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.

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...

Dostoevsky's novella " Notes from the Underground" is part embittered monologue and part brief descriptions of anecdotes from the anonymous writer's life. As the author himself states:"The author of the diary and the diary itself are, of course, imaginary. Nevertheless it is clear that such persons as the writer of these notes not only may, but positively must, exist in our society, when we consider the circumstances in the midst of which our society is formed."The Russia o...

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...

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...

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.

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

When Max Carrados first appeared in the pages of Ernest Bramah in 1913, readers were invited to reconsider one of the most enduring assumptions in detective fiction: that seeing is knowing.Carrados is blind. Yet he is never portrayed as diminished. Instead, his lack of sight sharpens the faculties upon which most of us scarcely rely. A faint irregularity in a footstep, the texture of paper beneath the fingers, the almost imperceptible hesitation in...

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.

The four tales gathered here reveal Oscar Wilde’s gift for blending wit, irony, and moral reflection within the form of the short story.Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime is a darkly comic exploration of fate and free will, where polite society collides with the absurd.The Canterville Ghost playfully turns the traditional ghost story on its head, offering satire as sharp as it is humorous.In The Sphinx Without a Secret

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.