Audiobooks narrated by Simon Callow

Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World

A short life of Dickens which celebrates the impact of the theatre on his life and work Acclaimed actor and writer Simon Callow captures the essence of Charles Dickens in a sparkling biography that explores the central importance of the theatre to the life of the greatest storyteller in the English language. From his early years as a child entertainer in Portsmouth to his reluctant retirement from 'these garish lights' just before his death, Dickens was obsessed with the stage. Not only was he a dazzling mimic who wrote, acted in and stage-managed plays, all with fanatical perfectionism; as a writer he was a compulsive performer, whose very imagination was theatrical, both in terms of plot devices and construction of character. Like many actors, Dickens felt the need to be completed by contact with his audience. He was the original 'celebrity' author, who attracted thousands of adoring fans to his readings in Britain and across the Atlantic, in which he gave voice to his unforgettable cast of characters. In Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World, Callow brings his own unique insight to a life driven by performance and showmanship. He reveals an exuberant and irrepressible talent, whose 'inimitable' wit and personality crackle off the page.

Simon Callow (Author), Simon Callow (Narrator)

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Michelangelo, God's Architect: The Story of His Final Years and Greatest Masterpiece

In this audiobook, acclaimed actor Simon Callow narrates the gripping untold story of Michelangelo's final decades-and his transformation into one of the greatest architects of the Italian Renaissance As he entered his seventies, the great Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo despaired that his productive years were past. Anguished by the death of friends and discouraged by the loss of commissions to younger artists, this supreme painter and sculptor began carving his own tomb. It was at this unlikely moment that fate intervened to task Michelangelo with the most ambitious and daunting project of his long creative life. Michelangelo, God's Architect is the first book to tell the full story of Michelangelo's final two decades, when the peerless artist refashioned himself into the master architect of St. Peter's Basilica and other major buildings. When the Pope handed Michelangelo control of the St. Peter's project in 1546, it was a study in architectural mismanagement, plagued by flawed design and faulty engineering. Assessing the situation with his uncompromising eye and razor-sharp intellect, Michelangelo overcame the furious resistance of Church officials to persuade the Pope that it was time to start over. Leading Michelangelo expert William Wallace sheds new light on this least familiar part of Michelangelo's biography, revealing a creative genius who was also a skilled engineer and enterprising businessman. The challenge of building St. Peter's deepened Michelangelo's faith, Wallace shows. Fighting the intrigues of Church politics and his own declining health, Michelangelo became convinced that he was destined to build the largest and most magnificent church ever conceived. And he was determined to live long enough that no other architect could alter his design.

William E. Wallace (Author), Simon Callow (Narrator)

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A Portrait in Letters

Charles Dickens was a prolific writer of letters throughout his life. There are extant more than 13,000 letters that he wrote to friends, family, fellow authors and actors as well as many letters written to people involved in good causes he espoused. In the hands of actor and writer Simon Callow, one of the most prominent Dickens interpreters of our time, this informative and entertaining selection shows Dickens in his many guises. We know Charles Dickens the author, but these letters offer a fascinating glimpse into Charles Dickens the man.

Charles Dickens, Charles Dickens (Author), Simon Callow (Narrator)

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Shakespeare - The Biography: Vol I: Aspiring Spirit

VOL. 1: ASPIRING SPIRIT. From Stratford to London. (Birth, 1564 - c.1590) Peter Ackroyd's insightful new biography positions Shakespeare in the close context of his world. In this way, Ackroyd not only richly conjures up the texture of Shakespeare's life, but also imparts an amazing amount of vivid, interesting material about place, period and background. Walk with Ackroyd through sixteenth century London and Stratford as he uncovers the intimate circumstances of Shakespeare's life. Discover the theatrical world in which Shakespeare had his being - not just Shakespeare the actor but the other actors, playwrights, and managers that surrounded him. And journey to Stratford to meet Shakespeare the family man, whose private life had such an impact on his work that the strongest bond in his plays is always between father and daughter.

Peter Ackroyd (Author), Simon Callow (Narrator)

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Shakespeare - The Biography: Vol II: The Upstart Crow

VOL. 2: THE UPSTART CROW. Ambitious Actor and Poet. (c. 1590 - Midsummer Night's Dream) Peter Ackroyd's insightful new biography positions Shakespeare in the close context of his world. In this way, Ackroyd not only richly conjures up the texture of Shakespeare's life, but also imparts an amazing amount of vivid, interesting material about place, period and background. Walk with Ackroyd through sixteenth century London and Stratford as he uncovers the intimate circumstances of Shakespeare's life. Discover the theatrical world in which Shakespeare had his being - not just Shakespeare the actor but the other actors, playwrights, and managers that surrounded him. And journey to Stratford to meet Shakespeare the family man, whose private life had such an impact on his work that the strongest bond in his plays is always between father and daughter.

