Jamie Glover stars as Dorian Gray & Ian McDiarmid as Lord Henry Wooton in a BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Oscar Wilde's Gothic masterpiece. When Dorian Gray gazes upon his own portrait, he makes a wish that his youth and beauty will last forever. Good-natured and easily led, he falls into bad company and a life of debauchery, yet all the time retains his innocent good looks. Only his portrait reveals the true corruption of his soul.
Our Land at War: A Portrait of Rural Britain 1939-45
On the outbreak of war, the countryside was invaded by service personnel and evacuee children by the thousands; land was taken arbitrarily for airfields, training grounds, and firing ranges, and whole communities were evicted. Prisoner-of-war camps brought captured enemy soldiers to close quarters, and as horses gave way to tractors and combines farmers were burdened with aggressive new restrictions on what they could and could not grow. Land Girls and Lumber Jills worked in fields and forests. Food - or the lack of it - was a major preoccupation, and rationing strictly enforced. And although rabbits were poached, apples scrumped, and mushrooms gathered, there was still not enough to eat.
In an England inhabited by Pepys, Evelyn, Dryden, Hobbes and the young Isaac Newton, Charles II is king, and the nation is beginning to relax a little after the tough, joyless years of Cromwell's Protectorate. In RESTORATION, Alex Larman paints a fascinating portrait of a country in the throes of social, political and cultural change following the convulsions of the Interregnum. Exploring every level of English society, from innkeepers and upholsterers to lawyers and courtiers, and examining themes as diverse as marriage, sexuality and religion, he creates a pointilliste and multi-faceted portrait of Restoration England.
As of the 9th of September 2015, Queen Elizabeth II will be the longest reigning monarch Britain has ever had. In that time, Elizabeth has been a pillar of strength and consistency for Britain in one of the country s most tumultuous periods. Britain is rising from the ashes of the Second World War, the Empire is twitching through its death throes, and the following decades are to see major social and political upheaval as Britain faces the challenges of the 20th century. There can be no question, Elizabeth is Britain s greatest monarch, and we hope that you enjoy this intimate visual portrait of her exceptional life...and here s to the next 63!
Bestselling military historian Richard Holmes delivers an expertly written and exhilarating biography of John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough and Britain's finest soldier. Charting Churchill’s rise to favour to lead his country to glory, cementing its position as a major player on the European stage and saviour of the Holy Roman Empire, Holmes paints a portrait of a man who combined passion, avarice and duplicity in his personal life with tenacity and utter brilliance on the battlefield.
