North and South follows our widely-praised recording of Cranford (2008), transporting the listener to the heart of Victorian England by vividly delineating the social landscape and an unlikely romance which flourishes within it. Saddened to be leaving behind the sophistication of the South, Margaret Hale...

A beautiful June day in the Yorkshire Dales, and a group of children are spending the last of their half-term freedom swimming in the river near Hindswell Woods. But the idyll is shattered by their discovery of a man's body, hanging from a tree. DI Annie Cabott soon discovers he is Mark Hardcastle, the well-liked and successful set designer for the Eastvale Theatre's current production of Othello. Everything points...

The Pure in Heart is the second of Susan Hill's novels set in the English Cathedral town of Lafferton and featuring the enigmatic policeman, Detective Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler. A little boy is kidnapped as he stands with his satchel at the gate of his home, waiting for his lift to school. An ex-con finds it impossible to stay straight. A severely handicapped young woman dies in the night-has someone who loves her...

Much of Peter Ackroyd's work has been concerned with the life and past of London but here, as a culmination, is his definitive account of the city. It has been abridged for audio into five broad areas of interest and is also available as a box set. For Ackroyd London is a living organism, with its own laws of growth and change, thus London is a biography rather than a history. It differs from other histories, too, in the range and...

A masterpiece: London: The Biography is the culmination and distillation of Peter Ackroyd's lifelong obsession with the history and topography of London. Vividly anecdotal and brilliantly original. Much of Peter Ackroyd's work has been concerned with the life and past of London but here, as a culmination, is his definitive account of the city. It has been abridged for audio into five broad areas of interest and is also...

Much of Peter Ackroyd's work has been concerned with the life and past of London but here, as a culmination, is his definitive account of the city. It has been abridged for audio into five broad areas of interest and is also available as a box set. For Ackroyd London is a living organism, with its own laws of growth and change, thus London is a biography rather than a history. It differs from other histories, too, in the range...

Much of Peter Ackroyd's work has been concerned with the life and past of London but here, as a culmination, is his definitive account of the city. It has been abridged for audio into five broad areas of interest and is also available as a box set. For Ackroyd London is a living organism, with its own laws of growth and change, thus London is a biography rather than a history. It differs from other histories, too, in the range and...

Ackroyd portrays London from the time of the druids to the beginning of the twenty-first century, noting magnificence in both epochs, but this is not a simple chronological record. It is a comprehensive account, animated by Ackroyd's concern for the close relationship between the present and the past as well as by what he describes as the peculiar "echoic" quality of London whereby its texture and history actively affect...

To escape the outbreak of the plague that ravished Europe in the 1340s, ten friends enclosed themselves in a castle outside Florence. To pass the time, they entertained one another with a series of stories: Ten stories over a period of ten days...

Rumi's Spiritual Verses is the greatest mystical poem in Islamic culture and of all time. Rumi tells of our human separation from reality, love and truth. He shows how love - neither erotic nor sentimental but divine, by which the universe is held together - enlightens ignorance and dissolves suffering. The first book of the Masnavi is the key to the...

June Whitfield stars as Miss Marple in eight thrilling full-cast BBC Radio 4 dramatisations. A Pocket Full of Rye A spate of unusual deaths is linked to the nursery rhyme 'Sing a Song of Sixpence'. 4.50 from Paddington After witnessing a murder on a train, Mrs McGillicuddy calls on Miss Marple. At Bertram’s...

Chaucer's greatest work, written towards the end of the fourteenth century, paints a brilliant picture of medieval life, society and values. The stories range from the romantic, courtly idealism of 'The Knight's Tale' to the joyous bawdy of the Miller's. All are told with a freshness and vigour in this modern verse translation that make them a delight to hear.

This set includes an abridged performance of both Frankenstein and Dracula. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment and Dracula While there have been many famous vampires in modern media, none are as well known as Dracula, the modern introduction to the blood-drinking creatures of the night.

The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam, in the famous translation by Edward Fitzgerald, remains one of the most popular poems. It expressed the fascination of Victorian England with the Orient. Here, it forms the main work on the first half of this program, along with other shorter poems by other leading Persian and Indian figures, including Rumi, Sa'di, and Rabindranath Tagore. The second half of the program is devoted...

