Bøger udgivet af Benediction Books

The Iliad is the earliest work of Western literature, and along with the Odyssey is the wellspring for much of Western culture. Homer, called "the teacher of all Greece," and "the leader of Greek culture," by Plato, has had an immense influence on the Western imagination.

"To name Voltaire is to characterize the entire eighteenth century."-Victor Hugo. "Italy had a Renaissance, and Germany had a Reformation, but France had Voltaire; he was for his country both Renaissance and Reformation, and half the Revolution. … His spirit moved like a flame over the continent and the century and stirs a million souls in every generation." - Will Durant. "Not to admire Voltaire is one of the many forms of stupidity." -- Jorge Luis Borges. François-Marie Arouet (21 November 1694 - 30 May 1778), known by his nom de plume, Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment philosopher writer and historian. He used his satirical wit and his vivacious intelligence to oppose tyranny, bigotry and cruelty and to advocate freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the separation of church and state.Voltaire was one of the most prolific and versatile writers in history, writing almost 2000 books and booklets. Candide (Candide, ou l'Optimisme, being the full French title), Voltaire's most read work, is a savage denunciation of metaphysical optimism, and a rollicking satire of Leibniz' metaphysical thesis that "all is for the best".Candide, a young man of gentle manners and true judgement, grows up enjoying an idyllic life in the Baron of Thunder-ten-Tronckh's castle. He is tutored by the famous Dr Pangloss, who asserts that "all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds." Unfortunately, Candide is caught kissing the Baron's beautiful daughter, and expelled from the castle into the harsh world outside. He and his companions then experience a series of unfortunate misadventures--war, rape, theft, hanging, shipwrecks, earthquakes, cannibalism and slavery. Face to face with evil, his Leibnizian optimism is gradually eroded. Finally, settling down to a simple life on a farm, he discovers the secret of happiness in a quiet and practical life without excessive philosophising. The book famously concludes with Candide's Il faut cultiver notre jardin: 'We must cultivate our garden.'

This edition contains two of the best adventure stories of all time -- "Treasure Island" and "Kidnapped".

This is a magical collection of Grimms' tales, including Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin and many others. These spellbinding stories will delight, surprise and educate. The renowned Walter Crane has lovingly illustrated this volume.

To an intelligent, human beings and human institutions really are intolerably stupid and there are times when their pent-up feelings of impatience and annoyance can't be contained any longer. Erasmus's Praise of Folly was a dam-burst of this kind; it washed away everything: popes, kings, monks (of course), scholars, war, theology - the whole lot.

"The Histories", written in the fifth century BC, is a engaging mix of precise historical and cultural information, humour, myths and legends. It is the first masterpiece of non-fiction, and establishes Herodutus as the first historian and the first ethnographer.

This tetralogy, widely regarded as one of the best novels in English, celebrates the end of an era, the irrevocable destruction of the comfortable, predictable society that vanished during World War I. "There are not many English novels which deserve to be called great: 'Parade's End' is one of them." -W. H. Auden.

The Confessions of Rousseau, perhaps the first modern autobiography, combines a retelling of the 53 years of his eventful with life, with astute psychological self-analysis. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was leading enlightenment thinker.

The Mabinogion are the earliest prose stories of the literature of Britain. They were compiledin the 12th-13th centuries from the earlier pre-Christian Celtic oral tradition. " 'The Mabinogion' is famously magical. Enchantment glows on every page, but it does not here violate the laws of nature: it reveals them."--The Independent on Sunday.

The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of WormsBy Charles Darwin