Losing yourself in a great book transports you to another time and place, and The Literature Book sets each title in its social and political context. It helps you appreciate, for example, how Dickens’ Bleak House paints a picture of deprivation in 19th-century England, or how Stalin’s climb to power was the backdrop for George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.

With succinct plot summaries, graphics, and inspiring quotations, this is a must-have reference for literature students and the perfect gift for book-lovers everywhere.