A witty, bawdy, erotic but classic collection of poetry designed to celebrate the most sensual of human pleasures. Over the ages, many poets have put pen to paper in celebration of that most raw and yet most beautiful of human instincts - erotic love. This anthology includes verse by Herrick, Marlowe, Jonson, Byron, Verlaine, Whitman, Yeats, Cummings, and, from our own time, John Betjeman. All aspects of erotic love...

Here is a fine selection of poetry from the great innovator of the dramatic monologue: Robert Browning. Imbued with psychological penetration, lively wit, and colloquial exuberance which were hitherto alien to Victorian poetry, Brownings poetry was remarkable for its time. His expert mimicry of voices from across the breadth of human nature makes for entertaining listening, and the characters that he depicts, such...

Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young ladies in nineteenth-century New England.

A Study in Scarlet was the very first Sherlock Holmes novel. Here, in the most remarkably precise manner, Doyle produced two of the most well-known characters in English fiction. Their individual traits and their relationships, their ambitions and foibles are introduced against the backdrop of an exciting story of revenge and persistence, which starts in Victorian England but moves to the American West, and...

In his Four Just Men series, Edgar Wallace comes up with something different: the villains are not necessarily bad people, and the pursuers of justice, the Four Just Men, as they call themselves, are acting outside the law. They argue that their actions are for the public good, and dispassionately eke the ultimate revenge death on their victims. In their turn, the Four Just Men are pursued by the police, but somehow remain...

Edmund Spenser first published The Faerie Queene in 1590. The poem tells of the adventures of the Redcross Knight and the Lady Una. The kingdom of Una's royal parents is menaced by a dragon and the queen of Fairyland, Gloriana, commissions Redcross to accompany Una to her parents' faraway kingdom to slay the dragon.

This poem explores the life of elephants in their natural habitat, in captivity, and details their relentless destruction at the hand of man. It also includes a fascinating compilation of facts and figures from elephant history.

In Sodom and Gomorrah (Cities of the Plain), Part I, the fourth volume of Marcel Proust's monumental, seven volume Remembrance of Things Past, Marcel continues his voyage of discovery through the homosexual world, where the affairs of the ageing Baron de Charlus lead to unexpected and hilarious adventures. But the discovery of a secret in the past of his mistress, Albertine, fills Marcel with fear and forces...

Amid a background of wars and revolution, the 19th century produced many of the world's best-loved composers including Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin and Tchaikovsky. "Discover Music of the Romantic Era" charts the course of music through these turbulent but exhilarating times with 40 music excerpts. Light-hearted but authoritative, it tells the fascinating, often scandalous life stories of the 19th century's...

The tale of social-climbing, arriviste Julien Sorel brilliantly captures the contradictions and hypocrisies permeating French society under the Bourbon Restoration. Using his formidable intellect, innate cunning and charm, Julien clambers his way to the top, manipulating and seducing those who have the power to give him the social status he desires. However, Julien's idealism and Napoleonic ambitions are always...

Sherlock Holmes is clear proof of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's talent for creating memorable characters and there are many more to be found in the rest of his body of work. The hero of The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard is one of his most ingenious inventions, brought to life, here, with wicked humour by Rupert Degas. Preposterously vain and yet endearing, Brigadier Gerard makes for a tremendously fun companion as...

Wexford had every reason to remember the Painter case - it was the first murder he'd ever handled on his own. There had been no doubts about the case, until now. Someone wants the case reopened, and they want Wexford proved wrong.

Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church and the country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers ever seen. Under the order of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent through the country to investigate the monasteries. There can only be one outcome: the monasteries...

Autumn, 1541. Following the uncovering of a plot against his throne in Yorkshire, King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to overawe his rebellious subjects there. Accompanied by a thousand soldiers, the cream of the nobility, and his fifth wife Catherine Howard, the King is to attend an extravagant submission of the local...

