-
The Essential Dylan Thomas
- Narrated by: Dylan Thomas, Richard Bebb, Jason Hughes, Richard Burton
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $15.10
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Poems of T. S. Eliot
- Read by Jeremy Irons
- By: T. S. Eliot
- Narrated by: Jeremy Irons, Dame Eileen Atkins
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Jeremy Irons' perceptive reading illuminates the poetry of T. S. Eliot in all its complexity. Major poems range from 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' through the post-war desolation of 'The Waste Land' and the spiritual struggle of 'Ash-Wednesday', to the enduring charm of 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'.
-
-
Horribly Frustrating to Follow
- By AVS on 06-18-18
By: T. S. Eliot
-
A Child's Christmas in Wales
- By: Dylan Thomas
- Narrated by: Dylan Thomas
- Length: 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas's recording of this holiday classic is considered the first official audiobook. You'll hear the author's recollection of a holiday in the seaside town of his youth as well as some of his most celebrated poems, including "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night."
-
-
An index of contents
- By Ruth Green on 12-16-12
By: Dylan Thomas
-
Dylan Thomas at the BBC
- By: Dylan Thomas
- Narrated by: Dylan Thomas
- Length: 2 hrs and 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dylan Thomas is one of the 20th century's most celebrated poets. His rich rhetoric created poems of magical imagery; nowhere is language more rich and fantastic than in his best-known work, Under Milk Wood. He was also a popular radio entertainer and the BBC Archives contain a wealth of material featuring Dylan Thomas, not only readings of his own work, but also dramatic readings of other work such as Dr Faustus.
By: Dylan Thomas
-
Under Milk Wood (Dramatised)
- By: Dylan Thomas
- Narrated by: Richard Burton
- Length: 1 hr and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard Burton’s voice has been digitally remastered and seamlessly mixed with an all-Welsh cast to create a magical, fresh visit to the unique but universally recognisable world of Llareggub. Richard Burton’s inimitable narration as the Narrator in the BBC’s 1963 recording of 'Under Milk Wood' was hugely acclaimed.
-
-
always
- By EAF on 10-07-16
By: Dylan Thomas
-
The Foundations of Western Civilization
- By: Thomas F. X. Noble, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Thomas F. X. Noble
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is Western Civilization? According to Professor Noble, it is "much more than human and political geography," encompassing myriad forms of political and institutional structures - from monarchies to participatory republics - and its own traditions of political discourse. It involves choices about who gets to participate in any given society and the ways in which societies have resolved the tension between individual self-interest and the common good.
-
-
Not Engaging or Very Interesting
- By Tommy D'Angelo on 03-05-17
By: Thomas F. X. Noble, and others
-
Great Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition
- By: Grant Hardy, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Grant Hardy
- Length: 18 hrs and 36 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Western philosophy is a vast intellectual tradition, the product of thousands of years of revolutionary thought built up by a rich collection of brilliant minds. But to understand the Western intellectual tradition is to get only half the story. The Eastern intellectual tradition has made just as important a contribution-and is also the product of thousands of years of cumulative thought by a distinct group of brilliant thinkers. Their ideas demonstrate wholly different ways of approaching and solving the same fundamental issues that concerned the West's greatest thinkers, such as . the existence of God; . the meaning of life; and. the nature of truth and reality.This epic and comprehensive 36-lecture examination of the East's most influential philosophers and thinkers-from a much-honored teacher and scholar-offers a thought-provoking look at the surprising connections and differences between East and West. By introducing you to the people-including The Buddha, Ashoka, Prince Shotoku, Confucius, and Gandhi-responsible for molding Asian philosophy and for giving birth to a wide variety of spiritual and ideological systems, it will strengthen your knowledge of cultures that play increasingly important roles in our globalized 21st-century world.
