The Floating Press: 2252 books

Although author Charles King served in the Union Army during the Civil War, his charming novel Kitty's Conquest is a moving and nuanced portrait of heroine Kitty Carrington, a sassy and spirited Southern woman who is thoroughly committed to the Confederate cause.

Although English was not his native tongue, Polish-born Joseph Conrad honed his language skills over his lifetime and would eventually become enshrined as one of the masters of English literature. As a sailor, he spent his free time during months-long voyages at sea writing stories, letters, and later,...

On the verge of entering the Anglican clergy, Samuel Butler experienced a sudden change of heart and instead decided to set sail for New Zealand, where he established a sheep farm. Butler chronicles his rocky start as a rancher -- and his opinions on a wide variety of current events and controversies -- in this engaging series of letters to his family.

Capitalizing on Bret Harte's skyrocketing literary fame, this novel of 1850s California received the largest payment ever made for a single work of fiction up to that time. A dramatic story of a party of pioneers trapped in inclement weather in the California Sierras, Gabriel Conroy will leave you on the edge of your seat.

Have modern-day bodice-rippers become too predictable and sedate for your taste? Dive into the deliciously sensual Bandit Love by Juanita Savage. Equal parts romance and action-adventure tale, this steamy novel about a pair of hot-blooded rivals and the girl they both love is sure to get your engine revving.

Admired by intellectual giants like James Joyce and Ludwig Wittgenstein, Leo Tolstoy's brilliant short story "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" explores the soul-destroying toxicity of unbridled greed. An impoverished man named Pahom fantasizes about becoming a landowner, prompting the devil to swoop in and tempt him with the promise of vast riches.

Drenched with portent and moody gothic overtones, this mystery from prolific Australian novelist Guy Newell Boothby is the perfect book to curl up with on a stormy night. After making a fortune in Australia, William Standerton is ready to move back to England. He purchases a large, imposing manor house befitting his new station in life -- and that's where his problems begin.

After Louisa May Alcott's Little Women proved to be a publishing sensation, other book purveyors sought out titles with similar appeal. The Aunt Jane's Nieces series was designed to hook young audiences who first fell for Alcott's work. In Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society, the girls make their debut among...

Fans familiar with the polished and polite on-screen version of this indelible Western hero may be taken aback at their first encounter with his literary predecessor. In Clarence E. Mulford's wildly popular series of novels and short stories, Hopalong Cassidy is rough around the edges, prone to vulgarity, and usually pretty grumpy -- but he's a quintessential cowboy through and through.

Though he is best remembered as the civil rights leader whose nonviolent protests called attention to a number of important issues, including the negative consequences of British imperialism, Mahatma Gandhi was an ascetic person who strove to maintain health and purity. A Guide to Health sets forth his...

Though he is best remembered as one of the greatest twentieth-century novelists, Joseph Conrad also dabbled in drama from time to time. The play One Day More is a reworking of Conrad's short story "Tomorrow." It centers on a family which has structured its entire existence around the promise of their son returning home from a long stint at sea.

The term "free trade" is often bandied about by politicians and activists on both sides of the political spectrum -- but what does it really signify? In this concise volume, French economist Frederic Bastiat offers a comprehensive definition of what a market characterized by unconstrained trade looks like.

Fans of traditional verse will relish this volume from English poet Alfred Edward Housman. The call to enjoy life's simple pleasures every day is a motif that runs through the collection, which includes well-known works such as "To an Athlete Dying Young" and "When I Was One-and-Twenty."

Dig into the diverse body of work of one of the foremost practitioners of short fiction in nineteenth-century America, Sarah Orne Jewett. This wide-ranging volume includes a complete novel, A County Doctor, as well as a grab bag of shorter sketches and stories.