but after an encounter with the frigate HMS Halcyon, they are freed... Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright and poet. He was the first modern English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime, with many contemporary readers in Europe, Australia, and North America. His novels and poetry are still read, and many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and of Scottish literature. Famous titles include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, The Lady of the Lake, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor.

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is the original 1818 ''Uncensored'' Edition of Frankenstein as first published anonymously in 1818. This original version is much more true to the spirit of the author''s original intentions than the heavily revised 1831 edition, edited by Shelley, in part, because of pressure to make the story more conservative. Many scholars prefer the 1818 text to the more common 1831 edition. Frankenstein is a novel written by Mary Shelley about a creature produced by an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was nineteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. Shelley had travelled in the region of Geneva, where much of the story takes place, and the topics of galvanism and other similar occult ideas were themes of conversation among her companions, particularly her future husband, Percy Shelley. The storyline emerged from a dream. Mary, Percy, Lord Byron, and John Polidori decided to have a competition to see who could write the best horror story. After thinking for weeks about what her possible storyline could be, Shelley dreamt about a scientist who created life and was horrified by what he had made. She then wrote Frankenstein.

The Law and the Lady is a detective story. Valeria Brinton marries Eustace Woodville despite objections from Woodville''s family leading to disquiet for Valeria''s own family and friends. Just a few days after the wedding, various incidents lead Valeria to suspect her husband is hiding a dark secret in his past. Wilkie Collins (1824 - 1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. His best-known works are The Woman in White, No Name, Armadale, and The Moonstone.

The Law and the Lady is a detective story. Valeria Brinton marries Eustace Woodville despite objections from Woodville''s family leading to disquiet for Valeria''s own family and friends. Just a few days after the wedding, various incidents lead Valeria to suspect her husband is hiding a dark secret in his past. Wilkie Collins (1824 - 1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. His best-known works are The Woman in White, No Name, Armadale, and The Moonstone.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) was an English poet, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. Content: Definition of Poetry Greek Drama Progress Of The Drama The Drama Generally, And Public Taste Notes on Shakespeare Shakespeare, A Poet Generally Shakespeare''s Judgment equal to his Genius Recapitulation, And Summary Of the Characteristics of Shakespeare''s Dramas Outline Of An Introductory Lecture Upon Shakespeare Order Of Shakespeare''s Plays Notes On The "Tempest" Love''s Labour''s Lost Midsummer Night''s Dream Comedy Of Errors As You Like It Twelfth Night All''s Well That Ends Well Merry Wives Of Windsor Measure For Measure Cymbeline Titus Andronicus Troilus And Cressida Coriolanus Julius Cæsar Antony And Cleopatra Timon Of Athens Romeo And Juliet Shakespeare''s English Historical Plays King John Richard II. Henry IV. Richard III. Lear Hamlet Macbeth Winter''s Tale Othello Notes on Ben Jonson Whalley''s Preface Whalley''s ''Life Of Jonson'' Every Man Out Of His Humour Poetaster Fall Of Sejanus Volpone Apicæne The Alchemist Catiline''s Conspiracy Bartholomew Fair The Devil Is An Ass The Staple Of News The New Inn Notes on Beaumont And Fletcher. Harris''s Commendatory Poem On Fletcher Life Of Fletcher In Stockdale''s Edition, 1811. Maid''s Tragedy A King And No King The Scornful Lady The Custom Of The Country The Elder Brother The Spanish Curate Wit Without Money The Humorous Lieutenant The Mad Lover The Loyal Subject Rule A Wife And Have A Wife The Laws Of Candy The Little French Lawyer Valentinian Rollo The Wildgoose Chase A Wife For A Month The Pilgrim The Queen Of Corinth The Noble Gentleman The Coronation Wit At Several Weapons The Fair Maid Of The Inn ...

