02.20.07
Anthony Blair, Captain of School: By an Old Boy
Anthony Blair, Captain of School: By an Old Boy is an audio book by John Morrison.
Anthony Blair’s dear old mater always said he was ‘good at making things up’.
As a new boy at St Stephen’s College, he learns the ropes from his dour Scottish study companion Brown. Popular and polite, he charms everyone including Matron Boothroyd and the school porter’s stepdaughter Cherie. Thanks to a tragic incident with a runaway horse and the help of his loyal toast fag Peter, he becomes captain of school.
Anthony mingles with the local aristocracy and survives an embarrassing day out foxhunting. There are dark encounters with Fenians and a suspected Russian anarchist. But triumph turns to disaster when a small boy called Kelly is found dead in the canal, and Blair and the Bible-quoting headmaster Dr Bush send the College Rifle Corps into the slum district of Mesopotamia.
The author of this brilliantly recreated Edwardian six-shilling novel with its strangely familiar cast of characters is a former political journalist at Westminster.
As Tony Blair prepares to leave Downing Street, this is the only book you will ever need to understand his rise and fall. The narrator is Peter Donaldson, known as the voice of BBC Radio 4 news for more than three decades.
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare.
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.
In Much Ado, the clarity of radio allows the wonderful verbal sparring between Beatrice and Benedick to sparkle, as high comedy and melodrama mix magically in a combination of prose and verse.
The play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre, and the accompanying booklet includes a scene-by-scene synopsis, full character analysis, brief biographies of the leading actors and of Shakespeare himself, as well as an essay from the producer on their interpretation of the play.
Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the new millennium.
