1

A Time Like the Present

By Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens set his historical novel A Tale of Two Cities (1859) in the French Revolution seventy years before, but it was far from the dead past to him.

2

An Unlikely Heroine

By Jane Austen

When she was ten, Catherine Morland showed none of the qualities needed to impress the ladies who read romantic fiction.

3

Koré

By John Buchan

Sir Edward Leithen finds himself revising his opinion of the ‘detestable’ Koré Arabin.

4

Robinson Crusoe Goes to Sea

By Daniel Defoe

Hours after running away to sea, Robinson Crusoe was sorry he ever left home.

5

Silas Marner Misses his Gold

By George Eliot

Silas Marner, the weaver, plans to take a comforting look at his savings while he eats his dinner.

6

Money to Burn

By Charles Dickens

Pip receives a visitor from among the criminal classes, but his condescending attempt to play the gentleman rebounds spectacularly.