The accomplished Corinthian Sir Richard Wyndham is wealthy, sophisticated, handsome and supremely bored. Tired of his aristocratic family constantly pressuring him to get married, he determines to run away after meeting the delightful, unconventional heroine Penelope Creed.

When Gervase Frant, Seventh Earl of St Erth, returns at last from Waterloo to his family seat at Stanyon, he enjoys a less than welcome homecoming. Only Theo, a cousin even quieter than himself, is there to greet him - and when he meets his stepmother and young half-brother he detects open disappointment..

Society believes the worst of Justin Alastair, the notorious Duke of Avon who is clearly proud of his Sobriquet, Satanas. It is he who buys Leon body and soul from a scoundrel in a Paris backstreet.

Brought to you by Penguin - the spellbinding story of love, friendship and the power of words to change the world by the international best-selling author of Me Before You. The greatest love story is the one you least expect.... Alice Wright doesn’t love her new American husband. Nor her domineering father-in-law or the judgemental townsfolk of...

Read by Jonathan Agnew with a foreword read by the magnificent Stephen Fry with surprise contributions from Jonathan's test-match special colleagues! Perfect for cricket fans everywhere, Thanks Johnners is a warm and witty tribute to Brian Johnston and his time at the helm of Test Match Special.

The best-selling author of BRINGING UP BÉBÉ investigates life in her forties, and wonders whether her mind will ever catch up with her face. When Pamela Druckerman turns 40, waiters start calling her "Madame," and she detects a disturbing new message in mens' gazes: I would sleep with her, but only if doing so required no effort whatsoever. Yet forty isn't even technically middle-aged anymore. And after a lifetime of...

A historical novel about smugglers set on Mersea Island in the 17th century inspired by a series of seances held by the Allingham family while on holiday on Mersea. Margery Allingham was born in Ealing, London, in 1904, to a family immersed in literature. Her first novel, Blackkerchief Dick, was published in 1923, when she was 19. Her first work of detective fiction was a serialized story published by the Daily Express in 1927.

Mordred is the son of King Arthur, bastard child of his union with his half sister Morgause. Prophesied by Merlin to kill Arthur, Mordred is stolen away from his mother and raised in secrecy by a kind couple on an isolated Orkney island in the hopes that he will defy his fate. Mordred, known to history as a traitor and a murderer, is no villain but a quick-witted young man, with hopes and dreams of his own. But try as he...

The Spanish House is a mixture of designs, Georgian, Gothic and Moorish, as if whoever started it had simply got bored. It has long been known as an architectural folly to locals, and is now nearly derelict to boot. When its reclusive owner dies intestate, the Spanish House is left to his city-dwelling niece. For Isabel, recently widowed, the house is a potential lifeline - the only hope she has of providing for her two children...

The only place Suzanna Peacock finds comfort is her shop, which provides a haven for the misfits in town. But she is forced to confront events of the past and her family that have been haunting her for so long. And she discovers that the key to her happiness may have been in front of her all along...

For fans of Jojo Moyes' The Girl You Left Behind, this prequel novella, Honeymoon in Paris. Sophie, a provincial girl, is swept up in the glamour of Belle époque Paris but discovers that loving an artist like Edouard brings undreamt of complications. Following in Sophie's footsteps 100 years later, Liv, after a whirlwind romance, finds her Parisian honeymoon is not quite the romantic getaway she had been hoping for....

On Coronation night the ex-pat community in Hong Kong gathers for a celebration party, and twenty-one-year-old Joy falls in love at first sight. She is engaged within 24 hours, but will not see her fiance again for a year. Fifteen years later, when Sabine, her mother and grandmother are brought together, not only a deeply buried family secret is discovered, but also some fundamental truths: about the conflict between...

There is one serial killer who has shaped and defined police profiler Tony Hill's life. One serial killer whose evil surpasses all others. One serial killer who has the power to chill him to the bone: Jacko Vance. And now Jacko is back in Tony's life. Even more twisted and cunning than before, he is focused on wreaking revenge on Tony - and DCI Carol Jordan - for the years he has spent in prison. Tony doesn't know when Jacko will...

