John Buchan himself stated that he set out to write a book in the style of the ubiquitous American “Dime Novel”. What he actually succeeded in creating was a relatively unique and new genre for British literature, the Spy Novel. Those thrilling elements of the fleeing innocent man hunted through the wilds by sinister and undefined dark forces have been explored countless times in books and on screen ever since.

To categorise Chesterton’s tale "The Man Who Was Thursday" is near impossible and ultimately fruitless. Nightmare? Dream? Allegory? It matters little; like all Chesterton’s writing it is packed with rich imagery, whimsical humour and universal wisdom.Like Gabriel Syme, at the conclusion of the story, we may not be quite sure whether we too, were dreaming or not.Narrated by Simon Hester. With original music.

Although accepted to be a classic of children's literature, Kenneth Grahame's tale of Mole, Ratty, Badger and Toad is layered with the universal themes of nature, longing, belonging, awe and friendship; all woven around the exciting adventures of the incorrigible Mr Toad and his faithful companion's attempts to tame his wayward spirit.

John Bunyan's classic allegory of the Christian journey of pilgrimage has never lost its power to teach the important truths of Faith. We may prefer our allegories to be a little more sophisticated these days, and feel that characters such as Mr Worldy Wise, Mr Talkative, Giant Despair , Mercy and Great Heart are far from subtle.Yet Bunyan never wanted us in any doubt as to the thrust of his story, and if we can lay aside our 21st Century tendency to equate plain speaking with naiv...

In Mr Mulliner, P.G Wodehouse (1881 -1975) has created a conduit for all manner of tall tales. The amiable gentleman happily regales the drinkers in the Angler’s Rest Pub with fascinating stories, usually about his own relatives, which range from the somewhat dubious, to the downright unbelievable.Welcome to this eccentric world inhabited by Curates and Bishops high on health tonic, and a lovesick chap who utilises beauty remedies to win his love. A world w...

Authors all too often become the victims of their own success, forever associated with only a handful of their works which are a relatively small part of an otherwise prolific output. For an author of successful plays and novels as A.A. Milne was, to be then only known as a children's writer was an annoyance to say the least. Yet it comes as no surprise that in Milne's 1922 book "The Red House Mystery" we find much of the warmth and wit that was a few years later to characterize his childr...

Arguably the most famous Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.Dr Watson is sent by Holmes to the wilds of Dartmoor to protect the young Sir Henry Baskerville, heir to a substantial fortune but also threatened bythe historic Baskerville curse. Are supernatural powers at work in the shape of a diabolical hound? Or does a criminal hand lay behind the mystery?And why does Sherlock Holmes not leave London to assist Watson?Here is the first in the Compl...

In a Study in Scarlet Conan Doyle first presented to the world his unique creation Mr Sherlock Holmes almost complete.Over successive stories we learn a little more about the man, but it is not for character development that we turn to the Chronicles of Dr John Watson M.DAn iconic figure such as Holmes is all the better for his predicatbility, and even in this, the first of his recorded cases we can be confident that our hero is all we would expect.Part of the Compl...

The famous and thrilling stories of William Shakespeare's plays are lovingly retold in equally poetic language by Charles and Mary Lamb. First published in 1807 and intended as an introduction to the plays for children, these retellings have a beauty of their own which still captivate today.Music and narration by Simon Hester.

Perhaps the most famous and most accessible of Dickens' stories which can be enjoyed every year afresh at Christmas time, as we never tire of the inspirational story of Scrooge's redemption and transformation. Here performed with warmth and compelling narrative skill by Simon Hester

First published in 1895 this classic tale of three friends taking a boating holdiay on the Thames is as fresh as ever and creates a unique blend of humorous travelogue and historical information; even pausing at times, amidst the comedic mishaps, to reflect eloquently upon life and its sufferings.

The Father Brown stories sit in relation to other detective literature much as the diminutive and seemingly unworldly Priest himself often sits; quietly, thoughtfully and often to be overlooked. However, when he at lasts speaks it is with such understanding of human knowledge that the self-styled sophisticates that surround him are dumbfounded.C.K Chesterton is not concerned with the procedural minutiae of the detective’s work, nor with leaving a trail of red herrings with which...