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Louise Guiney paints portraits of six people from old England who have stayed in the shadow of the great names, among them a friend of the poet John Donne and two friends of Samuel Johnson. From 1561 to 1830, she follows their families, their friendships and their work. These lively portraits, full of true detail, take us into three centuries of English life by the side door, the door of friendship and everyday life. Each portrait can be read on its own, at your own pace, in the language you are learning.

Settled in an old windmill in Provence, Daudet writes to his Parisian readers with stories from the region. We meet Monsieur Seguin's goat, who dreams of freedom in the mountains, the priest of Cucugnan, who makes his parishioners tremble with a sermon about hell, and Father Gaucher, whose elixir makes his monastery's fortune. Part farce, part legend, part melancholy, these tales are known to generations of children, and you can feel the sun and the mistral on every page. Short and written in a simple, musical style, they can be read one by one in the language you are learning.

A young woman from New York society, suddenly ruined, marries, almost without thinking, Duncan McKail, a former engineer of Scottish descent who has become a wheat farmer in western Canada. She discovers her new life: a plank shack in the middle of the prairie, a Swedish farmhand, the hens, the cooking and the loneliness. She tells it all, day after day, in a diary addressed to her friend Matilda Anne, with a humour and frankness that make her very endearing. Written as a diary, in a lively, natural tone, the novel is easy to read in the language you are learning.

Benjamin Franklin tells the story of his life to his son, starting from his years as an apprentice in his brother's printing shop in Boston. At seventeen he runs away and arrives in Philadelphia almost penniless, with three large loaves under his arm. There he becomes a printer, publishes a newspaper, founds a library, and sets himself thirteen virtues that he checks every day in a little notebook. It is one of the first stories of success through hard work, and many readers still find in it common-sense advice on getting organised and persuading others. Franklin writes with humour and simplicity, and his book is easy to read in the language you are learning.

After two years in the Burmese jungle, Edward Courtlandt, a rich American, returns to Paris to see Nora Harrigan again. She has become a famous opera singer, performing at the Opera under an Italian name. When he forces his way in, she shoots at him and misses, then disappears, and the newspapers talk of a kidnapping. What happened between them two years earlier? The novel reveals it little by little, between comedy and suspense, from Paris to Lake Como. Light and full of twists, it is easy to read in the language you are learning.

Here Nietzsche attacks the certainties of philosophers, who claim to seek the truth without bias. He asks where our ideas of good and evil come from, and distinguishes a master morality, which celebrates strength and pride, from a slave morality, which makes virtues of humility and pity. A provocative book that makes you ask why you believe what you believe. It gave us a famous line: “if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you”. Written in fragments, often very short ones, it can be read one aphorism at a time, at your own pace, in the language you are learning.

Harriet Martineau is born in 1802 in Norwich and loses her hearing in her teens. Yet she becomes a writer, and enjoys enormous success with stories that explain economics to everyone. She travels to the United States, where she speaks out against slavery, then goes through five years of illness. She also writes for a major London newspaper. In this biography, Florence Fenwick Miller paints a portrait of a free and tireless woman who made herself heard at a time when women were rarely listened to. With the translation always in front of you, this extraordinary life is easy to read in the language you are learning.

In London, Lionel Mortimer, a young barrister with no clients and a writer with no publisher, can no longer pay his rent. One day he stops a runaway horse and saves a young woman, Beatrice Blair. She tells him about a secret treaty coveted by several governments, and asks him to help her burgle a house to get it back. Lionel gladly agrees. Others join in, including Tony Wild, a rich idler in search of thrills. A light English comedy full of humour, in which a penniless hero becomes a burglar out of gallantry. Written with gusto, this novel will make you smile as you read it in the language you are learning.

Philipp, known as Pitt, is secretive and ironic, and nothing really excites him. His younger brother Fox, a fat, vain boy, boasts all the time and thinks he is destined for a great future. Sons of a small-town manufacturer, the two brothers go off to study and meet very different young women: a pianist from a good family, a future schoolmistress, the daughter of a rich banker. A subtle and slightly melancholy comedy about two opposite characters, and about their ways of loving. Its ironic tone makes it an enjoyable read in the language you are learning.

In the eighteenth century, in an English spa town, people spend their days between the baths, the balls and the card tables. Young Phyllida is courted by Francis Vernon, a gambler buried in debt who talks of running away with her, while a young poet is also trying to win her. But Phyllida's mother does not want to see her married. A witty comedy of manners, Compton Mackenzie's first novel, full of the charm of powdered wigs and the balls of long ago. Its light tone and humour make it an enjoyable read in the language you are learning.

In Kentucky in 1925, sixteen-year-old Ellen Gaddy works on the family farm. Her father, a stern man, pins all his hopes on her younger sister, who studies the piano. Ellen falls for a young farmhand, who takes advantage of her and then disappears. Pregnant, she hides her secret and leaves the farm. We follow her for a dozen years, through the Great Depression, to the rhythm of the seasons, the animals and folk songs: a sensitive and unvarnished portrait of country life. Written in a simple, direct style, it is easy to read in the language you are learning.

On the coast of Maine, young Captain Boyd Mayo commands the yacht of Julius Marston, a rich Wall Street financier, and falls for his daughter, Alma. Humiliated by Marston in front of his guests, he decides to leave. That same night, in the fog, a very old sailing ship loaded with timber catches him as it passes and carries him off to sea against his will. After a storm, he helps fishing families driven from their island, and takes on Marston, who wants to seize the steamship lines along the coast. A humorous novel of adventure and love, set to the rhythm of old sea shanties. Its lively dialogue and absorbing story make it an enjoyable read in the language you are learning.