From the bestselling author of Fatherland and Pompeii, comes the first novel of a trilogy about the struggle for power in ancient Rome. In his "most accomplished work to date" (Los Angeles Times), master of historical fiction Robert Harris lures readers back in time to the compelling life of Roman Senator..

On a May afternoon in 1943, an American military plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard.

The brilliant new crime novel from Ian Rankin, showing all the skills that made Rebus the most popular character in modern crime fiction. For the right man, all doors are open.... Mike Mackenzie is a self-made man with too much time on his hands and a bit of the devil in his soul. He is looking for something to...

A Genius Performance by Derek Jacobi! Ellis Peters' medieval sleuth is one of the best loved characters in the history of British crime fiction; now, together for the first time, here are three of his finest cases in one collection. With the author's eye for a gripping plot and the frailties of human nature, and a peerless performance by Sir Derek Jacobi, this is the perfect audio collection for Ellis Peters listeners old and new.

As the acknowledged 'Queen of Crime' P.D. James was frequently commissioned by newspapers and magazines to write a special short story for Christmas. Four of the very best of these have been rescued from the archives and are published together in a beautiful hardback edition. P.D. James's sparkling prose illuminates each of these perfectly formed stories, making them ideal reading for...

The addictive new psychological thriller from the author of The Girl on the Train, the runaway Sunday Times Number One best seller and global phenomenon. In the last days before her death, Nel called her sister. Jules didn't pick up the phone, ignoring her plea for help. Now Nel is dead. They say...

D-Day, 6 June 1944 was a victory of arms. But it was also a triumph for a different kind of operation: one of deceit, aimed at convincing the Nazis that Calais and Norway, not Normandy, were the targets of the invasion force. The deception involved every branch of Allied wartime intelligence. But at its heart was the "Double Cross System", a team of double agents controlled by the secret Twenty Committee.

Political satire is at its sharpest in these four classic capers from the corridors of power. In 'Open Government', the newly-appointed Minister for Administrative Affairs, the Rt. Hon. James Hacker, meets his machiavellian Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey, who persuades him that good government is not always open government. 'Big Brother' finds Hacker seeking support from the opposition in order to overcome...

Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks has recently moved to the Yorkshire Dales from London to escape the stress of the metropolis. But he soon finds that life in the country is not quite as idyllic as he had imagined. A peeping Tom is frightening the women of Eastvale. Two glue-sniffing thugs are breaking into...

World War II is over, and former German intelligence officer Captain Gregor Reinhardt has returned to Berlin, having been hired back onto Berlin's police force. When a man is found slain, Reinhardt embarks on a gruesome investigation. It seems a serial killer is on the loose, and matters only escalate when it's discovered that one of the victims was the brother of a Nazi scientist. Reinhardt realises that this investigation...

M's funeral. One man missing from the graveside. The traitor accused of his murder. Bond. Behind the Iron Curtain, a group of former Smersh agents want to use the British spy in an operation that will change the balance of world power. Bond is smuggled into the lion's den—but whose orders is he following, and will he obey them when the moment of truth arrives? In a mission where treachery is all around and one false...

*** This is a Very Rare item and has been listed with a very small audio defect (5 seconds) which occurs on disk 6 *** Returning to her hometown after the funeral of her parents, writer Erica Falck finds a community on the brink of tragedy. The death of her childhood friend, Alex, is just the beginning. Her wrists slashed, her body frozen in an ice cold bath, it seems that she has taken her own life.

In this astounding book, David Eagleman entertains 40 fictional possibilities of life beyond death. With wit and humanity he asks the key questions about existence, hope, technology and love. These stories are full of big ideas and bold imagination.This audiobook assembles a stellar cast of readers who bring the scenarios of SUM brilliantly alive: Gillian Anderson, Emily Blunt, Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker, Jack Davenport...

A collection of real-life stories and memories that capture the experience of nursing in the bush, gathered by the inimitable Bill 'Swampy' Marsh, best-selling author of Great Australian Flying Doctor Stories and Great Australian Police Stories. With hearts as big as the outback, rural and remote nurses are a dedicated and gutsy bunch who work selflessly to care for their communities, often in isolated and inhospitable...