The Canterbury Tales cover art

The Canterbury Tales

Penguin Classics

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free + £10 Audible voucher

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 5 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
More purchase options

The Canterbury Tales

By: Geoffrey Chaucer, Nevill Coghill - translator
Narrated by: Daniel Weyman, Derek Jacobi, Jay Bernard, Lesley Manville, Seroca Davis, Michael Balogun
Get this deal

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends on 5 July 2026 at 11:59 BST. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £14.51

Buy Now for £14.51

Brought to you by Penguin.

This Penguin Classic is performed by Lesley Manville (winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress and known for Phantom Thread and Mum), Derek Jacobi (winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor and known for Gladiator and Gosford Park), Michael Balogun (known for National Theatre Live: Macbeth), Jay Bernard (writer of Surge, artist, film programmer and activist) , Seroca Davis (known for Prime Suspect and Doctor Who), Daniel Weyman (winner of Audiobook Narrator of the Year at the Audio Production Awards 2016 and known for Gentleman Jack and A Very English Scandal) and Roy McMillan (winner of an Earphone Award for narration on Conclave and award-winning producer). This definitive recording is translated by, and includes an Introduction by Nevill Coghill.

In The Canterbury Tales Chaucer created one of the great touchstones of English literature, a masterly collection of chivalric romances, moral allegories and low farce. A story-telling competition between a group of pilgrims from all walks of life is the occasion for a series of tales that range from the Knight's account of courtly love and the ebullient Wife of Bath's Arthurian legend, to the ribald anecdotes of the Miller and the Cook.

Translation copyright © Nevill Coghill, 1951 and Nevill Coghill Ltd, 2019 (P) Penguin Audio 2019

 Ancient, Classical & Medieval Literature Classics European Poetry Themes & Styles World Literature Celebrity
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
All stars
Most relevant
I’ve always had a great deal of affection for the Penguin Classics series of books with their enlightening introductory notes and (mainly) splendid translations, so when I saw that Penguin had brought out an audiobook version of the Canterbury Tales I thought it was time to dive in. My expectation was that the audiobook performers would bring about the same level of illumination of the text as I expect from the printed books. Oh, how wrong I was. With the notable exception of Derek Jacobi (who does exceedingly well with three of the Tales) the performances are pedestrian, and in the case of the Knight’s Tale and the Franklin’s Tale, really rather dire. Penguin Classics seem to have come late to the audiobook business and appear in a frightful hurry to populate the catalogue with their output , but they have not done themselves any favours with this disappointing production. If you are looking for an audiobook of the Canterbury Tales, best look elsewhere.

Unfortunately not worth the wait

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Jay Bernard has the most boring voice on earth, I struggled with everything he read.

put me to sleep

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Since it's a long book and each a story in itself why not name chapters is the Millers tale instead of chapter 5.

Useful if chapters were named

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
a beautiful and full rendition of a literature classic . some performers were more expressive and comfortable with the material. I look forward to listening to this again and again.

such a variety

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The performances were all excellent and added a great deal to an already strong book. Many thanks to the actors for playing their parts so well.

Canterbury Tales

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews