In the summer of 1986, two Cambridge history undergraduates set out on Marco Polo's famous journey across Central Asia to the city of Xanadu in Mongolia. This account traces their experiences in the war-torn Middle East and along 1500 miles of the Silk Road to their eventual destination.

Alan Moorehead, a widely respected reporter, earned his reputation as a war correspondent during the Second World War. 'No Room in the Ark' describes his journey from Johannesburg to Uganda, the Belgian Congo and Kenya. The main theme is the negative impact of civilisation on the wild animals of southern and eastern Africa.

On 23rd September 1878, Stevenson set out on an 11 day tour of the Cervennes with his recalcitrant donkey, Modestine, following completion of his writings in the French town of Monastier. His natural affinity for France, his appreciation of its landscape, and his enthusiasm for the French way of life as well as his account of the conflict between t...

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 life and times of 'Mr Chips', a much-loved classics master at Brookfield school since 1870. Full of the jokes and eccentricities of school life, Mr Chipping's journey starts as a diffident young master taking prep for the first time, progressing through middle-age and his encounters with Katherine, whose 'new woman' opinions create far-reaching...

This collection includes both vintage crime stories such as 'Loopy' by Ruth Rendell; 'Insufficient Evidence' by Frances Hegarty; 'Nine Points of the Law' by E. W Hornung; 'The Case for the Defence' by Graham Greene; 'Bluebeards Bathtub' by Margery Allingham and 'Hunted Down' by Charles Dickens as well the classic crime stories 'The Blue Cross' by G...

The four stories in this collection include Baroness Orczy's 'The Mysterious Death on the Underground Railway', Maurice Leblanc's 'The Mysterious Railway Passenger,' Victor Whitechurch and E. Conway's 'A Warning in Red' and Freeman Wills Crofts's 'The Mystery of the Sleeping Car Express'.

'Plain Tales from the Hills' is an outstanding collection of stories of colonial life capturing all the richness of India's sights, sounds and smells. The tales Kipling tells are ones of loss, suffering and broken faith, a far cry from the celebratory patriotism that surrounded the Empire at the time. He writes with passion about the cultural, raci...

A rich selection of Irish stories comprising: 'The Model Millionaire' by Oscar Wilde; 'Rosanna' by Agnes Castle; 'The Brown Man' by Gerald Griffin; 'Bob Pentland, or the Ganger Outwitted' by William Carleton; 'Araby' by James Joyce; 'Adventures of a Strolling Player' by Oliver Goldsmith and 'Sir Dominic Sarsfield' by Sheridan Le Fanu.

Introducing the Larkins, a family with a place in popular mythology. Here they come, crashing their way through the English countryside in the wake of Pa, the quick-eyed, golden-hearted junk-dealer, and Ma, with a mouthful of crisps and a laugh like a jelly.

Generous-hearted Benny and the elfin Eve Malone have been best friends throughout their childhoods in sleepy Knockglen. When they both go to study in Dublin, they meet a circle of friends that includes handsome Jack Foley and the selfish and beautiful Nan Mahon, whose ambition will drag them all into trouble. As Knockglen is surprised into new life...

When Victor Dean fell to his death on the iron staircase at Pym's Advertising Agency no one was sorry. Nobody had really liked him - and even contributing to his wreath was a bit of an imposition. But when Lord Peter Wimsey (alias Death Bredon) joins the firm and asks some awkward questions it appears that Dean's death was not an accident - it was...

Storm-bound over the New Year at a Fenland rectory, Lord Peter Wimsey willingly lends a hand in the ringing of a New Year's Eve peal of the church bells. Some months later, a handless, disfigured corpse is discovered in a fresh grave in the churchyard. Lord Peter receives a plea for help from the rector and embarks on one of his most complicated in...

In this account of Michael Palin's travel adventure for the BBC, he journeys for almost a year, covering 50,000 miles and all of the 18 countries that border the Pacific Ocean, encompassing a wide diversity of landscape, culture and people. The Pacific Rim is one of the world's most volatile areas, with economies that are expanding faster than anyw...

The seventh part of the major Radio 4 series that tells the history of Britain from the Roman invasion to the death of Queen Victoria. This audiobook focuses on the period 1760 - 1792, a time of revolution.

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.

Anyone alive in the 18th century would have known that 'the longitude problem' was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day - and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. As the scientific establishment throughout Europe struggled, from Gali...

Having filled roles in films as varied as 'Lawrence of Arabia' and 'Star Wars', Guinness is one of the most distinguished and beloved movie actors of his generation. His charmingly sincere diary entries offer a glimpse of the private side of his often very public life. What makes Guinness a fine and versatile actor is precisely what also makes him...

Young, beautiful Elinor Carlisle stood serenely in the dock, accused of the murder of Mary Gerrard, her rival in love. The evidence was damning: only Elinor had the motive, the opportunity and the means to administer the fatal poison.

Professor Aromax and his friends have a mission: to rid the sea of a terrible beast. When they are taken captive by the mysterious creature they discover that it is in fact a man-made vessel, and the three men suddenly find themselves the helpless prisoners of Captain Nemo. Resigned to their fate, they begin a miraculous journey on a submarine ship...

A poem of epic scale, which conjures up a vast, awe-inspiring cosmos and ranges across huge tracts of space and time. Milton tells the story of man's creation, fall and redemption, the plight of Adam and Eve and the ambition and vengefulness of Satan and his cohorts.