-
-
Among the Best Great Courses = Don't Miss
- By mc2 on 04-24-14
By: Grant Hardy, and others
-
The Poems of T. S. Eliot
- Read by Jeremy Irons
- By: T. S. Eliot
- Narrated by: Jeremy Irons, Dame Eileen Atkins
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Jeremy Irons' perceptive reading illuminates the poetry of T. S. Eliot in all its complexity. Major poems range from 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' through the post-war desolation of 'The Waste Land' and the spiritual struggle of 'Ash-Wednesday', to the enduring charm of 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'.
-
-
Horribly Frustrating to Follow
- By AVS on 06-18-18
By: T. S. Eliot
-
A Child's Christmas in Wales
- By: Dylan Thomas
- Narrated by: Dylan Thomas
- Length: 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas's recording of this holiday classic is considered the first official audiobook. You'll hear the author's recollection of a holiday in the seaside town of his youth as well as some of his most celebrated poems, including "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night."
-
-
An index of contents
- By Ruth Green on 12-16-12
By: Dylan Thomas
-
Dylan Thomas at the BBC
- By: Dylan Thomas
- Narrated by: Dylan Thomas
- Length: 2 hrs and 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dylan Thomas is one of the 20th century's most celebrated poets. His rich rhetoric created poems of magical imagery; nowhere is language more rich and fantastic than in his best-known work, Under Milk Wood. He was also a popular radio entertainer and the BBC Archives contain a wealth of material featuring Dylan Thomas, not only readings of his own work, but also dramatic readings of other work such as Dr Faustus.
By: Dylan Thomas
-
Under Milk Wood (Dramatised)
- By: Dylan Thomas
- Narrated by: Richard Burton
- Length: 1 hr and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard Burton’s voice has been digitally remastered and seamlessly mixed with an all-Welsh cast to create a magical, fresh visit to the unique but universally recognisable world of Llareggub. Richard Burton’s inimitable narration as the Narrator in the BBC’s 1963 recording of 'Under Milk Wood' was hugely acclaimed.
-
-
always
- By EAF on 10-07-16
By: Dylan Thomas
-
The Foundations of Western Civilization
- By: Thomas F. X. Noble, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Thomas F. X. Noble
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is Western Civilization? According to Professor Noble, it is "much more than human and political geography," encompassing myriad forms of political and institutional structures - from monarchies to participatory republics - and its own traditions of political discourse. It involves choices about who gets to participate in any given society and the ways in which societies have resolved the tension between individual self-interest and the common good.
-
-
Not Engaging or Very Interesting
- By Tommy D'Angelo on 03-05-17
By: Thomas F. X. Noble, and others
-
Great Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition
- By: Grant Hardy, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Grant Hardy
- Length: 18 hrs and 36 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Western philosophy is a vast intellectual tradition, the product of thousands of years of revolutionary thought built up by a rich collection of brilliant minds. But to understand the Western intellectual tradition is to get only half the story. The Eastern intellectual tradition has made just as important a contribution-and is also the product of thousands of years of cumulative thought by a distinct group of brilliant thinkers. Their ideas demonstrate wholly different ways of approaching and solving the same fundamental issues that concerned the West's greatest thinkers, such as . the existence of God; . the meaning of life; and. the nature of truth and reality.This epic and comprehensive 36-lecture examination of the East's most influential philosophers and thinkers-from a much-honored teacher and scholar-offers a thought-provoking look at the surprising connections and differences between East and West. By introducing you to the people-including The Buddha, Ashoka, Prince Shotoku, Confucius, and Gandhi-responsible for molding Asian philosophy and for giving birth to a wide variety of spiritual and ideological systems, it will strengthen your knowledge of cultures that play increasingly important roles in our globalized 21st-century world.
-
-
Among the Best Great Courses = Don't Miss
- By mc2 on 04-24-14
By: Grant Hardy, and others
-
The Abolition of Man
- By: C. S. Lewis
- Narrated by: Douglas Gresham
- Length: 1 hr and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Both astonishing and prophetic, The Abolition of Man remains one of C. S. Lewis's most controversial works. Lewis sets out to persuade his audience of the ongoing importance and relevance of universal objective values, such as courage and honor, and the foundational necessity of natural law. He also makes a cogent case that a retreat from these pillars of our educational system, even if in the name of "scientism", would be catastrophic. National Review lists it as number seven on their "100 Best Nonfiction Books of the 20th Century".
