Two aristocrats, formerly lovers, embark on a sophisticated game of seduction to bring some cruel amusement to their jaded lives. While the Marquise de Merteuil challenges the Vicomte de Valmont to seduce an innocent convent girl, the Vicomte is also occupied with the conquest of a virtuous married woman. But as their intrigues become more duplicitous and they find their human pawns responding in ways they could not have predicted, the consequences prove to be more serious, and deadly, than Merteuil and Valmont could have guessed.

Three years on from 'Little Women', the March girls and their friend Laurie are young adults with their futures ahead of them. Although they all face painful trials along the way - from Meg's sad lesson in housekeeping to Laurie's disappointment in love and a tragedy which touches them all - each of the girls finally finds happiness, if not always in the way they expect.

The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf was completed in England in the eighth century, although the poem is set in the sixth century in what is now known as Denmark and southwestern Sweden. Against a background of feuding and feasting, the young warrior Beowulf kills Grendel, a huge man-like ogre who has been terrorising Hrothgar, King of the Danes. In retaliation Grendel's mother steals one of the Danes, and Beowulf follows him into the monster's lair... Translated by Michael Alexander.

The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf was completed in England in the eighth century, although the poem is set in the sixth century in what is now known as Denmark and southwestern Sweden. Against a background of feuding and feasting, the young warrior Beowulf kills Grendel, a huge man-like ogre who has been terrorising Hrothgar, King of the Danes. In retaliation Grendel's mother steals one of the Danes, and Beowulf follows him into the monster's lair... Seamus Heaney's new translation provides an easily accessible version of this early English classic. Winner of the Whitbread Award.

The tales told by Shahrazad over a thousand and one nights to delay her execution by the vengeful King Shahriyar have become among the most popular in both Eastern and Western literature. From the epic adventures of 'Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp' and 'Sinbad the Sailor' to the farcical 'Young Woman and her Five Lovers' and the social criticism of 'The Tale of the Hunchback', the stories depict a fabulous world of all-powerful sorcerors, djinns imprisoned in bottles and enchanting princesses as well as providing a record of the medieval Eastern world.

The recently-widowed Lady Susan Vernon, intelligent but highly manipulative, is intent on gaining financially secure relationships for both herself and her wayward but shy teenage daughter Frederica. The first of Austen's novels to be completed.

At the age of ten, shy, vulnerable Fanny Price leaves behind her impoverished family in Portsmouth to go and live with her rich relatives at Mansfield Park. Growing up with her cousins she is aware that she is different from them and that her place in society cannot be taken for granted. When Mary Crawford and her brother Henry arrive at Mansfield Park, they succeed in dazzling everyone but Fanny. She sees through their shallow veneer and through the dramatic events that follow it is Fanny who is able to bring back some stability to the ruptured lives of those around her.

Emma Woodhouse is clever, rich, with a comfortable home and a happy disposition. She's also always convinced that she's right. She learns the hard way that pride comes before a fall, but the brotherly figure of Mr Knightley takes it upon himself to help her correct the flaws in her character.

Emma Woodhouse is clever, rich, with a comfortable home and a happy disposition. She's also always convinced that she's right. She learns the hard way that pride comes before a fall, but the brotherly figure of Mr Knightley takes it upon himself to help her correct the flaws in her character.

Emma Woodhouse is clever, rich, with a comfortable home and a happy disposition. She's also always convinced that she's right. She learns the hard way that pride comes before a fall, but the brotherly figure of Mr Knightley takes it upon himself to help her correct the flaws in her character.

At the age of ten, shy, vulnerable Fanny Price leaves behind her impoverished family in Portsmouth to go and live with her rich relatives at Mansfield Park. Growing up with her cousins she is aware that she is different from them and that her place in society cannot be taken for granted. When Mary Crawford and her brother Henry arrive at Mansfield Park, they succeed in dazzling everyone but Fanny. She sees through their shallow veneer and through the dramatic events that follow it is Fanny who is able to bring back some stability to the ruptured lives of those around her.

At the age of ten, shy, vulnerable Fanny Price leaves behind her impoverished family in Portsmouth to go and live with her rich relatives at Mansfield Park. Growing up with her cousins she is aware that she is different from them and that her place in society cannot be taken for granted. When Mary Crawford and her brother Henry arrive at Mansfield Park, they succeed in dazzling everyone but Fanny. She sees through their shallow veneer and through the dramatic events that follow it is Fanny who is able to bring back some stability to the ruptured lives of those around her.

