The action is set within the claustrophobic confines of a British man-of-war ship in the summer of 1797. Here live the crew of the HMS Indomitable, many of them pressed into service against their will. Billy Budd, however, enjoys naval life. But the evil master-at-arms, Claggart, loathes his fresh-faced innocence and accuses him of mutiny. From th...

Phileas Fogg sets out on his epic adventure - will he make it back to London in time for tea? Steve Coogan, Jackie Chan and Cecile de France star in a new film version of the book. Here former Manuel actor Andrew Sachs gives full range to hs versatility using his many voices along with brilliant narration.

Anna Karenina risks her lifestyle and wealth when she falls for the wrong man in this dramatic and romantic tale of choices and consequences. Married to a man of importance in 19th century St.Petersburg, Anna 's world crumbles when she falls passionately in love with the handsome Count Vronsky, and is forced to choose between her lover and her you...

Alice is so bored of listening to her sister read that she gazes around the garden and sights a curious white rabbit, who seems to be wearing a coat and a pocket watch. Following the rabbit, she reaches the rabbit hole and tumbles down it-and the very strange adventure starts. One of the most famous and a pioneering example of 'Literary Nonsense',...

The master of surreal and wonderful fiction presents a story about one of his most famous characters - the perpetually grinning and ever-riddling Cheshire Cat. Alice's friend/tormentor in Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat has been immortalized in art, film, cartoon, television and now on audio.

An early morning awakening leads to a discovery much more shocking than a few rifled drawers at a grand house. A suspected bungled robbery that it seems has gone horribly wrong calls our heroes Holmes and Watson to The Abbey Grange, where their super-sleuthing may be able to shed some light on the mystery.

Voltaire and Pangloss travel the world looking for the good in life, but can they find it? Candide and his tutor Pangloss travel the globe trying to follow the philosophy 'All is for the best in this, the best of all possible worlds'. However, they are stung and let down at every turn, being robbed, tortured and ridiculed, amongst other trials. On...

Dickens' most autobiographical novel. It paints a powerful picture of social conditions in Victorian England. One of six Dickens' titles read by the great Martin Jarvis. His interpretation of Uriah Heep for BBC Television is a classic.

"Now what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life." So says Thomas Gradgrind in Dickens' immortal story set in the North of England in the 19th Century. Gradgrind, a local industrialist, gave this advice to his children set against a backdrop of huge wealth and even huger poverty where the rich...

Jane, an orphan, has her fair share of hardship before becoming a governess in the house of Mr Rochester and falling for her employer. But what are the strange noises coming from the attic, and may they thwart her romantic intentions? Jane Eyre, an orphan, has to suffer appalling conditions when she is sent away to a correctional school, then lands...

This is a story about two half-brothers. Though raised by the same man, the brothers' formative experiences are far from similar. Gregory, the child born of his mother's first marriage, was treated unfairly by his stepfather who was jealous and envious of the love his wife showed towards the child. His step-ather wanted this love for himself but he...

Conventional and circumstance bind the young Ethan Frome to a wife he cannot love. Grimly resigned to his fate, he sees for himself a life as bleak and constricted as the New England farm on which he lives. Then the appearance in his bleak personal landscape of his ailing wife's orphaned young cousin, Mattie Silver, rouses in Ethan a fierce passion...

Jay Gatsby is the man who has everything. But one thing will always be out of his reach. Everybody who is anybody is seen at his glittering parties. Day and night his Long Island mansion buzzes with bright young things drinking, dancing, and debating his mysterious character. For Gatsby---young, handsome, and fabulously rich---always seems alone in...

Many of the original cast from Alan Bennett's acclaimed National Theatre production appear in this special dramatisation for BBC Radio 4 including Richard Briers as Rat, Adrian Scarborough as Mole and Terence Rigby as Albert with Alan Bennett as the narrator. A wonderful, highly-acclaimed dramatic performance of a classic novel.

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.

When father mysteriously has to go away for a time, three children and their mother leave their comfortable home in London for the country. The children seek solace in the nearby railway station, making friends with Perks the porter and with the station master himself. But will their father ever return?

Jay Gatsby causes quite a stir when he buys a mansion on the east coast of America and sets about hosting the most lavish parties. Anyone who is anyone wants to be seen at his glittering parties, but Gatsby himself always seems to be watching and waiting. Who or what is he waiting for?

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?

The story of a handsome and ambitious carpenter's son, Julian Sorel, and of his life torn between the military (the scarlet) and the church (the black). Sorel is determined to rise above his humble peasant origins and make something of his life. To do this, he realises he must adopt the code of hypocrisy by which early 19th-century French Resoratio...

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.

The aristocratic Anna Karenina is a sophisticated woman who seems to have everything - beauty, wealth, popularity and an adored son. Yet she becomes increasingly aware of the emptiness of her life and exchanges her privilaged existence as the wife of Karenin for a passionate affair with the impetuous Count Vronsky - with tragic consequences.