Most readers know at least some of Kipling — his immortal creations Mowgli and the Just So Stories. But Kipling’s range is far wider, encompassing poetry, journalism, children’s writing, and letters. This collection samples the best of Kipling's work in all these genres. Here are unforgettable scenes from his fiction, like the magnificent moment when Mowgli leaves the wolves; superb poems like “Recessional,” “East Is East,” “If,” and “The Female of the Species”; heartfelt letters to his children, including some of those to his beloved son Jack, who went missing in war and was never quite right again. The four CDs are clearly categorized into sections for listening ease — “India and Empire,” “Animal Stories,” “Children and Family," and “War and Other” — and each track is individually cued. Read by four of the most renowned British voices (whose biographies, with Kipling's, appear in an enclosed booklet), The Essential Kipling brings the best of this timeless author to longtime fans and new readers.

Most readers know at least some of Kipling — his immortal creations Mowgli and the Just So Stories. But Kipling’s range is far wider, encompassing poetry, journalism, children’s writing, and letters. This collection samples the best of Kipling's work in all these genres. Here are unforgettable scenes from his fiction, like the magnificent moment when Mowgli leaves the wolves; superb poems like “Recessional,” “East Is East,” “If,” and “The Female of the Species”; heartfelt letters to his children, including some of those to his beloved son Jack, who went missing in war and was never quite right again. The four CDs are clearly categorized into sections for listening ease — “India and Empire,” “Animal Stories,” “Children and Family," and “War and Other” — and each track is individually cued. Read by four of the most renowned British voices (whose biographies, with Kipling's, appear in an enclosed booklet), The Essential Kipling brings the best of this timeless author to longtime fans and new readers.