Books published by publisher Naxos Audiobooks

Which king liked to bathe while the band played Rule Britannia? Which queen was so fat she needed a hoist to get on the throne? Which prince shut his wife out of Westminster Abbey to prevent her from being crowned? Who was the blood-thirstiest monarch of them all? Kings and Queens of England is a no-holds-barred account of the British monarchy with the gossip and gore left in, and nothing left out! It leaves no stone unturned in its mission to portray kings and queens as they really were, warts and all.

This is a story from the Just So Stories collection. Here is the complete and unabridged collection of Rudyard Kipling's delightful Just So Stories, which he first told to his own children before setting them down on paper: How the Camel Got His Hump, How the Leopard Got His Spots, How the Elephant Got His Trunk, The Butterfly that Stamped, and many others. Written in the late 1800s and first published in 1902, these enchanting animals remain unforgettable, over 100 years later. To hear these magic fables by a master of children's literature is to enjoy them.

With his turnip head and broomstick legs, Worzel Gummidge, now married to Earthy Mangold, is back for another series of adventures. In his own inimitable way, Worzel takes on roles as a schoolteacher, handyman and policeman, each with a chaotic outcome. The second of the Barbara Euphan Todd Worzel novels, Worzel Gummidge Again was first published in 1937.

In this remarkable anthology of historical recordings are many of the great artists of the past. Early cylinder recordings of Sir Henry Irving preserve the voice and character of the greatest actor of the Victorian period as well as Ellen Terry, his stage partner for many years. In this program, the changing styles of Shakespeare performance, a fascinating study, are documented with such varied actors as Tree, Gielgud, Thorndike, Olivier, Booth, and Barrymore.Also in this anthologhy, an entertaining miscellany of melodrama, tragedy, and comedy, including the famous extract of Edith Evans' performance as Lady Bracknell and an unforgettable dialogue between Laurel and Hardy.

Naxos AudioBooks presents the history of the Plantaganets as seen through the eyes of Shakespeare. These easy-to-understand introductions feature key speeches and scenes from the plays themselves, and are very accessible for children approaching Shakespeare for the first time, as well as being an invaluable aid to the history of the Plantaganets, from Richard II to Richard III. This set covers Richard II, Henry IV parts 1 and 2, Henry V, Henry VI parts 1, 2, and 3, and Richard III. It is read by an outstanding cast of English classical actors, and introduced by Anton Lesser.

This is a story from the Just So Stories collection. Here is the complete and unabridged collection of Rudyard Kipling's delightful Just So Stories, which he first told to his own children before setting them down on paper: How the Camel Got His Hump, How the Leopard Got His Spots, How the Elephant Got His Trunk, The Butterfly that Stamped, and many others. Written in the late 1800s and first published in 1902, these enchanting animals remain unforgettable, over 100 years later. To hear these magic fables by a master of children's literature is to enjoy them.

A selection of some of the most famous fairy stories which every child needs to foster their imagination. The following stories can be found on this title: "The Story of the Three Little Pigs", "The History of Dick Whittington", "Beauty and the Beast", "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", "Puss in Boots", "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Ali Baba", "The Brave Little Tailor", and "The Princess on the Glass Hill".

This is a story from the Ballet Stories collection. The magic of ballet is evoked in these enchanting stories presented with many musical excerpts from the works themselves. Jenny Agutter, who before turning to acting was a dancer, presents the stories of two French ballets - Giselle and Coppelia - and the three great ballets by Tchaikovsky, in engaging style. These are tales of princes and princesses, of good fairies and bad witches, and, in Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, the brave soldier and Clara - but does it happen, or is it a dream? And there is the music - the lovely melody from Swan Lake, The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the waltzes and richly atmospheric passages painting, in sound, castles, forests, mists and lakes. A perfect introduction to the ballet.

The common view of the Romans is that they were only interested in watching gladiators hack one another to pieces, and in lying on couches while they stuffed large meals down their throats. But of course they were a busy and clever people, who built up a great empire to prove it, with fine cities and harbours, bath houses and roads, laws and good government. In this audiobook you can hear the stories of the great Roman emperors and the enduring legacy that they left for later generations.

This is a look at Christmas through excerpts from Charles Dickens, Samuel Pepys, medieval recipes, poems by John Betjeman and C. Day Lewis. It also includes: a traditional Mummer's play and a Christmas sermon; two Victorian "weepies", "Christmas Day in the Workhouse" and "The Little Match Girl"; and an account of a 16-year-old girl's first married Christmas in 19th-century New York. Christmas music is also included.

Here are the stories of nine people whose energy, imagination, courage, and determination changed the world. From Christopher Columbus who set off into unknown seas in a small ship in the 15th century, to a young girl, Anne Frank, caught in the turmoil of the 20th, who wrote a remarkable diary while in hiding in Amsterdam during the Second World War. Their personalities and their achievements make them heroes and heroines for our time also. This program features short biographies of Christopher Columbus, Elizabeth I, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Lord Nelson, Charles Darwin, Florence Nightingale, Abraham Lincoln, and Anne Frank.

Between the 8th and 11th centuries, Vikings stormed out of their Scandinavian homelands to raid and loot along the coasts of Europe. In old Norse, to "go viking" meant to take to sea in a long ship for an adventure. Sometimes this was a trading trip, sometimes a piratical raid. Often it was both. Explorers and traders, warriors and poets, they ranged between Byzantium in the south and ventured as far as Iceland and even North America. Their fame lives on. This entertaining and informative account was written especially for Naxos AudioBooks by David Angus, author of Great Explorers of the World, Great Inventors, and other spoken-word histories.