Paul Clifford by Edward BULWER-LYTTON (1803 - 1873) Genre(s): Published 1800 -1900 Read by: Jim Locke in English Chapters: 00:00:00 - 01 - Chapter I 00:18:16 - 02 - Chapter II 00:45:57 - 03 - Chapter III 01:07:17 - 04 - Chapter IV 01:42:39 - 05 - Chapter V 02:00:16 - 06 - Chapter VI 02:31:00 - 07 - Chapter VII 02:54:45 - 08 - Chapter VIII 03:09:37 - 09 - Chapter IX, part 1 03:41:31 - 10 - Chapter IX, part 2 03:55:03 - 11 - Chapter X 04:26:20 - 12 - Chapter XI, part 1 04:53:02 - 13 - Chapter XI, part 2 05:20:50 - 14 - Chapter XII 05:43:00 - 15 - Chapter XIII 06:18:40 - 16 - Chapter XIV 06:35:02 - 17 - Chapter XV, part 1 06:58:48 - 18 - Chapter XV, part 2 Most men who with some earnestness of mind examine into the mysteries of our social state will perhaps pass through that stage of self-education in which this Novel was composed. The contrast between conventional frauds, received as component parts of the great system of civilization, and the less deceptive invasions of the laws which discriminate the meum from the tuum, is tempting to a satire that is not without its justice. The tragic truths which lie hid in what I may call the Philosophy of Circumstance strike through our philanthropy upon our imagination. We see masses of our fellow-creatures the victims of circumstances over which they had no control,—contaminated in infancy by the example of parents, their intelligence either extinguished or turned against them, according as the conscience is stifled in ignorance or perverted to apologies for vice. A child who is cradled in ignominy, whose schoolmaster is the felon, whose academy is the House of Correction,—who breathes an atmosphere in which virtue is poisoned, to which religion does not pierce,—becomes less a responsible and reasoning human being than a wild beast which we suffer to range in the wilderness, till it prowls near our homes, and we kill it in self-defence.In this respect the Novel of 'Paul Clifford' is a loud cry to society to amend the circumstance,—to redeem the victim. It is an appeal from Humanity to Law. And in this, if it could not pretend to influence or guide the temper of the times, it was at least a foresign of a coming change. Between the literature of imagination, and the practical interests of a people, there is a harmony as complete as it is mysterious. The heart of an author is the mirror of his age. The shadow of the sun is cast on the still surface of literature long before the light penetrates to law; but it is ever from the sun that the shadow falls, and the moment we see the shadow we may be certain of the light. ( Adapted from the Preface) More information: https://librivox.org/paul-clifford-by-edward-bulwer-lytton/ LibriVox - free public domain audiobooks (https://librivox.org/)

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew WALLACE (1827 - 1905) Genre(s): Action & Adventure Fiction, Historical Fiction Read by: Mark F. Smith in English Chapters: 00:00:00 - 01 - Book 1, Part 1 00:11:50 - 02 - Book 1, Part 2 00:24:28 - 03 - Book 1, Part 3 00:33:33 - 04 - Book 1, Part 4 00:46:43 - 05 - Book 1, Part 5 01:12:49 - 06 - Book 1, Part 6 01:22:27 - 07 - Book 1, Part 7 01:36:12 - 08 - Book 1, Part 8 01:49:32 - 09 - Book 1, Part 9 02:12:51 - 10 - Book 1, Part 10 02:16:40 - 11 - Book 1, Part 11 02:33:25 - 12 - Book 1, Part 12 02:41:10 - 13 - Book 1, Part 13 03:07:45 - 14 - Book 1, Part 14 03:13:53 - 15 - Book 2, Part 1 03:23:19 - 16 - Book 2, Part 2 03:49:59 - 17 - Book 2, Part 3 04:03:14 - 18 - Book 2, Part 4 04:22:26 - 19 - Book 2, Part 5 04:43:42 - 20 - Book 2, Part 6 05:15:19 - 21 - Book 2, Part 7 05:23:51 - 22 - Book 3, Part 1 05:41:34 - 23 - Book 3, Part 2 05:58:11 - 24 - Book 3, Part 3 06:17:43 - 25 - Book 3, Part 4 06:34:07 - 26 - Book 3, Part 5 06:51:22 - 27 - Book 3, Part 6 07:05:52 - 28 - Book 4, Part 1 07:16:28 - 29 - Book 4, Part 2 07:24:55 - 30 - Book 4, Part 3 07:50:02 - 31 - Book 4, Part 4 Ben-Hur is a story of two very different heroes. Judah Ben-Hur, a prince of Jerusalem, is involved in an accident to the Roman procurator which is taken to be intentional. He is seized and sent to the fleet as a galley-slave, while his family is imprisoned and the family goods confiscated. When Ben-Hur saves the fleet captain from drowning after his ship is sunk in a fight with pirates, that officer adopts him as son and heir. With Roman training, Ben-Hur distinguishes himself in the arena and the palistrae and appears to be on the way to high military command.With the help of a faithful family retainer and a generous Arab sheik, Ben-Hur is enabled to take part in a widely touted chariot race, where one of the other charioteers is the boyhood friend who connived to punish him for the accident and split his estate. That rival is crippled, financially and bodily, in a no-holds-barred race (memorable from the 1959 movie with Charlton Heston).Ben-Hur turns his attention to the prophesied King of the Jews, when through the sheik he meets Balthasar, one of the Three Wise Men, and hears of the child born years ago. Will Ben-Hur be the general who brings victories to the King, and finally liberates Israel from the oppressive Roman yoke? In his quest for the answer, Ben-Hur seeks out the Nazarene, now rumored to be The Messiah.THAT hero needs no introduction.Curious about the lack of kingly trappings and ambitions about this man, Ben-Hur begins to suspect that his kingdom is not of this world. And with him, we receive a gut-wrenching eye-witness view of Jesus' arrest, humiliation, and crucifixion. More information: http://librivox.org/ben-hur-a-tale-of-the-christ-by-lew-wallace/