-
-
Lewis the philosopher, not the theologian
- By Ian McKay on 05-11-17
By: C. S. Lewis
-
Reconstruction
- America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877
- By: Eric Foner
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 30 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The period following the Civil War was one of the most controversial eras in American history. This comprehensive account of the period captures the drama of those turbulent years that played such an important role in shaping modern America.
-
-
Outdated edition!!
- By Bruce on 11-02-17
By: Eric Foner
-
Crimea
- By: Orlando Figes
- Narrated by: Malk Williams
- Length: 20 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The terrible conflict that dominated the mid-19th century, the Crimean War, killed at least 800,000 men and pitted Russia against a formidable coalition of Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. It was a war for territory, provoked by fear that if the Ottoman Empire were to collapse then Russia could control a huge swathe of land from the Balkans to the Persian Gulf. But it was also a war of religion, driven by a fervent, populist and ever more ferocious belief by the Tsar and his ministers that it was Russia's task to rule all Orthodox Christians and control the Holy Land.
-
-
Outstanding History of the Crimean War
- By Rick Sailor on 11-08-18
By: Orlando Figes
-
The Souls of Black Folk
- By: W.E.B. Du Bois
- Narrated by: Walter Covell
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
W.E.B. Du Bois said, on the launch of his groundbreaking 1903 treatise, The Souls of Black Folk, "for the problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color-line", a prescient statement. Setting out to show to the audience "the strange meaning of being black here in the dawning of the 20th century", Du Bois explains the meaning of the emancipation, and its effect, and his views on the roles of the leaders of his race.
-
-
An eloquent & educational history
- By Chandra on 02-19-05
By: W.E.B. Du Bois
-
Classic Novels: Meeting the Challenge of Great Literature
- By: Arnold Weinstein, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Arnold Weinstein
- Length: 18 hrs and 31 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What if you could travel anywhere, whether Europe, South America, or the remote reaches of the African continent? And what if you could choose not only your destination, but your era, as well-so that you might choose from the sparkling court society of 18th-century France, a 19th-century whaling ship out of New Bedford, or the streets of Dublin in the early part of the 20th century?
-
-
No Course Credit; Just Ivy League Lit Appreciation
- By W Perry Hall on 01-31-14
By: Arnold Weinstein, and others
-
Aimless Love
- A Selection of Poems
- By: Billy Collins
- Narrated by: Billy Collins
- Length: 1 hr and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the two-term Poet Laureate of the United States Billy Collins comes his first compilation of new and selected poems in 12 years. Aimless Love combines new poems with selections from four previous books— Nine Horses, The Trouble with Poetry, Ballistics, and Horoscopes for the Dead. Collins’s unmistakable voice, which brings together plain speech with imaginative surprise, is clearly heard with every word, reminding us how he has managed to enrich the tapestry of contemporary poetry and greatly expand its audience.
-
-
the audio version is abridged.
- By Denis A. on 03-27-14
By: Billy Collins
-
The Great Poets: Percy Bysshe Shelley
- By: Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Narrated by: Bertie Carvel
- Length: 1 hr and 18 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Idealist, atheist, outcast, political radical and, of course, poet - Percy Bysshe Shelley was, in many ways, the epitome of the Romantic artist. His poetry was an outlet for his passionately held and highly unpopular beliefs, beliefs which resulted in social exclusion, exile, and possibly even his premature death at the age of 29. His work is a monument to his convictions and to the power of the human spirit, and today it is recognized as a key contribution to Romantic literature.
