"Tolstoy produced many drafts of Anna Karenina. Crafting and recrafting each sentence with careful intent, he was anything but casual in his use of language. His project, translator Marian Schwartz observes, "was to bend language to his will, as an instrument of his aesthetic and moral convictions." In her magnificent new translation, Schwartz embraces Tolstoy's unusual style - she is the first English language translator ever to do so. Previous translations...

Uncle Tom, Topsy, Sambo, Simon Legree, little Eva: their names are American bywords, and all of them are characters in Harriet Beecher Stowe's remarkable novel of the pre-Civil War South. Uncle Tom's Cabin was revolutionary in 1852 for its passionate indictment of slavery and for its presentation of Tom, "a man of humanity, " as the first black hero in American fiction. Labeled racist and condescending by some contemporary critics, it remains a shocking,...

'Miss Dashwood had a delicate complexion, regular features, and a remarkably pretty figure. Marianne was still handsomer. Her form, though not so correct as her sister's ... was more striking' As the title of Jane Austen's first published novel suggests, the difference between two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, lies not only in their appearance but also in their temperament. Yet Sense and Sensibility not only contrasts Elinor's good sense,...

[That midnight Kiss]: Aspiring opera singer Prudence Budell would like to have a tenor who looks the part of the tenor role. When Johnny Donnetti, a singing truck driver is discovered, she gets her wish. A happy ending is not far away when romance blossoms between Prudence and Johnny. [The toast of New Orleans]: A tale of a Cajun fisherman who leaves the bayou and falls in love with a beautiful New Orleans opera star.

The story of the brilliant but glitchy Lorenz Hart who is disappointed in love by singer Peggy McNeil. He never gets over it and falls apart. Richard Rogers and his wife Dorothy look on in dismay.

[Royal wedding]: Tom and Ellen are a pair of siblings whose London stage engagement overlaps Princess Elizabeth's royal wedding. [The belle of New York]: A free-spirited playboy attempts to prove his worth to a delectable Bowery mission worker through dazzling song and dance routines in this lavish turn-of-the-century musical.

Three World War II buddies vow to reunite for old time's sake in 10 years. When they do they find their friendship has fizzled, until a day of tangling with romance, the fight game, the ad biz and a new medium called TV restores their bond. Highlights include a romp that uses trash-can lids as dancing shoes, Cyd Charisse routine with broken nosed boxers, and Kelly's tap dance on roller skates.

From Baryshnikov to break dancing, from Fred and Ginger to Shirley and Bojangles, from movement depicted on Grecian urns to the kaleidoscopic pizzazz of Busby Berkeley spectaculars.--from container.

In Royal wedding, Tom and Ellen are a pair of siblings whose London stage engagement overlaps Princess Elizabeth's royal wedding. If love can make anyone dance on the ceiling and walls, Tom's the one. In Belle of New York, A free-spirited playboy attempts to prove his worth to a delectable Bowery mission worker through dazzling song and dance routines in this lavish turn-of-the-century musical.