
Pictures from Italy
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $16.37
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Peter Joyce
-
By:
-
Charles Dickens
About this listen
In 1843 the material that Dickins had gathered on his trip to America was published with the title American Notes [also produced by Assembled Stories]. The book was viewed with disdain from both sides of the Atlantic and in some quarters, strong disapproval, his criticism having done little for Anglo-American relations. It was no coincidence then, perhaps, that Dickens and his wife, sister in law, five children and assorted servants left England for Italy soon after, in June 1844, for an extensive tour. The plan was to use Genoa as the base for excursions to some of the sights and monuments of the country.In one year the author saw most of Northern Italy and made frequent forays down to Rome and Florence. The family finally left the country via Naples after a terrifying and dangerous visit to the crater of Vesuvius.
Dickens was as strongly opinionated as ever but, nevertheless, kept the promise he made in the Preface and refused to mention politics - though he is not reticent about condemning the poverty. It was more difficult to stop his pen when it came to religious matters. Although he apologised in case of any misunderstanding his comments regarding the excesses of piety and profit, there can be no misunderstanding what he thought - particularly in one episode in Rome involving a ‘holy staircase’Anyone familiar with his fiction will recognise the atmospheric and beguiling descriptions of this fascinating country, rich in art, character and scenery. This ‘alternative’ travel guide must have been an excellent substitute for those not wealthy enough to make the tour themselves.
©2010 Assembled Stories (P)2007 Assembled StoriesListeners also enjoyed...
-
American Notes
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Peter Joyce
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1842, Charles Dickens visited America. His reception was somewhat colder than that which usually greeted him - already a successful author in both Britain and the United States. This lack of enthusiasm from the Americans was partly due to his criticism of the pirating of English books in that country and partly due to his outspoken distaste for the custom of slavery in the southern states.
-
-
Worth the listen .....
- By Alednam A Uonopk on 08-07-24
By: Charles Dickens
-
A Christmas Carol
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Benjamin May
- Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The timeless tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his adventures on Christmas Eve continue to teach an important lesson, even to this day. Author Charles Dickens introduces us to the main character by painting him in a negative light, a selfish and miserly old man who will barely pay enough money to keep his office heated. When Scrooge returns home after work, the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley, visits him and tells him that because of the wrongdoing he had done during his life, he has been condemned to walk in his ghost years shackled....
-
-
not a great version
- By hettar7 on 12-26-22
By: Charles Dickens
-
A Christmas Carol: The Unabridged Classic Narrated by Chandler Craig
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Chandler Craig
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An illuminating reading of the greatest Christmas classic ever written: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Narrated by Chandler Craig.
-
-
A true classic treated perfectly
- By James Lee Walker on 12-24-14
By: Charles Dickens
-
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: A Radio Dramatization
- By: Charles Dickens, Jerry Robbins - dramatization
- Narrated by: J. T. Turner, The Colonial Radio Players
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Colonial Radio Theatre pulls out all the stops in this magnificent production of the Charles Dickens classic Christmas story! This full cast dramatization features a powerful music score - from the magnificent, booming opening of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" to the frightening tones of "The Ghost of Christmas Future". It's a holiday treat both you and your family will enjoy for years to come.
-
-
great performance
- By Paul Pedraza on 11-23-22
By: Charles Dickens, and others
-
Hard Times
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Anton Lesser
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hard Times is Dickens's most political novel. Set in the industrial north of England, in Coketown, he examines the lives of working people, who are taught by the capitalists Gradgrind and Bounderby to think only of the facts of life and not to indulge in imagination. Gradgrind’s own children have been so educated and as a result are dysfunctional and disconnected from their feelings. Only the travelling circus company of Sleary seems to offer any hope of humanity in Coketown.
-
-
Very glad I kept going!
- By Bon Ami on 03-01-16
By: Charles Dickens
-
The Good Earth
- By: Pearl S. Buck
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This Pulitzer Prize-winning classic tells the poignant tale of a Chinese farmer and his family in old agrarian China. The humble Wang Lung glories in the soil he works, nurturing the land as it nurtures him and his family. Nearby, the nobles of the House of Hwang consider themselves above the land and its workers; but they will soon meet their own downfall. The working people riot, breaking into the homes of the rich and forcing them to flee. When Wang Lung shows mercy to one noble and is rewarded, he begins to rise in the world, even as the House of Hwang falls.
