The NAB Blog

Educational Editions – A New Series From Naxos AudioBooks

By Anthony Anderson

9 May 2024

Lord Reith, now remembered for establishing public service broadcasting in the UK, set out his vision for the BBC. Its role was to ‘inform, educate and entertain’. At Naxos AudioBooks our primary aim is, of course, to entertain – though, as we listen, we are also privileged to learn. This is not only true of our non-fiction titles – for example, in the subjects of philosophy or religion, where the didactic aspect of the audiobook is more pronounced, but also in our fiction titles, which lend insight into the attitudes and mores of the time in which the books were originally written.

Under our newly launched banner of Educational Editions, Naxos AudioBooks has just released a series of eight products that have been purposely fashioned to educate – as well as entertain. Unabridged readings of eight core classics of English literature are accompanied by a study guide – each of which is read engagingly by audiobook favourites, Lucy Scott or Nicholas Boulton. The study guides were written by Francis Gilbert, who spent several decades teaching in schools before going on to become a Senior Lecturer in Education. He is often heard on U.K. radio and television speaking on educational issues, and he has written several books, including I’m a Teacher, Get Me Out of Here.

Although these guides were initially aimed at older children, they offer a further layer of appreciation and understanding of these classic books for adult listeners.

Each study guide explores the text in detail, putting each work in its context – from both a perspective of the writing and the reading (or listening). For example, we learn that Cowan Bridge School (attended by several of the Brontë sisters – including Charlotte) appears, in a less than flattering portrayal, as Lowood School in her novel Jane Eyre. We are reminded that Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw was written at a time when society was preoccupied with the supernatural in a way that may be hard for us to comprehend.

The structure and themes of each novel are also explored in depth, and critical perspectives evaluated. Finally, each study guide contains detailed notes – with illustrative quotations from the original recording, and points for group discussion or consideration. Although these guides were initially aimed at older children, they offer a further layer of appreciation and understanding of these classic books for adult listeners.

Titles in the series are:

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson