Set in the summer of 1939 on the day of the annual village pageant at Pointz Hall, the novel weaves together the musings of several disparate characters and their reactions to the imminence of the Second World War, which provides the novel with its dark undercurrent. Before the book was published in the spring of 1941, Virginia Woolf had taken her...

Jacob's Room is Virginia Woolf's first truly experimental novel. It is a portrait of a young man, who is both representative and victim of the social values which led Edwardian society into war. Jacob Flanders first appears as a child playing by the seaside. The novel follows his progress to school, Cambridge, London, Paris, Italy, Greece and to hi...

A retelling of John Bunyan's classic story that is filled with drama, excitement and adventure. On his journey of a life-time to the City of Gold, Christian meets an extraordinary cast of characters, such as the terrible Giant Despair and the monster Apollyon. Together with Hopeful, his steadfast companion, he survives the snipers and mantraps, the...

'The Waves', more than any of Virginia Woolf's other novels, conveys the complexities of human experience. Tracing the lives of a group of friends, 'The Waves' follows their development from childhood to youth and middle age. The novel is most remarkable for the rich poetic language that conveys the aspirations, triumphs and regrets of her characte...

The well-intentioned, wealthy physician Dr Jekyll is fascinated by the duality of human nature. He discovers a drug which can separate the good and evil sides of his character. But can he stop his dark side, the hideous Mr Hyde, from taking control?

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.

When the body of Sir Charles Baskerville is found in his garden, there are no signs to explain his death. Did he die of fright? Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson have a mysterious case to solve - is the Baskerville family really haunted by a phantom beast 'with blazing eyes and dripping jaws' which roams the mist-enshrouded moors around the isolated Ba...

Constance Chatterley feels trapped in her sexless marriage to the invalid Sir Clifford. Unable to fulfil his wife emotionally or physically, Clifford encourages her to have a liaison with a man of their own class. But Connie is attracted instead to her husband's gamekeeper and embarks on a passionate affair that brings new life to her stifled exist...

Nicolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) wrote only one major work as a gift for his ruling Prince, Lorenzo de Medici. When the senior civil servant role he had held for fourteen years came to an end due to the downfall of the Republic in 1512, he poured out his ideas and resentment in his writings. 'The Prince' has remained a classic ever since; valued for...

Edward, preoccupied by the banishment of his lover, Gaveston, barely acknowledges the nascent crises that threaten his realm. Chief among his critics is the morally righteous Mortimer, horrified by the king's criminal lapse of duty and yet able to countenance the further crime of taking arms against his king. As their enmity develops, and Mortimer'...

Frederick Jaeger stars in a BBC Radio 4 full-cast Unabridged of the legend that has haunted the imagination of millions for over a hundred years! Summoned to the forbidden heart of the Carpathian mountains, in the depths of Transylvania, Jonathan Harker journeys to Castle Dracula. There he becomes the unwitting prisoner of the mysterious nobleman w...

Raskolnikov, a student in St. Petersburg, murders an old woman, a money-lender, to prove his theory that violence purifies the strong. But no sooner is the deed done than Raskolnikov begins to feel remorse. What follows is one of the greatest psychological studies in world literature.

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Arnold Bennett's tale of love, tyranny and rebellion, 'Anna of the Five Towns'. Originally broadcast as the 'Classic Serial' in two parts on 6 and 13 March 2011. Brought up in the repressive tradition of Methodism by her miserly father, Anna Tellwright dreams of independence and freedom. On coming of age she learns th...

Based on the epic novel by Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck. Set during the Great Depression, The Grapes of Wrath tells the powerful story of the Joad family's trek from the dust bowl of Oklahoma to the promise of a new life in California. But what they find threatens to rip apart their lives, and sever the ties that bind them together. Starring Shirl...

Helen Johns reads some fascinating early writings by Jane Austen from the fictionalised A Collection of Letters. A prolific letter writer herself, in this collection we see how the budding writer is experimenting, and starting to explore the medium as a literary convention.

Soames Forsyte's great desire to own things even extends to his captivating wife, Irene. Jealous of her friendships with others, he concocts a plan to move her away to the countryside, where he might come to own her completely. Resisting his bitter intentions, she falls for architect Philip Bossiney, who is unfortunately engaged to her best friend...

The second part of John Galsworthy's Forsyte Saga, chronicling the downfall of an upper middle class family in the turbulent period of social change at the end of the 19th and start of the 20th centuries. This book tells of the struggle between Soames and his beautiful wife Irene, who leaves him but cannot persuade him to grant a divorce. While Soa...

Gulliver's Travels has been in print since its first publication in 1726, due to its popularity with young and old alike. As well as a wildly imaginative tale of travel and adventure, it is a comment on human nature and an overblown explorer's story, rich in symbolism and humour. Lemuel Gulliver, an English surgeon, sets sail on expeditions to extr...

Victor Frankenstein decides to build a `man' from assembled body parts stolen from corpses. He becomes obsessed with his 'project' and believes that he is pioneering scientific discovery - without considering the potential consequences. What results, of course, is a `monster', who looks grotesque and frightens any living soul who ever comes into co...

Read by members of the cast of the exciting new film based on 'The Decameron', 'Virgin Territory', Boccacio's raunchy 14th-Century work is given a new lease of life in this inventive and witty production by CSA WORD. A group of Florentine youth escape to the mountain countryside during the time of the plague, only to regale each other with vignette...

Winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and twice adapted into films, The Good Companions also inspired the Yorkshire Television series of the same name. One of Priestley's best-known works, it follows the fortune of a group of misfits who decide to join a concert troupe. An excellent choice for audio due to Priestley's use of regional diale...