AuthorIan Sansom
NarratorIan Sansom
Duration9h 44m
CategoriesAdult Fiction, Poetry
PublisherHarper Collins
VersionUnabridged
This a book about a poet, about a poem, about a city, and about a world at a point of change. More than a work of literary criticism or literary biography, it is a record of why and how we create and respond to great poetry.This a book about a poet - W. H. Auden, a wunderkind, a victim-beneficiary of a literary cult of personality who became a scapegoat and a poet-expatriate largely excluded from British literary history because he left.About a poem - 'September 1, 1939', his most famous and celebrated, yet one which he tried to rewrite and disown and which has enjoyed - or been condemned - to a tragic and unexpected afterlife.About a city - New York, an island, an emblem of the Future, magnificent, provisional, seamy, and in 1939 about to emerge as the defining twentieth-century cosmopolis, the capital of the world.And about a world at a point of change - about 1939, and about our own Age of Anxiety, about the aftermath of September 11, when many American newspapers reprinted Auden's poem in its entirety on their editorial pages.
The County Guides: The Norfolk Mystery
Author: Ian Sansom
Author Ian Sansom
Narrator Mike Grady
Duration 8h 20m
It is 1937 and disillusioned Spanish Civil War veteran Stephen Sefton is stony broke. So when he sees a mysterious advertisement for a job where 'intelligence is essential', he applies. Thus begins Sefton's association with Professor Swanton Morley, an omnivorous intellect. Morley's latest project is a history of traditional England, with a guide t...
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Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer
Author: Maya Angelou
Author Maya Angelou
Narrator Maya Angelou
Duration 42m
Grace, dignity, and eloquence have long been hallmarks of Maya Angelou's poetry. Her measured verses have stirred our souls, energized our minds, and healed our hearts. Whether offering hope in the darkest of nights or expressing sincere joy at the extraordinariness of the everyday, Maya Angelou has served as our common voice. Celebrations is a col...
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Author: Ian Sansom
Author Ian Sansom
Narrator Mike Grady
Duration 6h 27m
Hitler, Mussolini and Pope Paul V are on fire. Fireworks explode and flaming tar barrels are being dragged through the streets. Bonfire Night in Lewes is the closest England comes to Mardis Gras. In their fifth adventure, Morley, Miriam and Sefton find themselves caught up in the celebrations and the chaos. On the morning after the night before, Se...
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The County Guides: Westmorland Alone
Author: Ian Sansom
Author Ian Sansom
Narrator Mike Grady
Duration 7h 57m
Welcome to Westmorland. Perhaps the most scenic county in England! Home of the poets! Land of the great artists! District of the Great lakes! And the scene of a mysterious crime.... Swanton Morley, the People's Professor, once again sets off in his Lagonda to continue his history of England, The County Guides. Stranded in the market town of Appleby...
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Old Toffer's Book of Consequential Dogs
Author: Christopher Reid
Author Christopher Reid
Narrator Robert Bathurst
Duration 51m
T. S. Eliot's best-selling collection of practical cat poems has been one of the most successful poetry collections in the world. For the first time in company history a companion volume will be published. Originally conceived by Eliot himself, Old Toffer's Book of Consequential Dog poems are a witty, varied and exquisitely compiled as Eliot's cats...
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Author: Various
Author Various
Narrator Various
Duration 1h 2m
A delightful collection from around the British Isles including Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold, Leisure by W. H Davis and To Autumn by John Keats. Featuring classic recordings by Richard Burton, Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson.
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Author: Various
Author Various
Narrator Bart Wolffe
Duration 44m
A collection of classic literature that feature erotic dreams including The Eve of St. Agnes, Erotica Romana, and A Last Confession.
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Author: George Mpanga
Author George Mpanga
Narrator George Mpanga
Duration 1h 8m
Search Party is a thought-provoking and deeply autobiographical collection. From the overtly political 'Go Home' to the deeply personal 'Full-time'; the narrative poems that offer vivid and unapologetic snapshots of inner-city life, such as 'His Mistakes', 'Believer' and the anthemic 'My City'; to the provocative social commentary in 'Lazy Dog' and...
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The County Guides: Death In Devon
Author: Ian Sansom
Author Ian Sansom
Narrator Mike Grady
Duration 7h 50m
Swanton Morley, the People's Professor, sets off for Devon to continue his history of England, The County Guides. Morley's daughter, Miriam, and his assistant, Stephen Sefton, pack up the Lagonda for a trip to the English Riviera. Morley has been invited to give the Founder's Day speech at All Souls School in Rousdon. But when the trio arrive, they...
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Author: By Benedict Flynn Translated
Author By Benedict Flynn Translated
Narrator Crawford Logan
Duration 2h 24m
The oldest long poem in Old English, written about 1000 A.D., Beowulf tells the story of a great warrior in Southern Scandinavia in both youth and maturity. The monster Grendel terrorises the Scyldings of Hrothgar's Danish Kingdom until Beowulf defeats him. As a result he has to face her enraged mother. Beowulf dies after a battle against a fierce...
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