The powerful sense of evil darkness, creepy hairy presences, cloaks, hoods, talons and tentacles pervades these classic ghost stories by M.R. James. A Cambridge scholar himself, James explored what happens when academics dabble in things they don’t understand and unleash forces of which they know nothing. The titles in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary range from witchcraft to the occult, and tap into our primal fear of things that go bump in the night. They are recognised as the best of their...

The first five volumes from the landmark BBC radio series This Sceptred Isle. Christopher Lee's epic history tells the story of Britain from the Romans to the death of Victoria. This collection includes the original first five volumes:55BC-1087: Julius Caesar to William the Conqueror From Britannia under the Romans to the Dark Ages and the invasions of Angles, Saxons, Danes, and Norwegians.1087-1327: The Making of the Nation The Crusades, Welsh and Scottish rebellions and t...

Naxos AudioBooks begins its new series of Great Poets represented by their most popular poems on one CD with William Blake, whose 250th anniversary of birth falls this year. This CD contains all of his most popular works Tyger, the Auguries of Innocence, Jerusalem, as well as some lesser-known poetry that demonstrates the range and power of his verse. They are strikingly read by Robert Glenister, Michael Maloney and Stephen Critchlow.

From the Collins Crime Club archive, the forgotten second novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, once dubbed ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’ and recognised as one of the ‘big four’ Golden Age crime authors.When the body of Sir William Ponson is found in the Cranshaw River near his home of Luce Manor, it is assumed to be an accident – until the evidence points to murder. Inspector Tanner of Scotland Yard discovers that those who would benefit most from Sir William’s death seem to have...

Faust is one of the pillars of Western literature. This classic drama presents the story of the scholar Faust, tempted into a contract with the Devil in return for a life of sensuality and power. Enjoyment rules until Faust’s emotions are stirred by a meeting with Gretchen, and the tragic outcome brings Part 1 to an end. Part 2, written much later in Goethe’s life, places his eponymous hero in a variety of unexpected circumstances, causing him to reflect on humanity and its attitudes to li...

A full-cast dramatisation of one of the greatest war novels of all time.First published as a novel in 1929, All Quiet on the Western Front tells the story of a group of young German soldiers who are enduring, and then coming to terms with, the realities of the First World War.At the age of 19, following the outbreak of the First World War, Paul Bäumer enlists in the German Army. He is deployed to the Western Front, where the experience of life and death in the tren...

A trio of novels by the award-winning author, dramatised with full casts for BBC RadioCarlisle-born author Margaret Forster wrote over 25 acclaimed novels, as well as numerous memoirs and biographies. She was best known for her classic Georgy Girl, a zeitgeist tale of Swinging Sixties London which was adapted as a hit film and inspired a chart-topping single by The Seekers. Featured here is a 2013 radio dramatisation, together with two compelling stories o...

When Lewis Luby (Jeremy Irons) comes to, late at night in an Italian hospital, he finds himself lying under the monstrous big toe of God. Surely there has been some mistake: Luby, who has never for one moment believed in the immortality of the soul, cannot possibly be in heaven! John Mortimer had the idea for 'Mr Luby's Fear of Heaven' when he first visited the Santa Maria della Scala hospital in Siena and saw patients lying in beds under ceilings decorated with 15th-Century frescoes depic...

BBC Radio dramatisations and readings of Browning’s most famous poems, performed by stars including Anton Lesser, Roger Allam and David Tennant, plus two bonus playsVictorian poet Robert Browning was renowned for his evocative dramatic monologues peopled with vivid, morally ambiguous characters. In 1846, he eloped with fellow poet Elizabeth Barrett, and they rapidly became Britain’s most famous literary power couple. This collection brings together four of Browning...

Three original murder mysteries featuring Bangalore detective Uma RaoActor, writer and director Mahesh Dattani is the first playwright in English to be awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award by India’s National Academy of Letters. Included here are all three of his plays featuring Uma Rao – PhD student, daughter-in-law of Bangalore's deputy commissioner of police, and wife of the superintendent. Priyanga Burford (neé Elan), stars as the...

The classic political drama that inspired the hit Netflix seriesFrancis Urquhart, Chief Whip of the Conservative Party, wants to get to Number 10 and will stop at nothing in his pursuit of power. This full-cast dramatisation packs a powerful punch in the fast-paced political thriller based on Michael Dobbs bestselling novel of the same name.The country is undecided after a close election and the party must stand united behind a new leader. Francis Urquhart ...

The renowned masterpiece from one of the most influential writers in history, Machiavelli"It's very, very good...an engaging exploration of one of the most influential political works ever written." - Entertainment FocusThe Prince, written during the Italian Renaissance by author Niccolò Machiavelli, is an internationally renowned masterpiece about power, greed and strategy in government. Regarded by some as a manual for would-be t...