-
-
Wow
- By Ryan on 05-08-10
By: Pearl S. Buck
-
American Notes
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Peter Joyce
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1842, Charles Dickens visited America. His reception was somewhat colder than that which usually greeted him - already a successful author in both Britain and the United States. This lack of enthusiasm from the Americans was partly due to his criticism of the pirating of English books in that country and partly due to his outspoken distaste for the custom of slavery in the southern states.
-
-
Worth the listen .....
- By Alednam A Uonopk on 08-07-24
By: Charles Dickens
-
A Christmas Carol
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Benjamin May
- Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The timeless tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his adventures on Christmas Eve continue to teach an important lesson, even to this day. Author Charles Dickens introduces us to the main character by painting him in a negative light, a selfish and miserly old man who will barely pay enough money to keep his office heated. When Scrooge returns home after work, the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley, visits him and tells him that because of the wrongdoing he had done during his life, he has been condemned to walk in his ghost years shackled....
-
-
not a great version
- By hettar7 on 12-26-22
By: Charles Dickens
-
A Christmas Carol: The Unabridged Classic Narrated by Chandler Craig
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Chandler Craig
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An illuminating reading of the greatest Christmas classic ever written: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Narrated by Chandler Craig.
-
-
A true classic treated perfectly
- By James Lee Walker on 12-24-14
By: Charles Dickens
-
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: A Radio Dramatization
- By: Charles Dickens, Jerry Robbins - dramatization
- Narrated by: J. T. Turner, The Colonial Radio Players
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Colonial Radio Theatre pulls out all the stops in this magnificent production of the Charles Dickens classic Christmas story! This full cast dramatization features a powerful music score - from the magnificent, booming opening of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" to the frightening tones of "The Ghost of Christmas Future". It's a holiday treat both you and your family will enjoy for years to come.
-
-
great performance
- By Paul Pedraza on 11-23-22
By: Charles Dickens, and others
-
Hard Times
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Anton Lesser
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hard Times is Dickens's most political novel. Set in the industrial north of England, in Coketown, he examines the lives of working people, who are taught by the capitalists Gradgrind and Bounderby to think only of the facts of life and not to indulge in imagination. Gradgrind’s own children have been so educated and as a result are dysfunctional and disconnected from their feelings. Only the travelling circus company of Sleary seems to offer any hope of humanity in Coketown.
-
-
Very glad I kept going!
- By Bon Ami on 03-01-16
By: Charles Dickens
-
The Good Earth
- By: Pearl S. Buck
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This Pulitzer Prize-winning classic tells the poignant tale of a Chinese farmer and his family in old agrarian China. The humble Wang Lung glories in the soil he works, nurturing the land as it nurtures him and his family. Nearby, the nobles of the House of Hwang consider themselves above the land and its workers; but they will soon meet their own downfall. The working people riot, breaking into the homes of the rich and forcing them to flee. When Wang Lung shows mercy to one noble and is rewarded, he begins to rise in the world, even as the House of Hwang falls.
-
-
Wow
- By Ryan on 05-08-10
By: Pearl S. Buck
-
Moonfleet
- By: J. Meade Falkner
- Narrated by: Peter Joyce
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A tale of smuggling and mystery on the Dorset coast as told by John Trenchard, a boy obsessed with discovering the secret of Colonel 'Blackbeard' Mohune's hidden treasure. One night, trapped in the Mohune family vault beneath the church, John finds a locket round the Colonel's neck which contains verses from the Psalms of David. What could it mean?
-
-
Wonderful to hear this book.
- By Coral on 05-26-14
By: J. Meade Falkner
-
The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft
- By: H. P. Lovecraft
- Narrated by: Andrew Leman, Sean Branney
- Length: 51 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the first time ever, the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society has produced an audio recording of all of Lovecraft's stories. These are not dramatizations like our Dark Adventure Radio Theatre - rather, this is an audiobook of the original stories, in all-new, never-before-heard recordings made by the HPLHS' own Andrew Leman and Sean Branney exclusively for this collection. This collection spans his entire career from his earliest surviving works of childhood to stories completed shortly before his death. All tales include original music by HPLHS composer Troy Sterling Nies.
-
-
Best Lovecraft Collection on Audible!
- By Aransas R. on 04-30-19
By: H. P. Lovecraft
-
The Complete Father Brown Collection
- By: G. K. Chesterton
- Narrated by: Stephen Scalon
- Length: 41 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shabby and lumbering, with a face like a Norfolk dumpling, Father Brown makes for an improbable super-sleuth. But his innocence is the secret of his success: refusing the scientific method of detection, he adopts instead an approach of simple sympathy, interpreting each crime as a work of art, and each criminal as a man no worse than himself… Here you will find the complete Father Brown stories in the chronological order of their original publication. The Innocence of Father Brown Starts at Chapter 1, The Wisdom of Father Brown Starts at Chapter 13.
