Literature by Place

It's kind of crazy to what extent geography can inform an author's work. Jack London spent most of his life at sea, dog-sledding across Alaska, boxing and generally being an adventurous guy who would put today's REI crowd to shame. Would he have penned some of the greatest American novels otherwise? especially ones concerned primarily with man battling the elements for survival in both a mental and physical sense? Very probably not, which explains why Oscar Wilde didn't write about wolves and crazy ship captains.

No, Oscar Wilde wrote primarily about fops and society people parrying witticisms incessantly. That's not to say his work has no place in a serious consideration of literature—au contraire, The Picture of Dorian Grey is one of the finest novels written in English. It's just more evidence that if you're an author who lives in the Canadian mountains or the clubs of London, your writing will reflect that.

Physical terrain isn't the only consideration. Sartre wrote about people lolling about with no real sense of purpose except to drink wine and smoke cigarettes and look languorous because he lived in France in the 1940s. Friedrich Nietzsche had immense mustaches and espoused a form of nihilism because he was German. The Russians wrote impossibly long novels because they lived in Russia. And Chinua Achebe was almost entirely influenced by his African upbringing.

That's not to say no one can write well about a context they haven't experienced firsthand. I'm pretty sure Robert Heinlein never visited Mars, and even if he did it wasn't as his books describe; the same goes for Bradbury. And no, Roald Dahl was never lost in a delightfully (though at times, terrifyingly) absurd chocolate factory. Yet even with these examples, the authors conveyed essentially the attitudes of the countries they came from—Heinlein and Bradbury from the U.S., Dahl from the U.K.

