National Network for Equitable Library Service

First published in a 1842 literary annual The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843, The Pit and the Pendulum takes place during the Spanish Inquisition and follows the plight of a pris

Following the death of her father, Isabel Archer leaves the comforts of Albany, New York to stay with her aunt Lydia Touchett at her London estate.

First published in a 1844 literary annual The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1845, The Purloined Letter is the third and final story that features Poe's detective, C. Auguste Dupin.

Robert E. Lee, the famed Confederate forces commander and icon of the South, is a towering figure in U.S. and military history.

Robinson Crusoe is the classic tale about one man's lust for adventure. Crusoe leaves his parents and hometown for the open sea in the year 1651.

Here in one recording are both of L. Frank Baum's Santa Claus stories: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, and A Kidnapped Santa Claus.

The Second Jungle Book is the sequel to Rudyard Kipling's acclaimed collection of stories about the Indian jungle.

Stories include: The Raven; Hop-Frog; The Black Cat; The Cask of Amontillado; The Facts in the Case of M.

This classic novel takes place in Lantern Yard, a slum street in an unnamed city in Northern England, during the early 19th century.

A cornerstone of African-American literary history, The Souls of Black Folk is a classic work by W. E. B. Du Bois.

When Mark Twain's daughter Susie wrote a letter to Santa Claus, her father wrote back, signing Santa's name.

First published in a 1843 edition of The Pioneer, The Tell-Tale Heart is one of Poe's best-known stories.

In 1887, Nellie Bly had herself committed to the notorious Blackwell's Island insane asylum in New York City with the goal of discovering what life was like for its patients.

When war breaks out in Europe - modern, aerial war whose tactics include displacing entire populations - British civilization collapses overnight.

When three adventurers, Bastin, Bickley, and Arbuthnot, are marooned on a South Sea island, they discover an ancient crystal sepulchre.