Novels That Shaped Our World

Episode one discusses the story of women and the novel - both as characters and authors. With Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale capturing global audiences, the programme will show how the plight of women is a theme that reaches right back to the earliest novels.

From Richardson's Pamela to Austen, the Brontës through to Mary Shelley and Virginia Woolf, and to the post-war publishing boom where a new generation of global writers such as Toni Morrison and Alice Walker have continued to speak out for women to a new generation of readers.

Featuring readings from Lily Cole, Russell Tovey, Tuppence Middleton, Emily Berrington, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Sean Biggerstaff, Mandeep Dhillon, Bridget McCann, Apphia Campbell, Nicole Cooper, Bessie Coates, Apphia Campbell, Laura Lovemore and James G O'Hara.

Episode two examines the response to race and empire, from Robinson Crusoe and Uncle Tom's Cabin to Things Fall Apart and Wide Sargasso Sea, as well as lesser known but groundbreaking work such as Aphra Benn's Oroonoko to Samuel Selvon's Lonely Londoners.

The programme comes up to date with titles such as Malorie Blackman's Noughts And Crosses and Paul Beatty's The Sell Out.

Featuring readings from; Don Warrington, Antonia Thomas, Robson Green, Robbie Coltrane, Nitin Ganatra, Paapa Essiedu, Rian Gordon, Titana Muthui, Emeka Sesay and Nick Ikunda.

This episode deals with class in all its shapes and sizes, from all sides of the class divide, in the UK, USA and India.