Mark Anderson
Are you wanting to learn more about british literature? Well you’ve come to the right place. This is a curated list of the best british literature podcasts of 2021.
We have selected these podcasts for a variety of reasons, but they are all well worth a listen. We tried to select a variety of podcasts across the spectrum from hosts with a wide breadth of experience.
Best British Literature Podcasts 2021
With thanks to ListenNotes, Crunchbase, SemRush and Ahrefs for providing the data to create and rank these podcasts.
The Rob Auton Daily Podcast
- Publisher: Plosive Productions
- Total Episodes: 371
British Podcast Awards 2020 Gold Winner: Best Daily Podcast‘The Rob Auton Daily Podcast’ is a daily podcast by writer and performer of some of what he writes- Rob Auton. In each episode Rob will be reading out pieces of writing he has written that he likes enough to want to share with people who are not him. Words that could be associated with the podcast are- short, stories, comedy, literature, poetry, Yorkshire, accent. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/robautonpodcast.
New Caribbean Voices
- Publisher: Caribbean Books and Authors
- Total Episodes: 7
The Caribbean and Black British books, literature and culture podcast. Hosted by Malika Booker, and produced by Peepal Tree Press.
The Yank & The Limey
- Publisher: Kristy Brooks & Laura Lockington
- Total Episodes: 84
Acclaimed British author Laura Lockington and American artist and sommelier Kristy Brooks discuss their weekly wine and literature picks, and marvel at the sometimes clashing viewpoints of their respective cultures. From Laura’s kitchen in the small village of Artá, Mallorca they include tidbits, stories and other whimsical whatnots.
British Studies Lecture Series
- Publisher: British Studies Lecture Series
- Total Episodes: 54
The British Studies program at the University of Texas at Austin was created in 1975. For more than thirty years the program has sponsored public lectures in English literature, history, and government, and has conducted a weekly seminar called the Faculty Seminar on British Studies that includes faculty members, graduate students, undergraduates, and members of the Austin community.
Arthurian Miscellany, An by VARIOUS
- Publisher: LibriVox
- Total Episodes: 10
A collection of works that explore the rich and evocative legend of King Arthur. The exploits of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table have been a staple of British literature through the centuries, drawing together themes of pagan wizardry, the search for the Holy Grail, chivalry and of course romance.
English Literature
- Publisher: Myexamsolution
- Total Episodes: 1
In this podcast you will get all about English Literature , British Literature , Classical Literature , European Drama, Literary Theory, Literary Criticism and many more. English Literature in easy English Language.
Germany: Memories of a Nation
- Publisher: BBC Radio 4
- Total Episodes: 30
Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, explores 600 years of Germany’s complex and often challenging history using objects, art, landmarks and literature.
TBB Talks
- Publisher: The British Blacklist
- Total Episodes: 46
TBB CREATIVE NETWORK … The British Blacklist Creative Network AKA TBB Creative Network AKA #TBBCN is home to the best original podcasts. YOUR AUNTIES COULD NEVER – ever wondered what it sounds like when your favourite aunties get together to right the world’s wrongs? Wonder no more! With old school wisdom, while keeping it real The Aunties discuss the latest news, celebrities’ lives, give you the best advice only your coolest Auntie could give and share what’s making them Mad, Sad, and Glad! TBB TALKS – interviews with creatives across Screen, Stage, Literature & Sound – we get to know some of the best British Black creatives and creatives from our Diasporic family across the globe who are making a difference in the arts. EFFiT – Entertainment Film Fix & Industry Talk where we cover what’s going on in the arts, what’s on, what to watch, what to see and debate about issues affecting the industry at large. Also, what has made our hosts shout EFFiT with rage or EFFiT in joy. Out Of 100 – Reviews of popular entertainment across Screen, Stage, Literature & Sound. Our hosts will watch it, and then rate it Out of 100! The British Blacklist (TBB) founded by Akua Gyamfi, is an online media platform that primarily celebrates British Black talent in the UK and across the Diaspora in the arts and entertainment world. Covering all things, screen, stage, sound, and literature The British Blacklist spotlights British Black creatives and their unique stories.
