Jane Austen collected her childhood writings into three manuscript notebooks, both as a record of her earliest work and for the convenience of reading aloud to her family and friends. Volume the First (as she entitled it) contains fourteen pieces - literary skits and family jokes - dating from about 1787, when she was eleven, to 1793. Amusing in themselves, they give us a direct picture of the lively literary and family milieu in which the novelist's juvenilia was formed. This new edtion carries a Foreword by Lord David Cecil, a former president of the Jane Austen Society and Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford. There is also a Publisher's Preface by Brian Southam, author of Jane Austen's Literary Manuscripts and other works on Jane Austen.

Two modern classics in one volume. George Orwell is one of the finest and most influential writers of the twentieth century. Here in one volume, are two of his best-known works of electrifying political fiction, 1984 and Animal Farm. Winston Smith rewrites history. It's his job. Hidden away in the Ministry of Truth, he helps the Party and the omnipresent Big Brother control the people of Oceania. But a seed of rebellion has begun to grow in Winston's heart - one that could have devastating consequences. The animals of Manor Farm have tired of Farmer Jones. When the boar, Old Major, shares his revolutionary plans, the animals are convinced they can thrive on their own. But as the pigs vie for power, they begin to bear an uncanny resemblance to the very tyrants they had overthrown ... Captivating readers since the mid-twentieth century, the enduring popularity of 1984 and Animal Farm are testament to Orwell's powerful, prophetic prose.