Classics Collection

The Allegory of the Cave appears in Plato’s Republic and compares the effect of education and the lack of it on human nature. It is written as a dialogue between Plato's brother and Socrates, who tells of people that have been chained to the wall of a cave their whole lives. They see shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them. Socrates explains that the philosopher is like a prisoner who has escaped the cave and realizes that the shadows on the wall are not the true reality at all.

Inside this bundle, you’ll find three stories which established Edith Wharton as a literary legend. Originally written over a hundred years ago, these stories have stood the test of time to resonate in the hearts of people to this very day. Reflecting the life of the upper-class aristocrats and socialites, The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence offer tragic tales, while Ethan Frome tells a story in a small wintery town of Massachusetts.

Celebrate the very special anniversary of The Tiger Who Came to Tea and share in 50 years of magic with this wonderful audio collection of five classic stories from the inimitable Judith Kerr.

Red Riding Hood encounters an urbane wolf on the way to her sick grandmother's house.

A powerful, award-winning novel that follows the lives of two women as democracy starts to crumble in Hong Kong. One summer morning, college roommates, Ah Lei and Panda, wake up with very different reactions to the night before. They have been chased and tear-gassed in the streets of their city...

The Adulterers features George and Mona Sutton, a sexually incompatible couple on their way to a Mexican divorce. But they meet a helpful guide named Ernesto, and that changes everything. Ernesto took George to a live sex show, and it made an impression on the fellow. And, not too long afterward, Mona drank enough rum and Coca-Cola to float a light cruiser, and wound up as the sex slave of El Tigre.

They came west to stay, risking their blood to dig the gold, ride the range, conquer the greedy, and carve out a legacy of freedom. Men honed by desert fires and edged by combat with fist and gun. Women tested to the limit of endurance by an unrelenting land. Now, in a long-awaited collection of...

The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam, in the famous translation by Edward Fitzgerald, remains one of the most popular poems. Here, it forms the main work on the first half of this program, along with other shorter poems by other leading Persian and Indian figures, including Rumi, Sa'di, and Rabindranath Tagore.

Everyone loves a Princess story! This collection of ten classic fairy tales is sure to please any Princess, big or small. Includes Thumbelina, The Princess and the Frog, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Princess and the Pea, The Little Mermaid, Rapunzel, The Wild Swans, Snow White and Rose Red, and Sleeping Beauty.

Full-cast productions of five plays by the celebrated Russian author, plus a reading of one of his most famous short stories Alexei Maximovich Peshkov, known under his pseudonym Maxim Gorky, was one of Russia's greatest Soviet writers and the founder of the ‘socialist realism’ literary...

“She was just a little freshman / Victim of Admission’s whim / Then she met an upperclassman—we won’t name him— / And she had a child by him. / Now he’s off in New York City / Rescued by the co-op plan. / While she walks the streets of Yellow Springs, Ohio, / Looking for another man.” Ah, they don’t write ‘em like that anymore, and it’s not hard to see why. And the sad story recounted in the song is not entirely unlike that of Linda Shepard, titular (so to speak) heroine of Campus Tramp.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, unique tales inspired by traditional literary forms appeared frequently in socialist-leaning British periodicals, such as the Clarion, Labour Leader, and Social Democrat. Based on familiar genres, these stories were meant to entertain readers of all ages - and some challenged the conventional values promoted in children’s literature for the middle class. Acclaimed critic and author Michael Rosen brings together more than 40 of the best and most enduring examples of these stories in one beautiful volume.

Here are the most exciting and essential parts of two historic, epic poems: the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey". The ancient words of Homer find a new home in today's world - spoken aloud, just as Homer intended. Translated by Stanley Lombardo.

Jeff Flanders has a perfectly good life. Until Candace Cain sashays into it, and turns it upside-down. Jeff’s got a good-looking wife; he loves her, and she loves him. He’s got a job, swinging a desk at a semi-shady finance company, signing off on usurious loans to losers; he doesn’t love it and it doesn’t love him, but it’s easy work and it pays the bills. Until a girl called Candy applies for a $1000 loan - with no job, no bank account, no security.

This audiobook contains the most exciting and essential parts of the Iliad, capturing the final 50 days of the Trojan war and bringing to life ancient men and heroic battles. It provides an integral beginning to the infamous journey of Odysseus. Translated by Stanley Lombardo.

Antigone, daughter of Jocasta and Oedipus, faces great challenges when she must arrange a formal burial for her brother, Polynices. This rendition of Antigone by Sophocles is of the highest-caliber audio. It's completely unabridged. Enjoy the classic story of Antigone narrated to perfection.

A fascinating and hilarious collection of archive rarities - plus two restored episodes - from the much loved BBC radio comedy series Starring Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee, Round the Horne breathed daring new life over the BBC radio airwaves from...

Emma is a novel about youthful hubris and romantic misunderstandings. It is set in the fictional country village of Highbury and the surrounding estates of Hartfield, Randalls and Donwell Abbey, and involves the relationships among people from a small number of families. The novel was first published in December 1815, with its title page listing a publication date of 1816. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian—Regency England. Emma is a comedy of manners, and depicts issues of marriage, sex, age, and social status.

Few ghost stories are as chilling as the ones written by Victorian writers. Featuring work by H.G. Wells, Edith Wharton, F.G. Loring and Florence Marryat, this second volume of eight enduring stories, some well-known, others less familiar, transport you to a cosy fireside to hear tales of disembodied voices, haunted objects and unknown entities lurking in the shadows cast by candlelight.

Few ghost stories are as chilling as the ones written by Victorian writers. Featuring work by Jerome K. Jerome, Rhoda Broughton, R.L. Stevenson and Violet Hunt, this second collection of eight enduring horror stories, some well-known, others less familiar, transports you to a candlelit fireside to hear tales of cursed paintings, mysterious locked chests and the consequences of promises broken....