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In this short and intense period of the war, Churchill’s sense of history is profound. 'If the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say this was its finest hour.' In this second volume, Britain stands alone in combat against the mortal threat posed to civilisation, liberal democracy, and human decency. Between May 1940 and January 1941, the world witnessed some of the most spectacular military victories of all time.

Xaviera Hollander's life as a call girl and Madam in the US was captured here in her frank 1971 landmark book. Whether this open account is a valid contribution to positive writing about sex at a time when this was a rare phenomena or an unnecessarily racy telling to titillate, it cannot be denied that it makes compulsive listening especially with the author's own voicing.

The Blitz continued to rain down on the shell and morale of the Nation’s defences. In the cold grey waters of the North Atlantic wolfpacks of enemy U boats hunted down with ruthless efficiency the supply lines that could keep Britain in the war. Through the year the enemy produced many of their grandest victories but Britain was able to stabilise its position in the Middle East although setbacks at the hands of the newly arrived Rommel, the Desert Fox, were encountered in North Africa.

Alan Sillitoe was an integral part of the Angry Young Men movement of the fifties that focused on its authentic depiction of real working class people. This book is true to their ideals in its raw sharp writing of the story of a young man framed by his brutal experience in the army and as a factory worker. Fuelled by a bleak aggressive outlook on life the book centers around a boozy, philandering weekend which is graphically captured by Sillitoe's clever prose and Linus Roache's strong reading.

Martyrs to hypochondria and general seediness, J. and his friends George and Harris decide that a jaunt up the Thames would suit them to a ‘T’. But when they set off, they can hardly predict the troubles that lie ahead with tow-ropes, unreliable weather-forecasts and tins of pineapple chunks – not to mention the devastation left in the wake of J.’s small fox-terrier Montmorency.

Settled in Germany in a Stalag-like hut on a desolate building site, a very long way from home, the three 'likely lads' from Newcastle ricochet from one disaster to another, with their four very unlikely companions - a gentle giant from Somerset, an over-sexed Cockney, a bike-riding Brummie and a dodgy Scouser.... An exceptionally talented actor, Christopher Fairbanks brings The Magnificent Seven to life with great warmth and humour.

In the Second World War every bond between man and man was to perish. Crimes were committed by the Hitler regime which find no equal in scale and wickedness with any that have darkened the human record. It was a simple policy to keep Germany disarmed after the struggle of the First World War and the Victors adequately armed in vigilance. But errors were soon made.

Heroes or villains? You decide.... In the 1960s, London’s gangland was ruled by two men: Reggie and Ronnie Kray. Building an empire of crime by intimidation, extortion, and terror on a scale never seen before or since, they feted stars of stage and screen, sportsmen, and even politicians to gain the respectability they craved. Read by acclaimed actor Martin Shaw, this is the true story of their rise and fall.

Thanks to the mindless actions of Teddy Deakin, a group of mismatched rail passengers find themselves stranded in a dark and isolated station, having missed the last connection of the night. Tales of superstition prevail as the local station master - unable to persuade them to leave - reveals that very night, 20 years ago, a train crashed leaving a number of passengers dead. Legend has it, that the station is still haunted as the train relives its final moments as it roars through the station to its demise.

More than any other writer, Gilbert White (1720-1793) has shaped the relationship between man and nature. A hundred years before Darwin, White realised the crucial role of worms in the formation of soil and understood the significance of territory and song in birds. His precise, scrupulously honest, and unaffectedly witty observations led him to interpret animals’ behaviour in a unique manner. Here, a collection of his letters to Daines Barrington and Thomas Pennant.

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.

Richard Hannay finds a corpse in his flat, and becomes involved in a plot by spies to precipitate war and subvert British naval power. The resourceful victim of a manhunt, he is pursued by both the police and the ruthless conspirators. The Thirty-Nine Steps is a seminal chase thriller, rapid and vivid. It has been widely influential and frequently dramatised: the film directed by Alfred Hitchcock became a screen classic.

With the beach landings of June 6th in the greatest amphibious assault ever seen the final phase of the war had begun. Churchill could survey his task with an easier mind. His relationship with Stalin was becoming increasingly more difficult as Stalin’s moves replaced one terror with another. Churchill was anxious to move forces through Italy to relieve the military pressure on Normandy and Stalin yet limit the advance of Soviet forces into Central and Eastern Europe.

Tropic of Cancer is regarded as a masterpiece, with Time magazine rating it as one of the 100 most important novels of the 20th century. It is an unforgettable, confessional, warts and all novel of the author and his friends riotous adventures in Paris during the Depression. It changed censorship laws in the US where it was published decades after it was written, and reading it today amplifies the debt that modern writers owe Miller.

It is strange to consider that, although The Hound Of The Baskervilles is Conan Doyle’s most popular novel, his hero is absent for much of the time. Notice how he sets up an atmosphere of supernatural horror right from the start through Dr Mortimer’s reading of the ancient curse, and how he then presents as assortment of bizarre clues – in particular, the riddle of the missing boots – which Holmes will have to unravel.

Although the Grand Alliance was now in place, Churchill knew that it would take precious time before it would be able to effectively engage and subdue the enemy. Disaster was upon him almost at once. With the entrance of Japan into the global conflict, our Far East possessions were under immediate threat. Singapore and the Philippines fell. In Africa, Rommel took Tobruk. At sea, the loss of ships mounted. His task seemed ever greater, but his spirit, his resolve, his belief in his people's ability to overcome the terrible evil of Nazism was unshakeable.

Stan Barstow's A Kind of Loving finds Vic Brown in a bleak Yorkshire industrial town, striving for maturity in his relationship with girlfriend Ingrid and her small-town ways. The story examines in great detail his feelings as the relationship develops.

Richard Huw perfectly captures the mood and the character in his reading.

This poet of Victorian times was held in awe for his magnificent works, including "In Memoriam", "Morte D'Arthur", and "Charge of the Light Brigade". His language and command of vocabulary seem particularly in keeping with the grand sweep of Victorian ambition. Many selections are asembled here and read with great character by Dame Sybil Thorndike, Sir Edward Casson, and Robert Speaight.

At twenty-seven, Anne Elliot is no longer young and has few romantic prospects. Eight years earlier, she had been persuaded by her friend Lady Russell to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a handsome naval captain with neither fortune nor rank. What happens when they encounter each other again is movingly told in Jane Austen's last completed novel.

As the Allies prepared for the Normandy invasion many war councils were held. At Teheran, the first of the Big Three conferences, decisive steps were taken to ensure this. Discussion was opened as to what shape and form the world would take after the defeat of the enemy. But with 185 divisions ranged against them the primary task was still the prosecution of the war to the unconditional surrender of the enemy.