Paolo Hewitt – Colour Me Father
- Publisher: Griffiths
- Total Episodes: 1
Paolo Hewitt discusses his new book Colour Me Father – An Open Letter To My Son – With Gabbie Cabbie of SRB Radio, Birmingham UK. Colour Me Father is available from Paolo’s website www.paolohewitt.com A brief description of book is available below:ON August 21st 2015 at 10.30 pm in an Archway hospital, my son Rafi Supino Arif came into my life. It was of course a momentous occasion, filled with all kinds of emotions. But as he started to grow, one thought kept repeating itself in my mind. Would I write about him or the experience of raising a son? The answer was always no. There was no handle for me to grab onto so I put it to one side. Until his first birthday. It was there that Rafi first heard applause and the look on his face hit something inside of me. Within a week I had begun writing Colour ne Father. Actually, to be truthful I had started writing a book called On the Dawn of Your First Smile, which I loved as a title but which in those Google days of ours would not work. I fell upon Colour Me Father, passed it by some friends and got the thumbs up.After I had written about his birthday I then found myself writing about dreams and pigeons and Sister Patricia (May God rest her soul) and fatherhood and Wood Green and Robert De Niro, and it became apparent to me that I should let the words flow, just write what came to mind. I also saw that I was fulfilling a lifetime mission – that of paying homage, in my very very limited way, to a piece of literature that ranks as one of the finest in my mind – Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis. This is a letter that Oscar wrote to his boyfriend whilst serving his last year in Reading Gaol. (In the first year of his imprisonment the authorities refuse d to allow him to write and I think that one of the cruellest punishments ever heaped upon an artist.) During the writing of Colour I only read De Profundis. I would start it finish it, start again. My thinking was that if just one per cent of its quality rubbed off on my work, then I would stand a chance of producing something very worthwhile.My writing process was quite simple. In the morning when walking Rafi to a nursery session, I would plot out the book in my mind. I would then put those idea into a small Dictaphone that I carry with me . Back home, I would write out those ideas and then on Saturdays I would head for the British Library where I would spend all day writing.Sundays I would rest, Mondays the process would start again. One Saturday I was in the British Library and had just finished a passage when the thought forcefully occurred, that’s it, you are done, you are finished. Create an ending and then exit. You have said all you need to say. And as I advise Rafi in the book, in life always follow the heart not the head. That is what I did. I obeyed the thought my heart sent me. The book is short compared to others but it stops where it needs to stop. To carry on would have diluted its strength. I think it my best work to date. I hope you do as well.
The Story of the Treasure Seekers by Edith Nesbit
- Publisher: Loyal Books
- Total Episodes: 16
The six Bastable children are plunged into grief when their mother dies and their father’s business partner cheats him of all his money. As a result, he loses not only his fortune but also his good name. However, the children decide to lend a hand. Determined to restore both, the children set out to find some way of making money. A variety of amusing and exciting events follow as they plunge into a series of scrapes in search of a legendary lost treasure. Published in 1899, The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E Nesbit was her first children’s novel. It has had an immense influence on children’s literature and was reputedly JK Rowling’s favorite children’s book. Others like CS Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia) and many other British and American writers were inspired by The Story of the Treasure Seekers. Told from a child’s point of view, the style is witty, amusing and interesting, making it the ideal read-aloud book for both parents and children. One of the interesting aspects of the book is that it is narrated by one of the children, but readers find out which one only towards the end. This child is priggish, arrogant and not always very smart, making his lofty observations and pronouncements even more funny as the reader can see through them quite easily! As with much of Victorian literature, there is plenty in the book that seems dated today. Additionally, E Nesbit’s passionate interest in the Socialist ideology that she and her husband Hubert Bland espoused are subtly yet surely inserted into the conversations and plot of The Story of the Treasure Seekers. However, far from being a dull and depressing tale of do-gooder kids, the novel is often hilariously funny as the children cook up various Quixotic schemes to make money. The child narrator’s voice is itself a piece of subversive humor, as he feels he is the smartest, most powerful person around, hurtling the children into various predicaments. They try speculation, becoming detectives, entering a writing competition among other zany adventures. All through, it is their courage, determination and sense of honor that shine through. The story has been successfully adapted to stage, screen and television several times. If you haven’t encountered this children’s classic yet, it’s a riveting, droll read with an underlying message for those who would like to read between the lines!
