Showing titles in Literary History & Criticism

Join us as we read through all 41 of the fantastical and outrageous Discworld novels!

A Princess of Mars was the first book by Edgar Rice Burroughs to feature the character John Carter. It led to an 11-book series featuring his adventures and became the basis for the 2012 movie. Carter is a war-weary former military captain during the Civil War who is inexplicably transported to Mars. He quickly (and reluctantly) becomes embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions among the inhabitants of the planet.

Originally published in 1966, Susan Sontag's first collection of essays is a modern classic and includes the famous essays "Notes on Camp" and "Against Interpretation", as well as, her impassioned discussions of Sartre, Camus, Simone Weil, Godard, Beckett, Levi-Strauss, science-fiction movies, psychoanalysis, and contemporary religious thought.

Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War is one of the most famous, influential, and moving works of genuine history in our traditions. His brilliant account of the civil war among the Greeks redefined how we should analyze the past, driving a permanent wedge between accounts based on myth and folk traditions and those based on empirical investigation and a rational inquiry into human motives. The work is also a profoundly tragic illumination, not merely of the self-destructive events of the civil war, but also of the future course of human history.

Seventeen of the bard’s most notable plays, from A Midsummer’s Night Dream to Romeo and Juliet, abridged and novelised for young listeners. This collection also includes the biography The Life and Times of William Shakespeare. Hours of audio fun to keep children entertained while on the move!...

The Scarlet Letter is powerful American story of secret love and sin, of spiritual hypocrisy and moral courage, and of female bravery during a time when women were rarely respected, resonated with readers then and continues to do so now. Set in the staunchly Puritan world of 1600s Boston Hester Prynne has committed adultery and given birth to an illegitimate daughter, Pearl, while her elder husband is away. Refusing to reveal Pearl's father Hester is punished and scorned by the community and forced to wear a red letter "A".Over seven years Hester, Pearl's father, and Hester's estranged husband...

Author, broadcaster and 'rock star classicist' Natalie Haynes is a little bit obsessive about Ancient Greece and Rome. In these four series, she explores some of the most prominent historical and mythological figures from the classical world, telling their stories through a mix of stand-up comedy and conversation.

Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment is universally regarded as one of literature's finest achievements, as the great Russian novelist explores the inner workings of a troubled intellectual. Raskolnikov, a nihilistic young man in the midst of a spiritual crisis, makes the fateful decision to murder a cruel pawnbroker, justifying his actions by relying on science and reason, and creating his own morality system. Dehumanized yet sympathetic, exhausted yet hopeful, Raskolnikov represents the best and worst elements of modern intellectualism. The aftermath of his crime and Petrovich's murder investigation result in an utterly compelling, truly unforgettable cat-and-mouse game. This stunning dramatization of Dostoevsky's magnum opus brings the slums of St. Petersburg and the demons of Raskolnikov's tortured mind vividly to life.

Haruki Murakami's myriad fans will be delighted by this unique look into the mind of a master storyteller. In this engaging book, the internationally best-selling author and famously reclusive writer shares with listeners what he thinks about being a novelist; his thoughts on the role of the novel in our society; his own origins as a writer; and his musings on the sparks of creativity that inspire other writers, artists, and musicians.

Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the most important figures in the history of American thought, religion, and literature. The vitality of his writings and the unsettling power of his example continue to influence us more than a hundred years after his death. Now Robert D. Richardson Jr. brings to life an Emerson very different from the old stereotype of the passionless Sage of Concord.

All six Bastable children—Dora, Oswald, Dicky, Alice, Noel and Horace Octavius—are ambitious adventurers, digging detectives and intrepid treasure seekers by nature. Unfortunately, the Bastable family is currently facing an uncertain financial future. When father takes ill, and his business...

P. D. James'sextraordinary memoir of her early life and time starting out as a novelist as well as diaries recording her in old age. In this intriguing and very personal book, part diary, part memoir, P. D. James considers the twelve months of her life between her seventy-seventh and seventy-eighth birthdays and looks back on her earlier life.

New York Times bestselling author Alan Furst is internationally renowned as master of the European espionage thriller. Unfolding in September of 1939 as Hitler’s Wehrmacht ravages Warsaw, The Polish Officer discloses the clandestine existence of Polish Military Intelligence.

Brought to you by Penguin. 'A fascinating journey into our relationship with the physical book...I lost count of the times I exclaimed with delight when I read a nugget of information I hadn't encountered before' Val McDermid, The Times Most of what we say about books is really about the words...

A Pride and Prejudice audiobook performed by 27 actors with gorgeous ambient sounds and music to bring the story to life. Presented over 30 beautiful episodes.This dramatised audiobook is produced by the Australian not-for-profit community theatre company, Ballarat National Theatre. 2021 Webby Award Honoree in the 25th Annual Webby Awards (Limited Series Podcast - Scripted Fiction).

This book is an exploration of the wisdom in the Viking Age poem "Havamal", specifically as it relates to the average person who isn't a scholar of Old Norse, or even an enthusiast of Viking culture. This book is for the layman, the average person who simply wants to improve their life using proven advice. The poem "Havamal" is earthy, cynical, stoic, and grim in its depiction of human life. Havamal means “The Words of the High One”. The poem's speaker is none other than Odin, King of the Gods, who has traveled the many worlds seeking power and suffered greatly in his quest.

The Daily Joy devotional podcast was created to inspire women to engage with God’s word daily, allowing the gospel's truth to transform their lives throughout the year. Focused on biblical teaching and God’s transforming grace, this year-long podcast includes devotions written by more than 50 Christian writers and Bible teachers, including Joni Eareckson Tada, Lydia Brownback, Dane Ortlund, Jen Wilkin, Nancy Guthrie, and many others. Pick up a print copy of the book this podcast is based on at crossway.org/DailyJoy. Includes ESV Bible narration from Kristyn Getty.

A wide-ranging selection of George Orwell's essays, written in the clear-eyed, passionate and uncompromising style that has earned him a reputation as one of Britain's greatest writers.

Over the course of a steamy and tense afternoon, 12 jurors deliberate the fate of a 19-year-old boy alleged to have murdered his own father. A seemingly open and shut case turns complicated, igniting passions and hidden prejudices.

1940s. With the world at war, Eleanor Trigg leads a mysterious ring of female secret agents in London. Twelve of these women are sent to aid the resistance. They never return home. 1946. Passing through Grand Central Station, Grace Healey finds an abandoned suitcase tucked beneath a bench. The case is filled with a dozen photographs, each of a different woman.