-
-
Good collection, bad editing, bad American accent
- By Samantha on 04-01-20
By: G. K. Chesterton
-
Edgar Allan Poe - The Complete Short Stories
- By: Edgar Allan Poe
- Narrated by: Bob Thomley
- Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
All of Edgar Allan Poe’s great short stories in one 16-hour collection.
-
-
NEVERMORE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-23-15
By: Edgar Allan Poe
-
The Innocents Abroad
- Or, The New Pilgrim’s Progress
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 18 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In June 1867, Mark Twain set out for Europe and the Holy Land on the paddle steamer Quaker City. His enduring, no-nonsense guide for the first-time traveler also served as an antidote to the insufferably romantic travel books of the period.
-
-
Twain's Hidden Gem
- By Cynthia Franks on 05-08-12
By: Mark Twain
-
Les Miserables
- By: Victor Hugo
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 57 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the Parisian underworld and plotted like a detective story, Les Miserables follows Jean Valjean, originally an honest peasant, who has been imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family. A hardened criminal upon his release, he eventually reforms, becoming a successful industrialist and town mayor. Despite this, he is haunted by an impulsive former crime and is pursued relentlessly by the police inspector Javert.
-
-
one happy insomniac
- By Kathryn on 01-27-05
By: Victor Hugo
-
Orlando
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Clare Higgins
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fantasy, love and an exuberant celebration of English life and literature, Orlando is a uniquely entertaining story. Originally conceived by Virginia Woolf as a playful tribute to the family of her friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West, Orlando's central character, a fictional embodiment of Sackville-West, changes sex from a man to a woman and lives throughout the centuries, whilst meeting historical figures of English literature.
-
-
Magical
- By Mayca on 05-31-05
By: Virginia Woolf
-
Jacob's Room
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jacob's Room was the first of Virginia Woolf's novels to be published by the Hogarth Press, founded with her husband, Leonard Woolf, in their home at Hogarth House in Richmond in 1917. It is an episodic tale that attempts to evoke the inner life of Jacob Flanders and his social milieu during the first decade-and-a-half of the 20th century.
-
-
A good listen
- By Cecilie Malling on 03-21-05
By: Virginia Woolf
-
Les Misérables
- By: Victor Hugo
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 67 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Les Misérables is set in Paris after the French Revolution. In the sewers and backstreets, we encounter "the wolf-like tread of crime", and assassination for a few sous is all in a day's work. We weep with the unlucky and heart-broken Fantine, and we exult with the heroic revolutionaries of the barricades; but above all we thrill to the steadfast courage and nobility of soul of ex-convict Jean Valjean, always in danger from the relentless pursuit of the diabolical Inspector Javert.
-
-
Use earphones that are light on bass
- By Tad Davis on 11-08-15
By: Victor Hugo
-
Collected Stories
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether it's a 300-year-old ghost who's scared out of his wits, a tenderhearted statue with a mission of mercy, or the suave Lord Savile who cannot commit a crime, the characters in these stories by witty Oscar Wilde make the tales priceless delights. Absurd, ironic, poignant, or scathing, these small gems of the storyteller's art are sure to become favorites. This collection, narrated by Frank Muller, includes "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime," "The Model Millionaire," "The Nightingale and the Rose," and more.
-
-
Very Poor Recording
- By Anne in State College on 09-09-07
By: Oscar Wilde
-
The Innocents Abroad
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: David McCallion
- Length: 18 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In June 1867, Mark Twain set sail for Europe and the Holy Land. Twain recorded this adventurous trip and later turned it into The Innocents Abroad. This book became so popular overseas that it would propel him into an international star. The Innocents Abroad is Twain’s account of his thoughts of the Old World, including Paris, Venice, Pompeii, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem, as well as many other noteworthy cities. His disbelief and wonder are told with humor that endeared Twain to American audiences.
-
-
Big Mistake
- By Megg on 12-18-18
By: Mark Twain
-
Jacob’s Room
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jacob’s Room is Virginia Woolf’s own modernist manifesto. Jacob Flanders is a mere point of contact between a crowd of people, appearing and disappearing in a tableau in which all is flux, without certainty and without a controlling viewpoint. But it seems that the author could not maintain this rigorous impersonality, and the radical technique breaks down, so that we finally see Jacob as a person, just as his world is blown apart.
-
-
It is no use trying to sum people up
- By Darwin8u on 08-18-18
By: Virginia Woolf