Austen's hilarious anti-gothic novel sees the sweet, impressionable Catherine falling hopelessly in love with Henry Tilney. Will his good sense cure her romantic illusions?

Austen's hilarious anti-gothic novel sees the sweet, impressionable Catherine falling hopelessly in love with Henry Tilney. Will his good sense cure her romantic illusions?

A classic love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities. At 19, Anne Eliot is persuaded to jilt her suitor - Captain Frederick Wentworth - because he has neither rank nor fortune. When they encounter one another eight years later will she make the same mistake again?

A classic love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities. At 19, Anne Eliot is persuaded to jilt her suitor - Captain Frederick Wentworth - because he has neither rank nor fortune. When they encounter one another eight years later will she make the same mistake again?

Elizabeth Bennet is a spirited young woman with four sisters and a mother obsessed with getting them all married off. When she first meets Mr Darcy she thinks he's arrogant and conceited, and he is completely indifferent to her charms. Will she ever see past the prejudices of her first impressions?

Elizabeth Bennet is a spirited young woman with four sisters and a mother obsessed with getting them all married off. When she first meets Fitzwilliam Darcy she thinks he's arrogant and conceited, and he is completely indifferent to her charms. Will they ever see past the prejudices of their first impressions?

Elizabeth Bennet is a spirited young woman with four sisters and a mother obsessed with getting them all married off. When she first meets Fitzwilliam Darcy she thinks he's arrogant and conceited, and he is completely indifferent to her charms. Will they ever see past the prejudices of their first impressions?

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warnings that her impulsive behaviour will leave her open to gossip and innuendo.

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warnings that her impulsive behaviour will leave her open to gossip and innuendo.

Sixteen tales from one of the great works of the Middle Ages. Ten young people have fled the terrible effects of the Black Death in Florence and, in an idyllic setting, they escape from their troubles for a while by entertaining each other with a series of brilliant stories, by turns humorous, bawdy, tragic and provocative.

When young Lucy Graham marries Sir Michael Audley, all seems well and good. Sir Michael is thoroughly devoted to his new bride and Lady Audley takes great pride in her privileged position at Audley Court. But Sir Michael's daughter, Alicia, is frustrated and uncomfortable with her new stepmother's girlish ways. Shortly afterwards, Sir Michael's nephew, the attractive but lazy barrister Robert Audley, welcomes back to England an old friend of his, George Talboys. The pair visit the Court for some sport, where George disappears in mysterious circumstances. Robert Audley is spurred into action, taking up the case with a new-found passion and energy. Like the best detective novels, and with some wonderful melodrama thrown in for good measure, the plot unravels at great pace until the truth is revealed about Lady Audley's secret.

When her family becomes impoverished after a disastrous financial speculation, Agnes Grey determines to find work as a governess in order to contribute to their meagre income and assert her independence. But Agnes's enthusiasm is swiftly extinguished as she struggles first with the unmanageable Bloomfield children and then with the haughty Murray family. The only kindness she receives comes from Mr Weston, a young curate. Anne Bronte's first novel offers a personal perspective on the position of unmarried, educated women for whom becoming a governess was the only respectable career open in Victorian society.

Fleeing a disastrous marriage, Helen Huntingdon retreats to the desolate, half-ruined moorland mansion, Wildfell Hall, with her small son, Arthur. Here she adopts the assumed surname of Graham and makes her living as a painter. The inconvenience of the house is outweighed by the fact that she and Arthur are removed from the harmful influence of her drunken, degenerate husband. Although the house is isolated and Helen avoids the attentions of the neighbouring families, all too soon she becomes an object of speculation and then cruel gossip. .

Treated badly as a child by both her aunt and school, Jane leaves to become a governess to the daughter of the mysterious Mr Rochester. Gradually she falls in love with him, but things are not what they seem and life is not straightforward for the rebellious heroine.

Treated badly as a child by both her aunt and school, Jane leaves to become a governess to the daughter of the mysterious Mr Rochester. Gradually she falls in love with him, but things are not what they seem and life is not straightforward for the rebellious heroine.

Treated badly as a child by both her aunt and school, Jane leaves to become a governess to the daughter of the mysterious Mr Rochester. Gradually she falls in love with him, but things are not what they seem and life is not straightforward for the rebellious heroine.

