Showing results by narrator "David Thorpe" in All Categories

When Baskerville was first created in 1757, there was concern that it would damage readers' eyes with its combination of thin and thick strokes and tapering serifs. Yet 250 years later, it remains one of the most commonly used typefaces in books of all kinds. As bestselling author Simon Garfield tells it, the tale of this elegant typeface is one of painstaking dedication.

A tragic past comes back to haunt the present in The Ash Tree. When Sir Richard Fell inherits Castringham Hall, it comes with a curse that has caused the mysterious deaths of the previous owners.

John Tradescant the Younger has inherited his father’s unique collection of plants along with his unerring ability to nurture them. But as gardener to Charles I, he confronts an unbearable dilemma when England descends into Civil War. Fleeing from the chaos, John travels to the Royalist colony of Virginia in America. But the virgin land is not uninhabited. John’s plant hunting brings him to live with the native people, and he learns to love and respect their way of life just as it is threatened by the colonial settlers.

Thanks to the stratagems of Bohemund de Hauteville, leader of the Apulian Normans, the Crusade has taken the city of Antioch, and just in time. Once the besiegers, Bohemund and his men are about to become the besieged - a huge Turkish-led army, commanded by the fearsome General Kerbogha, is fast approaching. Provisions are desperately needed, but the surrounding countryside is near barren and the storerooms of Antioch much depleted. The Crusaders will not hold out for long without falling prey to starvation.

John Milton is working in a hotel kitchen while searching for information on the Group Fifteen agent who betrayed him in Russia. His plans are upended when a deadly shooting places an innocent young girl in his path. Aided by an enigmatic woman he meets in the hotel, he rescues the girl and plunges headfirst into a deadly feud between two criminal families feuding in the run-up to a high-stakes MMA fight. In the underbelly of the city, where alliances are as brittle as glass, Milton must navigate through treacherous secrets and betrayals.

"Carnivorine" follows the tale of Ellis Graham, who has been asked to find his friend’s lost son, Julius. Ellis heads to Europe in his search, only to find Julius on the brink of a remarkable discovery about carnivorous plants.

This is the story of generations of parents, Britain's richest and grandest, who believed that being miserable at school was necessary to make a good and successful citizen. Childish suffering was a price they accepted for the preservation of their class and their entitlement. The children who were moulded by this misery and abuse went on - as they still do - to run Britain's public institutions and private companies.

A missile tears a passenger plane from the skies over London. Everyone onboard is killed, including 37 special children. As terror turns to international chaos, can the government survive?

A parent's worst fear is realised when seven-year-old Libby Hallforth goes missing at a funfair; no witnesses, no leads, and no trace. Months later, human remains are found, but they're too old to be Libby. It's the tip of a gruesome iceberg - bodies, buried in pairs, carefully laid to rest in a ritualistic manner. For DI Jake Porter and DS Nick Styles, the trail for Libby is cold, and everyone is a suspect.

Of all the weavers of magic, there is none like Lord Dunsany. During his long lifetime he wrote more than 60 books including novels, plays, poetry collections and most memorably, innumerable exotic and fantastical short stories. Here is the very best of Dunsany's extraordinarily evocative tales of Faerie, of dreamworlds and of magic.

Before dawn on a misty November morning in 1536, prominent mercer Robert Packington was gunned down as he crossed Cheapside on his way to early morning mass. It was the first assassination by handgun in the history of the capital and subsequently shook the city to its core.The identity of his assassin has remained a mystery. the first of a new series investigating real unsolved Tudor crimes, D.K. Wilson brings the streets of Tudor London to spectacular life as Thomas Treviot faces a fight to bring the truth to light.

Michael Tate has not had an easy life. With his father in prison, and his mother dead, Michael was sent to Woodside Children’s Home. Now an adult, Michael wakes up in hospital from a coma suffering from amnesia and paralysis. Confused and terrified, he is charged with the fatal stabbing of his girlfriend, Becky. He also learns he attempted to end his own life. Detective Inspector John Carver is determined that Michael is sent to prison. With no way of defending himself, Michael is left in his hospital bed awaiting transfer to remand. But then strange things begin to happen....

Few sporting records capture the imagination quite like that of the highest individual score in Test cricket. It is the blue riband record of batting achievement, the ultimate statement of stamina and skill. From Charles Bannerman, who scored 165 for Australia against England in the inaugural Test match in 1877, to Brian Lara, who made 400 not out for West Indies against England in 2004, the record has changed hands 10 times.

On top investment bank Bloomfield Weiss’ training programme in New York, Chris and Lenka had become part of a close-knit gang of ambitious trainees. But then one of the gang died during a drunken boat trip, and the rest were left to cover up the truth. Ten years later a helpless Chris watches Lenka die in a Prague street. With his friend and business partner dead, Chris not only has to fight to keep his company afloat in the face of nervous investors but must also discover who is behind Lenka’s murder.

Darkness falls. The undead rise to feast on the succulent blood of the living. For years vampires have fascinated great writers of the occult such as De Maupassant, Count Stenbock, E. Nesbit, and E.F. Benson. This is The Story Circle's collection of some of their spine-chilling tales told by award-winning actors.

Dr. Steven Dunbar has left his job with the Sci-Med Inspectorate and now works for a pharmaceutical company. He is persuaded to return when his old boss falls seriously ill and requests that he take a look into the suspicious deaths of a number of people. Steven makes good progress and is beginning to share his old mentor's concerns when the UK comes under attack. A nightmare disease is let loose on major cities. Steven is co-opted to help out in what seems destined to become a losing battle against a rampaging infection.

Twin Lakes is a complex of holiday homes in a scenic part of England. “Rest Assured”, says the sign at its entrance. And the people fortunate enough to occupy the luxury homes are indeed able to relax in a beautiful setting. Then a series of mysterious threatening notes are delivered to one of the lakeside homes. DS Bert Hook conducts an informal investigation and the notes cease to appear. All is peaceful once more until a brutal death shatters the peace.

Twenty-year-old Jenny is struggling to make friends at university and moves in to Sunset Promenade to escape her problems. Her roommates are a little older than she was expecting - Sunset Promenade is a private nursing home, taking in students to save money. At first the new residents clash, but when Jenny introduces a movie night the group realise they have more in common than they think....

It’s Christmas in the Chandler household, and as the party gather around the fire, their host Everard recalls a ghostly tale from the previous Christmas in the misty forests of Scotland.

Twilit and sinister, oozing with ague, bad airs, boggarts and other spirits: in the mind’s eye marshes, bogs and swamps are dangerous, crepuscular—and only partly of this world. For centuries, wetlands, have been the object of our distrust: we’ve drained away their demons, encroached upon and denuded them, ripping away not only their fragile beauty, botany and birdlife but also the carefully calibrated lives of those that have come to understand and thrive in them. In Swamp Songs, Tom Blass takes us on a journey through these strange lands and waterscapes.