LETRAS

Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities is one of Charles Dickens’s most popular and dramatic stories. It begins on a muddy English road in an atmosphere charged with mystery and it ends in the Paris of the Revolution with one of the most famous acts of self-sacrifice in literature. In between lies one of Dickens’s most exciting books—a historical novel that, generation after generation, has given readers access to the profound human dramas that lie behind cataclysmic social and political events. Famous for its vivid characters, including the courageous French nobleman Charles Darnay, the vengeful revolutionary Madame Defarge, and cynical Englishman Sydney Carton, who redeems his ill-spent life in a climactic moment at the guillotine (“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done”), the novel is also a powerful study of crowd psychology and the dark emotions aroused by the Revolution, illuminated by Dickens’s lively comedy.

Aunque la historia que narra no es original de William Shakespeare, el genial dramaturgo británico supo elevarla a la categoría de mito y arquetipo. Romeo y Julieta es la más célebre tragedia escrita por el autor, que se ha ganado el corazón de generaciones enteras de espectadores y lectores. El amor imposible entre Romeo Montesco y Julieta Capuleto debido a viejas rencillas familiares sigue emocionando, y el desenlace, por truculento que sea y conocido que resulte, aún nos conmueve.

Conmemoramos los 250 años del nacimiento de Napoleón con esta biografía escrita de la mano de un testimonio excepcional, Stendhal. «Se trata, en efecto, del hombre más grande aparecido en el mundo desde César.» Este volumen reúne los dos intentos de Stendhal de escribir la biografía de Napoleón. Durante años se dedicó a reunir el material necesario para llevar a cabo este gran proyecto pero no llegó a terminarlo. Empezó a escribir Vida de Napoleón en 1817 cuando, a pesar de que Bonaparte ya se encontraba en el exilio, Stendhal todavía creía en su empresa. En esta primera biografía se centra en sus hazañas militares y en su experiencia como combatiente en las guerras napoleónicas. En Memorias de Napoleón, escritas en 1832, desengañado por una Francia que parecía haber olvidado el canto a la libertad, se centra en el símbolo que supuso el personaje y no duda en afirmar que aborrece al tirano pero adora poéticamente su grandeza. La presente edición incluye una magnífica introducción de Ignacio Echevarría que nos acerca a la intimidad histórica con la que Stendhal dibuja el retrato de Napoleón. El texto ha sido vertido al español por Consuelo Bergés, reconocida experta en Stendhal y traductora de la obra completa.

Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end. Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.

The question of why God would allow pain and suffering in the world has vexed believers and nonbelievers for millennia. Timothy Keller, whose books have sold millions of copies to both religious and secular readers, takes on this enduring issue and shows that there is meaning and reason behind our pain and suffering, making a forceful and ground-breaking case that this essential part of the human experience can be overcome only by understanding our relationship with God.  As the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, Timothy Keller is known for his unique insights into religion and culture. Keller's series of books has guided countless readers in their spiritual journeys. Walking with God through Pain and Suffering uses biblical wisdom and personal stories of overcoming adversity to bring a much-needed, fresh viewpoint to this important issue.

In 1822, a secret family moves into a secret cabin some thirty miles northeast of Baltimore, to farm, to hide, and to bear ten children over the course of the next sixteen years. Junius Booth—breadwinner, celebrated Shakespearean actor, and master of the house in more ways than one—is at once a mesmerizing talent and a man of terrifying instability. One by one the children arrive, as year by year, the country draws frighteningly closer to the boiling point of secession and civil war. As the tenor of the world shifts, the Booths emerge from their hidden lives to cement their place as one of the country’s leading theatrical families. But behind the curtains of the many stages they have graced, multiple scandals, family triumphs, and criminal disasters begin to take their toll, and the solemn siblings of John Wilkes Booth are left to reckon with the truth behind the destructively specious promise of an early prophecy.