ContentsThe Two DroversBy Sir Walter ScottMr. DeuceaceBy W. M. ThackerayThe BrothersEdward Bulmer LyttonDoctor Manette's ManuscriptBy Charles DickensThe Caldron of OilBy Wilkie CollinsThe Burial of the TitheBy Samuel LoverThe Knightsbridge MysteryBy Charles ReadeThe Courting of Dinah ShaddBy Rudyard KiplingThe Sire De Maletroit's DoorBy R. L. StevensonThe Se...

Vanity Fair in half the timeBecky Sharp is the most alluring yet ruthless heroine ever to climb the social ladder. From sordid bohemian beginnings she moves upwards through Regency society, betraying her husband, her friend Amelia and all who cross her in her determination to acquire power.In post-war London after Waterloo, Becky continues her manipulative schemes but finds herself thwarted by personal and social forces.

MY DEAR - - , - It is no easy task in this world to distinguish between what is great in it, and what is mean; and many and many is the puzzle that I have had in reading History (or the works of fiction which go by that name), to know whether I should laud up to the skies, and endeavor, to the best of my small capabilities, to imitate the remarkable character about whom I was reading, or whether I should fling aside the book and the hero of it, as things altogether base, unworthy, laughabl...

No one is better equipped in the struggle for wealth and worldly success than the alluring and ruthless Becky Sharp, who defies her impoverished background to clamber up the social ladder. Her sentimental companion Amelia, however, longs for caddish soldier George. As the two heroines make their way through the tawdry glamour of English society in the early 1800s, battlesmilitary and domesticare fought, fortunes made and lost. The one steadfast and honorable figure in this corrupt world is...

Vanity Fair, with its rich cast of characters, takes place on the snakes-and-ladders board of life. Amelia Sedley, daughter of a wealthy merchant, has a loving mother to supervise her courtship. Becky Sharp, an orphan, has to use her wit, charm, and resourcefulness to escape from her destiny as a governess. This she does ruthlessly, musing’I think I could become a good woman, if I had £5000 a year.’ Thackeray’s story is set at the time of the battle of Waterloo, in which the Sedley fortune...

BBC radio dramatisations of classic novels centred around engaging anti-heroes who dominate high societyAmbitious. Ruthless. Unprincipled. With their blurred morals and relatable imperfections, it’s no wonder we find anti-heroes so appealing and fascinating. Featuring a mixture of male and female anti-heroes across England, Scotland, France and New York, these fantastic adaptations of five of the best-known and best-loved classics of literature follow some of these...

Elegant, enigmatic Jay Gatsby yearns for his old love, the beautiful Daisy. But she is married to the insensitive if hugely successful Tom Buchanan, who won’t let her go despite having a mistress himself. In their wealthy haven, these beguiling lives are brought together by the innocent and entranced narrator, Nick until their decadent deceits spill into violence and tragedy. Part morality tale, part fairy tale, The Great Gatsby is the consummate novel of the Jazz Age. Its tenderness and p...

Most of us remember The Wizard of Oz as the film starring Judy Garland and Bert Lahr. But the film was based on L. Frank Baum's immensely popular Oz series, which was published in the early twentieth century. In these novels, Oz is the utopian land beyond the rainbow where threats are turned back with valor and ingenuity. The books' success lies in the way they induce children to look for the element of wonder in the world around them.Considered the first truly American fa...

A gripping collection of fifteen BBC Radio full-cast dramas written by Bert Coules, inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories.In the fifty-six short stories and four novels Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about his great detective, how many times did Dr John Watson tantalise us with references to cases which were never written about in full? These original adventures flesh out those unrecorded cases to wonderful effect.Clive Merrison plays the great sleuth hiimself, wi...

Brought to you by Penguin.THE TIKTOK SENSATIONDiscover the million-copy bestselling fantasy read.The circus arrives without warning. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.Against the grey sky the towering tents are striped black and white. A sign hanging upon an iron gates reads:Opens at NightfallCloses at DawnFull of breath-taking amazements ...

Discover or return to the dystopian series that's captured the hearts of millions of teen and adult readers! This first in Veronica Roth's #1 New York Times bestselling Divergent series of books is the novel the inspired the major motion picture starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, and Kate Winslet.Perfect for fans of the Hunger Games and Maze Runner series, Divergent and its sequels, Insurgent and ...