This is the real-life story of the highflier who inspired the fictional character of Charles Foster Kane, in Citizen Kane of 1941 - and of his much younger lover. Newspaper giant William Randolph Hearst worshipped his young Marion by dazzling her with riches and stardom.

David Copperfield is the novel Dickens regarded as his 'favourite child' and is considered his most autobiographical. As David recounts his experience from childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist, Dickens draws openly and revealingly on his own life. Among the gloriously vivid cast of characters are David's tyrannical stepfather, Mr Murdstone; his brilliant, but ultimately unworthy, school-friend Steerforth; his formidable...

Publisher Annotation: An interracial friendship between two teenaged girls goes tragically wrong in this powerful historical novel set in the Jim Crow South.

Considered one of the most influential poems in the English language, Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" is a fusion of Arthurian romance and Italian Renaissance epic styles. Written in the 16th century, the poem is heavily laced with allegory and metaphor. Spenser wrote the bulk of the poem while serving as a private secretary in Ireland, and dedicated it to Queen Elizabeth I. Divided into six books, the fantastical "Faerie Queene" explores a world...

Jonah, Katherine, Chip, and Alex suddenly find themselves in 1483 at the Tower of London, where they discover that Chip and Alex are Prince Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, imprisoned by their uncle, King Richard III, but trying to repair history without knowing what is supposed to happen proves challenging. Author's note includes historical facts about the princes and king.

The country’s 100 favorite novels are announced in this celebration of reading, hosted by Meredith Vieira. With titles on the list spanning four centuries, authors from 15 countries, and every genre imaginable, it is clear that America’s taste in novels is as diverse as the people who make up our nation.

The history and social structures of Latin America's native peoples were neither simple nor peaceful before the arrival of Europeans. Wars were fought, empires were created and destroyed, and-as this program illustrates-narrative tapestries of fact and fiction were woven in the process. Underscoring the linguistic sophistication that flourished for thousands of years in the region, the program addresses the proliferation of Nahuatl and Quechua literature,...

With love and determination befitting the "world's greatest family," twelve-year-old Deza Malone, her older brother Jimmie, and their parents endure tough times in Gary, Indiana, and later Flint, Michigan during the Great Depression.

"Jack and Annie travel in the magic tree house to Galveston, Texas on September 8, 1900--the day of the worst natural disaster in US history"--