Classic Audiobook Collection

The Alchemist by Ben Jonson audiobook. Genre: comedyAn outbreak of plague in London forces a gentleman, Lovewit, to flee temporarily to the country, leaving his house under the sole charge of his butler, Jeremy. Jeremy uses the opportunity given to him to use the house as the headquarters for fraudulent acts. He transforms himself into 'Captain Face', and enlists the aid of Subtle, a fellow conman and Dol Common, a prostitute. In The Alchemist, Jonson unashamedly satirizes the follies, vanities and vices of mankind, most notably greed-induced credulity. People of all social classes are subject to Jonson's ruthless, satirical wit. He mocks human weakness and gullibility to advertising and to 'miracle cures' with the character of Sir Epicure Mammon, who dreams of drinking the elixir of youth and enjoying fantastic sexual conquests. The Alchemist focuses on what happens when one human being seeks advantage over another. In a big city like London, this process of advantage-seeking is rife. The trio of con-artists - Subtle, Face and Dol - are self-deluding small-timers, ultimately undone by the same human weaknesses they exploit in their victims.For ad-free listening try our premium subscription Chapters (Approximate)(00:00:00) Chapter 1(00:31:47) Chapter 2(01:17:30) Chapter 3(01:48:00) Chapter 4(02:35:20) Chapter 5 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Old Man in the Corner by Baroness E. Orczy audiobook. Genre: mysteryIn a quiet corner of a London tea shop, a small, dapper stranger sits apart from the crowd, apparently absorbed in a simple ritual: he rolls a bit of string between his fingers, tying and untying little knots as he thinks. To an inquisitive young journalist who shares his table, he is merely 'the old man in the corner' - until he begins to talk. With unnerving calm and razor-sharp logic, he takes headline cases that have baffled police and courts and reconstructs them from scraps of public evidence: a puzzling death at a country house, a disappearance that makes no sense, a verdict that feels too convenient. He never visits a crime scene, never interviews witnesses, and never claims any official authority. Yet each knot he ties seems to pull another hidden thread into view. As the reporter records his startling conclusions, fascination turns to unease: why does this armchair genius care so much, and what is he really proving - about the crimes, about justice, and about the people who are too quick to trust appearances?For ad-free listening try our premium subscription Chapters (Approximate)(00:00:00) Chapter 01(00:13:12) Chapter 02(00:31:39) Chapter 1(00:47:38) Chapter 2(01:08:09) Chapter 07(01:17:38) Chapter 3(01:42:25) Chapter 10(02:02:47) Chapter 11(02:17:37) Chapter 12(02:32:34) Chapter 13(02:43:31) Chapter 14(02:51:28) Chapter 15(03:00:55) Chapter 4(03:15:08) Chapter 18(03:28:20) Chapter 5(03:45:43) Chapter 6(04:05:38) Chapter 7(04:22:06) Chapter 25(04:39:40) Chapter 8(04:49:37) Chapter 28(05:02:14) Chapter 9(05:18:08) Chapter 31(05:27:33) Chapter 32(05:38:05) Chapter 10(05:56:01) Chapter 11 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mental Efficiency and Other Hints to Men and Women by Arnold Bennett audiobook. Genre: self helpIn Mental Efficiency and Other Hints to Men and Women, celebrated novelist and essayist Arnold Bennett turns his sharp, practical eye on the everyday problem of how to think, work, and live with more purpose. Written for ordinary readers facing the pressures of modern life, these brisk essays offer guidance on cultivating mental energy, strengthening attention, and building habits that make productive work possible without turning life into drudgery. Bennett addresses the common obstacles that drain efficiency - fatigue, distraction, vague ambition, and self-deception - and he proposes concrete ways to manage time, conserve nervous force, and approach tasks with calm persistence. Along the way, he challenges the reader to replace grand resolutions with small, repeatable disciplines, and to treat the mind as something that can be trained through practice rather than rescued by inspiration. Witty, candid, and quietly demanding, this book speaks to anyone who wants clearer priorities, steadier motivation, and a more deliberate relationship with work, leisure, and