In addition to his poetry, Coleridge also wrote influential piece of literary criticism, Biographia Literaria, a collection of his thoughts and opinions on literature. The work delivered both biographical explanations of the author''s life as well as his impressions on literature. The collection also contained an analysis of a broad range of philosophical principles of literature ranging from Aristotle to Immanuel Kant and Schelling and applied them to the poetry of peers such as William Wordsworth. Coleridge''s explanations of metaphysical principles were popular topics of discourse in academic communities throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and T.S. Eliot stated that he believed that Coleridge was "perhaps the greatest of English critics, and in a sense the last." In Biographia Literaria and his poetry, symbols are not merely "objective correlatives" to Coleridge, but instruments for making the universe and personal experience intelligible and spiritually covalent. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834) was an English poet, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He wrote the poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, as well as the major prose work Biographia Literaria. His critical work, especially on Shakespeare, was highly influential, and he helped introduce German idealist philosophy to English-speaking culture. He coined many familiar words and phrases, including suspension of disbelief. He was a major influence on Emerson, and American transcendentalism.

Christabel is a long narrative poem in two parts. Coleridge planned three additional parts, but these were never completed. The story of Christabel concerns a central female character of the same name and her encounter with a stranger called Geraldine, who claims to have been abducted from her home by a band of rough men. Coleridge aimed to write Christabel using an accentual metrical system, based on the count of only accents: even though the number of syllables in each line can vary from four to twelve, the number of accents per line never deviates from four. Kubla Khan; or, A Vision in a Dream is a poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. According to Coleridge''s Preface the poem was composed one night after he experienced an opium-influenced dream after reading a work describing Xanadu, the summer palace of the Mongol ruler and Emperor of China Kublai Khan. Upon waking, he set about writing lines of poetry that came to him from the dream until he was interrupted by a person from Porlock. The poem could not be completed according to its original 200-300 line plan as the interruption caused him to forget the lines. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834) was an English poet, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets.

The Nicomachean Ethics is the Aristotle's best-known work on ethics. The work, which plays a pre-eminent role in defining Aristotelian ethics, consists of ten books, originally separate scrolls, and is understood to be based on notes from his lectures at the Lyceum. The theme of the work is a Socratic question previously explored in the works of Plato, Aristotle's friend and teacher, of how men should best live. In his Metaphysics, Aristotle described how Socrates, the friend and teacher of Plato, had turned philosophy to human questions, whereas pre-Socratic philosophy had only been theoretical. Ethics, as now separated out for discussion by Aristotle, is practical rather than theoretical, in the original Aristotelian senses of these terms. In other words, it is not only a contemplation about good living, because it also aims to create good living. It is therefore connected to Aristotle's other practical work, the Politics, which similarly aims at people becoming good. Ethics is about how individuals should best live, while the study of politics is from the perspective of a law-giver, looking at the good of a whole community.

The Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude provide a critical and exegetical commentary on the foundation of faith by Martin Luther. On the great subject of justification by faith alone, Luther is here full and emphatic. The relation of faith to works is clearly and carefully defined, while the subjects presented in the text afford full opportunity for discussing the great questions that concern the relative duties of civil and social life.

A Treatise on Christian Liberty is one of Martin Luther''s major reforming treatises of 1520. It developed the concept that as fully forgiven children of God, Christians are no longer compelled to keep God''s law; however, they freely and willingly serve God and their neighbors. Luther also further develops the concept of justification by faith. In the treatise, Luther stated, "A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all."

Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation is one of the tracts written by Martin Luther in 1520. In this work, he defined for the first time the signature doctrines of the priesthood of all believers and the two kingdoms. After the church made a strong attempt at drawing distinct lines on saying who had authority in the spiritual sphere and its matters. This division of Christians into spheres motivated Luther to write on the "three walls" the "Romanists" created to protect themselves from reform: "Spiritual Power over Temporal" - The first wall of the "Romanists" that Luther criticized was that of the division of the spiritual and temporal state. "Authority to Interpret Scripture" - In the second part of the letter to the Christian nobility of the German nation, Luther debates the point that it is the Pope''s sole authority to interpret, or confirm interpretation of, scriptures "Authority to Call a Council" - The final part to Luther''s letter is the largest demonstration of his desire to see authority in control over the spiritual sphere shift to the temporal sphere.

