Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol

Although it may read to modern audiences like a hilarious slapstick comedy, The Inspector-General is actually much more than that. Famed Russian writer Nikolai Gogol intended it to be a veiled but pointed satire of the ineptitude, corruption, and greed that exemplified the Russian bureaucracy in the nineteenth century. The witty play was later used as the basis for a movie version starring Danny Kaye (1949).

In Gogol's historical short novel, Taras Bulba, he takes us on a journey into the world of the ancient Ukrainian Cossacks. Taras Bulba, an old Cossack, sends his two sons Andriy and Ostap to study at the Kiev Academy. After returning, the three men embark on a journey to Zaporizhian Sich in Ukraine to join other Cossacks to go to war against the Polish nobles. Eugene Htz is better known as the singer, lyricist and visionary of the internationally acclaimed Gypsy punk rock band Gogol Bordello. Born in Kiev in 1972, Htz's road to the United States was a long trek through Poland, Hungary, Austria and Italy, an immigrant experience that informs much of his band's material. Descendants of Gypsies called the Serva Roma (a tribe known for its blacksmiths, pottery makers and musicians), his family relocated to Vermont after the Chernobyl meltdown through a Refugee resetelment program. "It's the last place where I wanted to go," Htz says of the Green Mountain State. "Once I saw Sonic Youth in 1989 in Kiev, all I wanted to do is be in New York." It was in 1998 that Htz finally moved to New York and formed what would become the eight-piece lineup of Gogol Bordello. The band's name pays homage to the author of Taras Bulba Nikolai Gogol whose writings remain to be a large influence on the band's ethos, particularly, the innovative treatment of tradition and folklore. Since their formation Gogol Bordello has been described as one of the best live bands of our time and been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine and Time Magazine to name a few. NPR described their last album as "the best rock album of the decade. Period." Gogol Bordello have created a new level of musical andlyrical intensity in their continuing cultural crusade to build a bridge between Gypsy music, rock 'n roll, reggae and other brands of rebel music.

It was the writing guy who drew this story out of Captain Shreve. He talked so much I think the Old Man spun the yarn just to shut him up. He had talked ever since his arrival on board, early that morning, with a letter from the owners' agent, and the announcement he intended making the voyage with us. He had weak lungs, he said, and was in search of mild, tropical breezes. Also, he was seeking local color, and whatever information he could pick up about "King" Waldon.He had heard of the death of "King" Waldon, down in Samoa—Waldon, the trader, of the vanishing race of island adventurers—and he expected to travel about the south seas investigating the "king's" past, so he could write a book about the old viking. He had heard that Captain Shreve had known Waldon. Hence, he was honoring a cargo carrier with his presence instead of taking his ease upon a mail-boat.Captain Shreve must tell him all he knew about the "king." He was intensely interested in the subject. Splendid material, you know. That romantic legend of Waldon's arrival in the islands—too good to be true, and certainly too good not to put into a book. Was Captain Shreve familiar with the tale? How this fellow, Waldon, sailed into a Samoan harbor in an open boat, his only companion his beautiful young wife? Imagine—this man and woman coming from nowhere, sailing in from the open sea in a small boat, never telling whence they came!He said this was the stuff to go into his book. Romance, mystery! It was quite as important as the later and better known incidents in the "king's" life. That was why Captain Shreve must tell him all he knew about the fellow. If he could only get at the beginning of the "king's" career in the islands. Where did the fellow come from? Why should a man bring his bride into an uncivilized and lawless section of the world, and settle down for life? There must be a story in that. Ah, yes, and he was the man who could properly do it.

"The Talisman" is a novel by Sir Walter Scott. It was published in 1825 as the second of his "Tales of the Crusaders", the first being "The Betrothed". "The Talisman" takes place at the end of the Third Crusade, mostly in the camp of the Crusaders in Palestine. Scheming and partisan politics, as well as the illness of King Richard the Lionheart, are placing the Crusade in danger. The main characters are the Scottish knight Kenneth, who is a fictional character version of David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon, who did in fact return from the third Crusade in 1190, Richard the Lionheart, Saladin, and Edith

This eBook has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Guy Holland had gone to South Africa to make his fortune, so that he could marry his sweetheart. He didn't make a fortune, but he came back home because he has had a vision that his uncle was dead, and when Guy arrived home he found out that the uncle was in fact dead. The will said that Guy would inherit everything if he could recover a certain ruby ring that had been obtained from his uncle by trickery of a certain actress, within three months of his uncle's death. However, since it passed several weeks after his uncle's death, now Guy has only a few days left, and it seems that few others are trying to get their hands on the jewel too.

One Way Out by William Carleton

The Store Boy by Jr. Horatio Alger

Every normal boy loves a motor-boat, but words fail to express his enthusiasm when that boat is also a racer. Behind the events recorded in this story are certain facts, so that the tale is largely true. The author will be glad if the account of life in the open, the adventures and fortunes, good or ill, the contests and exciting experiences interest his readers even partly as much as they did the boys who shared in the actual occurrences.

Sandra Belloni -- Volume 3 by George Meredith

Sturdy and Strong by G. A. Henty

A Sea Queen's Sailing by Charles W. Whistler

The Fair Maid of Perth by Sir Walter Scott