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In this BBC full-cast production of As You Like It, Rosalind is banished from the Royal court, heartbroken over Orlando. Will the two find a way to reunite? A comedy of wit, disguise and love, Shakespeare's tale about the enchanted world of the Forest of Arden remains as moving as it is funny...

‘It is easy to do justice - very hard to do right.’ When he is accused of stealing a five-shilling postal order, fourteen-year-old Ronnie Winslow is expelled from naval college. But his father believes his claim of innocence and, determined to clear his name, engages the most famous...

Bloomsbury presents Electric Spark by Frances Wilson, read by Sara Vickers. ‘Absolutely mesmerising’ Spectator ‘I raced through it’ Ali Smith, Guardian ‘Unputdownable’ Financial Times ‘A fire-starter’ New York Times ‘Hypnotic’ TLS ‘Joyously, brilliantly intelligent’ Anne...

The Doctor has always admired the work of William Shakespeare. So he is a little surprised that Charley doesn't hold the galaxy's greatest playwright in the same esteem. In fact she's never heard of him. Which the Doctor thinks is quite improbable. General Mariah Learman, ruling Britain after the Eurowars, is one of Shakespeare's greatest admirers, and is convinced her time machine will enable her to see the plays' original performances. Which the Doctor believes is extremely unlikely.

'A dazzling modern mythology of our oldest stories, richly imagined by the very best of Irish writers' DOIREANN NÍ GHRÍOFA, author of A Ghost in the Throat 'Dark, lyrical and exhilarating, these stories feel both timeless and urgently modern' LOUISE O'NEILL, author of Idol Featuring new and...

"La décroissance du jour me replongeant par le souvenir dans une atmosphère ancienne et fraîche, je la respirais avec les mêmes délices qu'Orphée l'air subtil, inconnu sur cette terre, des Champs Élysées. Mais déjà la journée finissait et j'étais envahi par la désolation du soir. Regardant machinalement à la pendule combien d'heures se passeraient avant qu'Albertine rentrât, je voyais que j'avais encore le temps de m'habiller."

A Book of the Year in The Times, Guardian, Independent, New Statesman, Bookseller and at Waterstones 'He understands only the women he invents – the others not at all' Thomas Hardy is one of the most beloved and most-read British authors. His influence on literature and the minds of his...

‘I salute him with the most heartfelt respect and admiration’ PHILIP PULLMAN ‘Entrancing … a creative manifesto’ TELEGRAPH ‘Mesmerising … vibrating with life and curiosity’ OBSERVER In this lyrical and revelatory memoir, Alan Garner, Booker shortlisted author of Treacle Walker...

Known as the 'Irish Chekhov', Brian Friel was one of the most renowned dramatists of his generation, producing over 30 plays in a career spanning six decades. Included here are some of his best-known works, as well as mesmerising radio documentaries featuring the author himself, in his own words.

Au grand jeu du destin, Mimo a tiré les mauvaises cartes. Né pauvre, il est confié en apprentissage à un sculpteur de pierre sans envergure. Mais il a du génie entre les mains. Toutes les fées ou presque se sont penchées sur Viola Orsini. Héritière d'une famille prestigieuse, elle a passé son enfance à l'ombre d'un palais génois. Mais elle a trop d'ambition pour se résigner à la place qu'on lui assigne.

The most famous, beautiful and spiritually moving poems of the twentieth-century, read by the most famous poet. Historic recordings of the cream of Eliot’s poetry. It is always something of a revelation to listen to a poet reading his own words, and these recordings are no exception. Eliot...

England, 1927. When an actor is killed during the performance of a new mystery play, his colleagues refuse to believe it was an accident and turn to Lord Edgington for help. The renowned detective must navigate a labyrinth of deceit to solve the crime, but when every possible culprit is on the cast list, it’s hard to know who’s telling the truth and who’s playing a part.

“A faithful translation is rare; a translation which preserves intact the original text is very rare; a perfect translation of Montaigne appears impossible. Yet Donald Frame has realized this feat. One does not seem to be reading a translation, so smooth and easy is the style; at each moment, one seems to be listening to Montaigne himself - the freshness of his ideas, the unexpected choice of words. Frame has kept everything.” (Andre Maurois, The New York Times Book Review)

When her father remarries, the honest, innocent Molly Gibson suddenly finds herself with a new stepsister, Cynthia, who is beautiful, worldly and impetuous. This would be more than enough to deal with, but the new wife is the deeply snobbish (and darkly secretive) Hyacinth. Thwarted love, scheming ambition and small-town gossip underlie the warmth, irony and brilliant social observation which link the relationships and the inevitable conflicts as profound change comes to rural England.

The Importance of Being Earnest is undoubtably Oscar Wilde's best known play probably due to its sharp wit that cannot help but enchant and entertain any reader, theatregoer or listener with this performance.

It's Darcy and Elizabeth's wedding day, and the journey is just beginning as Jane Austen's beloved Pride and Prejudice characters embark on the greatest adventure of all: marriage and a life together filled with surprising passion, tender self-discovery, and the simple joys of every day.

When tulip-grower Cornelius van Baerle is framed for treason and sentenced to death, he is powerless against the brutal factional politics that put him in prison. But Rosa, the jailer’s daughter, is beautiful and strong-willed, and when they fall in love she determines not only to save him but also to grow the near mythical flower: the black tulip.S et in the savage turmoil of Holland’s late 17th century, this intimate novel celebrates the power of integrity over obsession, and tolerance over violence; and it creates in the black tulip a symbol of humanity’s potential.

Jack Roberts is back from the Sudan and with a crippling wound, no longer an active soldier. When he is sent to Iran to help find oil for British battleships he has to leave home once more. This time he leaves a son who is about to embark on a military career too. The Roberts family is soon going to war again.

In this BBC full-cast production, the ghost of Hamlet's father orders him to kill the man who took his life, his throne and his wife: Claudius. In a tale of caution, tragedy and revenge, Hamlet is driven to madness by his mission and his father's legacy. Michael Sheen stars as Hamlet, with...

Tom Stoppard's Arcadia merges science with human concerns and ideals, examining the universe's influence in our everyday lives and ultimate fates through relationship between past and present, order and disorder and the certainty of knowledge. Set in an English country house in the years 1809-1812 and 1989, the play examines the lives of two modern scholars and the house's current residents with the lives of those who lived there 180 years earlier.