Ancient Classics

There's a legend in this valley about a ghostly horseman that rides by night. There are many such legends and for schoolteacher Ichabod Crane the darkness of night holds a special fascination...and fear. For often there is truth in stories, especially ghost stories. And one fated night, Ichabod Crane will discover that the horseman of the legend is indeed... headless!

This anthology of Kipling's most famous poems - including "If", "Mandalay", "Gunga Din" - is taken from Naxos AudioBooks' Great Poets series. Though sometimes still regarded as a product of the colonial era, Kipling touches a very popular nerve in Britain's literary tradition and is regarded more generously now as a master of popular verse. It is often forgotten that he won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1907.

In 1785, a sensational trial began in Paris that would divide the country and captivate Europe. A leading Catholic cardinal and scion of one of the most distinguished families in France stood accused of forging the queen’s signature to obtain the most expensive piece of jewelry in Europe: a 2,800-carat diamond necklace. Known as the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, it contributed to the French populace’s disillusionment with the monarchy and precipitated the French Revolution. The Queen’s Necklace, loosely based on the Affair, is Dumas’ take on the royal scandal.

Livy continues his magnificent epic, with Rome in complete ruin after the Gallic invasion and sack of the city in 310 B.C. Led by Camillus, one of Rome's great heroic patricians, the city regains her self-confidence and once more becomes the leader of the Latin people. Painstakingly rebuilding alliances, forging friendships, cementing relations among her own people, and fighting endless wars, Rome soon becomes the dominant power among the fractious Italic tribes on the Latin plain.

Enjoy the most notable plays of William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, and Othello. Shakespeare was known for his writings on tragedies and these four works are known to be some of the finest tragedies ever written.

En este sorprendente debut, la historiadora Violet Moller rastrea los caminos que tomaron las ideas de tres de los más grandes científicos de la Antigüedad -Euclides, Galeno y Ptolomeo- a lo largo de más de mil años y a través de siete ciudades, centros de conocimiento excepcionales, donde una serie de personajes curiosos y eruditos, apoyados por un puñado de jefes de Estado ilustrados, rescataron y difundieron sus obras.

Versión en prosa de uno de los clásicos absolutos de la literatura universal: "La Ilíada" de Homero, que narra el rapto de Helena de Troya a manos de Paris y la posterior guerra entre aqueos y troyanos por recuperarla, con la intervención de las diferentes fuerzas de la naturaleza encarnadas por dioses y semidioses. Una lectura capital para todos aquellos aficionados a la Grecia clásica y a la buena literatura.

First published in 1711, An Essay on Criticism was one of Pope's earliest major poems. As the title suggests, it is an exploration of what Pope considered to be the essential aspects of good critical writing.

Among the ancient artifacts concealed in a London Victorian mansion lies an ornate human-sized sarcophagus which houses the body of an ancient Egyptian sorceress dead for centuries...or is she?

With the advent of the internet, any topic we want to know about is instantly available with the touch of a smartphone button. With so much knowledge at our fingertips, what is there left for our brains to do? At a time when we seem to be stripping all value from the idea of knowing things—no need for math, no need for map reading, no need for memorisation—are we risking our ability to think? As we empty our minds, will we one day be incapable of thoughtfulness?

Plato recorded the final days of his mentor, Socrates, who was tried and condemned in Athens in 399 B.C. on trumped-up charges of being a heretic and corrupter of the young. This collection comprises 4 books: Euthyphro, in which Socrates engages Euthyphro in a debate on the steps of the courthouse where he is to stand trial, The Apology, in which Socrates argues on his own behalf, Crito, in which Socrates's friends and supporters visit him in prison and urge him to recant.

Les sonnets parus en 1609 mais rédigés au fil des décennies précédentes résonnent encore aujourd'hui de part les thèmes intemporels qu'ils abordent, le désir, l'amour, la jalousie, le doute, la vieillesse, la mort. Ces 154 poèmes nous offrent à voir un concentré de l'univers shakespearien passionné, touchant, universel.

The classical civilisations of Greece and Rome dominated the world for centuries and continue to intrigue and enlighten us with their inventions, whether philosophy, politics, theatre, athletics, celebrity, science or the pleasures of horse racing. Robin Lane Fox's spellbinding history spans almost a thousand years of change from the foundation of the world's first democracy in Athens to the Roman Republic and the Empire under Hadrian.

This remarkable collection contains some of William Shakespeare's most famous speeches, soliloquies, and sonnets, as performed by Sir John Gielgud, the preeminent Shakespearean actor of the 20th century. Ages of Man is a perfect introduction to Shakespeare for the uninitiated and a thrilling treat for aficionados.

The book is one of the most influential ethical treatises of all time. Written in 350 BC, it identifies happiness as life's goal. How do we achieve this goal? Not through the satisfactions that come from pleasure, wealth, or fame. According to Aristotle, the true path to happiness lies in contemplation of philosophic truth. This is the only action through which humans can exercise their distinctively unique trait: the ability to reason.

Pietra miliare della letteratura del Novecento, il romanzo mette in scena un perfetto quadrilatero amoroso entro cui le storie dei protagonisti s'intrecciano con le grandi domande della vita, come quelle sul valore delle scelte individuali, sul rapporto tra pesantezza e leggerezza, libertà e costrizione. Alla fine degli anni Sessanta, tra la Primavera praghese e l'invasione sovietica, la giovane Tereza e il marito Tomáš, la pittrice Sabina e il suo amante Franz, oscillando tra fedeltà e tradimenti, esplorano passioni e vertigini di un mondo che è diventato una trappola.

Thomas Bulfinch introduces us to the gods of the Greek, Roman, and Norse mythologies. We learn their stories and we also observe the similarities between the deities of yore. Comparing these stories and characters to those of some modern religions may produce some surprising results!

Thirty warriors wait in the darkness, hidden inside a colossal wooden horse, between the beach and the towering Scaean Gates. After ten years of war and the siege of Troy, this is the Greeks’ last desperate chance to take the city and reclaim Helen. A bold and reckless plan, devised by Ulysses, that will forever change the fate of Troy.

Vis and Ramin is one of the world's great love stories. It was the first major Persian romance, written between 1050 and 1055 in rhyming couplets. This remarkable work has now been superbly translated into heroic couplets (the closest metrical equivalent of the Persian) by the poet and scholar Dick Davis.

Vis and Ramin had immense influence on later Persian poetry and is very probably also the source for the tale of Tristan and Isolde, which first appeared in Europe about a century later.

Jenny Lewis relocates Gilgamesh to its earlier, oral roots in a Sumerian society where men and women were more equal, the reigning deity of Gilgamesh’s city, Uruk, was female (Inanna), only women were allowed to brew beer and keep taverns and women had their own language - emesal. With this shift of emphasis, Lewis captures the powerful allure of the world’s oldest poem and gives it a fresh dynamic while creating a fast-paced narrative for a new generation of listeners.