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These four works show Samuel Beckett at his most penetrating. Both Krapp's Last Tape (1958) and Not I (1972) are among the most striking pieces written for the theatre in the 20th century. An old man sits at a table, playing back old tapes made when he was younger, mixed glimpses of past feelings. In Not I, we have just a mouth expressing memories and torment in a torrent of words.

Explore the extraordinary legacy of W.B. Yeats through a collection that brings together his finest poetry, personal reflections, and writings on Ireland's literary revival. Known for his romantic and lyrical style of poetry, Yeats's work was often inspired by Irish myths, spiritualism, love, longing and loss. His later work became more modernist in style, challenging poetic conventions and shifting to a political focus. This audiobook edition is expertly read by Aidan Kelly.

Two classic tales from acclaimed British science fiction writer John Wyndham. In The Chrysalids, ten-year-old David is a happy, ordinary boy, untroubled except for occasional strange dreams about a mysterious city – until he befriends Sophie, who is unlike anybody he has met before: she has...

In summer 2010 Simon Armitage decided to walk the Pennine Way. The challenging 256 mile route is usually approached from south to north, from Edale in the Peak District to Kirk Yetholm, the other side of the Scottish border. He resolved to tackle it the other way round: through beautiful and bleak terrain, across lonely fells and into the howling wind, he would be walking home, towards the Yorkshire village where he was born.

On the day of his wedding, Conrad, heir to the house of Otranto, is killed under mysterious circumstances. His calculating father, Manfred, fears that his dynasty will now come to an end and determines to marry his son’s bride himself—despite the fact he is already married. But a series of...

THE NO. 1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR 30 MILLION BOOKS SOLD WINNER OF THE GLASS KEY AWARD In the middle of a hard-won morning nap in the basement of police headquarters, Carl Mørck, head of Department Q, receives a call from a colleague working on the Danish island of Bornholm. Carl is...

Read by the author, John Cooper Clarke. 'Nothing short of dazzling' – Alex Turner Dr John Cooper Clarke's dazzling, scabrous voice has reverberated through pop culture for decades, his influence on generations of performance poets and musicians plain for all to see. In WHAT, the original...

Brought to you by Penguin. A portrait of a radical age via the writers who gather around a publisher's dining table - from William Wordsworth to Mary Wollstonecraft Once a week, in late eighteenth-century London, writers of contrasting politics and personalities gathered around a dining table...

1994 saw one of Peter Cook's most acclaimed performances since his 1960s' heyday. Chris Morris' surreal and inventive questions brought out the very best of eccentric aristocrat Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling - a character whom Cook had carried with him through 'Beyond the Fringe' and 'Not Only...

"Like the Flowing River" is a compilation of tales, opinions, short stories and ideas drawn from articles published by Brazilian writer Paulo in various international newspapers. Seven years of reflections, journeys and meetings: the revelation of a fascinating philosophy of life. A brilliant collection cleverly written with passion and humor. Coelho's simple words and subtle philosophy encompass reflections on solitude, the art of love or the way to become an archer, to parables on man’s struggles and journey through life.

English novelist Barbara Pym’s career was defined, in many senses, by rejection. Her first novel Some Tame Gazelle was turned down by every publisher she sent it out in 1935, finally published only 15 years later. Though she picked up a publisher from there and received modest praise, the publishing industry grew restless and her sales spiralled downwards. By her seventh novel, she had been dropped. This brilliant biography, brimming with Pym’s private diaries and intimate letters, offers a first full insight into Barbara Pym’s life and how it informed her writing.

A double serving of thrilling vintage spy drama featuring the tenacious Captain Jim Nicholson "These productions are pure ‘Boys Own'-style entertainment...I found them to be thoroughly engrossing, with the actors conveying earnestness throughout." - Entertainment Focus A treat from the archive...

The Mystery of the Missing Man Murder, mystery and a dog of distinction. Heathcliff Lennox investigates. Summer 1924. Seven archaeologists board the morning train from Oxford to witness the Roman villa excavation at Ashton Steeple. Only six arrive. Dr Mortimer Quayle was seen settling into his compartment with his leather case. The conductor punched his ticket. Witnesses claimed to have seen him. But somewhere during the thirty-mile journey through the peaceful Cotswold countryside, Dr. Quayle vanished without a trace. How does a man disappear from a moving train?

The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who … Tin Pan Alley is the heart of London’s music scene. It is also the dark heart of a ruthless business tainted by sex, drugs and corruption. When a young fan is found dead from a heroin overdose at an American rock star’s accommodation and the band’s manager is charged with her murder, Charles Holborne, barrister, must defend him. But Holborne is getting married in two weeks, and for some reason DS Sean Sloane, his best man, refuses to speak to him.

'A rollicking, brilliant book' GARETH RUSSELL 'Hugely enjoyable' SUNDAY TIMES 'Meticulous … warm and engaging' FINANCIAL TIMES A rollicking narrative history set during the extraordinary summer of 1726 when Jonathan Swift arrived in London from Dublin, with a draft of Gulliver’s Travels in...

William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic prose and verse read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly remastered stories are now available to download for the first time...

In these 17 essays (and one short story) the 2011 Man Booker Prize winner examines British, French, and American writers who have meant most to him, as well as the cross-currents and overlappings of their different cultures. From the deceptiveness of Penelope Fitzgerald to the directness of Hemingway, from Kipling's view of France to the French view of Kipling, from the many translations of Madame Bovary to the fabulations of Ford Madox Ford, from the National Treasure status of George Orwell to the despair of Michel Houellebecq, Julian Barnes considers what fiction is.

George Orwell's nineteen Eighty-Four is one of the most definitive texts of modern literature. Set in Oceania, one of the three inter-continental superstate that divided the world among themselves after a global war, Orwell's masterful critique of the political structures of the time, works itself out through the story of Winston Smith, a man caught in the webs of a dystopian future, and his clandestine love affair with Julia, a young woman he meets during the course of his work for the government.

“If a woman really believes herself to be a lower kind of being, she should place herself in subjection….If not, let her show her power of choosing something better.” This is the challenge thrown down to George Eliot’s heroine, Esther Lyon, who dreams of marrying into a life of...

Peter Tinniswood was best known for his popular TV series The Home Front and I Didn't Know You Cared and award-winning novel A Touch of Daniel. But he was also a prolific writer for radio, where he created a host of wonderful characters - often funny, sometimes poignant and always totally believable. This compilation brings together six of his finest monologues, as well as his comic play The Governor's Consort.