Arguably the finest novel by Ivan Turgenev, Fathers and Children tells a compelling story of generational conflict. Published in the 1860s, this novel alludes to the changing social climate of 19th century Russia - old-style liberals, widely represented in the elder generation would clash with the bold nihilists, many of whom were young. Characters from the former group are represented with marked humbleness and nostalgia, while those of the latter group are inclined to pointed declarations espousing the avant-garde philosophy of the time. Old institutions such as the Russian Orthodox church are openly challenged by characters in the text, while the young nihilists Bazarov and Arkady grapple with their affections for Madame Odintsova, an elegant, cultured and financially independent woman.

Arguably the finest novel by Ivan Turgenev, Fathers and Children tells a compelling story of generational conflict. Published in the 1860s, this novel alludes to the changing social climate of 19th century Russia - old-style liberals, widely represented in the elder generation would clash with the bold nihilists, many of whom were young. Characters from the former group are represented with marked humbleness and nostalgia, while those of the latter group are inclined to pointed declarations espousing the avant-garde philosophy of the time. Old institutions such as the Russian Orthodox church are openly challenged by characters in the text, while the young nihilists Bazarov and Arkady grapple with their affections for Madame Odintsova, an elegant, cultured and financially independent woman.

In 1546, Pierre Belon - already a naturalist of some renown - travelled to Constantinople in the entourage of the French Ambassador to Suleiman the Magnificent. En route, he visited Venice, Ragusa, Corfu and Crete, and over the next two years travelled throughout the Ottoman domains, - to Egypt, Anatolia, Arabia, and the Holy Land - returning to France in 1549. Wherever he went, Belon described plants, birds, mammals and fish, and recorded the customs of the inhabitants - what they ate, how they reared their children - collecting information on almost every aspect of the lands through which he passes. He did not rely on hearsay, on previous accounts, or on authority: what we have are his own observations, and the result of assiduous questioning and meticulous recording. His Observations, 'written in our ordinary French tongue', were published in 1553. In April 1564, Pierre Belon was murdered by persons unknown while crossing the Bois de Boulogne. Although Pierre Belon is well known as a naturalist, and - with his treatises on fish and birds - as a founder of comparative anatomy, his Observations have not previously appeared, in full, in English. Following a distinguished career as a civil servant, James Hogarth acquired a reputation as a versatile and punctilious translator. His translations span travel guides, archaeological texts, and novels. His 2002 translation of Victor Hugo's Travailleurs de la Mer was awarded the French-American Foundation Translation Prize. He died in 2006.

The Toilers of the Sea ranks with The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Miserables as among Hugo's most important novels, yet is less well known, in part because the only English translation was inaccurate, stilted, and incomplete. Thus, James Hogarth's excellent new translation -- the first rendering of the complete novel -- is a noteworthy event; in it, the clarity and power of Hugo's voice is restored.

The novel tells the story of Gilliat, a humble Guernsey fisherman, who falls in love with a shipowner's daughter and, to win her hand in marriage, must free a ship that has run dangerously aground. To do so, Gilliat employs great feats of engineering, endures the mighty powers of sea and wind, and does battle with a great sea monster. In its evocation of the elements in all their ferocity, The Toilers of the Sea is one of the greatest depictions of nature ever attempted. In its treatment of the lives of the working poor, it is a work of humane majesty.

This edition includes comprehensive endnotes and Hugo's illustrations, which have never been reproduced in an edition of this monumental novel.

Ninety-three, the last of Victor Hugo's novels, is regarded by many -- including such diverse critics as Robert Louis Stevenson and Andre Maurois -- as his greatest work. 1793, Year Two of the Republic, saw the establishment of the National Convention, the execution of Louis XVI, the Terror, and the monarchist revolt in the Vendee, brutally suppressed by the Republic. Hugo's epic follows three protagonists through this tumultuous year: the noble royalist de Lantenac; Gauvain, who embodies a benevolent and romantic vision of the Republic; and Cimourdain, whose principles are altogether more robespierrean. The conflict of values culminates in a dramatic climax on the scaffold. Following a distinguished career as a civil servant, James Hogarth acquired a reputation as a versatile and punctilious translator. His translations span travel guides, archaeological texts, and novels. In 2002 he won the French-American Foundation Translation Prize for his English translation of Victor Hugo's Travailleurs de la Mer. He died in 2006.

"Ursus was a man, Homo a wolf": the former a travelling mountebank, the latter his faithful companion. Gwynplaine was abducted as an infant, and cruelly mutilated so that his face shows the permanent smile of a clown. Abandoned by his abductors some years later, Gwynplaine rescues a blind baby girl from the frozen corpse of her mother at the foot of a gibbet. Time passes, and the young girl -- christened Dea -- comes to love Gwynplaine. Being blind, she is unaware of his disfigurement, but from passing her fingers over his face, assumes that he is always happy. Ursus and Homo meet up with Gwynplaine and Dea, and travel around England performing at funfairs. After some vicissitudes, Gwynplaine is, surprisingly, summoned to the court of Queen Anne, where it is revealed that he is in fact the missing heir of the murdered Lord Linnaeus Clancharlie, Marquis of Corleone. He is, accordingly, installed as an English peer; but when he addresses the House of Lords is ridiculed for his clownish features. He renounces his peerage and rejoins his companions, who resolve to abandon England forever. During the voyage, while Ursus sleeps, Dea reveals to Gwynplaine her secret passion for him, then dies. Gwynplaine drowns himself. Victor Hugo's gothic tale has been the inspiration of numerous plays, films (the first in 1909) novels and short stories. Following a distinguished career as a civil servant, James Hogarth acquired a reputation as a versatile and punctilious translator. His translations span travel guides, archaeological texts, and novels. In 2002 he won the French-American Foundation Translation Prize for his English translation of Victor Hugo's Travailleurs de la Mer. He died in 2006.