The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works. The Paris Opera is haunted—everyone knows it. Everyone, that is, except for the new managers, who spark a violent dispute with the Opera Ghost when they refuse to acknowledge his existence or submit to his demands. Sometimes surfacing as a disembodied voice in Box Five or appearing as a gentleman in evening dress with a death’s-head, the phantom is obsessed with Christine Daaé, a lovely and enigmatic novice singer endowed with an amazing voice. But impetuous Viscount Raoul de Chagny is in love with Christine, and he and his brother, Count Philippe, are swept into the phantom’s deadly illusion with horrifying consequences.                   Police reports, newspaper clippings, and witness interviews help a sleuthing narrator reconstruct the events of French author Gaston Leroux’s most famous tale, one that had a significant impact on contemporary detective fiction. First published in 1911, The Phantom of the Opera has since been the basis for many adaptations, including Lon Chaney’s silent film and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony award-winning Broadway musical. Today, this thriller is recognized not only as a compelling yarn with gothic overtones, but an engrossing romance of stirring theatricality. Isabel Roche has a Ph.D. in French literature from New York University and teaches at Bennington College in Vermont. She wrote the book Character and Meaning in the Novels of Victor Hugo and has published articles in The French Review and French Forum.