A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great by John B. Bury
- Publisher: Loyal Books
- Total Episodes: 43
For the Irish historian John Bagnell Bury, history should be treated as a science and not a mere branch of literature. Many contemporary histories written in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century were poetic and heroic in tone, blending fact and fiction, myths and legends. They sometimes relied on sources from Shakespeare and classical poets. For Bury, the facts of history may be legendary or romantic in nature, but they should be recounted in a scholarly and non-judgmental manner, without the accompanying emotions. His aim was simply to “tell history as it happened.” A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great was first published in 1900. It went on to become a standard text in many colleges and was used as a definitive guide to our understanding of the pre-Hellenistic kingdoms. Richly supplemented with maps and columnar notes, the book deals with its subject in an academic manner, but it is a work which is easily accessible to the ordinary reader as well. There are many interesting illustrations from antiquities in the British Museum and photographs of busts from various art galleries. There are 18 chapters, portraying the beginnings of Ancient Greece in the Heroic Age. The author is also concerned about how previous histories of Ancient Greece have largely ignored the Greek presence in Persia, Asia Minor, Italy and Sicily while emphasizing the Greek history of Sparta and Athens. Later chapters deal with Athenian democracy, Pericles and the Golden Age, the advance of the Persians, the Peloponnesian war and the decline of Athenian Greece, the rise of Thebes, the Syracusan empire, the rise of Macedonia and the final conquest of Persia and East Asia. There is also an interesting chapter on Aristotle and Alexander. Aristotle’s background and how he became Alexander’s teacher, the differing visions that tutor and pupil held about the ideal city-state and the ultimate influence that these ideas had on the development of Europe are discussed in the last chapter. Bury was a young genius who became a Fellow at Trinity College Dublin at the young age of 24 and a professor at Cambridge, where he taught both history and Greek, before he was forty. His interests included medieval studies and philology. His works cover a range of subjects including Greek and Byzantine history and the role of the Church and the Papacy in the 19th century. Though some of the information in this book may be a little dated following new studies, technological advances and discoveries uncovered by the latest research, it is extremely readable and interesting. A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great is a historical and interesting read.
The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
- Publisher: Loyal Books
- Total Episodes: 27
Extraterrestrial invasion, the earth taken over by omniscient intelligences from Mars, the whole of humanity under siege and a nameless narrator who seems to be the lone survivor of the complete devastation of human civilization – scenes from a Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster? Far from it! The War of the Worlds by HG Wells was written more than a century ago and went on to become an iconic work in the science fiction genre, spawning a whole new genre of literature featuring alien invaders. It was in fact the first book to present the idea of conflict between inhabitants of different planets. The story begins in an observatory in Ottershaw, when scientists note a series of mysterious explosions taking place on Mars. Some days later, the narrator who is on a walk on the Surrey Downs notices a weird cylindrical vehicle that suddenly opens to release a horde of hideous creatures who are later discovered to be Martians. The creatures are unable to breathe Earth’s air and swiftly return to their vehicle. A peace delegation of humans tries to make contact but they’re ruthlessly scorched to death by Martian heat-ray weapons. Thus begins the War of the Worlds. The British military swings into action, but their arms and ammunition are defenseless against sophisticated chemical weapons and heat-rays. Events race towards calamity as the nations of the earth unite to combat these fearful invaders to no avail. Survivors are reduced to scavenging for food with the cities of the world reduced to mere rubble. Can the human race survive? Will the narrator and his family escape destruction? The author, HG Wells was a science teacher in a small village in Somerset, England. However, he was also a gifted writer who wrote in several genres – science fiction, literary novels, short stories, history, politics and social sciences. A keen student of war and combat, he created a set of rules for playing war games with toy soldiers, which provides an interesting glimpse of logistics, strategy and close combat techniques. Wells’ contribution to our ideas of science fiction remains unparalleled and the book has been widely filmed, staged and televised. The War of the Worlds was immortalized as a Halloween prank in a radio show that aired on CBS on October 30, 1938, causing widespread panic and chaos as listeners across the United States tuned in and began fleeing from their homes! The enduring appeal of this book makes it a must read classic for readers of all ages.
