Classics

The forerunner to The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion tells the earlier history of Middle-earth, recounting the events of the First and Second Ages, and introducing some of the key characters, such as Galadriel, Elrond, Elendil and the Dark Lord, Sauron....

One of the most significant books ever written by a head of state, the Meditations are a collection of philosophical thoughts by the Emperor Marcus Aurelius....

The sand-blasted world of Arrakis has become green, watered, and fertile....

The sci-fi series continues! The second Dune volume journeys through the changes of planet Arrakis's social order and surreal environment.

At last, one of the world’s greatest works of science fiction is available - just as author Stanislaw Lem intended it....

On the eve of his marriage to the beautiful Mercedes, having that very day been made captain of his ship, the young sailor Edmond Dantès is arrested on a charge of treason....

On the 75th anniversary of its publication, this outstanding work of literature is more crucial and relevant today than ever before....

In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the "coolest girl in the world" moves in across the street and wants to be her friend....

Hermann Hesse’s classic novel Siddhartha, takes place in ancient India around the time of the Buddha (6th century BC).....

The great adventure story tells of Odysseus, a veteran of the Trojan War, who - through a landscape peopled with monsters, sea nymphs, evil enchantresses, and vengeful gods....

In her great historical epic Kristin Lavransdatter, set in fourteenth-century Norway, Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset tells the life story of one passionate and headstrong woman....

This acclaimed new translation of Dostoyevsky's 'psychological record of a crime' gives his dark masterpiece of murder and pursuit a renewed vitality, expressing its jagged, staccato urgency and fevered atmosphere as never before....

The Drenai King is dead - murdered by a ruthless assassin. Enemy troops swarm into Drenai lands. Their orders are simple - kill every man, woman and child. But there is hope....

A collection of BBC Radio 3's iconic Shakespeare productions: eight comedies with all-star casts including David Tennant, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne-Marie Duff, Martin Jarvis, Siân Phillips and Miriam Margolyes....

A lean, fleet-footed translation that recaptures Homer’s “nimble gallop” and brings an ancient epic to new life....

Great Expectations follows Pip's life from a plucky but poor and put-upon child in the Kent marshes, to a young man with "great expectations" in London and the choices he must make as a result of his winding journey....

The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells.

Tremendous in scope and breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand's magnum opus, an electrifying moral defense of capitalism and free enterprise....

Thoreau's classic account of the solitary life describes his attempts to simplify his life and sort out his priorities by living alone in a cabin beside Walden Pond for nearly two years....

Everyone loves Mathias. Naturally, when he discovers it’s his destiny to save the world, he dives in headfirst, pulling his best friend, Aaslo, along for the ride. However, saving the world isn’t as easy, or exciting, as it sounds in the stories....

In an attempt to appeal to the Medici family during the Italian Renaissance, Machiavelli outlines the way to acquire and retain political power, and how great men should behave in a princely government....

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound....

It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith.

The 13 chapters of The Art of War, each devoted to one aspect of warfare, were compiled by the high-ranking Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher Sun-Tzu....

One of Jane Austen’s most beloved works, Pride and Prejudice, is vividly brought to life by Academy Award nominee Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)....

Featuring a reluctant hero’s extraordinary journey through the cosmos, C. S. Lewis’s classic trilogy contains all the magic, invention, humour and big ideas of his Narnia novels. Thrilling, mystical and evocative, it mixes theology and mythology to tell the epic story of an interplanetary struggle between good and evil. This audio collection includes Alex Jennings’ unabridged readings of Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra, and a stunning full-cast adaptation of That Hideous Strength.

The Ultimate Classics Collection: Volume One is a continent-hopping, century-spanning collection of 15 essential classic novels by British, American, and Russian authors, read by a cast of incredible narrators including Stephen Fry, Jason Isaacs, Adjoa Andoh, David Rintoul, and many more. Included here are stories by some of the greatest writers of all time, including Fyodor Dostoyevsky; Charles Dickens; Franz Kafka; Herman Melville; Leo Tolstoy, amongst a host of others.

For the Term of His Natural Life can be described as a “ripping yarn.” While it relies on slightly unrealistic coincidences, the story follows the (mis)fortunes of Rufus Dawes, a young man transported for a murder he did not commit. The story also explores the harsh environment and the often inhumane treatment meted out to the convicts in the early penal settlements, some of whom were transported for minor crimes. The appalling conditions experienced by the convicts are graphically described. But the story also involves a heartfelt rescue and its long-term consequences.

Dostoïevski nous offre une plongée dans les profondeurs de l'âme humaine, où les personnages semblent suspendus entre le rêve et la réalité, emprisonnés dans un espace-temps indéfini. La ville de Saint-Pétersbourg, avec ses rues désertes et ses ponts brumeux, devient un symbole d'une humanité en quête de sens, égarée dans un labyrinthe de ses propres illusions.Le héros, un rêveur sans nom, incarne la figure de l'errant spirituel, en proie à une quête désespérée de l'amour et de la compréhension.

Thomas Wolfe’s first novel, Look Homeward, Angel, is at once a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story and a dark novel depicting a cynical post-war world view. The book follows the life of Eugene Gant, a young man driven by passion, intellect, and a search for something greater than himself. His earliest years in rural North Carolina include a wonderful education in poetry and literature against the backdrop of a loving, but tumultuous family life.

Violencia, traiciones, poder... Con una prosa hábil e ingeniosa, Gaiman analiza la naturaleza imperfecta y competitiva de los dioses, sus susceptibilidades, su habilidad para embaucar y dejarse embaucar por los demás y su tendencia a dejar que la pasión dirija sus acciones, las guerras por el sexo o el poder... y, en general, todo lo que los acerca claramente a los humanos mortales.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. A descendant of judge John Hathorne, who oversaw the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, he wrote several works inspired by Puritan New England, with themes of guilt, sin and retribution. This collection contains his classic novel, The Scarlet Letter, as well as four other stories.

