Capuchin Classics are "Books to Keep Alive".
A driving sense of discovery lies at the heart of Capuchin: reviving great works of fiction which have been unjustly forgotten or neglected. This founding ethos - restoring a richness to the canon in an era of relative blandness - is coupled by a sprinkling of well known favourites to form a series which holds wide appeal. Each book is introduced afresh by a well known champion or figure of distinction.
The Capuchin series, flowing at a planned 18 titles a year, is opening with fiction,
with other categories including travel, biography and belles lettres in view.
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The opening titles indicate the range of Capuchin’s classics by bringing back Pamela
Hansford Johnson’s mid-20th century masterpiece An Error of Judgement
(introduced by Ann Widdecombe); Tom Stacey’s gem of a love story and Fleet Street lore
The Man Who Knew Everything (originally published and filmed as Deadline); Michael
Arlen’s captivating evocation of the world of the 1920s The Green Hat;
GK Chesterton’s riotous forecast of rebellious London, composed a century ago,
The Napoleon of Notting Hill; John Galsworthy’s masterly account of a life’s
cross-currents of love in The Dark Flower; a new selection of Guy de Maupassant’s
ruthlessly observed short stories, under the title of On Horseback and Other Stories;
Tolstoy’s three novellas – The Kreutzer Sonata, The Devil, and Father Sergius
- brought together as Tales of Sexual Desire; and Bram Stoker’s rightfully timeless
Dracula.
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This debut list was followed by outstanding novels from Elizabeth Goudge
(Green Dolphin Country) and LP Hartley (The Hireling);
Rudyard Kipling's Plain Tales from the Hills, Donn Byrne's exquisite little
masterpiece Messer Marco Polo, GK Chesterton's The Incredulity of Father
Brown, and Conan Doyle's classic chiller The Hound of the Baskervilles.
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