Eavesdropping on Arthurians
- Publisher: Kathy Cawsey
- Total Episodes: 11
Chats with experts around the world about Arthurian literature. (Image credit: British Library Additional 10294 f. 50v La Queste del Saint Graal (ff. 2-53); France, N. (Saint-Omer or Tournai); c. 1316. Galahad with Perceval and Bors before King Arthur, joining the halves of the broken sword. I am grateful to the British Library in preserving and making such works available.) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
David Krut Podcast
- Publisher: David Krut Projects
- Total Episodes: 137
ART | ARTISTS | BOOKS | POETRY David Krut Projects is an alternative arts institution dedicated to encouraging an awareness of and careers in the arts and related literature and media, and to promoting contemporary culture in a dynamic, collaborative environment. In Johannesburg, we have exhibition project spaces and an adjacent bookstore located at 151 Jan Smuts Avenue; Arts on Main, the major arts hub adjacent to downtown Johannesburg; and the Montebello Design Centre in Newlands, Cape Town. David Krut Print Workshop (DKW), based at Arts on Main, produces fine art editions with William Kentridge, Diane Victor, Deborah Bell and a number of other South African and international artists. David Krut’s art activities started in London in the early 1980’s when he published an edition by British artist Joe Tilson. He has since curated exhibitions of contemporary works on paper in various international locations. In 1992 he became active in South Africa, publishing the editions of William Kentridge. In 2002 he established David Krut Print Workshop, a collaborative intaglio and monotype studio, in Johannesburg. In New York, print collaborations are undertaken with Director and Master Printer Phil Sanders of Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. David Krut Publishing was established in 1997 when Krut produced the first major publication on William Kentridge in CD-ROM format. Since then he has published many art books, including a series of 15 TAXI Art Books, the first-ever series of monographs on contemporary South African artists. DKP‘s Podcasts is a series of episodes from our various artists about their practice and processes, along with gallery and DKW walkabouts and talks. Podcast icon created by Garrett Knoll from the noun project.
Beowulf by Unknown
- Publisher: Loyal Books
- Total Episodes: 8
Beowulf is a long narrative poem composed in Old English some time in between the 8th and 11th century AD. The only surviving manuscript that contains the poem is preserved in the British Library and it too was badly damaged by fire in 1731. It is considered to be the oldest surviving work of poetry in English and one of the rare pieces of vernacular European literature that has survived since Medieval times. A prince arrives to rid a neighboring country of a terrible monster. He mortally wounds the horrendous creature and it retreats to die in its lair in the remote mountains. The monster’s even more terrifying mother swoops down on the kingdom, prepared to destroy everything in a vengeful frenzy. The valiant prince slays her too and becomes a celebrated hero. Laden with gifts, he returns home to rule his kingdom wisely and well, till suddenly one day, he receives news of a dreadful and powerful dragon attacking the borders of his prosperous kingdom… There is no evidence to show the authorship of the poem and the manuscript reveals that it was hand-written by two different scribes. The poem originally had no title and it began to be called after its hero Beowulf the Prince of Geats in southern Sweden, only in the 19th century. The manuscript was in the possession of a scholar Lawrence Nowell and survives in a very delicate condition after so many centuries of neglect and mishaps. Beowulf recounts the story of the valiant warrior of Geats who comes to the aid of his neighbor, King Hrothgar whose mead hall is being attacked by a dreadful creature called Grendel. The mead hall was the big feasting hall of the king and sometimes even served as a living quarter for the king and his noblemen in medieval times in Scandinavia and the German parts of Europe. The monster is vanquished, but the next night, the warriors are stunned by the arrival of Grendel’s even more loathsome mother, who wreaks havoc on the sleeping victors. Beowulf uses a magical sword to destroy her and returns to his kingdom where he achieves great success and renown as a just and brave ruler. Half a century later, another supernatural creature descends on the peaceful kingdom and Beowulf again takes up arms to ride in to battle. The poem can be seen as actual history, or as a lyrical ode to a brave king. It has had enormous impact on modern-day fantasy writers and continues to be a seminal work of early English literature.
Sir Ian McKellen: Meet the Actor
- Publisher: Apple
- Total Episodes: 4
Sir Ian McKellen discusses his portrayal of one of British literature’s most iconic characters. Mr Holmes sees a retired and cantankerous Sherlock Holmes divert his attention to an unsolved case, only to find the mystery deepen as he tries desperately to recall the events of 30 years ago that ultimately led to his retirement. Hosted by Chris Hewitt at the Apple Store, Regent Street in London.
