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Have you ever made a drunken bet? Worse, still, have you ever tried to win one? In attempting to hitchhike round Ireland with a fridge, Tony Hawks did both, and his foolhardiness led him to one of the best experiences of his life. Joined by his trusty travelling companion-cum-domestic appliance, he found himself in the midst of a remarkable adventure, at times emotional, at times inspirational, but more often than not, downright silly.

John Milton's Paradise Lost is one of the greatest epic poems in the English language. It tells the story of the Fall of Man, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of innocence pitted against corruption, in which God and Satan fight a bitter battle for control of mankind's destiny.

T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral is both a fascinating retelling of the 12th-century assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket and a compelling call for resistance in the face of intimidation. Written against the backdrop of rising Fascism in 20th-century Europe, Eliot’s classic verse play is as relevant now as it ever was. This re-release of the original 1953 recording stars Robert Donat whose commanding performance as the Archbishop, alongside a full cast, is widely celebrated.

Set in the fictional South American country of Costaguana, Nostromo explores the volatile politics and crippling greed surrounding the San Tomé silver mine. The story of power, love, revolutions, loyalty and reward is told with richly evocative description and brilliantly realised characters. But Nostromo is more than an adventure story; it is also a profoundly dark moral fable. Its language is as compellingly resonant as the sea itself; the characters absorbing and complex.

William Shakespeare est considéré comme l'un des plus grands poètes, dramaturges et écrivains de la culture anglaise. Il est réputé pour sa maîtrise des formes poétiques et littéraires, ainsi que sa capacité à représenter les aspects de la nature humaine. Figure éminente de la culture occidentale, Shakespeare continue d'influencer les artistes d'aujourd'hui. Ses pièces sont régulièrement jouées partout dans le monde. Shakespeare est l'un des rares dramaturges à avoir pratiqué aussi bien la comédie que la tragédie.

Tom Jones, a foundling, is brought up by the kindly Mr. Allworthy as if he were his own son. Forced to leave the house as a young man after tales of his disgraceful behavior reach his benefactor's ears, he sets out in utter despair, not only because of his banishment but because he has now lost all hope of gaining the hand of the beautiful Sophia. But she too is forced to flee her parental home to escape an undesirable marriage and their stories and adventures intertwine.

Tolkien's Lost Chaucer uncovers the story of an unpublished and previously unknown book by the author of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien worked between 1922 and 1928 on his Clarendon edition Selections from Chaucer's Poetry and Prose, and though never completed, its 160 pages of commentary reveals much of his thinking about language and storytelling when he was still at the threshold of his career as an epoch-making writer of fantasy literature.

The Taming of the Shrew is a classic comedy by William Shakespeare featuring characters Petruchio and Katherina. The work is deeply laden with sexism and gender issues as Petruchio "tames" Katherina in an increasingly abusive relationship. A classic throughout the ages, you simply must hear this story.

This classic tale, set in the jungle of the Belgian Congo, tells the story of Marlow's search for the powerful and possibly deranged Kurtz, in an atmosphere of evil. This novel was later adapted and updated by Francis Ford Coppola as his film Apocalypse Now.

Originally published in 1778, Evelina is Frances Burney's first and most beloved novel. It was a landmark in the development of the novel of manners and went on to influence such enduringly popular authors as Jane Austen. By turns hilarious and grim, witty and lyrical, the story follows young Evelina as she leaves the seclusion of her country home and enters into late eighteenth-century London society - both its pleasures and its dangers. Life in eighteenth-century England is vividly rendered as Evelina is educated in the ways of the world and, eventually, love.

The Waste Land is a seminal work of modernist poetry by T.S. Eliot. Written in 1922, this five-part poem is a portrait of its time, a work that expresses the disillusionment of the modernist era and the desperation that the generation of writers of that time was feeling....

This poem, rich in its palette of human emotions, is couched in simple narrative language. Some critics have sought to interpret the poem as an allegory and find a specific meaning for every phrase and picture, but the richness of its symbolism is not favorable to this kind of treatment. In some ways, it resembles a piece of music. Each mind can draw from it a personal, and, to the individual, satisfactory interpretation.

A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia. Forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion, he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler. The bloodbath and consequent civil war swiftly take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of madness and death.

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is an analysis of a beleaguered, multilayered, and conflicted suitor, trying to reconcile his dichotomy of having a foray of overwhelming ideas juxtaposed with underwhelming execution, in the arena of life and love. It was the poetic debut of the American-born British poet T.S Eliot. The poem was originally published in 1915.

This collection of 35 poems is a sequel to a volume of lyrical ballads first published in 1798. While the first volume was a collaboration between Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, this anthology contains verses by Wordsworth only. Generally, the poems are less well-known than those of the earlier volume but do include major narrative pieces, like "The Pastoral Epics", "The Brothers", and "Michael".

Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life is the first work to explore the origins of Beatrix Potter's love of gardening and plants and show how this passion came to be reflected in her work.

One of the most celebrated poets in the English language, William Blake crafted visions of Heaven, Hell, God, and Apocalypse. Effortlessly leaping from philosophy, to nursery rhymes, to mystic visions, Blake left a body of work that still puzzles scholars, and thrills listeners. So sit beside William Blake, and let him tell you of the Tyger, the Lamb, and the Everlasting Gospel.

In this collection, the authors were striving for a natural and unaffected style of verse that sought to avoid the elaborate structures and artifice that they considered had characterized much of the poetry of the 18th century. Of the 23 poems, only four are by Coleridge, including "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", which is the most famous poem in the collection. The most notable contribution by Wordsworth is the concluding poem, "Tintern Abbey".

In The Celtic Twilight, Yeats explores the world of fairies, ghosts and spirits. The title refers to the pre-dawn hours when the Druids performed their rituals. The work comprises tales recounted to the poet by his friends, acquaintances and various country folk.

Award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti reads "Ode to a Nightingale", a personal poem that describes Keats's journey into a state of negative capability. The tone of the poem rejects the optimistic pursuit of pleasure found within Keats's earlier poems and, instead, explores the themes of nature, transience, and mortality, the latter being particularly relevant to Keats.