Set during the Napoleonic wars - a time of bad harvests, Luddite riots, economic unrest and the oppression of women, this novel focuses on three major characters, Robert Moore, a Yorkshire mill owner, Caroline Helstone, a single woman working in a Yorkshire rectory and the heiress Shirley Keeldar, the inheritor of a local estate. It's also a love story, about two very different relationships.

Working as a Professor in Brussels, William Crimsworth meets the fascinating Directrice of the neighbouring school, Mlle Zoraide Reuter, and recognising her as an intellectual equal, becomes powerfully attracted to her. Despite the fact that she is betrothed to another, Zoraide cannot release her hold over William, and tries to stand in the way of his finding love elsewhere. But new possibilities open up to him and he is not to be so easily deterred. Published two years after the author's death, 'The Professor' draws on Charlotte Bronte's own professional and personal experiences as a teacher in Brussels.

One of the author's less well known novels but one which many consider to be her best. Lucy Snowe is a girl who has learnt from a very early age to hide her feelings and to control her despairs and desires. She leaves England to find work as a teacher, and having no friends or relatives to support her, enrolls as a governess in a boarding school.

The new tenant of Thrushcross Grange, on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before, the intense passion between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and her betrayal of him. A classic tale of obsessive love.

The new tenant of Thrushcross Grange, on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before, the intense passion between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and her betrayal of him. A classic tale of obsessive love.

The new tenant of Thrushcross Grange, on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before, the intense passion between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and her betrayal of him. A classic tale of obsessive love.

This classic story was written in prison, where Bunyan had been sent for unauthorised preaching. It describes the road to the Celestial City by way of Doubting Castle, the Delectable Mountains, Vanity Fair and other places which have become part of the English language.

The first European novel, and one of the greatest, is a marvelously comic study of delusion and its consequences: Don Quixote, the old gentleman of La Mancha, takes to the road in search of adventure and remains undaunted in the face of repeated disaster.

Chaucer evokes a spectrum of colourful characters, from the bawdy Wife of Bath to the gallant Knight, the fastidious Prioress and the burly, drunken Miller. As they wend their way from Southwark to Canterbury, tales are told to pass the time, encompassing themes such as adultery, revenge, courtly love, lechery, avarice and penitence. All infused with Chaucer's wry wit and vibrant, poetic languauge.

'The Franklin's Tale' illustrates a familiar theme in Chaucer's work - that of marriage. In this case the lovers in question, a young Breton knight named Arvegus and his lady Dorigen, decide that their marriage should be an equal partnership, which is unusual for an early English text. Arveragus decides however that in public he should make the decisions so as not to draw suspicion. The marriage is tested when Arveragus is called to Britain for military reasons, leaving Dorigen in France alone, with a second suitor on the scene, the squire Aurelius.

THE GENERAL PROLOGUE: Several pilgrims of various social standing are on their way to Canterbury to visit the cathedral there. They stay a night in an Inn, and the next day, the Innkeeper offers to join the group on the trip, and judge stories that they will tell to pass the time. The person with the best story wins a free dinner paid by the other pilgrims. THE PARDONER'S TALE: Three gluttonous friends discover that one of their friends has died while looking for treasure. They decide to find the treasure in their friend's memory. They find the treasure, but greed takes hold of them, and each plots to kill the other.

THE GENERAL PROLOGUE: 'The General Prologue' introduces the characters of Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' - tradesmen, professionals, ecclesiastics, the lustful Friar and the Wife of Bath amongst others are subtly revealed in unique detail for literature of its time. THE REEVE'S TALE: This tale is the response of the pilgrim Reeve to the Miller, another pilgrim, who has told a very rude story about an Oxford carpenter. The Reeve, a carpenter himself by trade, is incensed by this insult and to get back at the Miller responds with a farcical tale about a Cambridge Miller (and notorious thief) called Symkin, who is humiliated by a couple of students when he tries to steal their corn.

This is a tale about two knights who are captured in battle and imprisoned in Athens under King Theseus. While imprisoned in a tower, both see Emelye and fall instantly in love with her. The knights eventually leave prison and fight over her, but their fight is stopped when Theseus finds them. Theseus sets the rules for a duel between the two knights for Emelye's affection, and each raise an army for a battle a year from that date.

A tale featuring a callous husband and a deceitful wife which presents Chaucer's most cynical contribution to the marriage debate. The rich 60-year-old January marries a teenage girl, May. His Squire, Damyan, also falls in love with May, and when January becomes blind and clings to his wife with jealous attentiveness, she attempts to betray him. But the god Pluto intervenes.

Chaucer's Miller is a brutal and drunken fellow who is the sworn enemy of the Reeve, a carpenter. His tale, which is designed to humiliate the Reeve by illustrating such a man as a cuckold, has a musical theme - a great deal of singing takes place as Absolon, the foppish parish clerk, and Nicholas, an Oxford student, get down to the serious business of seduction. The Miller himself plays the bagpipes, Nicholas the psaltery and Absolom the rebec and gittern. 'The Miller's Tale' is therefore not only a great story but a feast of music too!

These three Tales present a wide variety of Chaucer's art and feature respectively 'The Nun's Priest's Tale', a merry tale which pokes fun at human weakness; 'The Prioress's Tale', a devotional tale of a miracle and 'The Shipman's Tale', which features a scheming monk, a cuckolded merchant and a punning wife.

This pious tale of a worthy cleric is notable for the dignity and nobility of the prose which the Parson employs. It has often been seen as Chaucer's attempt to make peace with God: an interpretation reinforced by the Retraction at the end, where the author finally asks forgiveness for his more riotous writings and bawdy characters.

'The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale' brings to life one of Chaucer's most powerful creations - the sexually rapacious and five-times married Wife of Bath who, according to Chaucer, achieves what worldly women love most of all - sovereignty over her husbands.

Chekhov's tale of a distinguished university professor, who, as his health begins to seriously deteriorate, increasingly alienates himself from his wife and daughter, preferring the company of his actress ward, Katya.

A young aristocrat from St Petersburg becomes a footman to the son of a minister, hoping to glean information about his father's political activities. Along the way he comments on the decadence and moral bankruptcy of the aristocracy.

A collection of some of the great short stories from the Russian master of the genre.

Here are 12 stories, from the brightly comic to the overtly tragic. Each full of the sharpest observations of personality and situation, and with implications beyond their brief form: a dying actor, children playing a game, a tragic cabman, an orator's mistake and, perhaps most richly of all, a family laid bare in 'In The Ravine'.

Misail has no interest in the the life of a middle-class gentleman and wishes to earn his living by manual labour. Polite society is outraged. But Misail is true to his word and goes to work for Radish the painter and decorator despite his father disowning him.

'Fanny Hill', one of the most popular novels of the 18th century, turned the prevailing moralism of the times on its head as it traced the rise of its heroine from prostitution to middle-class respectability. CONTAINS ADULT THEMES.

The Moonstone, a large, beautiful yellow diamond, stolen from an Indian shrine, is given to Rachel Verinder on her 18th birthday and, that same night, stolen again. Sergeant Cuff is employed to find the precious stone and has no shortage of suspects. As each character describes their version of events, layer upon layer of drama and suspense builds to the final and astonishing denoument.

The Moonstone, a large, beautiful yellow diamond, stolen from an Indian shrine, is given to Rachel Verinder on her 18th birthday and, that same night, stolen again. Sergeant Cuff is employed to find the precious stone and has no shortage of suspects. As each character describes their version of events, layer upon layer of drama and suspense builds to the final and astonishing denoument.

George and Mary's childhood friendship turns to love, and when George's father discovers the extent of his thirteen-year-old son's feelings for his bailiff's daughter, he sacks his bailiff and takes his son to America. Years later George returns to his native Suffolk to trace his lost love at any cost.

Late one night on his way to Limmeridge House in Cumberland, drawing teacher Walter Hartright meets a mysterious woman dressed in white. Who is she, and what is her connection to the teacher's new pupil, a beautiful heiress?

Set against the French and Indian siege of Fort William Henry in 1757, 'The Last of the Mohicans' recounts the story of two sisters, Cora and Alice Munro, daughters of the English commander, who are struggling to be reunited with their father. They are aided in their perilous journey by Hawk-eye, a frontier scout and his companions Chingachgook and Uncas, the only two survivors of the Mohican tribe. But their lives are endangered by the Mangua, the savage Indian traitor who captures the sisters, wanting Cora to be his squaw.

Henry Fleming, a new recruit in the American Civil War, is desperate to prove his courage but is unprepared for the horror he must witness. A powerful story of fear and duty.

Abandoned at birth by a mother who faces transportation to Virginia, the young Moll Flanders sets out to make her way in the world. Threatened with a life in service, our rebellious heroine sets her heart on a life of independence. As a woman her options are limited and so tough, resourceful, and indisputably feminine Moll embarks on a rollicking career of seduction, bigamy and crime.

