Classics audiobooks

The Taming Of The Shrew

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Full Cast, Burn Gorman, Gerard McSorley, Jutta ...

Length: 1 hour 39 minutes

Abridged: No

In this BBC full-cast production of The Taming of the Shrew, the freedom and virility of women is frowned upon. Will Petruchio's quest to 'tame' his new wife succeed?

Layers of assumed identity, elaborate role-playing, and acerbic exchanges of wit reveal the real relationship between men and women in this exuberant production of one of... Read more

Romeo And Juliet

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Andrew Scott, Douglas Henshall, Full Cast, Iwan...

Length: 2 hours 56 minutes

Abridged: No

In this BBC full-cast production of Romeo And Juliet, the two star-crossed lovers fight for each other until their dying breath. Can their two feuding families reconcile?

With the intimacy of radio, the full beauty and meaning of some of the most lyrical lines ever written can be truly heard: tenderness and passion, betrayal and bigotry are... Read more

Othello

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Ray Fearon, Anastasia Hille, Cal MacAninch & Ja...

Length: 3 hours 5 minutes

Abridged: No

In this BBC full-cast production, Othello is drawn further and further into jealous rage by the manipulative Iago.

In this story of evil cunning perverting a once noble mind, radio captures Iago's sly hints and boasts to the audience with shocking clarity. The listener is led along an emotional path that grips with fascinating horror until the... Read more

The Tempest

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Catrin Rhys, Full Cast, Jasmine Hyde, Nina Wadi...

Length: 2 hours 4 minutes

Abridged: No

In this BBC full-cast production of The Tempest, a magical storm washes some sailors up on a peculiar island, changing the course of their lives forever...

Raging storms and rich beautiful music combine to magical effect in this production of Shakespeare's allegorical last play, where mystical forces work to restore harmony and order to an... Read more

A Midsummer Night's Dream

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Becky Simpson, David Threlfall, Full Cast, Samu...

Length: 2 hours 13 minutes

Abridged: No

In this BBC full-cast production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena run to the woods and stumble into a life separate from time itself.

Fairy magic wreaks havoc and midsummer madness takes over as lovers tread the delicate line between fantasy and reality.

Sylvestra le Touzel stars as Titania in this delightful... Read more

All's Well That Ends Well

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Carl Prekopp, Siân Phillips, Miriam Margolyes, ...

Length: 2 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

In this BBC full-cast production of All's Well That Ends Well, the trials of marriage are hilariously explored. Will Helena complete the Herculean tasks to win Bertram's love?

All's Well That Ends Well finds Helena rewarded for her ministries to the sick with the choice of any husband she wishes. Her choice, Bertram, is unwilling to have her as... Read more

Antony And Cleopatra

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Colin Tierney, David Harewood, Frances Barber, ...

Length: 2 hours 55 minutes

Abridged: No

In this BBC full-cast production of Antony and Cleopatra, the soldier and noble prince Mark Antony's enthralment with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra is proving controversial. Will the tumultuous relationship ultimately end in tragedy?

Antony and Cleopatra is an intense love story, exploring the constant conflict between duty and emotion with... Read more

Coriolanus

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Adrian Dunbar, Full Cast, Kenneth Cranham, Samu...

Length: 2 hours 43 minutes

Abridged: No

In this BBC full-cast production of Coriolanus, allies and enemies become blurred just as Rome is in sight...

Coriolanus tells of a proud Roman general who captures the town Corioli but subsequently falls from favour with the Roman people. He allies himself with the Volscians and leads an attack on Rome, but allegiances are won and lost before... Read more

Henry IV Part Two

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Full Cast, Timothy West, Jamie Glover, Julian G...

Length: 2 hours 17 minutes

Abridged: No

In this BBC full-cast production of Henry IV Part 2, civil war is ravaging England. Rebels are rallying together, unified against Henry. Will Henry and his son, Hal, emerge victorious - or alive?

Father and son Julian Glover and Jamie Glover star as King Henry and his son Hal in the powerful production which also stars Timothy West and Prunella... Read more

Julius Caesar

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Stella Gonet, Nicholas Farrell, Full Cast, Gera...

Length: 2 hours 20 minutes

Abridged: No

In this BBC full-cast production, Julius Caesar is triumphant after his victory over the sons of Pompey. But as bad omens and weather plague Rome, even his most loyal friends are starting to see the signs...

Political intrigue and fierce battle rage in this tense and dynamic production in which a country is torn apart under the legacy of Julius... Read more

Richard II

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Full Cast, Joss Ackland, Samuel West, Damian Le...

Length: 2 hours 57 minutes

Abridged: No

In this BBC full-cast production of Richard II, the male ego and narcissism of monarchs are hung out to dry...