Billy Byrne is a mucker, a low class American born in Chicago''s ghetto. He grows up a thief and a mugger. He is not chivalrous nor kind, and has only meager ethics, never giving evidence against a friend or leaving someone behind. He chooses a life of robbery and violence, disrespecting those who work for a living. He has a deep hatred for wealthy society. When falsely accused of murder, Billy flees to San Francisco and is shanghaied aboard a ship. The ship''s secret mission is to hijack a millionaire''s daughter, Barbara Harding, for ransom. After a terrible storm, the ship is damaged and Billy rescues Barbara. He protects her from the jungle for weeks and they fall in love. In The Return of a Mucker Billy goes back to his old Chicago haunts intending to clear his name. His time with Barbara imbued him with faith in the law and justice. However, he soon realizes that the system is more interested in finding someone guilty than in finding the guilty party. Awaiting the verdict, he reads that Barbara and Mallory are about to marry. The Oakdale Affair features the Return of The Mucker sidekick, Bridge. In the home of Jonas Prim, president of an Oakdale bank, a thief makes off with a servant''s clothing and valuables belonging to Prim''s daughter Abigail. Escaping, the thief later encounters a group of hobos and is taken for one of them, the Oskaloosa Kid. Two of the hobos attempt to murder the newcomer for the loot, who shoots at one and flees. Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) was an American writer best known for his creations of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.

Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951) was an English short story writer and novelist, one of the most prolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre. Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories. His most work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. Table of Contents: ΓÇó A Psychical Invasion ΓÇó Ancient Sorceries ΓÇó The Nemesis of Fire ΓÇó Secret Worship ΓÇó The Camp of the Dog ΓÇó A Victim of Higher Space

Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951) was an English short story writer and novelist, one of the most prolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre. Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories. His most work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. Blackwood''s best known stories are "The Willows" and "The Wendigo". Table of Contents: ΓÇó The Empty House ΓÇó Keeping His Promise ΓÇó The Willows ΓÇó The Listener ΓÇó Max Hensig ΓÇó Secret Worship ΓÇó Ancient Sorceries ΓÇó The Wendigo ΓÇó The Glamour of the Snow ΓÇó The Transfer

Table of Contents: ΓÇó Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951) was an English short story writer and novelist, one of the most prolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre. Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories. His most work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. Blackwood''s best known stories are "The Willows" and "The Wendigo". ΓÇó Contents: ΓÇó The Willows ΓÇó The Insanity of Jones ΓÇó Ancient Sorceries ΓÇó The Man Who Found Out ΓÇó The Wendigo ΓÇó The Glamour of the Snow ΓÇó The Man Whom the Trees Loved ΓÇó Sand

Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951) was an English short story writer and novelist, one of the most prolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre. Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories. His most work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. Excerpt: "Certain things, however, gradually then became apparent, forcing themselves upon me. They came slowly, but overwhelmingly. Not that facts had changed, or natural details altered in the grounds-this was impossible-but that I noticed for the first time various aspects I had not noticed before-trivial enough, yet for me, just then, significant. Some I remembered from previous days; others I saw now as I wandered to and fro, uneasy, uncomfortable,-almost, it seemed, watched by some one who took note of my impressions. The details were so foolish, the total result so formidable. I was half aware that others tried hard to make me see. It was deliberate. My sister''s phrase, ''one layer got at me, another gets at you,'' flashed, undesired, upon me."

This thrilling story is based on Blackwood''s experience''s hunting in the backwoods of Canada. A group of men deep in the Northern wilderness are visited by a terrifying creature from Native American legend... Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951) was an English short story writer and novelist, one of the most prolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre.

The Willows is one of Blackwood''s best known works and has been influential on a number of later writers. Horror author H.P. Lovecraft considered it to be the finest supernatural tale in English literature. Throughout the story Blackwood personifies the surrounding environment-river, sun, wind-and imbues them with a powerful and ultimately threatening character. Most ominous are the masses of dense, desultory, menacing willows, which "moved of their own will as though alive, and they touched, by some incalculable method, my own keen sense of the horrible." - Two friends are midway on a canoe trip down the Danube River. After managing to land their canoe for the evening, during the night and into the next day and night, the mysterious, hostile forces emerge in force, including large, dark shapes that seem to trace the consciousness of the two men... Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951) was an English short story writer and novelist, one of the most prolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre.

Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951) was an English short story writer and novelist, one of the most prolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre. Though Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories, his most typical work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. "Jimbo was not quite sure that he understood the message, but he liked it all the same, and felt comforted. So long as they believed in one another, the rest did not matter very much after all. And when at last, shivering with cold, he crept back to bed, it was only to find through the Gates of Sleep a more direct way to the things he had been thinking about, and to wander for the rest of the night, unwatched and free, through the wonders of an Enchanted Land...."

