Author: Saki
Author Saki
Narrator Barbara Leigh-Hunt
Duration 12m
A small-town politician is world-weary, until he meets some unlikely allies, in the form of some animal companions! Saki's brilliant satirical wit is showcased to perfection in this wonderful short story from CSA Word's 'Classic Saki Stories' collection.
View BookThe Case of the Tragedies In the Greek Room
Author: Sax Rohmer
Author Sax Rohmer
Narrator Edward Hardwicke
Duration 49m
Sax Rohmer was the pseudonym of Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (15 Feb 1883-1 June 1959) later adopted the name Sax Rohmer in real life; born in Birmingham, Warwickshire; underworld journalist; song and sketch writer. Moris Klaw, eccentric antique dealer and psychic, tackles an intriguing mystery in this unusual and memorable story set in a museum
View BookAuthor: Thomas Hardy
Author Thomas Hardy
Narrator Martin Shaw
Duration 2h 23m
Rivalry and love and hate are explored in this intense study of two men's struggle for power. An interesting novel due to its depiction of a violent love/hate relationship between two men, this story highlights the strains of competition in pre-industrial rural society. Michael henchard attains the position of town mayor, but the lies that lead him...
View BookAuthor: T E Lawrence
Author T E Lawrence
Narrator James Wilby
Duration 7h 52m
Lawrence of Arabia's seminal work charts his time in the British Military Intelligence in the Levantine territories, during the wars with the Turks. The manuscript is candid and action-packed, and was entirely re-written after Lawrence lost the original manuscript whilst changing trains.
View BookThe Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion
Author: Thomas Hardy
Author Thomas Hardy
Narrator Martin Jarvis
Duration 42m
A tale by Hardy, master of human tragedy, about a girl's sacrifice for her long-engagement and her doomed love for a visiting soldier.
View BookAuthor: Thomas Hardy
Author Thomas Hardy
Narrator Martin Shaw, Lindsay Duncan
Duration 2h 22m
Tess goes through her life at the mercy of unscrupulous men, who take advantage of their positions in society and of her. But how far can a woman be pushed before she is forced to take revenge? Tess of the D'Urbervilles is an early exercise in girl power, Tess spends her life being bullied by men and is pushed to the brink. A dramatic and tragic st...
View BookAuthor: Mark Twain, F Scott Fitzgerald, Edgar Allan Poe, Lewis Carroll, Bram Stoker, Various
Author Mark Twain, F Scott Fitzgerald, Edgar Allan Poe, Lewis Carroll, Bram Stoker, Various
Narrator Various
Duration 7h 52m
A wonderful selection of stories to make you laugh, cry and shiver! Featuring stories from Charles Dickens, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Saki amongst a great many famous others, this collection is a must for anyone who enjoys listening to a wide variety of stories from a diverse range of voices.
View BookAuthor: Victor Hugo
Author Victor Hugo
Narrator Michael Jayston
Duration 2h 24m
Hugo's vibrant portrait of the characters in late eighteenth century Paris is a world-famous story, which has also been made into an award-winning musical. Jean Valjean, an ex-convict, tries to turn his life around for the sake of his adopted daughter, Cosette. Set in turbulent times, this reading by Michael Jayston of this classic tale is a bustli...
View BookAuthor: Virginia Woolf
Author Virginia Woolf
Narrator Harriet Walter
Duration 20m
In "The Legacy," Gilbert Clandon is a widower whose wife has left him the collection of diaries she has kept since their marriage began. The diaries reveal that the wife he thought was completely devoted to him has been in love with another man. With this discovery also comes the realization that her death may not have been accidental, as he previo...
View BookAuthor: We Aytoun
Author We Aytoun
Narrator Patrick Malahide
Duration 15m
This truly perturbing story starts from harmless enough beginnings to give a blow-by-blow account of a terrifying encounter between one young man and and the cause of his many nightmares thenceforth. A bell-ringer climbs up to remove a muffler from a bell, so that practice can resume. However, his partner is called off on urgent business, and our h...