Written entirely in verse, the rhythms of the language in this epic tragedy encompass its themes of dignity and kingship with fitting grandeur and pathos, as the capricious and narcissistic Richard is brought to his own... Read more

Gilgamesh

By: Stephen Mitchell

Narrated by: George Guidall & John McDonough

Length: 4 hours 5 minutes

Abridged: No

This brilliant new treatment of the oldest epic in the world is a literary event. Esteemed translator and best-selling author Stephen Mitchell breathes life into a 3,700-year-old classic, delivering a lithe and muscular rendering that shows how startlingly alive Gilgamesh is, how filled with intelligence and beauty. It is the story of... Read more

Two on a Tower

By: Thomas Hardy

Narrated by: Peter Joyce

Length: 11 hours 7 minutes

Abridged: No

Written in 1882, and set in the author's beloved West Country, Two on a Tower is one of Hardy's earliest works. This fast moving story combines tragedy, romance and humour in a convoluted tale of human relationships. It also reflects Hardy's interest in the stars and astronomy. Lonely Viviette Constantine awaits the return of her husband from a... Read more

Trilby - Abridged

By: Gerald du Maurier

Narrated by: Peter Joyce

Length: 10 hours 39 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Full of the author's joie de vivre, this tale revels in the artistic life of 19th Century Paris. Three friends, perfect companions for each other, try to make their way as painters in the Bohemian climate of the left bank of the Seine, but then Little Billee falls in love. The object of his affections is Trilby, a gamine figure of the streets... Read more

March

By: Geraldine Brooks

Narrated by: Richard Easton

Length: 10 hours 18 minutes

Abridged: No

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize--a powerful love story set against the backdrop of the Civil War, from the author of The Secret Chord.

From Louisa May Alcott's beloved classic Little Women, Geraldine Brooks has animated the character of the absent father, March, and crafted a story "filled with the ache of love and marriage and with the power of war... Read more

The Chocolate War

By: Robert Cormier

Narrated by: Frank Muller

Length: 5 hours 42 minutes

Abridged: No

One of the most controversial YA novels of all time, The Chocolate War is a modern masterpiece that speaks to fans of S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders and John Knowles’s A Separate Peace.
 
After suffering rejection from seven major publishers, The Chocolate War made its debut in 1974, and quickly became a bestselling—and provocative—classic for... Read more

Hind's Feet on High Places - Abridged

By: Hannah Hurnard

Narrated by: Flo Schmidt

Length: 3 hours 2 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Hannah Hurnard created the story of Much Afraid, a young girl hoping to travel from the Valley of Humiliation to the High Places. Along the way, she meets a number of memorable characters— including the Family of Fearings, Cousin Pride, Mrs. Valiant, Mercy, and Peace. Much Afraid also meets the ever-caring Shepherd, who helps her on her journey,... Read more

Death in Venice

By: Thomas Mann

Narrated by: Simon Callow & Michael Cunningham

Length: TBA

Abridged: No

The world-famous masterpiece by Nobel laureate Thomas Mann—here in a new translation by Michael Henry HeimPublished on the eve of World War I, a decade after Buddenbrooks had established Thomas Mann as a literary celebrity, Death in Venice tells the story of Gustave von Aschenbach, a successful but aging writer who follows his wanderlust to... Read more

I, Robot

By: Isaac Asimov

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 8 hours 21 minutes

Abridged: No

This classic science fiction masterwork by Isaac Asimov weaves stories about robots, humanity, and the deep questions of existence into a novel of shocking intelligence and heart.
 
“A must-read for science-fiction buffs and literature enjoyers alike.”—The Guardian

I, Robot, the first and most widely read book in Asimov’s Robot series, forever... Read more

Pilgrim's Progress - Abridged

By: John Bunyan

Length: 3 hours 19 minutes

Abridged: Yes

John Bunyan was a simple maker and mender of pots and kettles who received very little education. In spite of that, he penned the most successful allegory ever written in the striking bluntness of untutored prose. He lost his first wife and was imprisoned for twelve years for his compelling—but unlicensed—preaching. Nevertheless, his preaching... Read more

Histoires pragoises

By: Rainer Maria Rilke

Narrated by: Didier Sandre

Length: 3 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

Prague, ville où Rilke passa son enfance, est sans doute le personnage essentiel de ces deux récits. Le roi Bohusch et Frère et soeur, constituant ces Histoires pragoises, comptent parmi les tout premiers textes de Rilke. Nourris d'éléments autobiographiques, ils évoquent l'atmosphère qui régnait alors à Prague, et, en particulier, l'émergence... Read more

Divining Women

By: Kaye Gibbons

Narrated by: Kaye Gibbons

Length: 5 hours 26 minutes

Abridged: No

A powerful new novel from the bestselling author of Ellen Foster
Autumn, 1918: Rumors of peace are spreading across America, but spreading even faster are the first cases of Spanish influenza, whispering of the epidemic to come. Maureen Ross, well past a safe childbearing age, is experiencing a difficult pregnancy. Her husband, Troop -- cold... Read more

The John Updike Audio Collection

By: John Updike

Narrated by: John Updike

Length: 5 hours 43 minutes

Abridged: No

The extraordinarily evocative stories depict the generation born in a small-town America during the Depression and growing up in a world where the old sexual morality was turned around and material comforts were easily had. Yet, as these stories reflect so accurately, life was still unsettling, and Updike chronicles telling moments both joyful... Read more

The John Cheever Audio Collection

By: John Cheever

Narrated by: Meryl Streep, Ben Cheever & Peter Gallagher

Length: 6 hours 20 minutes

Abridged: No

Here are twelve magnificent stories in which John Cheever celebrates—with unequaled grace and tenderness—the deepest feelings we have.As Cheever writes in his preface, ""These stories seem at times to be stories of a long-lost world when the city of New York was still filled with a river light, when you heard the Benny Goodman quartets from a... Read more