'Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else'

Dickens's novel honouring the value of the human heart in an age of materialism centres on Coketown, where Mr Thomas Gradgrind, school owner and model of Utilitarian success, feeds his pupils and his family with facts, banning fancy and wonder from young minds. As a consequence his obedient daughter Louisa becomes trapped in a loveless marriage, and his son Tom rebels to become embroiled in crime. As their fortunes cross with those of a free-spirited circus girl and a victimized weaver, Gradgrind is forced to question everything he believes in.

Edited with an Introduction and notes by KATE FLINT

History of Jamaica has been revised to bring the account of the island's history up to date. Many maps and photographs have also been added.

This edition of the authoritative History of Jamaica covers the whole of the history of the island from the arrival of the Arawaks a thousand years ago until the present day. That thousand year period has also seen the arrival of the Spaniards and the extermination of the Amerindians, the coming of the British and the introduction of slavery, the fight for freedom and the achievement of Independence.

This story, with its many facets: the Buccaneers, the Maroons, the National Heroes and others, is told by the Government Archivist in a flowing narrative which is backed by a knowledge based on the closest contact with original documants.

Set in turn-of-the-century New York, E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime seamlessly blends fictional characters and realistic depictions of historical figures to bring to life the events that defined American history in the years before the First World War. This Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Al Alvarez.

Welcome to America at the turn of the twentieth century, where the rhythms of ragtime set the beat. Harry Houdini astonishes audiences with magical feats of escape, the mighty J. P. Morgan dominates the financial world and Henry Ford manufactures cars by making men into machines. Emma Goldman preaches free love and feminism, while ex-chorus girl Evelyn Nesbitt inspires a mad millionaire to murder the architect Stanford White. In this stunningly original chronicle of an age, such real-life characters intermingle with three remarkable families, one black, one Jewish and one prosperous WASP, to create a dazzling literary mosaic that brings to life an era of dire poverty, fabulous wealth, and incredible change - in short, the era of ragtime.

E.L. Doctorow (b.1931) is one of America's most accomplished and acclaimed living writers. Winner of the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award (twice), the PEN/Faulkner Award, and the National Humanities Medal, he is the author of nine novels that have explored the drama of American life from the late 19th century to the 21st, including Ragtime, The Book of Daniel and Billy Bathgate.

If you enjoyed Ragtime, you might like John Dos Passos' U.S.A., also available in Penguin Classics.

'In its perfection it stuns and holds from beginning to end'
Daily Mail

'Witty, lyrical, put together with admirable craft ... dazzling economy and insight ... Mr Doctorow knows what he is doing and has done it beautifully'
Guardian

'One of the best American novels for years'
Economist