View BookAuthor: W W Jacobs
Author W W Jacobs
Narrator Patrick Malahide
Duration 25m
An old soldier visiting the Whites gives Mr White a monkey's paw, fabled to grant three wishes to three different men, but warns of the misery it can bring on the lives of those who use it.
View BookAuthor: Wilkie Collins
Author Wilkie Collins
Narrator Juliet Stevenson
Duration 1h 19m
Classic story from the author of The Woman In White, a young woman finds herself caught between true love and her family's honor
View BookShort Stories: The Thinking Man's Collection
Author: Various
Author Various
Narrator Various
Duration 4h 20m
Following the success of its 'Best of Women's Short Stories' collections, CSA Word now compliments its oeuvre of critically-acclaimed short stories with a collection that celebrates and studies MEN in all their forms. Inspirational, weird, wonderful, intriguing and even extraordinary men feature in this collection.
View BookAuthor: William Locke
Author William Locke
Narrator Harriet Walter
Duration 47m
A gifted young Polish violinist from Krakow, Andrea is bound for America when he is swept overboard by a storm. When the Widdington sisters discover the handsome stranger on the beach below their house, they nurse him back to health. However, the presence of the musically talented young man disrupts the peaceful lives of Ursula and Janet and the co...
View BookAuthor: William Thackeray
Author William Thackeray
Narrator Edward Petherbridge
Duration 2h 22m
Becky Sharpe will stop at nothing to increase her social standing, could anything get in her way? Becky Sharp is one of literature's most important and controversial characters; born into the lower classes, she must rely on her wit and guile and sexuality to master regent society. Neither friendship nor trust can even abate Becky's desire to climb...
View BookAuthor: William Wordsworth
Author William Wordsworth
Narrator Jasper Britton
Duration 1h 18m
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was born in Cockermouth, in the Lake District. His Lyrical Ballads, written in collaboration with Coleridge, was published in 1798, and shortly afterwards he settled in Dove Cottage, Grasmere, with his sister Dorothy. Inspired in his early manhood by the French Revolution, he grew disillusioned with revolutionary poli...
View BookAuthor: Carl Grose
Author Carl Grose
Narrator Various
Duration 59m
A surreal, dark comedy from BBC Radio 3's The Wire, by Cornish writer Carl Grose that was inspired by seeing a Johannesburg local newspaper headline about a farmer who hanged 49 donkeys from tree branches on his land. Originally broadcast 1 November 2008 and repeated 18 July 2009. In Grose's play, Stanley Bray, a Cornish farmer, is compelled to han...
View BookAuthor: Charles Dickens
Author Charles Dickens
Narrator Martin Jarvis
Duration 32m
The Bagman's Story is an uncharacteristically happy story taken from 'The Pickwick Papers'. Dealing with themes of marriage and having an overall positive tone, this tale is uplifting and gentle, with a reassuring and welcome direction.
View BookAuthor: Charles Dickens
Author Charles Dickens
Narrator Martin Jarvis
Duration 2h 23m
The timeless and enchanting festive story of Scrooge, who declares Christmas 'Humbug' and is taught otherwise. Ebenezer Scrooge is a money-grabbing skinflint who makes his own life and the lives of those around him nigh-unbearable with his mean and economical ways. One night just before Christmas, tucked up in his cold bed, he is shocked to meet ap...
View BookAuthor: Charles Lamb, Mary Lamb
Author Charles Lamb, Mary Lamb
Narrator Martin Jarvis, Rosalind Ayres
Duration 33m
This classic Shakespeare tale of false identities, cross-dressing, disguises and romantic confusion is brought to life in a story (rather than a play) format. Based in a Dutchy in France, most of the action in fact takes place in 'The Forest of Arden' where the characters in the play fall in love, fall out with each other and find out some unlikely...
View BookAuthor: Colin Dexter
Author Colin Dexter
Narrator Edward Hardwicke
Duration 14m
Neighborly concern about a suspicious stranger sets a new puzzle for Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse.
View Book