A Word In Your Ear: Fortress Malta: an island under siege 1940-1943<br></br>Molloy

It's worth getting out an atlas as you start to listen to James Holland's Fortress Malta: an island under siege 1940-1943 (Orion, abridged, 6 hrs 30 mins £12.99) to remind yourself of the island's strategic importance to both the Allies and the Axis powers. When the Second World War broke out it was pathetically vulnerable, with a handful of obsolete planes and anti-aircraft guns; by 1943 over 600 aircraft were stationed there and the surrendered Italian Fleet was moored in the Grand Harbour. With exemplary skill, James Holland tells the story of how it held out, adding heart-stopping human interest through generous use of the reminiscences of the men and women who survived three years of tense dogfights and devastating Blitzkriegs. Joss Ackland's rich, gritty voice adds compelling urgency to this dramatic tale.

Samuel Beckett's Molloy (Naxos Modern Classic, unabridged, 8hrs 30 mins, read by Sean Barrett and Dermot Crowley, £24.99) is arguably the perfect way to experience Beckett's famous novel. Molloy is a monologue told in the first person, so hearing the words helps the story's intense concentration on "all that inner space one never sees, the brain and heart and other caverns where thought and feeling dance their sabbath". It also increases one's appreciation of Beckett's marvellous way with words, the way his sentences move outward from each other like ripples on water.