In this bonus episode, Henry introduces Eliot's Book of Bookish Lists, the perfect stocking-filler for book-lovers. Who had birds called Death, Wigs and Spinach? How do you spell the noise of a door slamming? Whose working title was The Chronic Argonauts? In this eclectic gallimaufry, Henry showcases some of his favourite literary lists: we witness the tragic ends of the Ancient Greek tragedians, learn the name of George Orwell's pet cockerel and rummage through Joan Didion's travelling bag; we consider the history of literary fart jokes, orbit the Shakespearean moons of Uranus and meet ..read more

John Bunyan in Bedfordshire. The novelist Rachel Joyce joins Henry as they follow in the footsteps of Bunyan’s pilgrim Christian, as he walks from Bedford, or the City of Destruction, to London, the Celestial City. Along the way they visit the Slough of Despond (Elstow), the Palace Beautiful (Houghton House) and Vanity Fair (Ampthill). They start at the Bunyan Meeting House, where they meet John Pestell, and finish at Bunyan’s resting place, Bunhill Fields.   2022 marks the 350th anniversary of the Bunyan Meeting House on its current site.   The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (Pen ..read more

Tayeb Salih in London. The novelist Leila Aboulela meets Henry in London to discuss Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North, which was voted the most important Arab novel of the 20th century by the Arab Literary Academy in Damascus. The novel is set in both a small village in northern Sudan and various locations in London, the city that Tayeb Salih made his home. Leila and Henry visit Victoria Station, Speaker’s Corner, the London Central Mosque, the Old Bailey and Cleopatra’s Needle.   Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih (Penguin Modern Classics) https://www.penguin.co ..read more

E. M. Forster in Cambridge. The cultural historian Diarmuid Hester joins Henry to explore the streets and colleges of Cambridge before escaping to the greenwood to discuss Maurice by E. M. Forster, his novel of same-sex love that remained unpublished throughout his lifetime. Diarmuid and Henry visit King’s College, where Forster lived both as an undergraduate and an honorary fellow and they visit Madingley Hall and Madingley Dell.   2021 was the 50th anniversary of the first, posthumous publication of Maurice in 1971.   Maurice by E. M. Forster (Penguin Classics edition) https://www ..read more

Thomas de Quincey & William S. Burroughs in Soho. The novelist Will Self joins Henry in London to explore the opium dreams and heroin nightmares of Thomas de Quincey’s Confessions of an English Opium Eater and William S. Burrough’s Junky. They walk from Oxford Street to Covent Garden, and along the way they also discuss The Diary of a Drug Fiend by Aleister Crowley and Will’s own 2019 drugs memoir, Will.   2022 is the 200th anniversary of the book publication of Confessions of an English Opium Eater.   Penguin Classics edition of Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas de ..read more

On the Road with Penguin Classics is the literary podcast that takes a stroll around the world's favourite books. In each episode, author Henry Eliot travels to a different literary location to explore a brilliant book in the company of remarkable readers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information ..read more

Lewis Carroll in Oxford. The illustrator and political cartoonist Chris Riddell wanders the streams and streets of Oxford with Henry, visiting the locations that inspired Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll. They meet Sophie Hiscock at the Story Museum and visit Christ Church College. Penguin Classics editions of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/60348/alice-s-adventures-in-wonderland-and-through-the-looking-glass/9780141439761.html https://apple.co/34a ..read more

Muriel Spark in Edinburgh. The journalist Alan Taylor joins the Brodie set on a walk around Edinburgh with Henry. They discuss The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark, visiting the site of James Gillespie’s High School (Spark’s alma mater and the model for Marcia Blaine school in the novel), as well as her childhood home on Bruntsfield Place and tracing the route taken by Miss Brodie and her girls across the Meadows and through the Grassmarket, Lawnmarket and the High Street.   Penguin Modern Classics edition of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark https://www.penguin ..read more

John Keats in Hampstead. The poet and biographer Sir Andrew Motion, former Poet Laureate, strolls around the village of Hampstead with Henry. They discuss the short life and luscious poetry of John Keats, walking on the Heath, visiting Leigh Hunt’s house in the Vale of Health and finishing at Wentworth Place (now Keats House), where they meet its principal curator, Rob Shakespeare.   Penguin Classics editions of Keats:   Selected Poems https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/33867/selected-poems--keats/9780140424478.html https://apple.co/3IE3ZMC   Complete Poems https://www.pe ..read more

Margaret Cavendish beyond the North Pole. The polar researcher Dr Michael Bravo Joins Henry in Cambridge to discuss The Blazing World by Margaret Cavendish, the maverick Duchess of Newcastle. Blending fantasy, philosophy and seventeenth-century science, they visit the Polar Museum, the Whipple Museum and Cambridge University Library. They meet Dr Joshua Nall, an expert on the history of science, and Dr Emily Dourish, deputy keeper of rare books.   Penguin Classics editions of The Blazing World by Margaret Cavendish https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/34205/the-blazing-world-and ..read more