Our Literature by Place subcategories are admittedly Anglo-centric. North American literature features, well, American literature, and you can be pretty sure British literature reflects the same system; everything else goes in world literature. We have plenty of non-American or -British literature, we just don't have much from any one place besides those two. At any rate, we hope these categories are helpful, and if they guide you toward one book you're looking for (or maybe one you didn't even know existed), they've done their job.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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108 Items found Print
Active Filters: Action & Adventure Stories, Hardcover
Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Sterling Classics
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 7th-12th grade
in Mystery & Suspense (Location: FIC-MYS)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-6th grade
in Companion Library (Location: VIN-FIC)
Adventures of Robin Hood
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Paul Creswick, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
1991 Edition from Reader's Digest
for 6th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (3 in stock)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-6th grade
in Companion Library (Location: VIN-FIC)
African Queen
by C. S. Forester
from International Collectors Library
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Aku-Aku
by Thor Heyerdahl
from Rand McNally
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Around the World in 80 Days
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Jules Verne
from Reader's Digest
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Around the World in Eighty Days
Sterling Classics
by Jules Verne, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Adventure for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Around the World in Eighty Days
Books of Wonder
by Jules Verne, illustrated by Barry Moser
from William Morrow & Company
Adventure for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Ben-Hur
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Lew Wallace
from Reader's Digest
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Ben-Hur
by Lew Wallace
from Heritage Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Black Arrow
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
from Atheneum
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Call of the Wild
by Jack London
from Heritage Press
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Captains Courageous
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Rudyard Kipling
from Reader's Digest
Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Circus
by Alistair MacLean
from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in CLEARANCE & FREE BOOKS (Location: ZCLE)
David Balfour
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Action/Adventure for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (abridged)
Eclectic English Classics
by Daniel Defoe, edited by Kate Stephens
from American Book Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
ECL: Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Al Davidson
from BiblioLife
for 4th-8th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
ECL: Black Arrow
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Don Irwin
from Classic Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
ECL: Call of the Wild
Educator Classic Library #11
by Jack London, illustrated by Ron King
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
ECL: Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (abridged)
Educator Classic Library #7
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrated by Don Irwin
from Classic Press
for 8th-Adult
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
ECL: Jungle Book
Educators Classic Library #5
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by William Dempster
from Classic Press
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
ECL: Treasure Island
Educator Classic Library #1
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Don Irwin
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
Endless Knot
Song of Albion #3
by Stephen R. Lawhead
Reprint from Thomas Nelson Publishers
Celtic Fantasy for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Hobbit, The
by J.R.R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$35.00
Hobbit, The
by J.R.R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$40.00
Hound of the Baskervilles
Children's Classics
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrated by Sergio Martinez and Sidney Paget
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Hound of the Baskervilles
Portland House Illustrated Classics
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrated by Sergio Martinez and Sidney Paget
from Portland House
Mystery & Suspense for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Jungle Book
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Eric Kincaid
from Brimax Books
Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Jungle Books
Macmillan Classics
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Robert Shore
from Macmillan
Animal Stories for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Kidnapped
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
from Atheneum
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Kidnapped
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth and Graham Oakley
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Kidnapped (The Original Text)
by Robert Louis Stevenson, edited with an introduction and notes by Barry Menikoff
from Huntington Library
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Kim
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Rudyard Kipling
1st edition from Reader's Digest
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
King Solomon's Mines
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by H. Rider Haggard
Reader's Digest ed from Reader's Digest
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Kon-Tiki
by Thor Heyerdahl, Translated by F. H. Lyon
from Rand McNally
Non-fiction/Adventure for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Last of the Mohicans
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by James Fenimore Cooper
from Reader's Digest
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Heritage Press
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in Scribner Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SCRIB)
$24.99
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper, illustrated by James Daugherty
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
Rainbow Classics
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
from World Publishing Company
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Lorna Doone (abridged)
by R. D. Blackmore, illustrated by Pauline D. Baynes
from American Education Publications
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Man in the Iron Mask
Signet Classics
by Alexandre Dumas
from International Collectors Library
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Man Who Never Was
by Ewen Montagu
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Master of Ballantrae
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Heritage Press
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Master of Ballantrae
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Reader's Digest
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Arthur Conan Conan Doyle
from Reader's Digest
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
New Arabian Nights
Arcadia
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Arcadia House
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Out of the Silent Planet
Space Trilogy Book 1
by C. S. Lewis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Allegorical Science Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Perelandra
Space Trilogy Book 2
by C. S. Lewis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Allegorical Science Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Prince and the Pauper
Portland House Illustrated Classics
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Franklin Booth
from Portland House
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Prince and the Pauper
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Frank Merrill
from Reader's Digest
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Robinson Crusoe
Sterling Classics
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe
from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robinson Crusoe
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Daniel Defoe
from Reader's Digest
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Frances Brundage
No publication date from Saalfield Publishing Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Heritage Press
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Robinson Crusoe
Windermere Series 4
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Robinson Crusoe
Classics Club
by Daniel Defoe, with illustrations and maps from early editions
from Walter J. Black, Inc.
for 8th-12th grade
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Frances Brundage
from Barnes & Noble
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robinson Crusoe
Windermere Readers #14
by Daniel Defoe, frontispiece by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Robinson Crusoe
Focus on the Family's Classic Collection
by Daniel Defoe, Introduction and Afterword by Joe L. Wheeler
from Focus on the Family
for 10th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Robinson Crusoe
Windermere Series 1
by Daniel Defoe, frontispiece by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Robinson Crusoe
Windermere Series 2
by Daniel Defoe, frontispiece by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Robinson Crusoe
Windermere Series 3
by Daniel Defoe, frontispiece by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Robinson Crusoe (abridged)
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 10th-Adult
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Robinson Crusoe (abridged)
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Robinson Crusoe (abridged)
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Frank Godwin
from John C. Winston
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Romance of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table (abridged)
by Sir Thomas Mallory, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Weathervane Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Scarlet Pimpernel
by Baroness Orczy
from Everyman's Library
for 8th-Adult
$20.00
Silver Hand
Song of Albion #2
by Stephen R. Lawhead
1st edition from Lion Publishing
Celtic Fantasy for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Spy
by James Fenimore Cooper
from Junior Deluxe Editions
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Sterling Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 7th-10th grade
in Mystery & Suspense (Location: FIC-MYS)
Swiss Family Robinson
by Johann David Wyss, illustrated by Leon Gregori
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Calla Editions
by Edgar Allan Poe
from Dover Publications
for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Portland House Illustrated Classics
by Edgar Allan Poe, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Portland House
for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Talisman
International Collector's Library
by Sir Walter Scott
from International Collectors Library
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
The Pilot
Great Illustrated Classics
by James Fenimore Cooper
from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Thirty-Nine Steps
by John Buchan
from Houghton Mifflin
Action Adventure for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Three Hostages
by John Buchan
1926 printing from Hodder & Stoughton
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Three Musketeers
Everyman's Library
by Alexandre Dumas
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$32.00
Three Musketeers
Rainbow Classics
by Alexandre Dumas, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
from World Publishing Company
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Three Musketeers
Windermere Readers #20
by Alexandre Dumas, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen
1954 Edition from Rand McNally
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Three Musketeers
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Alexandre Dumas, illustrated by Rowland Wheelwright
1999 Edition from Reader's Digest
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Three Musketeers
Macmillan Classics
by Alexandre Dumas, illustrated by James Daugherty
2nd Printing, 1923 from Macmillan
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Three Musketeers
by Alexandre Dumas, illustrated by Valenti Angelo
from Three Sirens Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Three Musketeers
Windermere Series 3
by Alexandre Dumas, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen
1954 Edition from Rand McNally
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Three Musketeers
Windermere Series 4
by Alexandre Dumas, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen
1933 printing from Rand McNally
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Tom Sawyer Abroad
by Mark Twain
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 7th-Adult
in Companion Library (Location: VIN-FIC)
Tom Sawyer Abroad
by Mark Twain
from SeaWolf Press
for 7th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$6.95
Tom Sawyer Abroad and Other Stories
by Mark Twain
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain
from Heritage Press
for 4th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn - 2 Volume Set
by Mark Twain
from Heritage Press
for 4th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Tom Sawyer, Detective
by Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-6th grade
in Companion Library (Location: VIN-FIC)
Tom Sawyer, Detective
by Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens
from SeaWolf Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$6.95
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Treasure Island
Windermere Readers #16
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Milo Winter
1954 Edition from Rand McNally
for 5th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Treasure Island
Windermere Series 1
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 5th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
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