Abandoned at birth by a mother who faces transportation to Virginia, the young Moll Flanders sets out to make her way in the world. Threatened with a life in service, our rebellious heroine sets her heart on a life of independence. As a woman her options are limited and so tough, resourceful, and indisputably feminine Moll embarks on a rollicking career of seduction, bigamy and crime.

The sole survivor of a shipwreck, Robinson Crusoe is stranded on an uninhabited island far away from any shipping routes. With patience and ingenuity, he survives on the island for twenty-four years with no human company, until one Friday, he rescues a prisoner from a boat of cannibals.

This partly autobiographical story, by turns magical, frightening and grimly realistic, charts the trials of young David Copperfield's life from poverty to literary fame, starring such unforgettable characters as David's stepfather, the abusive Mr. Mudstone; the charming sociopath Steerforth; the snivelling clerk Uriah Heep; and slow-witted Dora, with whom David falls in love.

After his father's death, Nicholas and his family are left penniless. As a young man with a very independent streak, Nicholas makes a number of enemies including his wicked uncle Ralph, the fantastic ogre of a schoolmaster Squeers and the revolting Gride. He also finds himself involved in a variety of adventures up and down the country as he faces the pressing issues of early Victorian society.

Little Nell cares for her grandfather in the gloomy surroundings of his curiosity shop. Reduced to poverty, the pair are forced to flee London and Nell finds herself uprooted from a secure and innocent childhood and cast into a world where evil takes the form of characters such as Swiveller, Nubbles and the grotesque and lecherous Quilp. This dramatisation also stars Julia McKenzie, Anna Massey and Sandi Toksvig.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserly old skinflint. He hates everyone, especially children. But at Christmas the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future come to visit him, scare him into mending his ways, and he finds, as he celebrates with Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and their family, that geniality brings its own reward.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserly old skinflint. He hates everyone, especially children. But at Christmas the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future come to visit him, scare him into mending his ways, and he finds, as he celebrates with Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and their family, that geniality brings its own reward.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserly old skinflint. He hates everyone, especially children. But at Christmas the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future come to visit him, scare him into mending his ways, and he finds, as he celebrates with Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and their family, that geniality brings its own reward.

After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the aging Dr Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There, two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become involved through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil lanes of London, they are all drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the French Revolution.

Set against the backdrop of the Gordon Riots of 1780, 'Barnaby Rudge' begins with an unsolved double murder and continues to involve conspiracy, blackmail, abduction and retribution. Through the course of the novel fathers and sons become opposed, apprentices plot against their masters and anti-Catholic mobs rampage through the streets. And, as London erupts into riot, Barnaby Rudge himself struggles to escape the curse of his own past.

At the court of Chancery, the interminable suit of Jarndyce and Jarndyce becomes the centre of a web of relationships at all levels. From Ada and Richard Clare, whose inheritance is gradually being devoured by legal costs; to Esther Summerson, a ward of court, whose parentage is a source of deepening mystery; the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn; the determined sleuth Inspector Bucket; and even Jo, the destitute little crossing-sweeper, Dickens wrote 'Bleak House' as a metaphor for the decay and corruption at the heart of English society.

At the court of Chancery, the interminable suit of Jarndyce and Jarndyce becomes the centre of a web of relationships at all levels. From Ada and Richard Clare, whose inheritance is gradually being devoured by legal costs; to Esther Summerson, a ward of court, whose parentage is a source of deepening mystery; the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn; the determined sleuth Inspector Bucket; and even Jo, the destitute little crossing-sweeper, Dickens wrote 'Bleak House' as a metaphor for the decay and corruption at the heart of English society.

This partly autobiographical story, by turns magical, frightening and grimly realistic, charts the trials of young David Copperfield's life from poverty to literary fame, starring such unforgettable characters as David's stepfather, the abusive Mr. Mudstone; the charming sociopath Steerforth; the snivelling clerk Uriah Heep; and slow-witted Dora, with whom David falls in love.

This partly autobiographical story, by turns magical, frightening and grimly realistic, charts the trials of young David Copperfield's life from poverty to literary fame, starring such unforgettable characters as David's stepfather, the abusive Mr. Mudstone; the charming sociopath Steerforth; the snivelling clerk Uriah Heep; and slow-witted Dora, with whom David falls in love.