self-improvement.For ad-free listening try our premium subscription Chapters (Approximate)(00:00:00) Chapter 1(00:39:25) Chapter 2(00:49:31) Chapter 3(00:58:35) Chapter 4(01:10:42) Chapter 5(01:38:55) Chapter 6(01:56:42) Chapter 7(02:27:05) Chapter 8(02:38:44) Chapter 9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Grand Babylon Hotel by Arnold Bennett audiobook. Genre: thrillerTheodore Racksole, a rich American multi-millionaire, buys the Grand Babylon Hotel, a luxurious hotel in London, as a whim - and then finds out there are strange things going on - a German prince is supposed to arrive but never turns up, someone is found murdered in the hotel, but then the body disappears. With the help of his independent daughter Nella and another German prince, Racksole sets out to solve the mystery.Bennett wrote this as a 15-part serial, for a lark, in 15 days, and sold it for 100 pounds. It first appeared in The Golden Penny in 1902, which described it as 'the most original, amusing, and thrilling serial written in a decade'For ad-free listening try our premium subscription Chapters (Approximate)(00:00:00) Chapter 01(00:33:08) Chapter 02(01:03:46) Chapter 03(01:29:20) Chapter 04(01:54:26) Chapter 05(02:21:30) Chapter 06(02:48:22) Chapter 07(03:11:42) Chapter 08(03:41:55) Chapter 09(04:07:04) Chapter 10(04:34:27) Chapter 11(05:03:04) Chapter 12(05:26:05) Chapter 13(05:50:57) Chapter 14(06:21:11) Chapter 15 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Politics by Aristotle audiobook. Genre: philosophyThe Politics, by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, is one of the most influential texts in political philosophy. In it, Aristotle explores the role that the political community should play in developing the virtue of its citizens. One of his central ideas is that 'Man is a political animal,' meaning that people can only become virtuous by active participation in the political community. Aristotle also criticizes his teacher Plato, classifies and evaluates six different types of constitutions and political institutions, and describes his vision of the ideal state. Aristotle's views on women and slavery are unenlightened by today's standards, but his work remains enduring and relevant to this day. For ad-free listening try our premium subscription Chapters (Approximate)(00:00:00) Chapter 01(00:17:24) Chapter 02(00:36:12) Chapter 03(00:53:04) Chapter 04(01:10:26) Chapter 05(01:31:46) Chapter 06(01:50:07) Chapter 07(02:10:21) Chapter 08(02:24:43) Chapter 09(02:41:50) Chapter 10(03:00:56) Chapter 11(03:22:27) Chapter 12(03:45:01) Chapter 13(04:09:30) Chapter 14(04:27:27) Chapter 15(04:43:21) Chapter 16(05:05:43) Chapter 17(05:26:43) Chapter 18(05:44:48) Chapter 19(06:00:18) Chapter 20(06:16:29) Chapter 21(06:38:42) Chapter 22(06:57:22) Chapter 23(07:17:17) Chapter 24(07:33:40) Chapter 25(07:54:20) Chapter 26(08:07:08) Chapter 27(08:21:18) Chapter 28(08:37:05) Chapter 29(08:55:31) Chapter 30 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An Englishwoman’s Love-Letters by Anonymous audiobook. Genre: romanceTold entirely through a sequence of intimate letters, An Englishwomans Love-Letters invites you into the private world of an unnamed Englishwoman as she writes to the man who has upended her carefully ordered life. In pages that move from playful teasing to raw confession, she chronicles stolen moments, long separations, and the fierce pressure of living within a society that prizes restraint over truth. The letter writer is intelligent, witty, and keenly observant - of landscapes and social rituals, but most of all of her own shifting heart. As her correspondence deepens, the letters become a battleground between duty and desire, fear and courage, secrecy and the ache to be fully known. With no narrator to mediate and no outside voices to soften the edges, the story feels immediate, like reading a bundle of papers never meant for anyone else. Lyrical, bold, and psychologically precise, this classic epistolary romance explores how love can remake identity, and what it costs to choose feeling in a world built on appearances.For ad-free listening try our premium subscription Chapters (Approximate)(00:00:00) Chapter 1(00:17:46) Chapter 2(00:37:25) Chapter 3(00:51:50) Chapter 4(01:10:31) Chapter 5(01:28:43) Chapter 