Between the eighth and eleventh centuries Vikings stormed out of their Scandinavian homelands to raid and loot along the coasts of Europe. In old Norse to ‘go a’viking’ meant to take to sea in a long ship for an adventure. Sometimes this was a trading trip, sometimes a piratical raid. Often it was both. Explorers and traders, warriors and poets, they ranged between Byzantium in the south and Iceland, and even North America, in the North. Their fame lives on.

Shamela is a bawdy, spirited and hilarious response to Samuel Richardson’s hugely popular 1740 novel, Pamela. In this pointed satire, Shamela (which transpires to be the real name of Richardson’s Pamela) reveals the ulterior motives behind the events that took place in Pamela. Shamela is unlike the virtuous young lady portrayed in Richardson’s novel and she takes command of her master, Squire Booby. Our heroine has planned it all out from the start and she is determined to entrap her maste...

Cousin Phillis a miniature masterpiece is set in the 1840s, when the coming of the railway was changing the face of England, and quiet rural communities, coming into contact with the outside world, were changed for ever. The story focuses on the effect these changes have on a naïve country girl, Phillis, as she encounters love, with all its pains and pleasures, for the first time.

Pamela, Samuel Richardson’s tale of a beautiful teenage servant-girl protecting her virtue from the amorous advances of her master, created a furore on its publication in 1740. The reading public was split into two factions: those who accepted the story as an encouragement to virtuous behaviour, and those who saw it as disguised pornography. Written in the form of a series of letters from Pamela to her parents, Pamela is a landmark in the development of the English novel.

Upon inheriting the Moonstone, a huge and priceless diamond, Rachel Verinder’s delight turns to dismay when the gem suddenly disappears. But this is no ordinary theft. Sergeant Cuff of Scotland Yard is called in and immediately suspects an intricate plot. However, not even his powers of detection can penetrate fully the mysteries surrounding the diamond. And as we listen to each character’s version of the events, layer upon layer of drama and suspense build to the final and astonishing den...

Julius Caesar is Shakespeare’s most political play. He examines whether political assassination can ever be justified, and the effect of this act of violence on its perpetrators. The high ideals of Brutus are tested to the full by the consequences of Julius Caesar’s murder; as is the self-interest of Cassius, whilst in the chaos that ensues, the opportunism of Mark Antony and Octavius is served rather than the cause of freedom. A classic study of power, Shakespeare shows the devastating ef...

This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady (1748) by Samuel Richardson is a monumental epistolary novel that tells the tragic story of Clarissa Harlowe, a virtuous and intelligent young woman trapped between family pressure and social expectations in 18th-century England.Told entirely through letters, the novel follows Clarissa as her ambitious family tries to force her into a wealthy but loveless marria...

A glittering collection of 36 short stories by Edwardian satirist Hector Hugh Munro, who wrote under the pseudonym "Saki". Beasts And Super-Beasts includes many of Saki's best loved tales, exemplifying his witty and multi-layered storytelling, satirizing the habits and morals of British society of his day. "The She-Wolf", "Laura", "The Boar Pig", "The Brogue", "The Hen", "The Open Window", "The Treasure Ship", "The Cobweb", "The Lull", "The Unkindest Blow", "The Romancers", "The Schartz-Me...

In one of the first novels in the English language, we follow the picaresque adventures of Joseph Andrews, a virtuous young man who is keen to maintain his innocence, despite being coerced into bed by nearly every woman he encounters. The episodic journey sees him head home to London with his tutor, Parson Adams, with the aim of finding his sweetheart, Fanny. Much mayhem ensues along the way as they become embroiled in a series of escapades and slapstick brawls. Fielding is an expert satir...

Elizabeth Gaskell's "A Dark Night's Work" is a hauntingly atmospheric novella that masterfully intertwines elements of mystery, romance, and social critique. Set in the rural English countryside during the early 19th century, this story delves into the complexities of human nature, the consequences of past actions, and the struggle for redemption.The narrative centers around Ellinor Wilkins, the beautiful and compassionate daughter of Mr. Edward Wilkins, a respected yet ambitious l...

Black Heart and White Heart, is a story of the courtship, trials and final union of a pair of Zulu lovers in the time of King Cetywayo.

"Ruth" by Elizabeth Gaskell is a poignant novel exploring morality and societal judgment in 19th-century England. Ruth Hilton, an orphaned seamstress, is seduced and abandoned by wealthy Henry Bellingham. Shunned after giving birth out of wedlock, she finds kindness from Mr. and Mrs. Benson, who offer her refuge. As Ruth strives for redemption through hard work and compassion, her past haunts her, threatening her newfound life. Gaskell challenges Victorian hypocrisy, portraying Ruth as a s...