Grim Mr Dombey dreams of a son to run his business. Instead he has a daughter who must fight to win his love, but when the firm faces ruin, and Dombey's second marriage ends in disaster, only his daughter Florence has the strength and humanity to save her father from desolate solitude.

Grim Mr Dombey dreams of a son to run his business. Instead he has a daughter who must fight to win his love, but when the firm faces ruin, and Dombey's second marriage ends in disaster, only his daughter Florence has the strength and humanity to save her father from desolate solitude.

Grim Mr Dombey dreams of a son to run his business. Instead he has a daughter who must fight to win his love, but when the firm faces ruin, and Dombey's second marriage ends in disaster, only his daughter Florence has the strength and humanity to save her father from desolate solitude.

A mysterious benefactor provides Philip Pirrip with the chance to escape his poor upbringing. Aspiring to be a gentleman, and encouraged by his expectations of wealth, he abandons his friends and moves to London. However, not everything lives up to his dreams.

A mysterious benefactor provides Philip Pirrip with the chance to escape his poor upbringing. Aspiring to be a gentleman, and encouraged by his expectations of wealth, he abandons his friends and moves to London. However, not everything lives up to his dreams.

A mysterious benefactor provides Pip with the chance to escape his poor upbringing. Aspiring to be a gentleman, and encouraged by his expectations of wealth, he abandons his friends and moves to London. However, not everything lives up to his dreams.

Coketown is dominated by the figure of Thomas Gradgrind, school headmaster and model of Utilitarian success. Dicken's novel explores the terrible human consequences of his ruthlessly materialistic philosophy.

Coketown is dominated by the figure of Thomas Gradgrind, school headmaster and model of Utilitarian success. Dicken's novel explores the terrible human consequences of his ruthlessly materialistic philosophy.

The story of a family overshadowed by the Marshalsea, London's debtors' Prison. The Father of the Marshalsea is William Dorrit. He is tended by his daughter Amy, Little Dorrit, to whom the prison is home. She becomes the novel's liberator in her selfless devotion to her father and her redeeming love for Arthur Clennam.

Disinherited by his grandfather, Martin is thwarted in his desire to marry Mary Graham. Instead he sets sail for America to seek his fortune.

After his father's death, Nicholas and his family are left penniless. As a young man with a very independent streak, Nicholas makes a number of enemies including his wicked uncle Ralph, the fantastic ogre of a schoolmaster Squeers and the revolting Gride. He also finds himself involved in a variety of adventures up and down the country as he faces the pressing issues of early Victorian society.

A workhouse orphan, Oliver escapes by running away to London. He gets drawn into the treacherous underworld of pickpockets and thieves headed by Fagin. His companions are ultimately destined for gruesome ends. Will Oliver emerge unscathed from the darkness of the underworld?

A workhouse orphan, Oliver escapes by running away to London. He gets drawn into the treacherous underworld of pickpockets and thieves headed by Fagin. His companions are ultimately destined for gruesome ends. Will Oliver emerge unscathed from the darkness of the underworld?

John Harmon, in exile for many years, discovers that he must marry Bella Wilfer, a girl he has never met, to claim his inheritance. Mistakenly thought to have drowned on his return, he assumes the new identity of John Rokesmith and falls in love with Bella, who rejects him due to his poverty. But Boffin and his wife contrive a plan to help John and show Bella the error of her ways.

John Harmon, in exile for many years, discovers that he must marry Bella Wilfer, a girl he has never met, to claim his inheritance. Mistakenly thought to have drowned on his return, he assumes the new identity of John Rokesmith and falls in love with Bella, who rejects him due to his poverty. But Boffin and his wife contrive a plan to help John and show Bella the error of her ways.

A tale of comical misadventure with Mister Pickwick and his companions - the amorous Tupman, the `poetic' Snodgrass and the `sporty' Winkle - all battling to extricate themselves from a seemingly endless succession of comic trials and tribulations.

A tale of comical misadventure with Mister Pickwick and his companions - the amorous Tupman, the 'poetic' Snodgrass and the `sporty' Winkle - all battling to extricate themselves from a seemingly endless succession of comic trials and tribulations.

When Raskolnikov murders an old money-lender and her sister, the evil of the crime infects his soul. Dostoyevsky attaches us unreservedly to his hero, creating an intimacy that is claustrophobic, full of tension, haunting and relentless. The novel is concerned with the psychology of a crime and the processes of guilt.

