Product Description: When Cedric Charlton, an unsuspecting tax inspector, arrives at the door of the Pop Larkin farm, he soon forgets the purpose of his visit: the fun-loving Ma and Pop Larkin distract him at every turn with strawberries, cream, alcohol, and their attractive young daughter, Mariette...read more

From the Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Sense of an Ending and one of Britain’s greatest writers: a brilliant collection of essays on the books and authors that have meant the most to him throughout his illustrious career.In these seventeen essays (plus a short story and a special preface, “A Life with Books”), Julian Barnes examines the British, French and American writers who have shaped his writing, as well as the cross-currents and overlappings of their different cultures. From the deceptiveness of Penelope Fitzgerald to the directness of Hemingway, from Kipling’s view of France to the French view of Kipling, from the many translations of Madame Bovary to the fabulations of Ford Madox Ford, from the National Treasure status of George Orwell to the despair of Michel Houellebecq, Julian Barnes considers what fiction is, and what it can do. As he writes, “Novels tell us the most truth about life: what it is, how we live it, what it might be for, how we enjoy and value it, and how we lose it.”

Product Description: Slashed paintings and a mysterious death, an accused fiancé and the reappearance of a long-dead husband—an audio version of a classic crime drama The slashing of a valuable painting at the renowned Ivory Gallery in London, followed by the murder of the proprietor's son-in-law, Robert, sets the stage for a finely tuned Allingham mystery...read more

Product Description: Albert Campion finds himself tangled up in the theater world, but who will be left standing when the curtain falls? An audiobook from one of the greats of crime fiction, alongside Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers.Everyone fell under the spell of Jimmy Sutane, the charming and talented song-and-dance man—everyone, that is, except the spiteful practical joker who put a pin in his stick of grease-paint and pasted "Last Week" over the "House Full: notices...read more

Blackmail and murder in the fashionable theatre scene of thirties London -- classic British crime writing at its best.

A jailbreaker and kife artist is at large in London and it falls to Albert Campion to hunt him down -- classic British crime writing at its best.

Product Description: Studying Shakespeare has been devised to meet the needs of students wishing to place the study of an individual Shakespeare play in the context of Shakespeare's work as a whole. The Handbook begins with a description of Shakespeare's life and his contemporary world...read more

Product Description: This is an anthology of entertaining literary anecdotes and extracts about the world of acting, selected by the actor Philip Franks. A selection of poetry and prose serves as a commentary on the acting profession, including works by poets ranging from Tennyson to Roger McGough...read more

Product Description: This is a collection of prose, poetry, and drama on the theme of romantic love, from Romeo and Juliet to Truly, Madly, Deeply, read by Juliet Stevenson and Philip Franks.