Frankenstein (Monsters and Misfits)

One of BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World, Frankenstein is the most famous novel by Mary Shelley: a dark parable of science misused.

Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but wayward scientist, builds a human from dead flesh. Horrified at what he has done, he abandons his creation. The hideous creature learns language and becomes civilized but society rejects him. Spurned, he seeks vengeance on his creator. So begins a cycle of destruction, with Frankenstein and his monster' pursuing each other to the extremes of nature until all vestiges of their humanity are lost.

In 1831, Mary Shelley succumbed to conservative pressures and toned down elements of the work; this edition presents the work as originally intended.