Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook ...

The townspeople of Oran are in the grip of a deadly plague. Each person responds in their own way to the disease: some resign themselves to fate, some seek blame, and a few resist the terror. This title is in part an allegory of France's suffering under the Nazi occupation, and a story of bravery against the precariousness of human existence.

Meursault leads a bachelor life until he commits a random act of violence. His lack of emotion and failure to show remorse serve to increase his guilt in the eyes of the law. This novel explores the predicament of the individual who refuses to pretend and is prepared to face the indifference of the universe, courageously and alone.

Presents a terrifying tale of Joseph K, a respectable functionary in a bank, who is suddenly arrested and must defend his innocence against a charge about which he can get no information. This book is a vision of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the mad agendas of twentieth-century totalitarian regimes.

Reveals an understanding of human mean-spiritedness.

'Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful.' This line was adopted by Jean Anouilh, to characterize the first production of Waiting For Godot at the Theatre de Babylone, in 1953. Anybody acquinted with Beckett's masterly black comedy would not question the recognition of this twentieth-century literature classic.