Dostoevsky's last novel is both a crime story and a passionate philosophical debate. Dissolute landowner Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov is murdered; his sons - atheist intellectuall Ivan, hot-blooded Dmitry, and saintly novice Alyosha - are all at some level involved. Bound up with this intense family drama is Dostoevsky's exploration of many deeply felt ideas about the existence of God, freedom of will, the collective nature of guilt and the disastrous consequences of rationalism.

Prince Lef Nikolayevitch Muishkin is one of the great characters in Russian literature. Is he a saint or just naive, an idealist or, as many in General Yepanchin's society feel, an 'idiot'? Certainly, his return to St. Petersburg after years in a Swiss clinic has a dramatic effect on the beautiful Aglaya, youngest of the Yepanchin daughters and on the charismatic but wilful Nastasia Phillipovna. As he paints a vivid picture of Russian society, Dostoyevsky shows how principles conflict with emotions - with tragic results.

Set against the turbulent years of the Napoleonic era, Alexandre Dumas's thrilling adventure story is one of the most widely read romantic novels of all time. A dashing young sailor is falsely accused of treason on his wedding day and incarcerated in the forbidding Chateau d'If. After staging a dramatic escape he sets out to discover the fabulous treasure of Monte Cristo and exact a carefully wrought revenge on his enemies.

The Musketeers' final adventure finds Artemis attempting a royal coup. Philippe, the 'Man in the Iron Mask', has been a prisoner in the Bastille for 18 years. He is also King Louis' twin brother. Artemis wants him on the throne, but D'Artagnan cannot allow it.

D'Artagnan's exciting adventure begins when he challenges three royal musketeers to duels. They soon become friends and together embark on a dangerous mission for their country.

Across the foyer of a crowded theatre, a handsome young man, Armand Duval, catches sight of one of the most desirable courtesans of Paris, Marguerite Gautier. When they meet, a mutual obsession is ignited - one that tears both their worlds apart. Set amidst the glittering splendours of 19th century Paris, the story was inspired by Dumas' own love affair with courtesan Marie Duplessis.

Set in the countryside of the English Midlands at the start of the 19th century, this is a story of seduction, crime, remorse and suffering. Hetty Sorrel is loved by Adam Bede, the village carpenter, but is deluded by the attentions of a young squire.

Dorothea Brooke is a young idealist whose search for intellectual fulfillment leads her into a disastrous marriage with a pedantic scholar. Tertius Lydgate is a charming but tactless doctor. His marriage to the spendthrift beauty Rosamund and his pioneering medical methods threaten to undermine his career. Their interweaving tales reveal a complex tale of idealism, disillusionment, loyalty and frustrated love.

Dorothea Brooke is a young idealist whose search for intellectual fulfillment leads her into a disastrous marriage with a pedantic scholar. Tertius Lydgate is a charming but tactless doctor. His marriage to the spendthrift beauty Rosamund and his pioneering medical methods threaten to undermine his career. Their interweaving tales reveal a complex tale of idealism, disillusionment, loyalty and frustrated love.

After he is wrongly accused of a crime and expelled from his community, weaver Silas Marner becomes a miser and a recluse. A strange sequence of events, and the appearance of a small child, transforms his life and awakens him to the redemptive power of love.

After he is wrongly accused of a crime and expelled from his community, weaver Silas Marner becomes a miser and a recluse. A strange sequence of events, and the appearance of a small child, transforms his life and awakens him to the redemptive power of love.

Brought up at Dorlcote Mill, Maggie Tulliver worships her brother Tom and is desperate to win the approval of her parents, but her passionate, wayward nature and her fierce intelligence bring her into constant conflict with her family. As she reaches adulthood, she finds herself torn between her relationships with three very different men: her proud and stubborn brother, a close friend who is also the son of her family's worst enemy, and a charismatic but dangerous suitor.

Brought up at Dorlcote Mill, Maggie Tulliver worships her brother Tom and is desperate to win the approval of her parents, but her passionate, wayward nature and her fierce intelligence bring her into constant conflict with her family. As she reaches adulthood, she finds herself torn between her relationships with three very different men: her proud and stubborn brother, a close friend who is also the son of her family's worst enemy, and a charismatic but dangerous suitor.

Medea, in which a spurned woman takes revenge upon her lover by killing her children, is one of the most shocking and horrific of all the Greek tragedies. Dominating the play is Medea herself, a towering and powerful figure who demonstrates Euripides' unusual willingness to give voice to a woman's case.