-
-
The quintessence of Romanticism
- By ESK on 01-07-13
-
Poetic License
- 100 Poems - 100 Performers
- By: Emily Dickinson, e. e. cummings, William Wordsworth, and others
- Narrated by: Jason Alexander, Christine Baranski, Charles Busch, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why a poetry album? Easy answer: I love poetry. I love reading it. I love memorizing it. I love hearing great actors recite it. As the poet Mark Strand wrote, “Ink runs from the corners of my mouth / There is no happiness like mine / I have been eating poetry.” In the past, when I was full from eating, I have had the audacity to set poetry to music. But, on this audiobook, you will hear the music of the poems.
-
-
Just the poems Mam.
- By Sam Motes on 09-28-14
By: Emily Dickinson, and others
-
The Pickwick Papers
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Anton Lesser
- Length: 4 hrs and 45 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Pickwick Papers, Dickens' first novel, is a glorious romp through the pre-Reform Bill England of 1827. Traveling by stage-coach, the innocent but well-intentioned Pickwick and his equally naive friends, all in search of "interesting scenes and characters," are repeatedly saved from disaster by the resourceful and quick-witted Sam Weller.
By: Charles Dickens
-
RipRap and Cold Mountain Poems
- By: Gary Snyder
- Narrated by: Gary Snyder
- Length: 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By any measure, Gary Snyder is one of the greatest poets in America in the last century. From his first book of poems to his latest collection of essays, his work and his example, standing between Tu Fu and Thoreau, has been influential all over the world. Riprap, his first book of poems, was published in Japan in 1959 by Origin Press, and it is the 50th anniversary of that groundbreaking book that is celebrated with this new edition.
-
-
Listen to for 1000 nights and never long enough
- By Susie on 05-05-16
By: Gary Snyder
-
A Child's Christmas in Wales (from the Naxos Audiobook 'A Family Christmas')
- By: Dylan Thomas
- Narrated by: Philip Madoc
- Length: 12 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dylan Thomas wrote "A Child's Christmas in Wales" in 1955, in which he recreated the atmosphere of Christmas Past as he remembered it. Each one of us will have similar memories of the glitter and the emotions of this time of innocence, plenty, fun, anticipation, and excitement.
-
-
A Child's Christmas in Wales
- By Barry on 09-20-17
By: Dylan Thomas
-
The Richard Burton Poetry Collection
- By: Samuel Coleridge, John Donne, Thomas Hardy
- Narrated by: Richard Burton
- Length: 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard Burton reads from Hardy and Donne, and performs a wonderful unabridged version of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (along with Robert Hardy and John Neville).
-
-
A truly great voice reading some excellent poems
- By Jamie Milton Freestone on 02-11-12
By: Samuel Coleridge, and others
Publisher's Summary
This varied, well-chosen selection brings onto one audiobook the best of Dylan Thomas. Here is the legendary recording of "Under Milk Wood", with Richard Burton and Richard Bebb as narrators; but here also are two radio productions he wrote before that great classic, and though interesting in their own right, they show how "Under Milk Wood" grew gradually in his imagination.
This collection includes "Under Milk Wood", "Return Journey to Swansea", and "And death shall ahve no dominion" and other poems. It also includes "Memories of Christmas", "The Peaches", "The Outing", "The Followers", "Do not go gentle into that good night", and other poems.
Thomas was a charismatic if idiosyncratic performer of his own poetry and stories and here is a representative selection.
Critic Reviews
- 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Audiobook Adapted from Another Medium
More from the same
What listeners say about The Essential Dylan Thomas
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Lachlan
- 11-07-09
As the swirling of water over pebbles in a stream
Dylan Thomas's rampant and enthralling wordplay, dancing impishly through the lives and loves of its characters with a roguish wink at their weaknesses, is here read as well as it was written. It swirls like a bubbling stream with an ebb and flow which matches its substance perfectly. With the lilt which only Welsh accents could give it, it is as close to music as poetry can be, glorying in one of the most musical accents in the English-speaking world, and the one in which it was originally given flesh and form. I cannot imagine it performed with more verve, subtlety and expressiveness.
