Böcker av Wilkie Collins

This early work by Wilkie Collins was originally published in 1857. Born in Marylebone, London in 1824, Collins' family enrolled him at the Maida Hill Academy in 1835, but then took him to France and Italy with them between 1836 and 1838. Returning to England, Collins attended Cole's boarding school, and completed his education in 1841, after which he was apprenticed to the tea merchants Antrobus & Co. in the Strand. In 1846, Collins became a law student at Lincoln's Inn, and was called to the bar in 1851, although he never practiced. It was in 1848, a year after the death of his father, that he published his first book, The Memoirs of the Life of William Collins, Esq., R.A., to good reviews. The 1860s saw Collins' creative high-point, and it was during this decade that he achieved fame and critical acclaim, with his four major novels, The Woman in White (1860), No Name (1862), Armadale (1866) and The Moonstone (1868). The Moonstone, meanwhile is seen by many as the first true detective novel - T. S. Eliot called it "the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels...in a genre invented by Collins and not by Poe." Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions.

A sharp-witted detective investigates the mystery of a gem, plundered from India and now vanished in England, and discovers shifting motives, unreliable testimony and growing danger in this foundational classic of mystery fiction.The Moonstone justly occupies an exalted position as a groundbreaking novel that opened the way for a great deal of genre fiction, mysteries and thrillers, but it is far more than simply an influence upon later works. This is an epistolary novel with a number of diverse and clearly incised viewpoints, displaying the author's skill with both character and the unveiling of the elements of a mystery plot. One of the characters is the detective charged with finding the thief who stole the Moonstone, a huge diamond with a bloody history, and he is a clear precursor to A.C. Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. Another character, much remarked upon at the novel's original release, suffers from opium addiction, depicted with frightening clarity by Collins, who dealt with that issue firsthand. The plot is sensational but relayed realistically and builds to one of the most unusual plot twists in mystery literature, made all the more remarkable by virtue of appearing in the genre's earliest days. Initially serialized in Charles Dickens magazine All The Year Round, The Moonstone was published in 1868 and has never been out of print since.With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Moonstone is both modern and readable.

An embattled inheritance, accusations of madness, scheming villainy and much more tie into the labyrinthine plot of one of the most celebrated and sensational novels of the Victorian era."A young man just beginning a new job in London meets with a strange woman on a moonlit road, offers her assistance getting into the city and then finds she may have just escaped an asylum. Hidden connections are unveiled between the family that employs the young man and the mysterious woman, pulling the reader into a suspenseful web of plots within plots, theft, betrayal, mistaken identities and attempted murder. Punctuating his dramatic narrative with sharp suspense and sudden moments of revelation that provide shock and understanding in equal measure, Wilkie Collins was pioneer of the literary thriller. In 1859, when serialized in Charles Dickens magazine, All the Year Round, crowds lined up to buy each installment of The Woman in White. Modern readers will be grateful to have the entire text at hand as the author's remarkable storytelling skills retain their power to ensnare, enchant and keep the pages turning toward the unpredictable conclusion.With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Woman in White is both modern and readable.

Interesting collection of 10 short stories, plus an extra one, equally interesting, that makes the frame of the other ten. The best stories, in my opinion, are the frequently antologized "The biter bit," plus "A plot in private life" and the frame story ("The Queen of Hearts"). (Manuel Alfonseca)BIOWilliam Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 - 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known for The Woman in White (1859) and The Moonstone (1868). The last has been called the first modern English detective novel. Born to a London painter, William Collins, and his wife, the family moved to Italy when Collins was twelve, living there and in France for two years, so that he learned Italian and French. He worked at first as a tea merchant. On publishing his first novel, Antonina, in 1850, Collins met Charles Dickens, who became a friend and mentor. Some Collins works appeared first in Dickens's journals Household Words and All the Year Round. The two also collaborated on drama and fiction. Collins reached financial stability and an international following in the 1860s from his best-known works, but began to suffer from gout. He took opium for the pain, but became addicted to it. His health and his writing quality declined in the 1870s and 1880s. Collins was critical of the institution of marriage: he later split his time between widow Caroline Graves, with whom he had lived most of his adult life, treating her daughter as his, and the younger Martha Rudd, by whom he had three children. Collins's works were classified at the time as "sensation novels", a genre seen nowadays as the precursor to detective and suspense fiction. He also wrote penetratingly on the plight of women and on the social and domestic issues of his time. For example, his 1854 Hide and Seek contained one of the first portrayals of a deaf character in English literature. As did many writers of his time, Collins first published most of his novels as serials in magazines such as Dickens's All the Year Round, and was known as a master of the form, creating just the right degree of suspense to keep his audience reading from week to week. ...Collins died at 82 Wimpole Street, following a paralytic stroke. He is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, West London. His headstone describes him as the author of The Woman in White. (wikipedia.org)

William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 - 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known for The Woman in White (1859) and The Moonstone (1868). The last has been called the first modern English detective novel. Born to a London painter, William Collins, and his wife, the family moved to Italy when Collins was twelve, living there and in France for two years, so that he learned Italian and French. He worked at first as a tea merchant. On publishing his first novel, Antonina, in 1850, Collins met Charles Dickens, who became a friend and mentor. Some Collins works appeared first in Dickens's journals Household Words and All the Year Round. The two also collaborated on drama and fiction. Collins reached financial stability and an international following in the 1860s from his best-known works, but began to suffer from gout. He took opium for the pain, but became addicted to it. His health and his writing quality declined in the 1870s and 1880s. Collins was critical of the institution of marriage: he later split his time between widow Caroline Graves, with whom he had lived most of his adult life, treating her daughter as his, and the younger Martha Rudd, by whom he had three children. Collins's works were classified at the time as "sensation novels", a genre seen nowadays as the precursor to detective and suspense fiction. He also wrote penetratingly on the plight of women and on the social and domestic issues of his time. For example, his 1854 Hide and Seek contained one of the first portrayals of a deaf character in English literature. As did many writers of his time, Collins first published most of his novels as serials in magazines such as Dickens's All the Year Round, and was known as a master of the form, creating just the right degree of suspense to keep his audience reading from week to week. ...Collins died at 82 Wimpole Street, following a paralytic stroke. He is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, West London. His headstone describes him as the author of The Woman in White. (wikipedia.org)

For the first time in history, the USA and Russia have perceived a threat from Indian military technology. They must put it down. Satyan Sharma, a young entrepreneur, dreams of building a world-class software powerhouse. His big chance comes when his company is selected to design the 'brains' of high-tech artillery to be produced through collaboration between India and Uzbekistan. Neither USA nor Russia wants third-world upstarts in the global arms industry. They deploy their secret services to manipulate corrupt Indian politicians at the highest level and sabotage the project. Satyan and his fiance Rubita, a feisty TV presenter, find themselves in a dangerous hunt-or-be-hunted game. They use wits and guile to shift the battle to the ground they are familiar with - the media and India's corporate circles.