Books in The Complete Classics series

MP3 CD Format Anna Karenina is beautiful, married to a successful man, and has a son whom she adores. But a chance meeting at a train station in Moscow sets her passionate heart alight, and she is defenseless in the face of Count Vronsky's adoration. Having defied the rules of nineteenth-century Russian society, Anna is forced to pay a heavy price. Human nature, with all its failings, is the fabric of which this great and intense work is composed. Anna Karenina has been described as the perfect Russian novel.

Atalanta is the fastest runner in the world butÿwill only marry the man who can beat her in a race; Perseus must destroy the snake-headed gorgon, Medusa; Pandora has been givenÿthe gift of curiosity, what will happen if she opens the forbiddenÿmagic jar? Pegasus, the miraculous flying horse, has never been tamed,ÿcan Bellerophon catch him? These ten wonderful tales from the world of Greek mythology are perfect for reading aloud to younger children. The stories are told by Sally Pomme Clayton, one of the UK's most spellbinding storytellers, with beautiful, glowing illustrations by the award-winning artist Jane Ray. Included are notes and a map showing the real places in Greece that are connected with the stories.

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.

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.

Set in the days of the British Raj, Kiplings finest novel is the exciting and touching tale of an Irish orphan-boy who has lived free in the streets of Lahore before setting out, with a Tibetan Lama, on a spiritual quest. Kim later enrols in the Indian Service and simultaneously embarks on an espionage mission of supreme importance. A thrilling climax in the Himalayas occurs when the two quests become entangled. Kims search for identity is staged within one of the most magnificent and affectionate portrayals of Indian culture in literature.

William Dorrit has been a resident of the Marshalsea debtors prison for so many years that he has gained the nickname The Father of the Marshalsea. However, his suffering is eased by his close bond with youngest daughter Amy, or Little Dorrit. The dashing Arthur Clennam, returning to London after many years in China, enters their lives and the Dorrits fortunes begin to rise and fall. A biting satirical work on the shortcomings of 19th -century government and society.