Historical Fiction Classics

The great virtue of this volume is that it reveals a lighter, comic side of Sade. He was a man obsessed, like many great writers, and his obsessions are still present here: his hatred of all things pretentious, his loathing of a corrupt judicial system, his damning of hypocrisy and false piety. One of the great anarchists of all time, he was nevertheless far from mad (as many pretended) and these works of fiction shed another light on this most feverish of minds.

The year is 1745, and Prince Charlie of the defeated royal house of Stuart, has just returned to Scottish soil. A weighty choice faces every Scottish man. Should he stitch a white cockade to his hat and join the fight to restore James, Prince Charlie's father to the British throne? Or should he stay at home and back George II, the reigning king? One Lowland family, the Duries of Durisdeer and Ballantrae, believe they've found a clever way to sidestep the decision.

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Chloe Pirrie, Sam Woolf, Michael Fox, Olivia Darnley and Terence Wilton. At a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon's...

Brought to you by Penguin. Peter and Paul, the two sons of German businessman Harald Winter, are bonded together by a childhood trauma. But as they grow up the brothers also grow apart. When the shadow of the Third Reich falls they become divided by war and their differing ideals - only to meet...

Waverley by Sir Walter Scott is an enthralling tale of love, war and divided loyalties. Taking place during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, the novel tells the story of proud English officer Edward Waverley. After being posted to Dundee, Edward eventually befriends chieftain of the Highland Clan Mac-Ivor and falls in love with his beautiful sister Flora. He then renounces his former loyalties in order actively to support Scotland in open rebellion against the Union with England. The book depicts stunning, romantic panoramas of the Highlands.

Brought to you by Penguin. Now a new six part ITV drama starring Joe Cole, as iconic spy Harry Palmer, Lucy Boynton and Tom Hollander. A high-ranking scientist has been kidnapped. A secret British intelligence agency must find out why. But as the quarry is pursued from grimy Soho to the other...

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Paterson Joseph, known for his roles in the forthcoming BBC adaption of Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses, Peep Show, and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. This definitive recording includes an Introduction by Richard Pevear. Young...

Galina is a young woman caught, like her contemporaries, in the seeming lawlessness of the new Russia. In the midst of this chaos, her sister Maria turns into a jackdaw and flies away - prompting Galina to join Yakov, a policeman investigating a rash of recent disappearances. Their search will take them to the underground realm of hidden truths and archetypes, to find themselves caught between reality and myth, past and present, honor and betrayal... the secret history of Moscow.

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Juliet Aubrey, who won the BAFTA for Best Actress for her role as Dorothea in the BBC serial Middlemarch. This definitive recording includes an Introduction by Rosemary Ashton. George Eliot's most ambitious novel is a masterly...

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Andrew Scott, star of Sherlock, Fleabag and Black Mirror, also known for his on-stage roles in Present Laughter and Hamlet. This definitive recording includes an Introduction by Terence Brown. Joyce's first major work, written when...

Mr Edgar Finchley, unmarried clerk, aged 45, is told to take a holiday for the first time in his life. He decides to go to the seaside. But Fate has other plans in store...From his abduction by a cheerful crook, to his smuggling escapade off the south coast, the timid but plucky Mr Finchley is plunged into a series of the most astonishing and extraordinary adventures. His rural adventure takes him gradually westward through the English countryside and back, via a smuggling yacht, to London.

Sir Richard Hannay introduces this last adventure involving his old friends.

John Blenkiron discovers that a ruthless industrialist is plotting to destabilise America and cause global turmoil. Although Bavarian born, Castor plans to dominate the world from Olifa, a small country in Latin America. Hannay realises he is now too old for the job of thwarting these evil designs and enlists the aid of his old friend Sandy Arbuthnot, now Lord Clanroyden.

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by an ensemble cast which includes the BAFTA award-winning actor Adeel Akhtar (Killing Eve; The Night Manager; Les Miserables), Adrian Scarborough (Gavin and Stacey; The King's Speech), Natalie Simpson (Outlander; Les Miserables), Emma...

Mr Finchley takes a fancy to a horse-drawn caravan that he sees for sale, but his new wife does not relish the prospect of a caravan journey, so he sets off alone to explore the countryside and go house-hunting. While learning to handle the horse and the caravan, he encounters a variety of eccentrics and country characters, and several unsuitable houses. It gradually emerges that the caravan contains a secret, and Mr Finchley finds himself in real trouble. This gentle comedy trilogy was a runaway bestseller on first publication in the 1930s and retains a timeless appeal today.

Brought to you by Penguin. The nuns who enter a medieval Norfolk convent are told to renounce the world, but the world still finds ways to trouble them, whether it is through fire, floods, pestilence, a collapsing spire, jealous rivalries, a priest with a secret or a plague of caterpillars. As...

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Emma Naomi, best known for Bridgerton. This definitive recording includes an introduction by Marilyn Butler. With its irrepressible heroine and playful literary games, Northanger Abbey is the most youthful and optimistic of Jane...

Young nobleman d’Artagnan has arrived in Paris intent on joining the guardians of King Louis XIII. He befriends the regiment’s most formidable musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and together they unite in their commitment to uphold justice. Soon, a royal indiscretion thrusts them into an audacious escapade of courtly intrigue, thwarted romance, and daring rescue. But it’s the Machiavellian schemes of a powerful enemy and the wicked seductions of an ingenious female spy that will be their greatest challenges.

An ebullient Mr Finchley is about to propose marriage to a lady he had rescued from mishap, when he is sent to Paris by his firm. There he manages to upset a boat, adopt a stray orphan, and get himself kidnapped. The fine tangle he gets into takes some unravelling! Only when eventually back in London does he complete the proposal of marriage that was interrupted at the start. This gentle comedy trilogy was a runaway best seller on first publication in the 1930s and retains a timeless appeal today.

Brought to you by Penguin. This lush, lyrical fantasy is Steinbeck's sole work of historical fiction. Henry Morgan ruled the Spanish Main in the 1670s, ravaging the coasts of Cuba and America and striking terror wherever he went. His lust and greed knew no bounds, and he was utterly consumed by...

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Gemma Whelan, best known for her roles in Game of Thrones, Gentleman Jack and Upstart Crow. This definitive recording includes an Introduction by Patricia Ingham. When her father leaves the Church, Margaret Hale is uprooted from her...