At the height of Nazi Germany's power, John Steinbeck created The Moon Is Down as a "celebration of the durability of democracy." Within one year this compelling fable was made into a motion picture in the United States. In occupied countries, it was secretly translated, printed clandestinely, and circulated by the hundreds of thousands. One Sunday morning, invaders march into a peaceful village. Within minutes the military band is playing

Set in Monterey, California, Tortilla Flat, Cannery Row, and Sweet Thursday, have become classic fare for both students and aficionados of American literature. Inspired by Arthurian legend, Tortilla Flat became popular in its own time as an escape from the daily grind of the Great Depression. Danny and his friends are paisanos, people of mixed breed who claim pure Spanish descent, live by their own rules, and decline