Peter Ackroyd (Author), Simon Callow (Narrator)

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Animal Farm

George Orwell (Author), Simon Callow (Narrator)

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Tales of the Peculiar

A companion to the New York Times bestselling Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, soon to be a major motion picture directed by Tim Burton. Before Miss Peregrine gave them a home, the story of peculiars was written in the Tales. Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-tongued princess. These are but a few of the truly brilliant stories in Tales of the Peculiar—the collection of fairy tales known to hide information about the peculiar world, including clues to the locations of time loops—first introduced by Ransom Riggs in his #1 bestselling Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series. Riggs now invites you to share his secrets of peculiar history, with a collection of original stories in this deluxe audio volume of Tales of the Peculiar, as collected and annotated by Millard Nullings, ward of Miss Peregrine and scholar of all things peculiar. Featuring narration by Simon Callow, this compelling and truly peculiar anthology is the perfect gift for not only fans, but for all booklovers. Read by Simon Callow, with Bruce Mann and Garrick Hagon “[These tales] embody gentle, empowering messages: accept yourself and others; celebrate difference and oddity; never lose your sense of wonder.” —Financial Times “With a Victorian style for writing and a capacity for subtle humor, the tales read as cautionary fables, rich with peril and phantasy, and will be enjoyed by teens and adults alike.” —GeekDad.com

Ransom Riggs (Author), Bruce Mann, Garrick Hagon, Ransom Riggs, Simon Callow (Narrator)

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Shakespeare's Sonnets

William Shakespeare (Author), Simon Callow (Narrator)

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Gay Britannia: Celebrating Pride in the UK

A collection of insightful interviews, documentaries and comedy that celebrates LGBTQ+ in Britain, publishing to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewallriots. The Ben Hunte Interviews: Presenter and journalist Ben Hunte interviews his LGBTQ heroes about their unforgettable gay moments. Guests include Paul O'Grady, Stephen K Amos, Peter Tatchell, Ruth Hunt (CEO of Stonewall), Stephanie Hirst, Youtuber Calum McSwiggan. The Essay: The Love That Wrote Its Name: Simon Callow, Stella Duffy, Gregory Woods, Neel Mukherjee and Louise Welsh explore and celebrate five gay relationships of writers and artists. Queer Icons: Plato's Symposium: Shahidha Bari discusses LGBTQ in the history of philosophy. Who Decides if Gay is OK?: What brought about decriminalisation in the UK and why has it not happened in Zambia, which largely inherited the British legal system? Highlights from Front Row's Queer Icons project: Celebrating LGBTQ culture from the poetry of Sappho to the songs of Frank Ocean, guests are asked to champion a piece of LGBTQ artwork that is special to them. Presented by Alan Carr, with guests including Mary Portas, Olly Alexander, Christine and the Queens, Stella Duffy, and the Oscar-winning writer of Moonlight, Tarell Alvin McCraney. Happy That Way: Special compilation programme made in 2017 celebrating the best out and proud BBC Radio comedy from the past five years. Features Susan Calman, Graham Norton, Stephen Fry, Sue Perkins, Al Porter, Mae Martin, Stephen K Amos, Suzi Ruffell, Paul Sinha and Sandi Toksvig.

Various (Author), , Alan Carr, Ben Hunte, Full Cast, Graham Norton, Sandi Toksvig, Shahidha Bari, Simon Callow, Stephen Fry, Susan Calman (Narrator)

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The Aeneid

From the award-winning translator of The Iliad and The Odyssey comes a brilliant new translation of Virgil's great epic Fleeing the ashes of Troy, Aeneas, Achilles' mighty foe in the Iliad, begins an incredible journey to fulfill his destiny as the founder of Rome. His voyage will take him through stormy seas, entangle him in a tragic love affair, and lure him into the world of the dead itself--all the way tormented by the vengeful Juno, Queen of the Gods. Ultimately, he reaches the promised land of Italy where, after bloody battles and with high hopes, he founds what will become the Roman empire. An unsparing portrait of a man caught between love, duty, and fate, the Aeneid redefines passion, nobility, and courage for our times. Robert Fagles, whose acclaimed translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey were welcomed as major publishing events, brings the Aeneid to a new generation of readers, retaining all of the gravitas and humanity of the original Latin as well as its powerful blend of poetry and myth. Featuring an illuminating introduction to Virgil's world by esteemed scholar Bernard Knox, this volume lends a vibrant new voice to one of the seminal literary achievements of the ancient world.

Robert Fagles, Virgil (Author), Bernard Knox, Robert Fagles, Simon Callow (Narrator)

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Hordes of the Things

The kingdom of Albion is under threat from The Evil One. The elves have trusted the kingdom with a mystic device (the number seven) and have entrusted a wizard by the name of Radox The Green to find a hero to save the land, in the shape of Agar Son of Athar. The series consists of four half-hour episodes or ""Chronicles"", originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from November 25 to December 16, 1980 and was written by Andrew Marshall (2 Point 4 Children) and John Lloyd (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy & QI).

A.P.R. Marshall, Andrew Marshall, J.H.W. Lloyd, John Lloyd (Author), A Full Cast, A Full Cast, Patrick Magee, Paul Eddington, Simon Callow (Narrator)

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Death in Venice

The world-famous masterpiece by Nobel laureate Thomas Mann here in a new translation by Michael Henry Heim. Published on the eve of World War I, a decade after Buddenbrooks had established Thomas Mann as a literary celebrity, Death in Venice tells the story of Gustav von Aschenbach, a successful but aging writer who follows his wanderlust to Venice in search of spiritual fulfillment that instead leads to his erotic doom. In the decaying city, besieged by an unnamed epidemic, he becomes obsessed with an exquisite Polish boy, Tadzio. "It is a story of the voluptuousness of doom," Mann wrote. "But the problem I had especially in mind was that of the artist's dignity."

Thomas Mann (Author), Michael Cunningham, Simon Callow (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Simon Callow