The Big Idea
- Publisher: RTHK.HK
- Total Episodes: 170
Our presenters Douglas Kerr, Vanessa Collingridge and guests explore the history, meaning and significance of ideas in contemporary society. ********************************************************************************* The whole series of the Big idea is available in our podcast station Podcast: Weekly update and available after its broadcast. ********************************************************************************* Douglas Kerr Douglas Kerr is Professor in the School of English at the University of Hong Kong, where he teaches courses in literature and rhetoric. He has lived in Hong Kong since 1979. He was born and brought up in Scotland, but went to Cambridge University in 1969 to read Modern Languages and English, and then moved on to the University of Warwick, where he studied English and French literary responses to the First World War, leaving with a PhD in Comparative Literature. During this time, a penurious year working in the French National Library in Paris gave him a taste for living some distance from home. He satisfied this taste by moving to Hong Kong, and has been here ever since. A continuing scholarly interest in the literature of the Great War eventually produced a book on the English war poet Wilfred Owen, and this was published by Oxford University Press in 1993. This was followed by George Orwell, published by Northcote House in their Writers and their Work series. Living first in colonial and then in postcolonial Hong Kong, it is no surprise that he became deeply interested in the way Asia (or the East, or the Orient) was experienced by foreigners, and this became the subject of his next book, Eastern Figures: Orient and Empire in British Writing, published by Hong Kong University Press in 2008. Like many others, Douglas had first encountered the Sherlock Holmes stories as a child, but it was a lot later that he began working on their author, Arthur Conan Doyle. Though he is best known for his detective fiction, Conan Doyle was a prolific writer in all sorts of genres and subjects, and an important figure in the cultural history of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Douglas's book Conan Doyle: Writing, Profession and Practice, to be published by Oxford University Press in 2013, is a “cultural biography” of Conan Doyle and a study of all his writing. Douglas is a regular book reviewer for the South China Morning Post, and was on the Board of the Hong Kong International Literary Festival for five years; he still acts as an Advisor to the Festival. Though Hong Kong is a small place and he has been a resident here for more than thirty years, like other professors he still has a tendency to get lost. Vanessa Collingridge Vanessa graduated from Oxford University in 1990 with a first class honours degree in Geography and started working in television, quickly moving into the field of science, environment and history which remain her passion both on and off screen. Since then, she has been a regular face on all the major UK TV channels (BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5), along with Discovery and The Learning Channel (USA) and The History Channel (worldwide). In Spring 2007, she took over the chair of the long-running weekly series Making History, the flagship history series for BBC Radio 4. Her 4x1hr documentary series, Captain Cook – Obsession and Discovery (2007-8) based on her best-selling book, has now won five major international awards including a Canadian “Gemini” (“Oscar”) for Best History Programme, Australia’s prestigious National Culture Award and the Sydney Morning Herald Readers’ Award for Best History Programme. The series has so far been screened in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, North & South America, North Africa and most of Europe. A former columnist for the Daily Telegraph, The Scotsman and BBC History magazine, she writes a monthly column for BBC Who Do You Think You Are magazine along with features for the national newspapers, particularly the Daily Mail, Scotsman and Sunday Herald. A reviewer for The Literary Review, her own books include Captain Cook (2002), Boudica (2005) and The Story of Australia (2008) plus multiple chapters for Thames & Hudson’s Seventy Greatest Journeys in History and The Greatest Explorers in History (2010). Vanessa is currently researching her PhD on the history of cartography of the Great Southern Continent (Antarctica), based at Glasgow University and Cambridge’s Scott Polar Research Institute. She lectures on science, history, geography, presentation skills and the media across the UK, including at Cambridge, Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities, the RGS and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. She is a Fellow of the RGS and RSGS and co-founder & host of Glasgow’s Café Scientifique to stimulate debate between the scientific community and the general public. She is a regular speaker at Book Festivals including Edinburgh International Book Festival, Cheltenham and Christchurch (New Zealand). She is director of her own production company, Monster Media Productions, which makes radio and television programmes for broadcast and corporate clients; the company also provides a range of training for media and presentation skills. She moved to Hong Kong in November 2010 with her husband and four young sons from where she continues to write and broadcast, and research her PhD.
