After fifteen years of treatment for epilepsy in a Swiss institution, Prince Mishkin returns to St. Petersburg to find a jaded mid-19th century social world. At first, the kindly, almost childlike prince is taken for an idiot. But the two most beautiful women in town are soon competing for his affections in a duel that grows increasingly dangerous.

The book that established Thomas Carlyle's reputation when first published in 1837, this spectacular historical masterpiece has since been accepted as the standard work on the subject. It combines a shrewd insight into character, a vivid realization of the picturesque, and a singular ability to bring the past to blazing life, making it a reading experience as thrilling as any novel. As John D. Rosenberg observes in his Introduction, The French Revolution...

"Ulysses, one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, has had a profound influence on modern fiction. In a series of episodes covering the course of a single day, 16 June 1904, the novel traces the movements of Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus through the streets of Dublin. Each episode has its own literary style, and the epic journey of Odysseus is only one of many correspondencies that add layers of meaning to the text. Today critical...

"Notes and references": pages 835-862.

A compilation of philosophical writings on aesthetics.