The Bachelors' Club by Israel ZANGWILL (1864 - 1926) Genre(s): Humorous Fiction, Published 1800 -1900 Read by: Keith Salis in English Chapters: 00:00:00 - 16 - Ch 10: Marrying for Money Part 2 00:19:33 - 17 - Ch 11: The Original Sinner Part 1 00:42:14 - 18 - Ch 11: The Original Sinner Part 2 01:13:11 - 19 - Ch 12: A Bolt from the Blue Part 1 01:38:47 - 20 - Ch 12: A Bolt from the Blue Part 2 02:07:52 - 21 - Ch 13: Lady Day The Bachelors' Club is a sanctuary for an elite group of London's unmarried men to gather. To qualify as a Bachelor, each had to undergo a strict background check to ensure that they were not only unmarried, but a zealot in the movement that held marriage to be an undue punishment...upon women. As our story goes, we learn many revealing things about these men's convictions and pasts, as well as insightful commentaries on life and society in 1890 that is markedly similar to today. Summary by Keith Salis More information: https://librivox.org/the-bachelors-club-by-israel-zangwill/ LibriVox - free public domain audiobooks (https://librivox.org/)

The Visionary by Emily BRONTË (1818 - 1848) Genre(s): Poetry, Multi-version (Weekly and Fortnightly poetry) Read by: Abigail Bartels, Diana Majlinger, David Lawrence, Andee, loubet, fshort, Snapdragon, Algy Pug, JemmaBlythe, Jason Mills, K.G.Cross, Kasper, Lee Ann Howlett, Leonard Wilson, NoelBadrian, 2thepiper, Rhonda Federman, ravenotation in English Chapters: 00:00:00 - 01 - The Visionary - Read by AGB 00:01:35 - 02 - The Visionary - Read by DII 00:03:12 - 03 - The Visionary - Read by DL 00:05:00 - 04 - The Visionary - Read by DT 00:06:43 - 05 - The Visionary - Read by EP 00:08:35 - 06 - The Visionary - Read by FS 00:10:41 - 07 - The Visionary - Read by GC 00:12:21 - 08 - The Visionary - Read by GHS 00:14:07 - 09 - The Visionary - Read by JBS 00:16:08 - 10 - The Visionary - Read by JCM 00:17:50 - 11 - The Visionary - Read by KG 00:19:34 - 12 - The Visionary - Read by KN 00:21:50 - 13 - The Visionary - Read by LAH 00:23:45 - 14 - The Visionary - Read by LLW 00:25:49 - 15 - The Visionary - Read by NLB 00:27:39 - 16 - The Visionary - Read by PD 00:29:15 - 17 - The Visionary - Read by REF 00:31:09 - 18 - The Visionary - Read by RN LibriVox volunteers bring you 18 recordings of 'The Visionary' by Ellis Bell (Emily Brontë). This was the weekly poem for January 1, 2012.The first 12 lines originally appeared in one of a large group of Gondal poems, the word coming from the name of a fictitious island kingdom in a fantasy created by Emily and her sister Anne. When Emily finally consented to have some of her poems published in 1846, along with those of sisters Charlotte and Anne, she selected parts of the Gondal poems and removed all reference to the fantasy land. However, this poem first appeared in a new, expanded edition of the sisters' poetry (in 1850, after both Emily and Anne had died) and was apparently derived as follows:'The Visionary (October 9, 1845)This poem is part of the same Gondal poem from which Emily carved 'The Prisoner. A Fragment.' Charlotte Brontë took lines 1-12 of Emily's original poem, 'Julian M. and A.G Rochelle,' and added 8 lines of her own. Thus, the positive ending in which the watcher has a spiritual experience is Charlotte's and the watcher may be seen as Emily rather than a Gondal character. In Charlotte's version, it is hard to explain the guiding light in the window of stanze 2.'(Source)This account is fully supported by other sources. So the poem, as it was published in 1850, is a combination of work by Emily and Charlotte. Charlotte is accused by critics of using a heavy hand in editing some of Emily's formerly unpublished poems for the 1850 volume. (Introduction by Leonard Wilson) More information: http://librivox.org/the-visionary-by-ellis-bell-emily-bronte/ LibriVox - free public domain audiobooks (https://librivox.org/)