An epic full-cast play about Robin Hood, plus an episode of In Our Time setting him in his historical context and four dramatic interpretations of his storyRobin Hood has captured the English imagination for centuries. His tale has been told in ballads, novels, plays, TV shows and films – and with each retelling, it has evolved and transformed. We know Robin today as a forest-dwelling outlaw who led a gang of merry men, loved the beautiful Maid Marian and ...

In this compelling study Max Hastings addresses the big human and military questions. Why did the Allies not win the war in 1944, when they were vastly stronger than the Germans? Why did the Russians produce the best generals? What was it like to fight the British, American, German and Soviet armies?Armageddon embraces the fates of more than a hundred million people, from the tragic teenage fanatics who died in the ruins of Hitler's Reich to the British 'Tommies' who simpl...

The hit improvisation radio show that spawned the TV phenomenonRegular team captains Stephen Fry and John Sessions are joined by Lenny Henry, Dawn French, Hugh Laurie, Enn Reitel, Jimmy Mulville, Nonny Williams, Griff Rhys Jones, Kate Robbins, John Bird, Rory Bremner and Jon Glover, as they battle ...

Welcome to Absurdia: a strange and wonderful land where nothing is quite what it seems. Trees are birds, umbrellas are trees, and the sky is thick with snoring fish. Join one small boy as he tumbles out of bed into a crazy dreamland of wardrobe monsters, dragons - and amazing adventure.With a story to enchant the youngest reader, as well as music and sound effects that will make you giggle, whatever your age, Chris Riddell's The Emperor of Absurdia is an extraordinary achi...

Read aloud by actor John Sessions, The Great Ghost Rescue is a wonderfully spooky young fiction title from the award-winning author of Journey to the River Sea, Eva Ibbotson.Nobody knew what had gone wrong with Humphrey. Perhaps it was his ectoplasm . . .Humphrey the Horrible sounds scary, but he's actually a very friendly skeleton, with twinkling eye sockets and jangling finger bones. Humphrey dreams of being ghastly, like his brother – a...

The Chronicle – Book Three (July to September)This is history... but not as you know it! At Waterloo, women are stripping the corpses of their valuable shoes and stockings yet the Highlanders are left in mass graves with their coarse tartan socks still on. Roy Strong attending a private dinner with the Prime Minister notes that Margaret Thatcher in floaty chiffon is "the apotheosis of the boss's wife, with the appeal of cosmeticised putty."

The Chronicle - BOOK TWO (April to June)Are you ready for an unforgettable adventure into the past? Then climb aboard and join Oscar Wilde in America amused at the sight of local gun slingers looting the house where outlaw Jesse James had been killed a few days earlier. Meet John Betjeman as he implores the BBC to engage the impoverished Dylan Thomas while Jane Austen demands the return of her unpublished novel. Austen Chamberlain rages at Hitler f...

All 18 episodes of the BBC radio series based on J. B. Morton's surreally comic 'Beachcomber' column'As schoolboys, my brother and I worshipped Beachcomber... and that led to the birth of The Goon Show*'* Spike MilliganJ.B. Morton took over the 'By The Way' column in the Daily Express in 1924 - succeeding his friend D.B. Wyndham-Lewis as Beachcomber - and continued writing it for over 50 years. Anarchic, absurdist...

An extraordinary, beguiling bestselling tale of fly-fishing and political spinning, of unexpected heroism and late-blooming love...This is the story of Dr Alfred Jones, a fisheries scientist - for whom diary-notable events include the acquisition of a new electric toothbrush and getting his article on caddis fly larvae published in 'Trout and Salmon' - who finds himself reluctantly involved in a project to bring salmon fishing to the Highlands of the Yemen - a proj...

Alexei Sayle stars in this comical story of Britain's first Communist football teamA secret descendant of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, Ricky Lenin is a dyed-in-the-wool Marxist, fervently committed to overthrowing the decadent world of British football. As a midfield maestro, he's perfectly placed to infiltrate England's top club, Felchester Rovers, where he proceeds to introduce his radical ideas. But there's more to his fellow players than meets the eye, and ...

The Chronicle: BOOK ONE (January to March)This is history at its best and most entertaining! One moment Liselotte, the Duchess of Orleans (1678) is observing the Prince of Orange consummating his marriage in thick woollen drawers… and the next, Harold Nicolson (1936) is at the Savoy Grill dining with the Prince of Wales and Mrs Simpson who is, "bejewelled, eyebrow-plucked, virtuous and wise". There's the young medical student watching his ...

A collection of five bite-size myths from across the globe, Battles and Quests by bestselling author Anthony Horowitz is a heartstopping retelling of some of the greatest adventures in the history of storytelling.Part of the Legends series of six books, Battles and Quests features the epic tales of heroes ranging from the ancient Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur to the Bororo Indian tale of Geriguiaguiatugo all read by actor John Sessions.Featuring b...