In this series we listen to short stories that are NOT by perhaps the most well-known author of this type. But the many other rich talents in the volume may have treated the subject matter a little differently, or were perhaps just overlooked in the stampede to applaud the winner, but these authors are of equal merit.

These four novels remain classics 100 years after they were published. They not only shaped the literature of the 20th century, but they altered our views of life and reality—and what can and cannot be written about. These novels—all written a century ago—remain gripping and unforgettable. These audio versions bring their powerful narratives vividly to life for the modern listener.

Gerald Wade is among the many invited to the Chimneys estate for a party. Rented by Sir Oswald and Lady Coote for the season, it is rather the place to be. Unfortunately, during his stay there Gerry has garnered the teasing of his friends for a particular talent of his: to oversleep. One day the set decides to “fix” the matter with a little joke. The plan is to set out eight alarm clocks in Gerry’s room, all set to different times … as early as 6:30 a.m.! When they go to check on him, his friends discover that Gerry hasn’t overslept this time. In fact, he has been murdered.

In this series we listen to short stories that are NOT by perhaps the most well-known author of this type. But the many other rich talents in the volume may have treated the subject matter a little differently, or were perhaps just overlooked in the stampede to applaud the winner, but these authors are of equal merit.

One of 46 books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives listeners a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. This decade is resplendent with literature and its many prodigiously talented authors who write on as varied a range of subjects as might be thought possible. Yet each is studded with careful literary precision and narrative verve. It is a remarkable decade.

Throughout the long centuries of human history is the want, and the need, to share information, to exchange ideas and for that knowledge and experience, for curiosity and learning, to be the basis of a civil society. In this volume we offer up a small selection of talents from the literary landscape of the American male author whose time has now come again.

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. Jack London is widely regarded as one of America’s pre-eminent writers of the great outdoors. His stories are raw and, at times, harrowing, but always dependable fare. His work also includes stories on pandemics and bizarre scientific experiments. An author so much more than the usual wrapper proclaims.

Realm-Building is open to all. On the continent of Elondria, anyone may become the next legendary dragon rider by building the greatest towns, cities, and even kingdoms. Skálda Branwright dreams of leaving the Longcold and becoming the first Dragonlord to build an official realm. Only no dragon egg has ever hatched for her. When a hatchling falls to her from another world, begging for rescue, she must decide whether to surrender her dragon to death or become the worst criminal of all—a rogue rider. But this is no ordinary dragon.

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. For America, as the century closes, she is becoming less isolated. Her industrial might, her rising military power are pulling her ever closer into the entangled globe of nations. Her authors flex ideas and lexicons with riveting tales of this astonishing society.

The Ernest Hemingway Collection includes 2 of Hemingway's most beloved novels - The Sun Also Rises, as well as two short story collections: In Our Time and Men Without Women. All read by the new voice of Hemingway, Nathan Osgood, this collection is the perfect opportunity to delve into some of Hemingway's most formative and iconic writings. The stories included here are:

When Candide is cast out of his sheltered life, he embarks on a journey filled with war, natural disasters, betrayal, and heartbreak—all while clinging to the optimistic philosophy of his mentor, Pangloss. As he travels across Europe and the Americas, encountering a bizarre array of characters and suffering the harsh realities of life, Candide’s faith in idealism is repeatedly tested. In this classic satire, Voltaire skewers the pretensions of philosophy, religion, and social systems, offering a compelling critique of human nature.

The Ultimate Classics Collection: Volume Two is the second instalment of our wide-ranging classic collections. Volume Two features 13 essential classic novels from Jane Austen; Edith Wharton; Leo Tolstoy; D.H. Lawrence, and many more, alongside selected poetry from Christina Rossetti; Elizabeth Browning; and Emily Dickinson. Read by a cast of incredible narrators including Joanne Froggatt, Adjoa Andoh, Jonathan Keeble, and many more, this is your new go-to collection to catch up on those classics you've always wanted to hear.

The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place is the last of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. The story is part of the series The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes first published in the Strand Magazine from October 1921–April 1927. The original title The Adventure of the Black Spaniel was changed before publication. Head trainer John Mason from Shoscombe Old Place, a racing stable in Berkshire, comes to Holmes about his master, Sir Robert Norberton. Mason thinks he has gone mad.

The Adventure of the Retired Colourman (1926), one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes is hired by a retired art supply dealer from Lewisham, Josiah Amberley, to look into his wife's disappearance. She has left with a neighbour, Dr. Ray Ernest, taking a sizeable quantity of cash and securities. Amberley wants the two tracked down.

The Adventure of the Lion's Mane (1926), one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. It is notable for being narrated by Holmes himself, instead of by Dr. Watson (who does not appear in the story). Holmes is enjoying his retirement in Sussex when one day at the beach, he meets his friend Harold Stackhurst, the headmaster of a nearby preparatory school called The Gables.

London is abuzz as the beautiful Ray Marcable’s final shows at the West End approach. Before she jets off to perform in America everyone in the city is clamoring to see her once more. The lines wrap around the street and crowds are tightly knit together. One fateful night, just as he is nearing the box office, a man drops to the ground—dead. Although a knife protrudes from his back and there were countless potential witnesses, no one knows the poor man and no one saw who did the deadly deed. It is up to Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard to solve this case.

Bliss is a modernist short story by Katherine Mansfield first published in 1918. It was published in the English Review in August 1918 and later reprinted in Bliss and Other Stories. The story follows a dinner party given by Bertha Young and her husband Harry.