Václav Patejdl Books

An immediate best-seller on publication, Ben Hur remains a dazzling achievement by any standards. A thoroughly exhilarating tale of betrayal, revenge and salvation, it is the only novel that ranks with Uncle Tom's Cabin as a genuine American folk possession.

This book is a reproduction of a historical work, published by Megali, a company dedicated to creating large print editions for those with impaired vision. The focus on accessibility highlights the commitment to making literature more inclusive for all readers, ensuring that important historical texts are available to a wider audience.

Jules Gabriel Verne (1828-1905) was a French author who pioneered the science-fiction genre. He is best known for novels such as Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873). Verne wrote about space, air and underwater travel before air travel and practical submarines were invented, and before practical means of space travel had been devised. He is the third most translated author in the world, according to Index Translationum. Some of his books have been made into films. Verne, along with Hugo Gernsback and H. G. Wells, is often popularly referred to as the "Father of Science Fiction". Amongst his other works are From the Earth to the Moon (1867), Five Weeks in a Balloon (1869), The Fur Country; or, Seventy Degrees North Latitude (1873), The Blockade Runners (1874), The Field of Ice (1875), The Mysterious Island (1875), Facing the Flag (1879), and An Antarctic Mystery (1899).

The narrative drive of Stowe's classic novel is often overlooked in the heat of the controversies surrounding its anti-slavery sentiments. In fact, it is a compelling adventure story with richly drawn characters and has earned a place in both literary and American history. Stowe's puritanical religious beliefs show up in the novel's final, overarching theme—the exploration of the nature of Christianity and how Christian theology is fundamentally incompatible with slavery.

The story follows Kin-Fo, a wealthy Shanghai man facing an existential crisis after losing his fortune, leading him to contemplate suicide to claim his life insurance. Unable to go through with it himself, he enlists his friend Wang to do the deed, only for Wang to vanish. As Kin-Fo grapples with newfound discomfort and learns his fortune is intact, he embarks on a journey across China to evade the hit contract, only to discover that Wang has passed it to the dangerous Lao-Shen. The narrative explores themes of despair, friendship, and the quest for meaning.