Paolo Hewitt – Portobello Radio
- Publisher: Griffiths
- Total Episodes: 1
Paolo Hewitt discusses his new book Colour Me Father – An Open Letter To My Son with Portobello Radio as well as London, Beatles, Mods, Oasis, music and much much more. www.paolohewitt.comON August 21st 2015 at 10.30 pm in an Archway hospital, my son Rafi Supino Arif came into my life. It was of course a momentous occasion, filled with all kinds of emotions. But as he started to grow, one thought kept repeating itself in my mind. Would I write about him or the experience of raising a son? The answer was always no. There was no handle for me to grab onto so I put it to one side. Until his first birthday. It was there that Rafi first heard applause and the look on his face hit something inside of me. Within a week I had begun writing Colour ne Father. Actually, to be truthful I had started writing a book called On the Dawn of Your First Smile, which I loved as a title but which in those Google days of ours would not work. I fell upon Colour Me Father, passed it by some friends and got the thumbs up.After I had written about his birthday I then found myself writing about dreams and pigeons and Sister Patricia (May God rest her soul) and fatherhood and Wood Green and Robert De Niro, and it became apparent to me that I should let the words flow, just write what came to mind. I also saw that I was fulfilling a lifetime mission – that of paying homage, in my very very limited way, to a piece of literature that ranks as one of the finest in my mind – Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis. This is a letter that Oscar wrote to his boyfriend whilst serving his last year in Reading Gaol. (In the first year of his imprisonment the authorities refuse d to allow him to write and I think that one of the cruellest punishments ever heaped upon an artist.) During the writing of Colour I only read De Profundis. I would start it finish it, start again. My thinking was that if just one per cent of its quality rubbed off on my work, then I would stand a chance of producing something very worthwhile.My writing process was quite simple. In the morning when walking Rafi to a nursery session, I would plot out the book in my mind. I would then put those idea into a small Dictaphone that I carry with me . Back home, I would write out those ideas and then on Saturdays I would head for the British Library where I would spend all day writing.Sundays I would rest, Mondays the process would start again. One Saturday I was in the British Library and had just finished a passage when the thought forcefully occurred, that’s it, you are done, you are finished. Create an ending and then exit. You have said all you need to say. And as I advise Rafi in the book, in life always follow the heart not the head. That is what I did. I obeyed the thought my heart sent me. The book is short compared to others but it stops where it needs to stop. To carry on would have diluted its strength. I think it my best work to date. I hope you do as well.
The Spy by James Fenimore Cooper
- Publisher: Loyal Books
- Total Episodes: 37
Between 1865-73 the tumultuous American Revolution rages on in different battlefields. The air is thick with hatred and suspicion as the Continental and British armies clash in bloody warfare. In Westchester County, New York, an area is considered a neutral ground for both forces, Harvey Birch plies his dangerous mission. An innocuous peddler by day, he is in fact an American spy, though he does nothing to correct anyone who assumes he is a British spy. In a magnificent country mansion, The Locusts, live the wealthy Whartons. The father, a widower, is a successful businessman, while his two lovely daughters are being brought up to become society ladies by their maiden aunt. One stormy night, a mysterious stranger rides up to the mansion…. Peopled with memorable characters, some of them real life heroes like George Washington, The Spy by James Fenimore Cooper is a great blend of fact and historical fiction, constructed on a magnificent scale. Published in 1821, this is Cooper’s second novel. Dubbed as the Father of American Literature, Cooper served in the American Navy and that is perhaps why the sea features in so many of his novels. He was independently wealthy and highly educated and married an equally well-educated and rich woman. Some of their children and descendants have also continued the writing tradition. An extremely prolific writer, his enormous output includes nearly fifty full length novels and numerous shorter works. Some of his most famous titles include The Last of the Mohicans, Homeward Bound, The Red Rover etc. He was the first American writer to include Native Americans, African Americans and people of other ethnicities in his work. The Spy is an exciting read for young and old alike, sparkling with interesting nuggets of information that give an authentic picture of a very eventful period in American history.
Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus (1818) by SHELLEY, Mary Wollstonecraft
- Publisher: LibriVox
- Total Episodes: 29
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel written by the British author Mary Shelley. Shelley wrote the novel when she was 18 years old. The first edition was published anonymously in London in 1818, and this audiobook is read from that text. Shelley’s name appeared on the revised third edition, published in 1831. The title of the novel refers to the scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who learns how to create life and creates a being in the likeness of man, but larger than average and more powerful. In modern popular culture, people have tended to refer to the Creature as “Frankenstein” (especially in films since 1931), despite this being the name of the scientist, and the creature being unnamed in the book itself. Frankenstein is a novel infused with elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement. It was also a warning against the “over-reaching” of modern man and the Industrial Revolution, alluded to in the novel’s subtitle, The Modern Prometheus. The story has had an influence across literature and popular culture and spawned a complete genre of horror stories and films. It is arguably considered the first fully-realised science fiction novel and raises many issues still relevant to today’s society. (Summary from wikipedia.org, adapted by Cori Samuel.)