6(01:58:43) Chapter 7(02:19:19) Chapter 8(02:37:17) Chapter 9(02:51:14) Chapter 10(03:06:15) Chapter 11(03:19:38) Chapter 12(03:40:03) Chapter 13(03:57:49) Chapter 14(04:13:31) Chapter 15(04:29:52) Chapter 16(04:47:29) Chapter 17(05:04:23) Chapter 18(05:18:56) Chapter 19 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang audiobook. Genre: folkloreFirst published in the Victorian era as the opening volume of Andrew Lang's famous colored fairy book series, The Blue Fairy Book gathers a spellbinding treasury of traditional tales retold for families and read-aloud delight. Drawn from a wide range of European storytelling traditions and beyond, these stories plunge listeners into worlds where brave children outwit ogres, enchanted princes endure impossible tests, clever heroines break spells, and everyday kindness can tip the balance against cruelty and greed. Across castles, deep forests, and distant kingdoms, characters confront curses, jealous rivals, perilous bargains, and magical helpers whose gifts come with rules that must be honored. Lang's brisk, vivid prose keeps the action moving while preserving the timeless cadence of folklore, and the collection's variety means each new tale offers a fresh kind of wonder - comic misadventure, dark mystery, or hard-won triumph. Whether you return for nostalgia or discover these classics for the first time, The Blue Fairy Book invites you into a shared heritage of imagination, where courage, patience, and wit matter as much as magic.For ad-free listening try our premium subscription Chapters (Approximate)(00:00:00) Chapter 01(00:21:01) Chapter 02(00:39:45) Chapter 03(01:11:51) Chapter 04(02:01:41) Chapter 05(02:05:39) Chapter 06(02:27:07) Chapter 07(02:46:40) Chapter 08(03:19:58) Chapter 09(03:39:33) Chapter 10(03:47:30) Chapter 11(04:38:59) Chapter 12(05:20:15) Chapter 13(05:31:12) Chapter 14(05:40:06) Chapter 15(05:59:43) Chapter 16(06:38:04) Chapter 17(06:53:34) Chapter 18(07:16:07) Chapter 19(07:45:09) Chapter 20(08:02:21) Chapter 21(08:31:28) Chapter 22(08:54:05) Chapter 23(09:12:33) Chapter 24(09:31:23) Chapter 25(09:43:47) Chapter 26(09:55:53) Chapter 27(10:01:19) Chapter 28(10:23:47) Chapter 29(10:33:48) Chapter 30(10:56:50) Chapter 31(11:21:41) Chapter 32(12:03:22) Chapter 33(12:24:14) Chapter 34(13:33:37) Chapter 35(13:43:24) Chapter 36(13:55:43) Chapter 37 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Star Born by Andre Norton audiobook. Genre: scifiAndre Norton's 'Star Born' pictures a human colony in another galaxy, driven away from Earth generations ago by a repressive government. Considered outlaws, the colonists are in permanent hiding.They have developed friendship and cooperation with a local race of 'mermen' who are equally at home on land or sea. But that race only took to the sea to escape a malevolent power that hunted them and killed them violently for sport - Those Others.With a global decline in the population and reach of Those Others, contacts are few and the humans have no direct knowledge of them. So it is a major surprise when Dalgard, a human scout on his coming-of-age expedition, along with his 'knife-brother' Sssuri of the mermen, run into a party of Those Others who are bent on reclaiming hideous weaponries left behind in one of their abandoned cities... and find that they are being aided by new arrivals from Earth!For ad-free listening try our premium subscription Chapters (Approximate)(00:00:00) Chapter 1(00:23:03) Chapter 2(00:45:46) Chapter 3(01:07:50) Chapter 4(01:29:16) Chapter 5(01:50:42) Chapter 6(02:13:08) Chapter 7(02:34:40) Chapter 8(02:56:08) Chapter 9(03:17:55) Chapter 10(03:39:47) Chapter 11(04:02:20) Chapter 12(04:23:22) Chapter 13(04:45:58) Chapter 14(05:08:34) Chapter 15(05:31:03) Chapter 16(05:54:38) Chapter 17(06:18:25) Chapter 18 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas audiobook. Genre: dramaIn the turbulent Netherlands of 1672, as political unrest turns neighbors into enemies, a quiet dream takes hold of Cornelius van Baerle: to cultivate a perfect black tulip and claim a fortune and lifelong fame. But Cornelius is no court schemer - he is a devoted tulip fancier, more comfortable with bulbs and breeding than with intrigue. When a powerful rival and a shifting political climate conspire to ruin him, Cornelius is swept into