Audiobooks narrated by Peter Tucker

Immanuel Kant (Author), Peter Tucker (Narrator)

Audiobook

"Nineteen Eighty-Four (also published as 1984) is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale by English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final book completed in his lifetime. Thematically, it centres on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance and repressive regimentation of people and behaviours within society. Orwell, a democratic socialist, modelled the authoritarian state in the novel on Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany. More broadly, the novel examines the role of truth and facts within societies and the ways in which they can be manipulated. The story takes place in an imagined future in an unknown year believed to be 1984, when much of the world is in perpetual war. Great Britain, now known as Airstrip One, has become a province of the totalitarian superstate Oceania, which is led by Big Brother, a dictatorial leader supported by an intense cult of personality manufactured by the Party's Thought Police. Through the Ministry of Truth, the Party engages in omnipresent government surveillance, historical negationism, and constant propaganda to persecute individuality and independent thinking. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is a diligent mid-level worker at the Ministry of Truth who secretly hates the Party and dreams of rebellion. Smith keeps a forbidden diary. He begins a relationship with a colleague, Julia and they learn about a shadowy resistance group called the Brotherhood. However, their contact within the Brotherhood turns out to be a Party agent, and Smith is arrested. He is subjected to months of psychological manipulation and torture by the Ministry of Love and is released once he has come to love Big Brother. Nineteen Eighty-Four has become a classic literary example of political and dystopian fiction. It also popularised the term 'Orwellian' as an adjective, with many terms used in the novel entering common usage, including 'Big Brother', 'doublethink', 'Thought Police', 'thoughtcrime', 'Newspeak', and '2 + 2 = 5'. Parallels have been drawn between the novel's subject matter and real life instances of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and violations of freedom of expression among other themes. Orwell described his book as a 'satire', and a display of the 'perversions to which a centralised economy is liable,' while also stating he believed 'that something resembling it could arrive.' Time included the novel on its list of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005, and it was placed on the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels list, reaching number 13 on the editors' list and number 6 on the readers' list. In 2003, it was listed at number eight on The Big Read survey by the BBC."

George Orwell (Author), Peter Tucker (Narrator)

Audiobook

Metamorphoses

"Ovid's Metamorphoses is an epic poem written in Latin, composed of fifteen books, which explores the theme of transformation and change. The narrative follows a chronological order, beginning with the world's creation and ending with the reign of Julius Caesar. Ovid retells traditional Greek and Roman myths, focusing on the transformations of gods, heroes, and mortals as they undergo physical, emotional, and psychological changes that reflect the complexities of the human experience. Some of the most famous stories in the Metamorphoses include the tales of Apollo and Daphne, Pyramus and Thisbe, Narcissus and Echo, and the fall of Icarus. While modern scholars consider this epic poem to be Ovid's magnum opus, the work was not well received by its contemporaries; the Roman emperor Augustus went so far as to exile Ovid and ban his books from Rome's libraries. Today, this work is considered one of the most influential works in Western culture and has inspired countless authors like Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Dante."

Publius Ovidius Naso (Author), Peter Tucker (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Bagpipers

George Sand (Author), Peter Tucker (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Lay of the Last Minstrel

"An ageing singer asks for shelter at Newark Castle, and in exchange performs for his hostess the Duchess of Buccleuch the story of a 16th century border feud. The story he tells is about the so-called 'Flower of Teviot,' the Lady Margaret Scott of Buccleuch, who the Baron Henry of Cranstown is in love with. But whilst Henry is from the Ker Clan, Margaret is from the Scott clan, and the two families are in the midst of a vicious border war. This conflict has recently caused the death of Margaret’s father, and as such, her mother is fervently against the union of the two lovers. Scott spent a lot of his career collecting traditional ballads and studying local legends and folklore, which he masterfully weaves into this gothic romance. - Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) was a Scottish writer, poet, and historian. A jurist by formation, he was also judge, and an active member of the Highland Society, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He also played a major role in bringing the Sturm und Drang literary movement to the United Kingdom, both through translations, but also through his own creations. He wrote numerous well-known historical novels, including 'Waverley,' 'Rob Roy,' and 'Ivanhoe,' which have inspired countless authors ever since."

Walter Scott (Author), Peter Tucker (Narrator)

Audiobook

Poems 1817

"Early poems of this famous English lyric poet, in which he openly expresses indebtedness to, and reverence for, his poetic predecessors, especially Spenser, into whose chivalric world he boldly ventures; and also for Milton, and the classic poets. There are also glimpses of his personal, family and political relationships. These poems are of medium length and often pastoral and contemplative in nature with many classical references. His lyric genius and love for humanity are clearly displayed.( Peter Tucker)"

John Keats (Author), Peter Tucker (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Story of Rimini

"A long poem telling the tragic story of Francesca da Rimini, the duped and adulterous bride, inspired by the character in Dante's Inferno. Published in 1816 and dedicated to Lord Byron, it is considered the pinnacle of Hunt's poetic achievements. Hunt, though having fine artistic sensibilities, was not placed among the first rank of lyric poets, many of whom he championed however. The Story of Rimini was written in prison, where he spent two years for slander of the Prince Regent, and is dramatically and vividly told, with much evocative scene-setting and careful portrayal of emotional conflicts. ( Peter Tucker)"

Leigh Hunt (Author), Peter Tucker (Narrator)

Audiobook

Rainer Maria Rilke: Poems

Rainer Maria Rilke (Author), Peter Tucker (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Lay of the Last Minstrel

"An aging minstrel seeks who hospitality at Newark Castle and in recompense tells a tale of a sixteenth-century Border feud. In the poem, Lady Margaret Scott of Buccleuch, the "Flower of Teviot" is beloved by Baron Henry of Cranstown an ally of the Ker Clan, but a deadly feud exists between the two border clans of Scott and Carr/Ker, which has resulted in the recent murder of Lady Margaret's father, Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch by the Kers on the High Street in Edinburgh. Maragaret's widowed mother – Lady Janet – hates the Ker clan as a result, and is adamant in refusing her consent to any suggestion of marriage between the lovers. Summary by Wikipedia"

Walter Scott (Author), Peter Tucker (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Voyage to the Moon

"This is an edition by Professor Curtis Page of the Lovell translation of a seminal work of science fiction by Cyrano de Bergerac. Arguably a whimsical forerunner to the adventure stories of Jules Verne, and the French sci-fi tradition generally, it is a utopian novel of space travel complete with rocket powered flight and extra-terrestrial beings. - Summary by Peter Tucker"

Cyrano De Bergerac (Author), Peter Tucker (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Peter Tucker