In a valley in the Tyrol, two young Englishmen on their travels, Will Deverill, a poet and musician, and his friend Florian Wood, discover Linnet, a young dairymaid who sings with an exceptional voice. The village innkeeper, her singing teacher, wants to make her an opera singer and marry her. But a jealous young hunter is courting her too. From mountain pastures to the opera stage, a story of love and ambition in which a rare voice draws every eye. Told with humour, this story is easy to read in the language you are learning.

In 1854, Harry Hardinge, a young officer in the Welsh Fusiliers, is waiting to leave for the war against Russia. On a large estate in Wales, he is reunited with Lady Estelle, whom he loves in silence, and a troubling rival. Then his regiment leaves for the Crimea, and Harry experiences the Battle of Inkerman and the trenches before Sevastopol. A novel of war and love, which stays close to the soldiers marching under the flag of the red dragon. Harry tells his own story, and this action-packed novel is easy to read in the language you are learning.

At the end of 1853, Newton Norcliff, a young lieutenant in a British lancer regiment, learns that his regiment will leave in the spring for the war in the East. He spends his last leave in Scotland, with Lady Louisa, whom he loves, and who is also courted by Berkeley, a cold and cunning officer. Newton and Louisa become secretly engaged, then Newton sets sail for the Crimea. Written by a former officer, this novel takes us from garrison life to the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava, the charge of the “six hundred” that Tennyson made famous in a poem. Newton tells his own story, and the novel is easy to read in the language you are learning.

Brought up in a disreputable London tavern, young Paul Clifford is sent to prison for a theft he did not commit. He comes out a thief for good, and becomes the elegant leader of a band of highwaymen who rob wealthy travellers. Then he falls in love with a young woman from good society, Lucy Brandon. The novel opens with a famous line: “It was a dark and stormy night.” Snoopy made it legendary, and it is one of the most quoted opening lines in the world. Full of action and irony, the novel is a pleasure to read in the language you are learning.

Chichikov arrives in a provincial town, charms all of polite society and pays visits to the landowners round about. He offers them a strange deal: to buy their dead serfs. These peasants have died since the last census, but they are still on the registers, and their masters still pay tax on them. From estate to estate come the miser, the boor, the suspicious widow and the dreamer: Gogol draws from them a gallery of irresistible portraits, and one of the funniest novels in Russian literature. With the translation always in front of you, this humorous novel is a pleasure to read in the language you are learning.

One May morning in 1919, in London, the painter Philip Esdaile is hosting breakfast for his friends in his Chelsea studio. Suddenly an aeroplane crashes nearby, and two airmen clinging to the same parachute fall onto the roof: one is dead, while the other, Chummy Smith, a wartime friend of the painter, has survived. On the roof they also find a pistol that has been fired. Rather than call the police, the friends decide to keep the affair secret and find out the truth for themselves. The investigation is told by one of the guests. Its absorbing plot and ironic tone make it an enjoyable read in the language you are learning.

Once a red-haired office boy, Torchy has become private secretary to the president of a big New York company. Married to Vee and a young father, he lives in the suburbs at the end of the First World War. At the office as at home, he meddles in the affairs of his colleagues, his neighbours and his friends, especially when love is involved. Seventeen linked comic stories, told by Torchy himself, with his New York straight talk and plenty of humour. Short and lively, they are easy to read in the language you are learning.

London, 1869: Robert Orange, a young Catholic MP of French descent and a protégé of Disraeli, marries Brigit, a young widow whom he loves with an almost religious love. On the very day of the wedding, they learn that Brigit's first husband, believed drowned, is alive: so their marriage is not valid. Torn between politics, his faith and the eyes of the world, Orange must decide how to act, while the ambitious Lady Sara de Treverell takes an interest in him. This novel is about love, honour and conscience. With the translation always in front of you, you can read it in the language you are learning.

Ruined and determined to die, young Raphaël de Valentin walks into an antique shop, where the dealer offers him an animal skin covered in signs. This talisman grants every wish of its owner, but it shrinks with each wish, and its owner's life grows shorter with it. Rich overnight, Raphaël must choose between living long and living out his desires. Balzac blends the supernatural with a portrait of the Paris of his day. The novel left an expression still used in France: to shrink “like the peau de chagrin”. With the translation always in front of you, you can read this great novel in the language you are learning.

Born in Brooklyn, Austin Bidwell starts work young in a Wall Street office, where he acquires a taste for gambling and easy money. In 1873, with his brother George and two accomplices, he pulls off a coup of incredible daring: getting the Bank of England to accept forged bills of exchange. Then come the escape, through Ireland, Spain and Cuba, the trial and prison. These are the memoirs of a real swindler, who gives an insider's view of the finance, police and prisons of the nineteenth century. Told in the first person, like an adventure story, it is easy to read in the language you are learning.

Eighteen-year-old Barrie MacDonald grows up near Carlisle with a stern grandmother who hates the theatre and has let her believe that her mother is dead. The day Barrie learns that her mother, an actress, is very much alive, she runs away to find her. On the way she meets a rich Scotsman back from America, who takes her on a motoring tour of Scotland. A fresh romantic comedy, with the roads and landscapes of Scotland as its backdrop. Told partly by Barrie herself, the story is easy to read in the language you are learning.

In Rome in the third century, after the fall of Palmyra, the nobleman Lucius Manlius Piso writes to his friend Fausta, who has stayed in the East. He tells her about Queen Zenobia, defeated and exiled near Rome, and about the Emperor Aurelian, a feared warrior who decides to crush the Christians. Yet Piso himself shares this new faith. This novel brings Rome to life at a time when two religions clash, seen from the inside by a witness in danger. It follows on from “Zenobia”, but Piso tells Fausta what has become of the queen, so it is easy to step into the story. Written in the form of letters, it is easy to read, one letter after another, in the language you are learning.