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Oliver Cromwell’s stewardship restored England to a position of power in Europe not seen since the death of Queen Elizabeth I. This contribution to the history of England—the first of two volumes—examines the years 1656 and 1657 in Cromwell’s government, beginning with the meeting of his second parliament, and including his sphere of influence, and the temper of the times.

In his introduction to this outspoken memoir of wartime experiences, Hamilton, the British general in command at Gallipoli, writes:  "Whether God will approve of my actions at a moment when the destinies of hundreds of millions of human beings hung upon them, God alone knows. But before I go I want to have the verdict of my comrades …"

London River is an entertaining and edifying collection of eleven essays about life on London’s Thames River and the importance of the river to the people of London. The first book Tomlinson wrote after World War I, it is a guided tour of the Thames—a volume exquisite with meditation and invaluable reading.

Stephens’s first (1913) collection of short stories revolves about the often nameless clerks, typists, and office supervisors of middle-class Dublin. The 19 stories include “Women,” “Three Heavy Husbands,” “A Glass of Beer,” “One and One,” “Three Women Who Wept,” “The Triangle,” The Daisies,” “Three Angry People,” “The Threepenny Piece,” and “Brigid.”

In the title story, a refined ladies’ lunch club and its members’ pretensions to cultural understanding, come under Edith Wharton’s keen satiric eye. Also included in this 1916 collection are “Coming Home,” “Autres Temps,” “Kerfol,” “The Long Run,” “The Triumph of Night,” “The Choice,” and “Bunner Sisters.”

Published in 1918, with the subtitle “Essays on Existing,” these six witty pieces admonishes the reader to respect the inner conscience for the sake of personal happiness. Bennett covers such subjects as running away from life, war-work, the diary habit, lecturing a young woman, being fussy, and the meaning of frocks.

A follow-up to his enormously popular Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, this collection of essays from Jerome continues his ruminations on a wide range of subjects, including the art of making up one’s mind, the disadvantage of not getting what one wants, the time wasted in looking before one leaps, and the minding of other people’s business.

Joan Allway arrives in London, hoping to become a journalist. She is an immediate success. Love follows, but circumstances induce Joan to leave for the trenches of World War I in France. An intriguing story, Jerome’s novel attempts to examine the question of “how are we to live, to rise above what happens to us, without love?”

They and I is the story of a city family’s move to the country—the father anticipating a bucolic existence. However, their new neighbors are not quite quaint enough for him, and realities like milking cows in the morning interfere with his concept of a quiet existence. So much for an idyllic life!

The essays in Idle Thoughts (1886)—including “On Being Idle,” “On Being in Love, “On Being Hard Up,” “On Cats and Dogs,” “On Babies,” and more—established Jerome as a major humorist.

Published in 1900, this sequel of sorts to the classic Three Men in a Boat features the same three characters—J. (the narrator and stand-in for the author), and his friends George and Harris—embarking on a "bummel"—"a journey, long or short, without an end," as J. describes it—through the Black Forest.

From the lively imagination of British humorist Jerome K. Jerome comes this collection of three short stories and two sketches that showcase the range of his story-telling skills. The title story is a sweet, old-fashioned and uplifting love story; the collection also includes a creepy Norwegian ghost story, among others.

This collection of short stories and a novella captures much of the whimsy for which Jerome is known. “Malvina of Brittany” follows the exploits of a mischievous fairy who was once the favored attendant of Queen Harbundia of Brittany in 2000 B.C. Banished from her kind because of a foolish act, Malvina...

The author of Three Men in a Boat, writes himself in as a character in this marvelous novel. The plot unfolds as he and three of his bachelor friends (he is married) set out to write a novel. As they embark on this venture and their eccentricities come into play, will they ever manage to finish the story?