1918-2008

Presents vital information on the most-studied short stories at the high school and early-college levels. Each entry contains author biography, plot summary, characters, themes, style, historical context, critical overview, and criticism.

Provides in-depth analysis of the life, works, career, and critical importance of Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

A story of the invention of an iconic American toy describes how engineer Richard James observed the remarkable movements of a coiled spring that fell from his desk.

On April 9, 1942, thousands of U.S. soldiers surrendered as the Philippines? island of Luzon fell to the Japanese. A few hundred Americans placed their faith in their own hands and headed for the jungles. One of them was Clay Conner Jr.?a twenty-three-year-old Army Air Force communications officer who had never even camped before?.

One day a spring fell from the desk of Richard James, an engineer and a dreamer. Its coils took a walk...and so did Richard's imagination. He knew right away that he had stumbled onto something marvelous.

Did you know that the Slinky was inspired by a plain old spring? Learn all about the incredible innovators behind one of the world's most popular toys.

A collection of eight interconnected stories by Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn that explore life in Russia under the Soviet regime and in the years following the fall of the Soviet Union.