This book introduces some os the most important characters in English literature, including John Silver, Tess, Frankenstein and Sherlock Holmes. The most famous fictitious detective of allthe times is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle s Sherlock Holmes. Holmes doesn t solve cases in order to help the police; he does it for having his mind entertained, because he loves intellectual challenges... John Silver is an old peg-legged pirate (or "gentleman of fortune", as he prefers to be called). He is the quartermaster of the Hispaniola (he handles the ship s food and drink during the voyages). The protagonist of Tess of the d Urbervilles is a young and beautiful 19th century girl who lives with her family in a British village called Marlott. After a happy childhood in Geneva, Switzerland, Victor Frankenstein went to the university to study natural philosophy and chemistry. Since he was a little boy, this character had a great curiosity about the hidden laws of nature and the secrets of heaven and heart, and after seven years of research, he became convinced that he had found the secret of life...