William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic prose and verse read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly remastered stories are now available to download for the first time.‘The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.’Forced into exile in the Forest of Arden, lovers Rosalind and Orlando become entangled in a beguiling gam...

'[An] elegant and forensic double portrait setting Greene, that sociologist of sin, alongside the Kremlin's golden boy Philby, with the lengthening shadow of the cold war falling between them ... both his subjects make for terrific copy ... Part of the pleasure of Verkaik's book is the vicarious glide through their parallel rake's progresses.' - Pratinav Anil, Guardian'A wholly fascinating account of an extraordinary friendship. Robert Verkaik's nu...

**From bestselling, award-winning author James Ellroy, "the neo-noir eminence of L.A. crime fiction" (The New Yorker)—a gritty, fast-paced historical crime thriller set in 1962 Los Angeles during the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis"The Freddy Otash novels will be mentioned . . . as some of Ellroy's best work.” —NPR**It’s late October 1962. The Cuban Missile Crisis has just concluded. The Russkies blinked and pulled their ICBMs out of Cuba. Attorney G...

Isherwood’s story centers on the production of the vacuous fictional melodrama Prater Violet, set in nineteenth-century Vienna, providing ironic counterpoint to tragic events as Hitler annexes the real Vienna of the 1930s. The novel features the vivid portraits of imperious, passionate, and witty Austrian director Friedrich Bergmann and his disciple, a genial young screenwriter: the fictionalized Christopher Isherwood.

“That rare thing: a true underappreciated classic” (The New Yorker), about a smart and sensitive yet deeply troubled young woman fighting to live on her own terms“Provocative . . . Almost half a century after it was first published, The Princess of 72nd Street sounds like a contemporary cry for freedom from the expectations of others.”—The Atlantic“Kraf’s groovy, glimmering novel . . . deserves to be read—...

A timeless story of first love set in a remote fishing village in Japan**"A story that is both happy and a work of art. . . . Altogether a joyous and lovely thing." —**The New York TimesA young fisherman is entranced at the sight of the beautiful daughter of the wealthiest man in the village. They fall in love, but must then endure the calumny and gossip of the villagers.