Macmillan Collector's Library

A compelling anthology of Black voices from England, America, Africa, and the Caribbean, from people who lived, worked, campaigned and travelled in Britain from the eighteenth to the early twentieth century. Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library. Professor Hakim Adi, shortlisted for the Wolfson history prize, draws on a variety of published works in Black Voices on Britain, all of which describe powerful experiences: James Gronniosaw and his family endure poverty, illness and unemployment; Mary Prince is driven out by her cruel owners and turns to London charities for help; Frederick Douglass, on a lecture tour around Britain, reveals how the Christian clergy built churches with slave-owners' money; and William Wells Brown gives his impressions of England as he travels around a country which welcomes him more readily than America. These and other voices offer a fascinating and thought-provoking portrayal of Black experiences in Britain.

All the stories in “Standing Her Ground” have been chosen to celebrate the skill, the passion and achievements of women writers spanning one hundred years of innovation. Edith Wharton was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for literature. Writer and activist Alice Dunbar Nelson was an early adopter of the Harlem Renaissance movement. Kate Chopin and Elizabeth Gaskell dared to explore themes outside the strict social codes of their times. And Virginia Woolf was hugely influential in both the feminist and modernist movements. From 'The Manchester Marriage', in which a husband, supposedly drowned at sea, returns to find his daughter, to the two sisters who are comically adrift after the death of their domineering father in 'The Daughters of the Late Colonel', and a young girl who enlists the help of a sorceress to win back her boyfriend in 'The Goodness of Saint Rocque', ‘Standing Her Ground’ showcases nine groundbreaking women writers.

Listen to this audio collection of classic dog stories read by an ensemble cast of treasured readers-including Lorelei King, Samuel West, Thomas Judd, Imogen Church and Gordon Kennedy. From the grit of a frontier man's dog, from pampered lapdog to wayward mongrel, from faithful guard dog to strong willed pet they're all here in “Classic Dog Stories”, the perfect audiobook for dog lovers everywhere. In this entertaining collection, dogs of all kinds are brought to life. Working dogs, dogs who are mistreated by humans, dogs who save lives and the ones that make us laugh; they all leap and bound on the page in stories by our most accomplished writers, including Mark Twain, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Jack London and Jerome K. Jerome. The stories included are: “A Dog's Tale” by Mark Twain “Brown Wolf” by Jack London “The Dog Hervey” by Rudyard Kipling “Memoirs of a Yellow Dog” by O Henry “Mr. Donne's Exodus' from Shirley” by Charlotte Bronte “Montmorency' from Three Men in a Boat” by Jerome K Jerome “Little Girl Afraid of a Dog” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman “Kashtanka” by Anton Chekov “The Black Poodle” by F. Anstey “Stickeen” by John Muir

Listen to this collection of celebrated classic cat stories read by an ensemble cast of beloved audiobook readers-including Samuel West, Lorelei King and Imogen Church. “Classic Cat Stories” is an anthology that includes fairy tales and fables from the likes of Rudyard Kipling and Charles Perrault as well as comic tales from Saki and E. F. Benson. Cats, of course, have always had a dark and mysterious side which is explored to chilling effect by the likes of Edgar Allan Poe in “The Black Cat”. But above all, we love them and you'll find here stories about all kinds of cats that tug at the heartstrings like “The Man of the House” by Ethel Colburn Mayne and other stories which celebrate their curious ways. Stories included are: “The Cat That Walked by Himself” by Rudyard Kipling “Dick Baker's Cat” by Mark Twain “The Cat” by Mary E Wilkins Freeman “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe “The Philanthropist and the Happy Cat” by Saki “The Man of the House” by Ethel Colburn Mayne “No. 25 to be Let or Sold” by Compton Mackenzie “Puss in Boots” by Charles Perrault “Dick Dunkerman's Cat” by Jerome K Jerome The White Cat by E Nesbit “The King of Cats” by Stephen Vincent Benet “Puss-Cat” by E. F. Benson “Broomsticks” by Walter de la Mare “Tobermory” by Saki

As the nights draw in and Halloween is just around the corner, what better to listen to than this collection of seriously spooky stories about ghosts, ghouls and things that go bump in the night. Read to you by an ensemble cast of unforgettable readers-including Imogen Church, Samuel West, Thomas Judd and Robert G. Slade. Ghost stories became hugely popular during the nineteenth century and the Victorians became the masters of the genre. This deliciously chilling collection of Classic Hallowe'en Stories includes authors such as Charles Dickens, Edith Wharton, Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Cholmondeley, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman and M. R. James. So, dim the lights, close the curtains and revel in the frisson of fear from these most chilling of anecdotes. The stories included are: “Lost Hearts” by M. R. James “The Phantom Coach” by Amelia B. Edwards “A Far Away Melody” by Mary E Wilkins Freeman “Bone to His Bone” by E. G. Swain “The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth” by Rhoda Broughton “The Signalman” by Charles Dickins “The Cold Embrace” by Mary E Braddon “The Monkey's Paw” by W. W. Jacobs “The Eyes” by Edith Wharton “The Nature of Evidence” by May Sinclair “The Little Ghost” by Hugh Walpole “The Furnished Room” by O Henry “Let Loose” by Mary Cholmondeley