15 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- heptaskelion
- 02-11-15
no usable chapters!
what an incredible collection, and so well read.
however, there is no way to find a poem you want in the audio without chapter markings! an unfortunate negligence.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tom
- 05-14-20
A Powerful Voice of the Emerald Isle
Dylan Thomas’ verse captures so many essential elements of the Irish Experience: its Streets and Lanes, Characters, Names, Jokes and Beautiful Natural Scenes.
You can hear its peoples’ joys and sorrows of living in this iconic Land. Their spirit shines through in every whisky soaked story. The trees, birds and other native creatures come alive in his Nature poems.
I listened to this book in the Audible Version, hearing in the voices of Thomas, Burton and other Native Celtic speakers, making the experience all the more powerful.
This True Irishman will not go gentle into that good night, but with a lassie under one arm and a glass of Jameson under the other. ME TOO!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rochelle Jewel Shapiro
- 06-20-22
to hear Dylan Thomas is sublime
his music winds and winds its way through each poem. it swirls into his amusing prose pieces. Dylan Thomas's work takes you in a voyage of heartache and humor
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- peter revill
- 01-09-16
This is a book of poetry: but!
The performances are powerful renditions of wonderful poetry and prose, a delight to listen to, an opportunity to immerse oneself in the beauty of the written and spoken word. However, it is still a 'book' of poetry, but one which seems impossible to navigate; yes it does have chapter numbers, but each chapter is of considerable length, the delight of a book of poetry is to flick through the pages to a favourite poem and read it: why should an audio book of the same material be any different? Alas, many of the books of poetry purchased from Audible seem to have this deficiency and it is very frustrating. Of course you can listen and bookmark various sections, poems etc: but shouldn't the publishers have already done this? It is very disappointing and detracts from the enjoyment of the collection. For challenges such as this Audible offer no star rating - so I suggest a 0 rating for recording navigation.
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Guitar Laid Bare
- 03-24-10
close your eyes and spoil yourself
I cannot tell you how powerful this recording is, how vivid and entrancing are the images it paints.
Play it to your children and let them hear the richness of english, let them hear the townsfolk as they dream. It might just be better than eastenders - innit?
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- S. Dexter
- 01-04-22
Brilliant but - no proper index/chapter list
I love Dylan Thomas and I love to hear him reading his own work. No complaints whatsoever in that respect - its a lovely collection. But, as has already been pointed out; the chapter listing does not tell which items appear where. You have to blindly mess around till you find the piece you want to listen to. Why can't poetry, books and similar, tell you where a particular item is, or at least point to the correct chapter. That's what happens with a printed book, or a music album/CD, and it makes it enjoyable to dip in and out of it. I am enjoying listening but just wanted to air this frustration.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- GrantWellings
- 08-22-19
Wonderful intro
Very nice introduction to Thomas’ works. Good variety and lovely! Would definitely recommend this to anybody.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall

- Barry
- 05-24-08
The Essential Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas Welsh Poet Laureate; any reviewer can but provide a ghostly synopses enough to induce the work to be eagerly devoured. Let no reviewer exhibit the temerity to even indicate of ?better? performances than the authors own.
His ?idiosyncrasies? are his very being, the ear that captures the very essence of his environs the eyes that catch the very soul of its inhabitants and the mind that displays them for our purveyance, to have the privilege to hear HIS own voice is to overhear the original conversation simultaneously viewing the original image.
For an Englishman with Welsh antecedents Dylan Thomas provides an English window into a Welsh landscape, mine own reminiscences of ancient uncle basking on his coal bunker, suppers by aunts grandmothers clock are still as fresh as the childhood long gone, but who will want to hear them?
His recollections provide a prism showing author and subject in bright repose that you might share precious time in their company.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Meaghan Vosz
- 10-20-18
Audio problem - file drops out after Under Milkwood
Pretty disappointed. After an amazing rendition of most of Under Milkwood by Dylan Thomas, the Audi file just stops and says is is corrupted. Anything I did didn’t help, tried reloading, marking as finished, nothing worked. Waste of $.