In the pivotal moments of history the little man is inevitably written out of the history books. Whatever happened to Cleopatra's milkman, Einstein's postman, Michelangelo's model or Shakespeare's...

This collection includes five of the greatest stories of American classic horror. The richest of language is used to create extraordinary atmosphere -- gloom, darkness, solitude, despair-and the...

Written by Adele Parks. Read by Francesca Dymond. As she celebrates her thirty-first birthday eating left-over shepherd's pie in the company of her whining young children and disinterested...

These five classic mysteries offer chilling darkness, drama, and intrigue. Includes: Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe; Silver Blaze by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; The Secret of the Growing...

It is fall, 2000. Frank Bascombe, fifty-five, settled in his realty business in Sea-Clift, New Jersey, has arrived at a state of optimistic pragmatism that he calls the Permanent Period of life....

One of a series of short stories marking Istanbul's tenure as European Capital of Culture in 2010. By Maureen Freely. The Cuban Missile Crisis as viewed from the streets of Istanbul. As the world...

And now the second of our stories celebrating the riotous, cocktail-swilling, 'Bright Young Things' of the interwar years. Laurel Lefkow reads F Scott Fitzgerald's classic Jazz Age tale set in...

Meg Rosoff, whose prize-winning books are enjoyed by children and adults alike, gives her own very modern and hilarious twist to the classic fairy tale of The Fisherman and His Wife. Recorded in...

One of a series showcasing first-time and emerging writers. A man wakes up one day to discover that he can see and hear everything that is happening in the world. Will he find a way of managing...

Rebecca Elise reads a new story by Louise Welsh, written to mark the national census. A lonely girl takes a low-paid job, chasing census evaders, which leads to a disturbing encounter in a dark...

A classic short story by Mark Twain, originally broadcast in the ‘Afternoon Reading’ slot on BBC Radio 4 on 9 November 2010, to accompany the 'Autobiography of Mark Twain' (aired on ‘Book of...

The first of three short story commissions on the theme of social networking. 'Together' by Naomi Alderman walks the line between science fiction and our own near future, in a love story involving...

A man comes to a life-changing decision as he observes his lover tending to a dying relative. Read by Robin Laing.

A short story celebrating 70 years of nylon stockings. By Shena Mackay, read by Joanna Tope . A shy schoolgirl feels the pull of the stage after a humiliating encounter with a glamorous fellow pupil.

These treasured stories from the most influential authors of the 19th and early 20th centuries are selected for their literary importance as well as their dramatic, oral qualities. Includes 10...