Victorian Era Classics

When Queen Victoria stepped onto the throne of Great Britain and Ireland in 1837, gone were the days when the monarch had supreme authority over the kingdom. Victoria ruled at the head of a government with which she was meant to converse, debate, and ultimately guide, and it was a job she sometimes struggled to perform. Victoria described herself as an emotional creature and blamed her gender for what she believed were her shortcomings as a monarch.

Step into the fog-shrouded streets and intrigue of the nineteenth century with Classic Detective Stories of the Victorian Era, a compelling collection of early mystery fiction by Charles Dickens, Guy de Maupassant, and Arthur Conan Doyle. Featuring gripping tales such as Hunted Down, The Piece of String, My Friend the Murderer, The Cabman’s Story, and the famous Sherlock Holmes mystery The Red-Headed League, this volume captures the suspense, clever deduction, and atmospheric storytelling that shaped the foundations of modern detective fiction.

Now a major TV series on PBS Masterpiece! "In a cultured, melodious voice, narrator Juliet Stevenson becomes Miss Cassandra Austen, older sister to Jane and keeper of her memory." -- AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner For fans of Jo Baker’s Longbourn, a witty, poignant audiobook about...

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

The Victorians are often credited with ushering in our current era, yet the seeds of change were planted in the years before. The Regency (1811-1820) began when the profligate Prince of Wales - the future King George IV - replaced his insane father, George III, as Britain's ruler. Around the regent surged a society steeped in contrasts: evangelicalism and hedonism, elegance and brutality, exuberance and despair. The arts flourished at this time with a showcase of extraordinary writers and painters such as Jane Austen, Lord Byron, the Shelleys, John Constable, and J. M. W. Turner.

We all know that the best way to study a foreign language is to go to a country where it's spoken, but can the same immersion method be applied to history? How do interactions with antique objects influence perceptions of the modern world?

The year is 1807. The Napoleonic Wars continue and their violence reverberates in the lives of the Morland family. Lucy, trying to rebuild her life after the death of her lover, is thrown into doubt and confusion by an unexpected proposal of marriage. At Morland Place, the hard-won happiness of James and Heloise is threatened by his rebellious daughter, Fanny, who is determined to claim more than her inheritance. These troubled times hold many surprises. In their darkest hour, the Morlands make an astonishing discovery.

A richly imagined work inspired by literature’s most haunting love triangle, this gothic romance brings Edgar Allan Poe, his devoted wife, and his brilliant mistress to life in a dark tale of obsession, betrayal, and literary ambition to which Sara Gruen says, “Mrs. Poe had my heart racing...

In the hands of these classic American humorists, even the simplest household task can become a spectacular catastrophe. A cook turns a respectable home upside down. A burglar alarm causes more trouble than any burglar. Weddings descend into chaos, automobiles become runaway hazards, and the...

James Legge was one of the first great popularisers of Eastern ideas and religion in the West. In this foundational work, he provides a translation of the Dao De Jing/ Tao Te Ching that stands up well today, over a hundred years later.

A Birds’ Christmas Story is heartwarming Victorian novella about about Carol Bird, born on Christmas Day, who is sickly but generous. Bedridden by age ten, she devotes her energy to planning a heartfelt Christmas celebration for the impoverished “Ruggles” children living nearby, and...

During a hospital visit, Lady Violet Thorn overhears a young woman accusing a married couple of her parents' murder and stealing their home, Maccabee House. From body parts scattered around town igniting rumours about a cannibal to a sex worker found brutalised, macabre events soon unfold culminating in Violet receiving a mannequin, resembling herself, stabbed through the heart. With the town of Montford in meltdown, Violet knows that the answers wait at Maccabee House, which lies in the shadow of the old tannery. But with the killer's sights firmly on her, can she make it out alive?

Discover these horror stories of the Victorian era, with Gothic tales from J. S. Lee Fanu. This definitive audio version is narrated by Jilly Bond and brings the classic horrors of old to a new audience. Ghostly Tales by J. S. Le Fanu is brought to audio for the first time. Dim the lights and listen to these unsettling tales of Victorian horror. Fanu is described as a "master of the genre" by subsequent distinguished authors such as E. F. Bleiler. Fanu's unique approach helped to usher in a new, more psychological era of dread.

A poignant exploration of love, loss, and the passage of time, imbued with a melancholic beauty that mirrors the author’s own reckoning with mortality and the changing tides of literature. This collection of short stories was released just before Corelli’s death, and is unlike any of her other tales. Corelli was the bestselling queen of Victorian romantic fiction, beloved by the public and Queen Victoria herself… but the Great War (WWI) war changed everyone, Corelli included.