The show, episode by episode

The Book Club

Goalhanger

The Book Club, hosted by Dominic Sandbrook and Tabitha Syrett, brings the historical context behind famous books to life. Each week, the hosts explore a classic or contemporary title, unpacking the world in which it was written and the story behind its author. This is not your typical literature podcast: The Book Club…

38 episodes tracked

The Book Club

38. The Truth Behind Stephen King’s The Shining

37. Dostoevsky’s Russian Masterpiece: White Nights

36. The Bell Jar: Sylvia Plath’s Tragedy

35. Goldfinger: The Ultimate James Bond Novel

34. American Psycho: Murder, Trump, and New York City

33. Jane Eyre: The Best Brontë Novel?

32. A Month In The Country: Is This The Greatest Novella Ever Written?

31. Lord Of The Flies: Survival Of The Fittest

30. Lolita: Nabokov’s Twisted Masterpiece?

29. Rebecca: Daphne du Maurier’s Gothic Epic

28. Hemingway’s Spanish Civil War: For Whom The Bell Tolls

27. Brave New World: The Dystopia That Came True?

26. Mafia and Mystery: Is ‘My Brilliant Friend’ the Greatest Novel of the Century?

25. The Thirty-Nine Steps: The First James Bond

24. Jane Austen, Nazis and Murder: The Ultimate Summer Reading List

23. The Odyssey Retold: Circe, Monsters and Myth

22. The Leopard: The Greatest Historical Novel Ever Written?

21. The Wind In The Willows: How A Bedtime Story Became An Icon

20. Game of Thrones: The Horrifying True Story Behind A Song of Ice and Fire

19. Little Women: The Secret Sadness of a Classic

18. The Code Of The Woosters: The Funniest Book Ever Written?

17. Oscar Wilde's Downfall: The Picture of Dorian Gray

16. The Hunger Games: Rebellion and Violence In Dystopian America

15. Mrs Dalloway: Woolf, Sexuality, and Change

14. Beloved: Memory, Morrison, and Modern American Fiction

13. The Woman In White: Victorians, Sensation, and Scandal

12. A Court of Thorns and Roses: ''Fairy Smut'' or Fantasy Sensation?

11. The Hound of the Baskervilles: Mystery, Folklore, and Sherlock Holmes

10. East Of Eden: Steinbeck, Sin, and Redemption

9. Normal People: Class, Ireland, and Heartbreak

8. Northern Lights: Dogma, Destiny, and Dæmons

7. Frankenstein: Horror, Humanity, and Hubris

6. The Secret History: Dark Academia, Greek Myth, and Murder

5. Nineteen Eighty-Four: Big Brother, Surveillance, and Fear

4. Hamnet: Love, Grief, and Motherhood

3. The Great Gatsby: Old Money, Murder, and the American Dream

2. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro: Cloning, Free Will, and Soulmates

1. Wuthering Heights: Passion, Violence, and Revenge on the Moors