Spending their summer holidays with Farmer Braithwaite and his wife in Scatterbrook, John and Susan come across a particularly lifelike scarecrow in a nearby field. That evening, much to the children’s surprise, the scarecrow makes an appearance in the Braithwaites’ kitchen to warm himself by the fire. He is Worzel Gummidge and he is no ordinary scarecrow. His tendency to cause mayhem wherever he goes sparks a series of mishaps and adventures, often with hilarious results. This is the first of the Worzel Gummidge novels written by Barbara Euphan Todd, originally published in 1936.

When Worzel hears that John and Susan have gone on holiday to the seaside, he decides that he and Earthy Mangold should join them. In the town of Seashell he finds a kindred spirit in the ship’s figurehead, Saucy Nancy, and many dramas follow, including one in which Earthy Mangold is swept out to sea. This is the fourth in the series of Barbara Euphan Todd’s Worzel Gummidge novels and it dates from 1947. The Worzel Gummidge stories were broadcast on the popular Children’s Hour on British radio and two of them were featured in TV’s Jackanory. 1979 saw the birth of a successful television series based on Worzel Gummidge and other characters from the books, with Jon Pertwee playing the eponymous scarecrow, which still has a dedicated following to this day. The book is read by the multi-talented Jessica Martin, who infuses the stories with excitement.

Grigori Aleksandrovich Pechorin is an enigma: arrogant, cocky, melancholic, brave, cynic, romantic, loner, socialite, soldier, free soul, and yet, victim of the world, he eludes definition and remains a mystery to those who know him. Just who is he? And what does he hope to achieve? Evolving from first person to third person, and then into a diary, A Hero of our Time takes on a variety of forms to interrogate Pechorin’s cryptic character and his unusual philosophy providing breathtaking descriptions of the Caucasus along the way. The novel has been hailed as an influence on such writers as Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov, and is a striking take on Lord Byron’s ‘superfluous man’; it hearkens back to the teaching of Machiavelli, while anticipating the future work of Nietzsche. Nicholas Boulton’s remarkable fluency and beauty of tone defy the listener to take a break from this unique story. Hailed by Vladimir Nabokov as one of the greatest Russian novels, the book has been referenced in novels by Albert Camus and Ian Fleming, and films by Ingmat Berman.

Before Sir Florian Eustace dies, he gives his beloved wife Lizzie a beautiful and expensive diamond necklace valued over �10,000. Dispute soon rages between the Eustace family and the manipulative and conniving Lizzie: it's claimed that the diamonds are a precious family heirloom, but Lizzie argues they were a gift. Is she lying? As the family's lawyer determines to reunite them with the jewels, Lizzie resorts to increasingly desperate measures, until one day the jewels are stolen. Who is responsible? The third novel in Trollope's Palliser series, The Eustace Diamonds is a wonderfully absorbing blend of dark cynicism and humor. David Shaw-Parker's reading has been described as "confiding and personal, perfectly capturing the spirit of Trollope's narrative voice." (AudioFile Magazine)

Following its successful run of unabridged Dickens titles, Naxos AudioBooks has turned its attention to Henry James. Further titles are planned for 2018. In the second novel of James’s celebrated late period, American Lambert Strether is sent to Paris on behalf of Mrs. Newsome, his fiance, to collect her son, Chad. When Strether finds Chad, he discovers an altered man and becomes introduced to a free and unconventional style of life that soon intoxicates him. His views begin to change; the morality of Woollett, his hometown, becomes foreign, and the ‘ambassador’ loses sight of his mission… Part tragedy, part comedy, The Ambassadors is a rewarding portrait about one man’s late awakening. John Chancer is an award-winning narrator of many audiobooks. His soft American accent lends an authenticity to James’s intercontinental tale.

MONTGOMERY, L.M.: Anne of Green Gables (Abridged)

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. So opens this famous novel which has become Jane Austen's best-loved and best-known work. Here, all her talents combined to create not only a wonderful love story, but dialogue that sparkles with wit and irony, an ingenious and compelling plot, and some of the most unforgettable characters ever created.

More than half a century ago, the naturalist Farley Mowat accepted an assignment to investigate why wolves were killing Arctic caribou. Mowat's account of the summer he lived in the frozen tundra alone studying the wolf population and developing a deep affection for these wild creatures (who were no threat to caribou or man) is today celebrated as a classic of nature writing, at once a tale of remarkable adventure and an indelible record of the myths and magic of wolves. Never Cry Wolf was made into a major motion picture by Walt Disney Productions.

In Volume V (Chapters XLVII-LVI), Edward Gibbon further explores the influence of Christianity on the fall of the Roman Empire. He looks at the growth of the worship of Christian images and the resulting persecution by Leo III, emperor of the East. The conflict is intensified as a split develops between the Eastern and Western churches, a weakness that encourages attacks from Lombardy. Gibbon then moves to the foundation of the Moslem religion and the attempts by the Arabs to besiege Constantinople.]

With 7 inch vinyl.

Nietzsche: The Birth of Tragedy (Unabridged)

Our Island Story by H.E. Marshall is an Edwardian history book for younger listeners (aged six&;twelve years old) which tells the story of England, concluding with the reign of Queen Victoria. Having released it earlier this year unabridged in three volumes, Naxos Audiobooks now offers an attractive collection of the main stories and personalities. This skilful abridgement nevertheless maintains the narrative of British history, from the arrival of Julius Caesar to the height of the British Empire and the long reign of Queen Victoria.

William Shakespeare, Sir Walter Raleigh, Thomas Hobbes three of the greatest Englishmen who ever lived. They, and many others, are here remembered by another great Englishman, John Aubrey, whose Brief Lives are some of the wittiest and most moving miniature portraits ever written. Aubrey a scholar, antiquarian and close observer of both the foibles and the courage of his contemporaries lived through the upheavals of the English Civil War in the seventeenth century. His little biographies are amusing, ribald, moving; a testament to the brevity of human existence and one.

There is a need for accessible short biographies of key people for younger listeners. Following the success of Famous People, Volume I, Nicolas Soames presents another varied group of men and women who have changed the course of history.

With printed plans.