Lemuel Gulliver, a slightly staid ship’s doctor, relates the tales of his astonishing travels. He encounters the tiny, warring Lilliputians; the giant, sceptical Brobdingnagians; the ludicrously intellectual Laputans; and the idealistic if rather stolid Houyhnhnms and their bestial servants, the Yahoos. An immediate best-seller when it was first published in 1726, Gulliver’s Travels has remained a favourite ever since. It was an attack on the politics and society of Swift’s day, but it is ...

Brahms is one of the best loved yet most controversial of all the Romantics. Almost uniquely, his works have never suffered the slightest period of eclipse. Profoundly emotional yet governed by an iron discipline, the music, like the man, is a fascinating, entertaining, often deeply moving blend of opposites. He had a gift for friendship and a capacity for love far beyond the ordinary, yet no man could be ruder or more hurtful. Though humble, he was consumed by a sense of destiny, and his ...

Treasure Island must be the most enthralling adventure book ever written. As we listen to the voice of Jim Hawkins telling his extraordinary tale, and later that of his companion Dr Livesey, we are plunged into a world of pirates, buried treasure, mutiny and deceit. We meet Billy Bones, Blind Pew, Black Dog and, of course, the charming buccaneer Long John Silver. The action and adventure never falter, and the spell of this enduring story is sustained until the very last word.

A mysterious knight all in green arrives at King Arthur’s court and issues a bizarre challenge. Gawain answers the knight but at what cost? This new translation keeps all the poetic power of the original’s extraordinary alliteration. In doing so it brings the saga vividly to life, and in a manner that demands to be heard. One of the greatest stories of English literature from any period, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a magical medieval combination of the epic and the uncanny.

Which pirate incubated chickens in camel-dung? What would Blackbeard do if you didn’t hand over your jewellery (it wasn’t nice)? Which pirate was called ‘The Exterminator’? Where’s the treasure buried? Why were two women dressed as men on the same pirate ship? Who made the Jolly Roger famous? And who was the greatest pirate ever? This 2-CD history answers all these questions and many more; it is the ideal introduction to the facts behind the great legends of piracy. Whatever you think you ...

Classic Poems for Boys comprises a delightfully varied set of poems for 5-10-year olds. From rousing favourites like Felicia Dorothea Hemans’s Casabianca and John Keats’s A Song About Myself, to dreamy, thoughtful poems by Rudyard Kipling and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, this is a collection to be treasured.

William Wordsworth (17701850) was born in Cockermouth, in the Lake District. His Lyrical Ballads, written in collaboration with Coleridge, was published in 1798, and shortly afterwards he settled in Dove Cottage, Grasmere, with his sister Dorothy. Inspired in his early manhood by the French Revolution, he grew disillusioned with revolutionary politics and in later life became decidedly conservative. He left a vast body of work, ranging from delicately simple lyrics to deeply meditative ode...

Discover the big ideas behind more than 90 of history's most important legal rulings and milestone laws - from the earliest civilizations to the 21st century.From the philosophical, religious, and moral codes of the world's earliest societies, such as the Law Code of Hammurabi and the Ten Commandments, through groundbreaking legislation such as The Book of Punishments, Magna Carta and the Slavery Abolition Act, The Law Book offers an engaging and accessible overview of legal histor...

Two series of Maureen Lipman's monologues and musings, plus four comedy dramas written especially for her'Marvellous' Daily TelegraphAward-winning actress and comedian Maureen Lipman has been entertaining audiences for over half a century. Her career has encompassed film, theatre, TV and radio; she has written several bestselling autobiographies; and in 2020 she was made a Dame in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. In this...

This great tragedy confronts the mystery at the heart of evil and contains some of Shakespeare's most magnificent dramatic verse.Othello, a Moorish general in the service of Venice, has married Desdemona, beautiful daughter of a Venetian senator. But Iago, Othello's malignant ensign, is determined to destroy their happiness. Cunningly bending Othello to his own purposes, Iago persuades the Moor that Desdemona is unfaithful to him. Tormented in a hell of jealousy, Othello moves inex...

Treasure Island must be the most enthralling adventure book ever written for children. As we listen to the voice of Jim Hawkins telling his extraordinary tale, and later that of his companion Dr Livesey, we are plunged into a world of pirates, buried treasure, mutiny and deceit. We meet Billy Bones, Blind Pew, Black Dog and, of course, the charming buccaneer Long John Silver. The action and adventure never falter, and the spell of this enduring story is sustained until the very last word.

Romeo and Juliet is the play which, in English literature at least, effectively invented the modern love story. Its charm and its power derive from the romantic setting (Verona, an Italian Renaissance city), the youthful innocence and ardour of the lovers, and (perhaps crucially) the excitement and drama created by the opposition which they have to contend with, an opposition which does not simply stem from the older generation but which is starkly present in the feud between their two fam...