Books in Complete Classics series

The intensely personal David Copperfield (widely regarded to be the most autobiographical of the author's novels) is one of Dickens's greatest works. We follow David Copperfield from birth and miserable childhood to inevitable tragedies, until he finally finds happiness later in life. Full of some of the most memorable characters in literary history, Nicholas Boulton's depiction of the oily Uriah Heep and David Copperfield's sinister stepfather Murdstone, do the novel full justice.

Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent is a tale of anarchism, espionage, and terrorism.Our agent, a man named Mr. Verloc, minds his own business while he tends to his shop in London's Soho district, alongside his wife, who attends to her aged mother and disabled brother. Their lives are turned upside down when Verloc is reluctantly employed to plant a bomb and destroy an observatory in London. What was once the perfect bomb plot inevitably turns awry and Verloc, his family, and his associates are forced to face the consequences.Conrad's later political novel bears all the hallmarks of his captivating style. The Secret Agent brims with melodious and poetic language and crystal clear psychological insights that could only be the work of a uniquely gifted storyteller.

Somewhere in South America, there is a plateau; and roaming in its forests are dinosaurs. Only one man has ever been there, and his reports are so astonishing that no-one is prepared to believe him; except the extraordinary Professor Challenger. He decides to take a trip to prove beyond doubt that this lost world really exists. With the daredevil journalist Edward Malone, meticulous, sceptical Professor Summerlee and the professional adventruer Lord John Roxton, Challenger sets out on a mission as dangerous as it is thrilling. Inspiring endless imitations, The Lost World is Sir Arthur Conab Doyle's classic adventure of discovery.

Full of the stark contrasts of youth and old age, beauty and deformity, goodness and malevolence, this Dickens classic resembles a fairy story. But, can goodness prevail in this realistic setting of Victorian England? Published first in serial form, The Old Curiosity Shop was an instant sensation, gripping a rapt Victorian public who were desperate to learn the fate of the beloved Little Nell. Dickens heart-warming classic is fully realized here through Anton Lessers stylish and elegant storytelling.

Sons and Lovers, Lawrences third published novel, was written by the author at the height of his literary powers. The story of class differences (the relationship between a middle-class woman and a miner) in the tough world of coal mining brought a refreshing realism to literature. It remains a challenging text and is studied widely. It is particularly effective on audiobook in the hands of Nottinghamshire reader Paul Slack.

Conrads famous examination of colonialism is a richly-allusive work of terrible beauty. Newly-employed in an ivory trading company, Marlow travels down-river into the depths of the African jungle. As he goes, he witnesses the shocking subjection of the natives, and his faith in the imperialist mission weakens. The enigmatic chief of the trading camp Kurtz becomes the focus of this ambivalence. Reports of rapacious and violent deeds seemingly contradict his reputation as an idealistic and admirable leader, and the suspense mounts in the lead up to the appearance of this shifting, unknowable figure.

Toru Okada is going through a difficult time. He is without a job, his cat has disappeared and his wife is behaving strangely. Into this unbalanced world, come a variety of curious characters, a young girl sunbathing in a nearby garden, sisters who are very peculiar indeed, an old war veteran with a violent, disturbing story. Okada retreats to a deep well in a nearby house. And the story unfolds.

The desperate plight of the strikingly beautiful and effervescent Anna Karenina is one of the most stirring in all of literature. In pursuit of a romance which is deemed elicit by her aristocratic clique, the story of Annas fire and passion being gradually choked by the repressive social standards of the day etches itself onto the memory. And yet, Tolstoys epic is sensitive and nuanced. Annas predicament is contrasted against the experiences of a whole range of intriguing characters. All in all, a finely detailed portrait of a Russian society in flux emerges, as the old ordering principles of social class, religion and morality are thrown into disarray. Kate Lock brings out the often unnoticed humour in one of the monuments of Russian literature. This unabridged recording will surely be the audiobook highlight of the Tolstoy year.