The Romanovs were the most successful dynasty of modern times, ruling a sixth of the world's surface. How did one family turn a war-ruined principality into the world's greatest empire? And how did they lose it all? This is the intimate story of 20 tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by holy autocracy and imperial ambition.

Henry "Monty" Montague doesn't care that his roguish passions are far from suitable for the gentleman he was born to be. But as Monty embarks on his grand tour of Europe, his quests for pleasure and vice are in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family's estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Oz! All fourteen of L. Frank Baum's Oz books, in order and unabridged. included: "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (1900), "The Marvelous Land of Oz" (1904), "Ozma of Oz" (1907), "Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz" (1908), "The Road to Oz" (1909), "The Emerald City of Oz" (1910), "The Patchwork Girl of Oz" (1913), "Tik-Tok of Oz" (1914), "The Scarecrow of Oz" (1915), "Rinkitink in Oz" (1916), "The Lost Princess of Oz" (1917), "The Tin Woodman of Oz" (1918), "The Magic of Oz" (1919), "Glinda of Oz" (1920).

Edgar Allan Poe elevated the gothic story, developed the unreliable narrator, recast psychological terror, and reveled in both the horror and the supernal beauty of death. From Poe's rich, unrivaled imagination comes a collection of his most masterful works, including "The Black Cat", "The Fall of the House of Usher", and, of course, "The Tell-Tale Heart". Each story explores morbid themes of grief, greed, fear, and guilt, and together they embody Poe's grotesque obsessions...even the dread of being buried alive.

On the eve of his ex's wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend... After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon, and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she's the mayor's chief of staff. Too bad they can't stop thinking about the other...

Once upon a time, there was a talking, walking, dancing piece of wood. His name was Pinocchio, the marionette created from an enchanted log by Tuscan woodcarver Geppetto. The miraculous puppet dreams of being a real boy, but he has a mischievous streak. Pinocchio fights, kicks, lies, and runs away before Geppetto can teach him the lessons of life.

Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager set by his friends at the Reform Club. Around the World in 80 Days is one of Jules Verne's most acclaimed works.

The vengeful King Schahriar agrees to stave off the execution of Queen Scheherazade until she finishes a particularly compelling story. Her plan? Bleed one tale into another. Through fanciful histories, romances, tragedies, comedies, poems, riddles, and songs, Scheherazade prolongs her life by holding the king’s rapt attention. With origins in Persian and Eastern Indian folklore, the stories of The Arabian Nights have been reworked, reshaped, revised, collected, and supplemented throughout the centuries by various authors and scholars.

First published in 1792, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman tackles many of the punitive patriarchal attitudes that dominated 18th-century society. With warmth and passion, Mary Wollstonecraft urges women to prioritize reason over emotion - a necessary step in building the strength of character required to break free from male notions of female fragility and foolishness. Wollstonecraft bases much of her argument in the case for women's education. Without it, women are merely men's "slaves" and "playthings" - not the intelligent, rational companions of a just and equal society.

Each story explores a different twist of madness, murder, and melancholy, from the horror of being buried alive in "The Fall of the House of Usher" to the desperate case of two gruesome killings in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." The heartbeat of paranoia in "The Tell-Tale Heart," the razor-sharp claustrophobia in "The Pit and the Pendulum," and a mourner's torment in "The Raven" reveal - and revel in - life's creepiest and craziest. These tales are not for the faint of heart or the thin of skin.

An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel, This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald closely examines post-World War I American culture. Published in 1920, the tale follows Amory Blaine, a Princeton man, and his quest for true love in his adolescence and early adulthood. Blaine leaves the comforts of home to pursue higher education and the affections of Isabelle Borge. However, he soon becomes disenchanted with the tryst and is called to serve in the war overseas. When he returns, he finds himself back in love but playing outside of his league with Rosalind Connage.

Anthony Patch is the idle heir to a vast fortune. His wife, Gloria, dazzles society with her good looks. Satisfied by privilege and beauty alone, they are beholden only to the "magnificent attitude of not giving a damn." When Anthony’s inheritance is withheld, it causes an irreparable rift in their marriage, threatening their fragile paradise. Oblivious to their future, he and Gloria have little left to define themselves but their ever-receding pasts.

"The Lost World" is a novel released in 1912 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle about an expedition to a plateau in the Amazon basin in Brazil that encountered prehistoric animals. It has been the inspiration for subsequent fiction, including Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park".

BBC Radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard.