Showing results by narrator "Matt Bates" in All Categories

When Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016, the 48 percent who wanted to stay and the 52 percent who wanted to go each accused the other of stupidity, fraud, and treason. In reality, the Brexit debate merely reran a script written ten thousand years earlier. Since 1900, however, thanks to rapid globalization, Britain has been overshadowed by American, European, and—increasingly—Chinese actors. Geography Is Destiny shows that the great question for the coming century is not what to do about Brussels; it's what to do about Beijing.

Lester Ferris needs a rest. He's spent his life being shot at, and Afghanistan was the last stop on his road to exhaustion. Mancreu is the ideal place for Lester to relax. A former British colony, soon to be destroyed because of its very special version of toxic pollution. But Lester Ferris makes a friend: a street kid with a comicbook fixation who will need a home - who might, Lester hopes, become an adopted son. But in a place like Mancreu, just what sort of hero will the boy need?

England is under attack. Chaos reigns. Northumbria, the last kingdom, is threatened by armies from all sides, by land and sea - and only one man stands in their way. Torn between loyalty and sworn oaths, the warrior king Lord Uhtred of Bebbanburg faces his greatest ever battle - and prepares for his ultimate fate....

For 20 years the mercenaries Durine, Kethol, and Pirojil have fought other people's battles. Having already defeated the Tsurani, the Bugs, and the goblins, it seems there are no more enemies for them to vanquish - even as the Riftwar rages on in the west. What lies ahead for the able trio are a few welcomed months of restful garrison duty. When ordered to accompany the promiscuous Lady Mondegreen, her aging husband, and her current lover to a summit in the city of LaMut, the Three Swords willingly comply, expecting an uncomplicated and undemanding assignment.

When happily married Grace comes home early one night and catches her husband, Dominic, with another woman in the cabin at the bottom of their garden, she is shocked, angry, and most of all, hell-bent on revenge. That’s why she acts quickly, locking the pair in the cabin while she decides what she wants to do to them.

At the onset of the tenth century, England is in turmoil. Alfred the Great is dead and Edward his son reigns as king. Wessex survives but peace cannot hold: the Danes in the north, led by Viking Cnut Longsword, stand ready to invade and will never rest until the emerald crown is theirs.

The Last Kingdom is one of the most successful historical fiction series of our time. The novels tell the epic story of the birth of England and introduces one of the greatest ever fictional heroes: the iconic Uhtred of Bebbanburg, the Saxon-born, Norse-raised warrior and rebel. In this lively compendium, Bernard Cornwell revisits Uhtred’s realm, illuminating elements of the Anglo-Saxon world he couldn’t fully explore in his novels.

The brand-new novel in Bernard Cornwell's number one best-selling series on the making of England and the fate of his great hero, Uhtred of Bebbanburg. BBC2's major TV show The Last Kingdom is based on the first two novels in the series. From the day it was stolen from me, I had dreamed of recapturing Bebbanburg. The great fort was built on a rock that was almost an island; it was massive, it could be approached only on land by a single narrow track - and it was mine.

In the frozen Northlands of Midkemia, Captain Dennis Hartraft’s Marauders have just had a disastrous encounter with their sworn enemy, the Tsurani. Wounded and disheartened, the Mauraders set out for the shelter of a frontier garrison. They don’t know that a Tsurani patrol is sent to support an assault on that same garrison.

Jimmy the Hand, boy thief of Krondor, lived in the shadows of the city. Though gifted beyond his peers, Jimmy is merely a pickpocket with potential - until he aids Prince Arutha in the rescue of Princess Anita from Duke Guy du Bas-Tyra and runs afoul of "Black Guy's" secret police. Facing a choice between disappearing on his own or in a weighted barrel at the bottom of Krondor's harbor, Jimmy chooses the former.

These early philosophical writings underpinned the Chinese revolutions and their clarion calls to insurrection remain some of the most stirring of all time. Drawing on a dizzying array of references from contemporary culture and politics, Zizek's firecracker commentary reaches unsettling conclusions about the place of Mao's thought in the revolutionary canon.

The Crawler: a name whispered in fear. . . In the crime-ridden back alleys of Krondor a rival gang has sprung up to threaten the Upright Man’s Mockers. Does the Crawler control the rival gang? Where does his power come from? And does it threaten the peace of the Kingdom? James, personal squire to Prince Arutha of Krondor, but in the underworld known as the thief and trickster Jimmy the Hand, must travel to Kesh in disguise.

The First World War saw the birth of an extraordinary fighting machine that has fascinated three generations: the tank. In Tank Men, ex-soldier and military historian Robert Kershaw brings to life the grime, the grease, and the fury of a tank battle through the voices of ordinary men and women who lived and fought in those fearsome machines. Drawing on vivid, newly researched personal testimony from the crucial battles of the First and Second World Wars, this is military history at its very best.

Summer 1944: the SAS were charged with the most crucial D-Day missions, taking on the might of the Nazi Reich deep behind enemy lines. Facing Hitler's fearsome Panzer divisions with little more than raw courage and their nimble Willys jeeps, it would take maverick thinking and unconventional warfare to survive and overcome. Hunted at every turn, Blair 'Paddy' Mayne's SAS would face a bitter and bloody struggle to topple the enemy.

The second novel of a major Feist acquisition, returning to his best-loved series. Written with Joel Rosenberg. The second Riftwar collaboration, Murder in LaMut, written by masters of fantasy Raymond E. Feist and Joel Rosenburg. The heavy action was supposedly at Crydee these days, which meant that the one place they could be sure the three of them were not going was Crydee.

When a priest is found crucified in a derelict North London chapel, it makes a dramatic change for DI Charlie George and his squad at Essex Road. The brutal murder could not be further from their routine of domestic violence and stabbings on the estates. And that's only the beginning.... On Christmas Eve, a police officer goes missing and his colleagues can't help but anticipate the worst. It turns out they're right to when eventually the body is found and they discover he's been stoned to death.

The new novel in Bernard Cornwell's number one best-selling series The Warrior Chronicles, on the making of England and the fate of his great hero, Uhtred of Bebbanburg. Alfred the Great is dead and Edward his son reigns as king. Wessex survives but peace cannot hold. The Danes in the north, led by Viking Cnut Longsword, stand ready to invade and will never rest until the emerald crown is theirs.

As the ninth century wanes, England appears about to be plunged into chaos once more. For the Viking-raised but Saxon-born warrior, Uhtred, whose life seems to shadow the making of England, this presents him with difficult choices. King Alfred is dying and his passing threatens the island of Britain to renewed warfare. Alfred wants his son, Edward, to succeed him but there are other Saxon claimants to the throne as well as ambitious pagan Vikings to the north.

Veteran cavalry commander Marcus Flavius Victor sets out with his regiment to make what may be his final tour of the forts along Hadrian's Wall. Through a combination of military prowess, brutality and bribery, Marcus has spent 20 years keeping the savage Picts at bay. Feared by his enemies and hated by his superiors, his strength of will is the only thing that has held the disgruntled, poorly paid garrisons of the Wall in place as the failing Roman Empire's grip on Britannia weakened.

In midwinter in an English village, a teenage girl has gone missing and everyone is called upon to join the search. The villagers fan out across the moors as the police set up roadblocks, and a crowd of news reporters descends on what is usually a place of peace. As the seasons unfold and the search for the missing girl goes on, there are births and deaths, secrets kept and exposed, livelihoods made and lost, small kindnesses, and unanticipated betrayals. Reservoir 13 explores the rhythms of the natural world and the repeated human gift for violence.