Love Among the Artists was published in the United States in 1900 and in England in 1914, but it was written in 1881. In the ambiance of chit-chat and frivolity among members of Victorian polite society a youthful Shaw describes his views on the arts, romantic love and the practicalities of matrimony. Dilettantes, he thinks, can love and settle down to marriage, but artists with real genius are too consumed by their work to fit that pattern. The dominant figure in the novel is Owen Jack, a musical genius, somewhat mad and quite bereft of social graces. From an abysmal beginning he rises to great fame and is lionized by socialites despite his unremitting crudity. George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950) was an Irish playwright, essayist, novelist and short story writer and wrote more than 60 plays. He is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize in Literature (1925) and an Academy Award (1938). Excerpt: "It is certainly a magnificent piece of work, Herbert," said the old gentleman. "To you, as an artist, it must be a treat indeed. I don''t know enough about art to appreciate it properly. Bless us! And are all those knobs made of precious stones?" "More or less precious: yes, I believe so, Mr. Sutherland," said Herbert, smiling." (Love Among The Artists, Book I)

An Unsocial Socialist, Shaw''s last written novel was published in 1887, having been written in 1883. The tale begins with a humorous description of student antics at a girl''s school then changes focus to a seemingly uncouth labourer who, it soon develops, is really a wealthy gentleman in hiding from his overly affectionate wife. Tinged with self-satirical overtones this novel shows both the positive and negative aspects of Socialism in a comically paradoxical manner. George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950) was an Irish playwright, essayist, novelist and short story writer and wrote more than 60 plays. He is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize in Literature (1925) and an Academy Award (1938). Excerpt: "I am expected to be something more than mortal. Everyone else is encouraged to complain, and to be weak and silly. But I must have no feeling. I must be always in the right. Everyone else may be homesick, or huffed, or in low spirits. I must have no nerves, and must keep others laughing all day long." Table of Contents: Biography: George Bernard Shaw by G. K. Chesterton An Unsocial Socialist

Excerpt: "It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him." (Pygmalion, Preface) Named after a Greek mythological character the play was first presented on stage to the public in 1913. In ancient Greek mythology, Pygmalion fell in love with one of his sculptures, which then came to life. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador''s garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of gentility, the most important element of which, he believes, is impeccable speech. The play is a sharp lampoon of the rigid British class system of the day and a commentary on women''s independence and has been successfully adapted into a motion picture and a musical comedy. George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950) was an Irish playwright, essayist, novelist and short story writer and wrote more than 60 plays. He is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize in Literature (1925) and an Academy Award (1938).

This carefully crafted ebook: "e;Ball of Fat (Boule de Suif) - Unabridged English Edition"e; is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. "e;Boule de Suif"e; (translated variously as "e;Dumpling"e;, "e;Butterball"e;, "e;Ball of Fat"e; or "e;Ball of Lard"e;) is a famous short story by the late-19th century French writer Guy de Maupassant. It is arguably his most famous short story and is the title story for his collection on the Franco-Prussian War, entitled "e;Boule de Suif et Autres Contes de la Guerre"e; ("e;Dumpling and Other Stories of the War"e;). The story is set in the Franco-Prussian War and follows a group of French residents of Rouen, recently occupied by the Prussian army. The ten travellers decide, for various reasons, to leave Rouen and flee to Le Havre in a stagecoach. Sharing the carriage are Boule de Suif or "e;Butterball"e;, a prostitute whose real name is Elisabeth Rousset; the strict Democrat Cornudet; a shop-owning couple from the petty bourgeoisie, M. and Mme. Loiseau; a wealthy upper-bourgeoisie factory-owner and his wife, M. and Mme. CarrLamadon; the Comte and Comtesse of Brville; and two nuns. Thus, the carriage constitutes a microcosm of French society, representing different parts of the French population during the late 19th century. Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) was a popular French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents. Maupassant was a protg of Flaubert and his stories are characterized by economy of style and efficient, effortless dnouements (outcomes). He wrote some 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and one volume of verse. His first published story, "e;Boule de Suif"e; ("e;Ball of Fat"e;), is often considered his masterpiece.

Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) was an influential French writer who was perhaps the leading exponent of literary realism of his country. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary, for his Correspondence, and for his scrupulous devotion to his style and aesthetics. The celebrated short story writer Maupassant was a protégé of Flaubert. Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin (1804-1876), best known by her pseudonym George Sand, was a French novelist and memoirist. She is equally well known for her much publicized romantic affairs with a number of artists, including the composer and pianist Frédéric Chopin and the writer Alfred de Musset. She corresponded with Gustave Flaubert. Despite their obvious differences in temperament and aesthetic preference, they eventually became close friends. Excerpt: "You worry me when you tell me that your book will blame the patriots for everything that goes wrong. Is that really so? and then the victims! it is quite enough to be undone by one''s own fault without having one''s own foolishness thrown in one''s teeth. Have pity! There are so many fine spirits among them just the same! Christianity has been a fad and I confess that in every age it is a lure when one sees only the tender side of it; it wins the heart. One has to consider the evil it does in order to get rid of it...."

A Simple Heart is a story about a servant girl named Felicité. After her one and only love Théodore purportedly marries a well-to-do woman to avoid conscription, Felicité quits the farm where she works and heads for Pont-l''Évèque, where she picks up work in a widow''s house as a servant. It was inspired by several events in Flaubert''s own life: he also lived in a farmhouse in rural Normandy, he also was adrift in his studies, much like Paul. Most importantly, he suffered an epileptic fit in the same way that Félicité does in the story. "The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitalier" is a story about Julian the Hospitaller. He is predicted at birth to do great things. His father is told that he will marry into the family of a great emperor, while his mother is told he will be a saint. It was inspired by a large stained glass window at Rouen Cathedral. Flaubert deliberately made his story markedly different from the story told in glass. "Hérodias" is the retelling of the beheading of John the Baptist. It starts slightly before the arrival of the Syrian governor, Vitellius. Herodias holds a huge birthday celebration for her second husband, Herod Antipas. Unknown to him, she has concocted a plan to behead John. It is based on the biblical figure of the same name. Flaubert based the section on the dance of Salomé from a bas-relief also at Rouen Cathedral, and his own experience watching a young female dancer while in Egypt. Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) was an influential French writer who was perhaps the leading exponent of literary realism of his country.

The Temptation of Saint Anthony is a historical novel. It takes as its subject the famous temptation faced by Saint Anthony the Great in the Egyptian desert, a theme often repeated in medieval and modern art. It is written in the form of a play script. It details one night in the life of Anthony the Great where Anthony is faced with great temptations, and it was inspired by the painting, which he saw at the Balbi Palace in Genoa. Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) was an influential French writer who was perhaps the leading exponent of literary realism of his country. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary and for his scrupulous devotion to his style and aesthetics. The celebrated short story writer Maupassant was a protégé of Flaubert.

Salammbô is a historical novel about a priestess and the daughter of Hamilcar Barca, an aristocratic Carthaginian general. Salammbô is the object of the obsessive lust of Matho, a leader of the mercenaries. With the help of the scheming freed slave, Spendius, Matho steals the sacred veil of Carthage, the Zaïmph, prompting Salammbô to enter the mercenaries'' camp in an attempt to steal it back. The Zaïmph is an ornate bejewelled veil draped about the statue of the goddess Tanit in the sanctum sanctorum of her temple: the veil is the city''s guardian and touching it will bring death to the perpetrator. The novel is set in Carthage during the 3rd century BC, immediately before and during the Mercenary Revolt which took place shortly after the First Punic War. Flaubert''s main source was Book I of Polybius''s Histories. It required a great deal of work from the author, who enthusiastically left behind the realism of his masterpiece Madame Bovary for this tale of blood and thunder. The book, which Flaubert researched painstakingly, is largely an exercise in sensuous and violent exoticism. It was another best-seller and sealed his reputation. The Carthaginian costumes described in it even left traces on the fashions of the time. Nevertheless, in spite of its classic status in France, it is not widely known today among English speakers. Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) was an influential French writer who was perhaps the leading exponent of literary realism of his country. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary and for his scrupulous devotion to his style and aesthetics. The celebrated short story writer Maupassant was a protégé of Flaubert.