The hero of Fielding's first novel, a parody of Samuel Richardson's immensely successful 'Pamela', is footboy Joseph, who loses his job when he rejects Lady Booby's advances, commencing a comic odyssey of robbery, poverty and sexual trouble-making.

Emma Bovary is beautiful and bored, trapped in her marriage to a mediocre doctor and stifled by the banality of provincial life. An ardent reader of sentimental novels, she longs for passion and seeks escape in romantic fantasy, voracious spending and, eventually, in adultery. But even her affairs bring her disappointment and the consequences are devastating.

A young student railway engineer becomes captivated by his distant cousin, Phyllis. His older and more sophisticated colleague also falls under the spell of the family at Hope Farm Heathbridge and in particular the charm of Phyllis' father Ebenezer Holman. A poignant story of unfulfilled love.

In this witty and poignant comedy of early Victorian life in a country town, Elizabeth Gaskell offers an ironic commentary on the diverse experiences of men and women in the early nineteenth century. She explores the unlikely juxtapositions of old and new brought about by the pace of change and provides a timeless portrait of life in a peaceful English village.

This audiobook is set in Manchester and the acute poverty of the unemployed mill-hands. Mary Barton, daughter of an embittered worker, wins the attention of Henry Carson, son of one of the employers. But a group of workmen plot his murder as a warning to his class, and it falls upon Mary's father to perform the deed. Suspicion lies with Mary's working class admirer, Jem, who is tried for his life. Finally, John Barton is driven by guilt to confess.

This is one of the earliest novels of British industrial alienation, tellingly linked to the plight of 19th-century women. It tells of the relationship between Margaret Hale, a girl from the old rural south, and John Thornton, a mill owner from the new industrial north.

This is one of the earliest novels of British industrial alienation, tellingly linked to the plight of 19th-century women. It tells of the relationship between Margaret Hale, a girl from the old rural south, and John Thornton, a mill owner from the new industrial north.

Molly seems fated to suffer, firstly from her father's ill-conceived remarriage, and then from seeing her friend Roger Hamley infatuated with Molly's stepsister Cynthia. Everyone relies on Molly, but when will she have a fulfilling life of her own?

Molly seems fated to suffer, firstly from her father's ill-conceived remarriage, and then from seeing her friend Roger Hamley infatuated with Molly's stepsister Cynthia. Everyone relies on Molly, but when will she have a fulfilling life of her own?

Gogol's comic masterpiece presents a satirical portrait of provincial life in 19th century Russia. The middle-class Chichikov arrives in a small town and proceeds to artificially inflate the value of his estate by convincing provincial landowners to sell him the deeds to their dead serfs, the 'dead souls' of the title.

'The Vicar of Wakefield' is Goldsmith's most enduring novel. An 18th-century portrait of village life, the story is narrated by Dr. Primrose, the eponymous vicar, whose family endures much undeserved misfortune - including the loss of most of their money, the seduction of a daughter, the destruction of their home by fire and the vicar's incarceration.

Set in 19th century Africa, 'King Solomon's Mines' is the tale of hunter Allan Quatermain, who is commissioned by the valiant Sir Henry Curtis and his jovial friend Captain Good to lead them to the fabled lost mines of King Solomon. And so begins a thrilling safari, as the men hunt big game and go to war with the terrifying King Twala of Kukuanaland and his diabolical henchwoman Gagaoola en route to the mystery-shrouded mines.

The unhappily married Lady Constantine breaks all the rules of social decorum when she falls in love with Swithin St. Cleeve, an astronomer who is ten years her junior. Her husband's death leaves the lovers free to marry, but the discovery of a legacy forces them apart.

Independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, but the violence and murder which follows threatens the stability of the whole community.

Independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, but the violence and murder which follows threatens the stability of the whole community.

Jude Fawley is a rural stone mason with intellectual aspirations. Frustrated by poverty and the indifference of the academic institutions at the University of Christminster, his only chance of fulfilment seems to lie in his relationship with his unconventional cousin, Sue Bridehead, but theirs is a love affair that is ultimately doomed.

When beautiful Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her `cousin' Alec proves to be her tragic downfall and results in a child born out of wedlock. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future. With its sensitive depiction of the wronged Tess and powerful criticism of social convention, Tess of the D'Urbervilles is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy's novels.