Alexandre Dumas (1802 - 1870)
Translated by William Robson (1785 - 1863)

D’Artagnan, son of a poor Gascon aristocrat, travels to Paris to seek his fortune. His family connections enable him to obtain a position in a Guard regiment. His provincial ingenuousness and his hot-headed sense of honor earn him three duels in as many hours. Thankfully, his preparation with the sword is sufficient to recommend himself to his Musketeer antagonists, and they – Athos, Porthos, and Aramis – become his fast friends.
But fate also crosses D’Artagnan’s path with some dangerous people who become his opponents: a mysterious “man from Meung” and a woman who styles herself Milady, who has formidable seduction skills and a heart that is mean and violent. Fate also inserts D’Artagnan and his Musketeer friends squarely in the middle of a love triangle of heroic proportions – between Anne of Austria (the Queen of France), George Villiers (the Duke of Buckingham, France’s enemy), and the great spymaster, his Eminence the Cardinal Richelieu. Both of these gentlemen can command the armed forces of their respective countries to battle simply for the pleasure of beating the other. And the Musketeers must serve and risk life and limb at the siege of La Rochelle, a place where the Duke and the Cardinal have chosen to match wills.
In this age it was common for young cavaliers to live off the gifts of rich mistresses, and the four friends are certainly, it seems, bereft otherwise, although all are respectably employed as guardsmen to the King himself. Their love connections weave a further web about them which often seems to sidetrack their duty to King and country.
It takes all the efforts of the four to fend off the lethal consequences of mixing in the affairs of their betters and the slings and arrows (not to mention the musket and cannon balls!) of their outrageous fortunes. (Mark F. Smith)

Genre(s): Action & Adventure Fiction

Language: English

Group: d'Artagnan Romances (in English translation)

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Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519)
Translated by Maurice Baring (1874 - 1945) and Lewis Einstein (1877 - 1967)

This is a compilation of the thoughts on art, science and life of Leonardo da Vinci, translated by Maurice Baring and edited by Lewis Einstein. - Summary by A. Gramour

Genre(s): Art, Design & Architecture, Philosophy, Memoirs

Language: English

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F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896 - 1940)

Amory Blaine grew up in a wealthy family and was given an Ivy League education. Without a need to learn a profession, he chiefly dabbled in literature and partying. His school chums were of similar background, and the ideas they reflected to each other grew in their minds to be of the greatest importance. Amory began to think of himself as somewhat of a character in a Rupert Brooke poem (from which the book's title is taken).
World War I intervened in this happy fog and brought focus to some, doubt to others.
In the rapidly changing technology of the war era, the financial underpinnings of the Blaine fortune began to fall apart. The deaths of Amory's parents left the finances without a rudder and as Amory's situation deteriorated he came to realize he had only his interest in literature to fall back upon.
Meanwhile, a series of young women traipsed through his life, attracted to his handsome face and bright wit like moths to a candle. But Amory could never master the role of being a real person... and, one by one, they traipsed out.
This Side of Paradise was F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel and was one of the nation's most popular books in the year it was published. It has some definite parallels with Fitzgerald's own life, and is in some ways an autobiography. Summary by Mark F. Smith)

Genre(s): General Fiction

Language: English

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Carl Gustav Jung (1875 - 1961)

Jung says the following in his introduction: "in these lectures I have attempted to reconcile my practical experiences in psychoanalysis with the existing theory, or rather, with the approaches to such a theory." He goes on to say, "Here is my attitude towards those principles which my honored teacher Sigmund Freud has evolved from the experience of many decades." Some topics considered in this light are infantile sexuality, the conception of the libido, the unconscious, the dream, repression, and the etiology of neuroses.

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Hans Christian Andersen (1805 - 1875)

The Little Mermaid" (Danish: Den lille havfrue, literally: "the little sea lady") is a very well known fairy tale by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince. The tale was first published in 1837 and has been adapted to various media including musical theatre and animated film. But this tale is not the Disney version, all cleaned up and made pretty. This is the way Andersen wrote it. The Little Mermaid is indeed at the happy wedding of her beloved prince, but she is not the bride. And then she becomes a big bubble. Curious? Listen and find out what happens. - Summary by Wikipedia and Phil Chenevert

Genre(s): Myths, Legends & Fairy Tales

Language: English

Sarojini Naidu (1879 - 1949)

Sarojini Naidu was a remarkable woman. Known as the Nightingale of India, she started writing at the age of thirteen and throughout her life composed several volumes of poetry, writing many poems which are still famous to this day.
As well as being a poet, Naidu was an activist and politician, campaigning for Indian independence and became the first Indian woman to attain the post of President of the Indian National Congress.
This volume contains the beautiful 'Indian Love-Song', as well as many other moving verses. All of them give insight into the heart and mind of this hugely important and influential woman. The poems are split into three categories: Folk Songs, Songs for Music and Poems. - Summary by Lucy Perry

Genre(s): Single author

Language: English

Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809)

A 13 pamphlet series by 18th century Enlightenment philosopher/author Thomas Paine, published between 1776 to 1783 during and immediately following the American Revolution, gathered into one volume in 1882 by Moncure D. Conway. Each essay, plus 2 inserts, bolstered the morale of the American colonists to fight hard for their independence, appealed to the English to support the colonist's cause, clarified the issues at stake, and denounced any type of negotiated peace. Replete with quotable quotes, the first pamphlet, Crisis I, begins with the now-familiar words "THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." Paine, an Englishman living in the colonies, signed his pamphlets anonymously as "Common Sense." ( Michele Fry)

Genre(s): *Non-fiction, Political Science

Language: English

James Allen (1864 - 1912)

James Allen (1864 - 1912) was a philosopher and a pioneer of New Thought movement. His works have formed the basis of much of the curriculum used today by many motivational and self-help groups.
His first book, which published in 1901, was From Poverty to Power, subtitled The Realization of Prosperity and Peace. Allen described this book as "A Book for all those who are in search of better conditions, wider freedom, and increased usefulness."
Originally, the book consisted of two separate volumes, The Path To Prosperity (sometimes rendered as The Path of Prosperity) and The Way of Peace. Each volume was later published separately. This recording is of the second volume. - Summary by Algy Pug

Genre(s): *Non-fiction, Self-Help, Other religions

Language: English

Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967)

Carl Sandburg's succinct reporting on and reflections upon the race riots that broke out In Chicago in July 1919. - Summary by KevinS

Genre(s): *Non-fiction

Language: English

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Aleister Crowley (1875 - 1947)

The Book of Lies, or Liber 333, is a holy book in the Western occult tradition of Thelema, consisting of 91 short chapters of poems, aphorisms, rituals, and metaphysics. This recording is of the original 1913 publication, and thus omits the further commentaries added by Crowley for subsequent additions. Those familiar with Crowley’s hermetic writings will recognize his subversive and playful style. Beneath the layers of symbolism, contradiction, and blasphemy lies a biting critique of the puritanical social, political, and religious values of the author’s generation. - Summary by P. J. Taylor

Genre(s): Other religions

Language: English

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