CYNIC, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.Written over three decades as a series of instalments for magazines and newspapers, The...

Vincentio di Vivaldi has fallen in love with Ellena Rosalba. However, his proud and noble family vehemently oppose the match: they cannot allow him to wed someone with no money or...

Two unhappily married women, Rose Arbuthnot and Lotty Wilkins, respond to an advertisement offering a month’s rental of a small medieval Italian castle. In order to defray the...

First published in 1920, This Side of Paradise proved to be a best-selling novel in Fitzgerald’s own lifetime. The book follows the early life and education of Amory Blaine and...

The Charterhouse of Parma is a twisting tale of passion and intrigue following the adventures of Fabrizio del Dongo, a young Italian nobleman who dreams of glory on the...

Deep in the grounds of Welland House lies an ancient memorial tower, surrounded by a prehistoric wilderness that isolates it from the rest of the land. When one day Viviette...

David Timson introduces London Labour and the London Poor and its author Henry Mayhew, who in 1841 founded the satirical magazine Punch before his social conscience moved him to...

Producers Garrick Hagon and Liza Ross discuss Samuel Richardson’s landmark novel Clarissa with Lucy Scott, who plays the part of Clarissa in the Naxos AudioBooks recording....

One thing that hasn’t changed much at all in the last 10,000 years is the human brain. The relentless curiosity of the human mind, combined with our ability to solve problems,...

In a remote part of 19th-century Afghanistan, two British adventurers pursue their ambition to rule an empire. Using betrayal, threats and guns they win the respect of a primitive...