Showing titles in Literary History & Criticism

In his rousing adventure story, Alexandre Dumas employs all the elements of compelling drama—suspense, intrigue, love, vengeance, and the triumph of good over evil—that contribute to this classic novel’s irresistible and timeless appeal.In the post-Napoleonic era, a young sailor from Marseilles is poised to become captain of his own ship and marry his beloved. But jealous enemies provoke his arrest, condemning Edmond Dantès to lifelong imprisonment in the infamous Château d’If. There, his sole companion reveals his secret plan to escape, as well as the location of a trove of riches ...

Science and technology have always been central to the plots that make up the world of Bond, and in Superspy Science Kathryn Harkup explores the full range of 007’s exploits and the arms, technologies, tactics and downfalls of his various foes. From the practicalities of building a volcano-based lair, to whether being covered in gold paint really will kill you, and—if your plan is to take over the world—whether it is better to use bacteria, bombs, or poison—this audiobook has all the answers and more.

Romance, Erotica, a sexy voice, humor and artful storytelling. Everything you need to feel great.

The long-awaited portrait of a literary master from one of our generation's greatest biographers. Anthony Powell: the literary genius who gave us A Dance to the Music of Time, an undisputed classic of English literature. Spanning 12 spectacular volumes and written over 25 years, his comic masterpiece teems with idiosyncratic characters, capturing 20th-century Britain through war and peace. Drawing on Powell's letters and journals, and the memories of those who knew him, Hilary Spurling explores his life.

Tim Bowden takes us on one of the world's greatest road trips, from Australia's east coast to the Top End and into the heart of the outback. Told with wry humor, an infectious enthusiasm for history, and a nose for finding great stories, Tim lays bare the hardships of bush life and celebrates the joys and freedoms of being on the road.

First published in 1875, General William T. Sherman's memoir was one of the first from the Civil War and was offered to the public because, as Sherman wrote in his dedication, "no satisfactory history" of the war was yet available. Although Memoirs has been revised and corrected many times over the years, Sherman famously never changed the original text of his recollections.

These have been called the most famous and beloved letters of the past century. Rainer Maria Rilke himself said that much of his creative expression went into his correspondence, and here he touches upon a wide range of subjects that will interest writers, artists, and thinkers. This luminous translation of Rainer Maria Rilke's classic offers brilliant inspiration to all people who seek to know and express their inner truth.

Pigeonholed in popular memory as a Jazz Age epicurean, a playboy, and an emblem of the Lost Generation, F. Scott Fitzgerald was at heart a moralist struck by the nation's shifting mood and manners after World War I. In Paradise Lost, David Brown contends that Fitzgerald's deepest allegiances were to a fading antebellum world he associated with his father's Chesapeake Bay roots. Yet as a midwesterner, an Irish Catholic, and a perpetually in-debt author, he felt like an outsider in the haute bourgeoisie haunts.

In this beautifully written and brilliantly reasoned collection of essays, Ayn Rand throws new light on the nature of art and its purpose in human life. Once again, she demonstrates her bold originality and her refusal to let conventional ideas define her sense of the truth. Rand eloquently asserts that one cannot create art without infusing it with one's own value judgments and personal philosophy - even an attempt to withhold moral overtones only results in a deterministic or naturalistic message.

Over the last 60 years, the Marvel superhero comic books have grown into a gigantic mountain in the middle of contemporary culture. They are the longest continuous, self-contained work of fiction ever created: over half a million pages to date - and growing. Thousands of writers and artists have contributed to it. Every schoolchild recognises its protagonists: Spider-Man, the Avengers, the X-Men. And not even the people telling the story have read the whole thing - nobody's supposed to. So, of course, that's what Douglas Wolk did.

Recorded at the modestly sized West Beth Centre in New York City, this album is Eddie's first recorded outside the UK. It is a brilliant tour de force on empire, religion, and the relationship between Europe and America.

Katherine Rundell - Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and prize-winning author of five novels for children - explores how children’s books ignite and can reignite the imagination - how children's fiction, with its unabashed emotion and playfulness, can awaken old hungers and create new perspectives on the world. This delightful and persuasive essay is for adult listeners.

Taking an analytical approach to Hogwarts's irascible, protective Potions professor, author Lorrie Kim presents a closer look at how Dumbledore's double agent operates behind the scenes throughout the Harry Potter series. By examining the story from Snape's point of view, this in-depth exploration pierces the defenses of the wizarding world's famed Occlumens, revealing the man for who he truly is: one of pop culture's most memorable heroes.

How do the best writers get to work?In every episode, we'll chat to an author about what they do through a day. Where do they work? What time do they start? How do they plan their time and maximise their creativity, in order to plot and publish a bestseller? Some are frantic night-owls, others roll out of bed into their desks, and a few lock themselves away in the woods - but none have a regular 9 to 5, and we'll find out how they've managed it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Conversations with the biggest names in horror fiction. A podcast for horror readers who want to know where their favourite stories came from . . . and what frightens the people who wrote them.

Welcome to “Bedtime Stories”. Popular children's stories, classic tales, and time-honored fables. A podcast that will entertain everyone in the family and help you fall asleep.Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Amazon Music, Alexia, and YouTube

An adventure story primarily concerned with themes of hope, justice, vengeance, mercy, and forgiveness, The Count of Monte Cristo focuses on a man who is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes from jail, acquires a fortune, and sets about getting revenge on those responsible for his imprisonment. However, his plans have devastating consequences for the innocent as well as the guilty.

Words matter. Even more so when those words are communicating the very Word of God in the Bible. Since, as Saint Ambrose tells us, God himself speaks to us in the word of Scripture, then the accuracy of those words should matter to us. With The Gospel of Matthew, the Augustine Institute inaugurates the first of the biblical books to be translated as part of the Catholic Standard Version (CSV), a new translation of the Holy Bible. The CSV strives to translate the Scriptural text with the highest level of accuracy in its rendering of the original languages, as well as the highest degree of ...

In this witty, fact-packed A-Z, Newman takes the listener on a whirlwind tour from caring, sharing vampire bats to intelligent slime mould; from pacifist baboons to Richard Dawkins wrestling naked with his postman; from the invisibility cloak of the Hawaiian bobtail squid to Francis "DNA" Crick's belief that life on Earth began with alien spaceships.

This selection of Hardy's poetry does full justice to its humanity, integrity, humour and evocative power, ranging from charming anthology pieces such as Weathers to the great love poems he wrote after the death of his first wife and his meditations on war and phillosophy.