This bold undertaking covers Western theatre from ancient Greece to the present day. It traces the development of dramatic art through the miracle plays, the great Shakespearean period, Molière and Racine in France, Goethe in Germany, through the nineteenth century and the main movements in the twentieth century. It is written by David Timson, the British actor and director who features extensively on Naxos AudioBooks in both roles.

Here are the stories of ten key Shakespeare plays: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, King Lear, Richard III, Othello, Macbeth, The Tempest, Henry V, and A Midsummer Nights Dream. David Timson presents the complex plots in a clear, entertaining and informal style, introducing the main characters in the context of the famous lines. This account not only entertains but but also acts as an ideal starter pack for children going to see the plays of Shakespeare.

David Timson introduces London Labour and the London Poor and its author Henry Mayhew, who in 1841 founded the satirical magazine Punch before his social conscience moved him to expose in his remarkable book the terrible poverty in London then the richest city in the world.

The stories of Shakespeares eight plays based on the Plantagenet Kings of England from Richard II to Richard III are retold here. Entertaining and informative, they present the plots and introduce the main characters. An ideal way to get to know the plays in preparation for a visit to the theatre.

The doors are opened to eight important plays, including Much Ado About Nothing, Antony and Cleopatra, The Winters Tale, Measure for Measure, and Alls Well That Ends Well. These newly written introductions by David Timson have proved eminently useful for young audiences coming to Shakespeare for the first time.

London Labour and the London Poor is a rare and fascinating insight into the lives and struggles of the 19th-century poor. Written by journalist and reformer Henry Mayhew, a founder and editor of the satirical magazine Punch, it collects hundreds of testimonials from the lower strata of Victorian society. We encounter street entertainers, ‘pure finders’, cabinetmakers, gingerbread sellers, ‘screeve-fakers’, swindlers and burglars. We hear accounts from toshers finding items in sewers, peop...

The first volume of David Timsons series retelling of the stories from Shakespeares plays was widely praised by newspapers and educators alike. Here is Volume II, with more key plays. It includes Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, and Henry IV, all texts which regularly appear on the exam syllabus.

A thinly disguised autobiographical novel, The Way of All Flesh is a powerful critique of late Victorian beliefs and values. It tells of several generations of the Pontifex family, with Ernest, son of hypocritical and domineering parents, at the centre of its narrative. After a disastrous career in the church, culminating in a spell in prison, Ernest goes on to find his own way in the world, rejecting both Christianity and the strictures imposed by his family.

Carmen is among the most popular operas for all the obvious reasons: great characters, a gripping story and fabulous music. But what sets it on a pinnacle is an amazing combination of three factors: a sizzling gipsy heroine (one of the most psychologically complex and compelling characters in all theatre), great atmosphere (Spain, hot sun, the bull-ring) and the prodigality of melodic invention one great tune after another, at least a dozen of which are the staples of Madison Avenue and th...

La Traviata owes its enduring popularity to a superb story of young love and fatal sacrifice, set to music by Italy’s master melodist at the peak of his powers. Interest and poignancy are added by the fact that this is a true story the baritone ‘heavy’ is Alexander Dumas who wrote The Count of Monte Cristo. But it is the central figure, the heroine Violetta, the archetypal ‘whore with the heart of gold’ who dominates the piece. It is her opera and we love her for it. A superb ‘human intere...

This remarkable poem, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I, was Spenser’s finest achievement. The first epic poem in modern English, The Faerie Queene combines dramatic narratives of chivalrous adventure with exquisite and picturesque episodes of pageantry. At the same time, Spenser is expounding a deeply felt allegory of the eternal struggle between Truth and Error…

Ambrose Chitterwick is in the lounge of the Piccadilly Palace Hotel, away from his overbearing aunt, to enjoy some afternoon refreshments when he witnesses a murder. It looks like suicide but he saw something being put into the lady’s coffee cup. He is Scotland Yard’s chief witness but he also conducts an investigation of his own. Despite his diffidence and self-deprecation, his sleuthing is not to be sniffed at. There are plenty of twists and turns in this journey to enjoy, especially wit...