imprisonment and stripped of everything except the fragile hope he has hidden in a few precious seeds and notes. Behind prison walls, an unexpected ally appears in Rosa, the jailer's intelligent and determined daughter, whose curiosity and courage draw her into Cornelius' secret work. Together they nurture a forbidden project where every petal could mean salvation - or disaster - while jealousy, betrayal, and the machinery of the state close in. Blending romance, suspense, and historical drama, The Black Tulip explores obsession, integrity, and the price of innocence in an age when beauty can be both a prize and a weapon.For ad-free listening try our premium subscription Chapters (Approximate)(00:00:00) Chapter 01(00:20:28) Chapter 02(00:37:17) Chapter 03(00:54:44) Chapter 04(01:13:49) Chapter 05(01:32:13) Chapter 06(01:47:18) Chapter 07(02:08:04) Chapter 08(02:22:19) Chapter 09(02:31:39) Chapter 10(02:40:18) Chapter 11(03:03:51) Chapter 12(03:10:44) Chapter 13(03:19:20) Chapter 14(03:28:43) Chapter 15(03:41:20) Chapter 16(03:54:09) Chapter 17(04:09:51) Chapter 18(04:21:35) Chapter 19(04:35:25) Chapter 20(04:52:11) Chapter 21(05:07:01) Chapter 22(05:18:54) Chapter 23(05:31:42) Chapter 24(05:40:46) Chapter 25(05:53:15) Chapter 26(06:09:21) Chapter 27(06:25:20) Chapter 28(06:40:09) Chapter 29(06:53:58) Chapter 30(07:00:44) Chapter 31(07:14:45) Chapter 32(07:23:33) Chapter 33 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison audiobook. Genre: philosophyThe Federalist Papers (correctly known as The Federalist) are a series of 85 articles advocating the ratification of the United States Constitution. Seventy-seven of the essays were published serially in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet between October 1787 and August 1788 . A compilation of these and eight others, called The Federalist, was published in 1788 by J. and A. M’Lean. The Federalist Papers serve as a primary source for interpretation of the Constitution, as they outline the philosophy and motivation of the proposed system of government.The authors of the Federalist Papers wanted to both influence the vote in favor of ratification and shape future interpretations of the Constitution. According to historian Richard Morris, they are an 'incomparable exposition of the Constitution, a classic in political science unsurpassed in both breadth and depth by the product of any later American writer.'For ad-free listening try our premium subscription Chapters (Approximate)(00:00:00) Chapter 1(00:11:21) Chapter 2(00:23:32) Chapter 3(00:34:53) Chapter 4(00:46:51) Chapter 5(00:57:29) Chapter 6(01:13:09) Chapter 7(01:28:11) Chapter 8(01:41:39) Chapter 9(01:54:26) Chapter 10(02:12:41) Chapter 11(02:30:45) Chapter 12(02:39:01) Chapter 13(02:59:30) Chapter 14(03:19:06) Chapter 15(03:28:53) Chapter 16(03:43:50) Chapter 17(03:58:23) Chapter 18(04:11:11) Chapter 19(04:21:57) Chapter 20(04:35:39) Chapter 21(04:48:30) Chapter 22(04:57:45) Chapter 23(05:08:02) Chapter 24(05:22:46) Chapter 25(05:35:59) Chapter 26(05:47:23) Chapter 27(05:57:14) Chapter 28(06:08:49) Chapter 29(06:23:32) Chapter 30(06:38:18) Chapter 31(06:57:45) Chapter 32(07:18:25) Chapter 33(07:43:45) Chapter 34(07:58:35) Chapter 35(08:20:48) Chapter 36(08:41:43) Chapter 37(08:59:29) Chapter 38(09:22:09) Chapter 39(09:41:51) Chapter 40(09:55:53) Chapter 41(10:12:17) Chapter 42(10:30:24) Chapter 43(10:43:16) Chapter 44(10:55:36) Chapter 45(11:02:52) Chapter 46(11:15:08) Chapter 47(11:25:47) Chapter 48(11:38:26) Chapter 49(11:50:13) Chapter 50(12:01:49) Chapter 51(12:12:40) Chapter 52(12:27:13) Chapter 53(12:41:24) Chapter 54(12:54:08) Chapter 55(13:08:47) Chapter 56(13:18:41) Chapter 57(13:34:32) Chapter 58(13:54:25) Chapter 59(14:09:28) Chapter 60(14:22:37) Chapter 61(14:37:33) Chapter 62(14:49:38) Chapter 63(14:59:28) Chapter 64(15:19:25) Chapter 65(15:40:03) Chapter 66(15:50:52) Chapter 67(16:04:05) Chapter 68(16:20:59) Chapter 69(16:28:08) Chapter 70(16:40:48) Chapter 71(16:53:31) Chapter 72(17:06:32) Chapter 73(17:26:29) Chapter 74(17:33:23) Chapter 75(17:48:15) Chapter 76(18:10:33) Chapter 77(18:20:10) Chapter 78(19:12:05) Chapter 79(19:35:27) Chapter 80(19:51:55) Chapter 81(20:12:15) Chapter 82(20:25:23) Chapter 83(20:36:47) Chapter 84(20:57:11) Chapter 85 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices