Title: A Commonwealth of Thieves_ The Improbabl Author: Thomas Keneally File Type: Mobi Subject:History Description:From Publishers WeeklyKeneally (_Schindlers List_) offers a novelistic chronicle of the founding of the colony now known as Australia, focusing on the first five years, 1788 to 1793, when the initial flotillas of boats carrying convicts, their military guard and administrators arrived in New South Wales. At the books center is the relationship between Arthur Phillip, the pragmatic first governor, and Woolawarre Bennelong, the Aborigine who eventually served as a liaison between the settlers and natives. Keneally describes their first meeting as fateful and defining as that between Cortés and Montezuma, or Pizarro and Atahualpa. Using their relationship as a prism, Keneally depicts the instances of tense commingling between the two communities. His historical narrative is so detailed as to at times feel dutiful. Hes most successful serving up some of the dozens of pithy mini-portraits of the lowborn settlers. Like Robert Hughes in his seminal The Fatal Shore, Keneally seeks to correct some of the clichés that have arisen. Hes careful to point out that the few thousand convicts sent to the colony were hardly the worst of the worst. Keneallys new consideration wont replace Hughess definitive work, but with its colorful and eloquent prose, it makes for a compelling companion piece, one that credits Phillip for most of the colonys success. Maps._ (Oct.)_ br Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. From BooklistThe versatile Keneally commands a loyal readership no matter what topic he addresses. And here its Australias origin story of British settlement, which succeeds Robert Hughes The Fatal Shore (1986). Using the techniques of fiction, accomplished novelist Keneally strives to vivify scenes based on the historical record. From the several thousand convicts and officers who arrived in Australia in 1788-92, the period covered by the narrative, the author brings to the foreground the most interesting individuals. Prime among them, the colonys enigmatic first governor, naval officer Arthur Phillip. More exuberant characters, such as subordinate officer Watkin Tench, provide Keneally with the means to explore the adjustments of newcomers and natives to their extraordinary situations. Meanwhile, the convicts, many of whose hardships Keneally summarizes, ranged from the incorrigible to the adaptable. Vibrant and fluent, Keneallys latest will be in high demand. Gilbert Taylorbr American Library Association. lt

Title: The Jungle Author: Upton Sinclair File Type: Mobi Subject:classics Description: *The Jungle*, by **Upton Sinclair**, is part of the *Barnes & Noble Classics** *series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of *Barnes & Noble Classics* New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the readers viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications some include illustrations of historical interest. *Barnes & Noble Classics *pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each readers understanding of these enduring works.**** **Upton Sinclair**’s muckraking masterpiece *The Jungle* centers on Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant working in Chicago’s infamous Packingtown. Instead of finding the American Dream, Rudkus and his family inhabit a brutal, soul-crushing urban jungle dominated by greedy bosses, pitiless con-men, and corrupt politicians. While Sinclair’s main target was the industry’s appalling labor conditions, the reading public was most outraged by the disgusting filth and contamination in American food that his novel exposed. As a result, President Theodore Roosevelt demanded an official investigation, which quickly led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug laws. For a work of fiction to have such an impact outside its literary context is extremely rare. (At the time of *The Jungle*’s publication in 1906, the only novel to have led to social change on a similar scale in America was *Uncle Tom’s Cabin*.) Today, *The Jungle* remains a relevant portrait of capitalism at its worst and an impassioned account of the human spirit facing nearly insurmountable challenges.**Maura Spiegel** teaches literature and film at Columbia University and Barnard College. She is the coauthor of *The Grim Reader and The Breast Book An Intimate and Curious History*. She coedits *Literature and Medicine*, a journal.************