Showing results by narrator "Simon Russell" in All Categories

This is the remarkable and tragic story of Oscar Wilde, legendary wit and conversationalist, author of perhaps the most perfect comedy in the English language, yet seemingly doomed by his own flawed temperament to suffer at the hands of a censorious and hypocritical society...

When Betsy K. Glory, the daughter of a mermaid and an ice cream maker, meets the mysterious Mr Tiger they have a giant challenge: a moon to turn blue, berries to collect and wishable-delicious ice cream to create. The sort that makes wishes come true. With Mr Tiger and his troupe of Gongalong circus acrobats, a toad under a spell, a lonely giant and Mum and Dad, Betsy sets off on her quest.

History cannot be relived, but thanks to a tradition that spans millennia, we can revisit it in the letters of the people who influenced or witnessed the moments it changed forever. In Written In History, acclaimed historian Simon Sebag Montefiore selects some of the greatest letters ever written from ancient times to the 20th century: declarations of war, petitions for peace, diplomatic entanglements, steamy love letters and beyond.

Charlie Bone is back at Bloor's Academy, where a dark secret is emerging. A boy was once lost in the attics and never seen again. Charlie Bone is intrigued, and ventures up there to see if he can find a clue about what happened to him. There he finds Ollie Sparks - but he has become invisible thanks to a hug from the legendary blue boa.... Charlie has problems of his own - Uncle Paton has disappeared, and it is up to Charlie to get him back.

It is spring in 1963 and George Smiley has left the Circus. With the wreckage of the West’s spy war with the Soviets strewn across Europe, he has eyes only for a more peaceful life. And indeed, with his marriage more secure than ever, there is a rumor in Whitehall—unconfirmed and a little scandalous—that George Smiley might almost be happy. But Control has other plans.

In early 1940, Chaim Herzsman was locked in to the Lódz Ghetto in Poland. Hungry, fearless and determined, he goes on scavenging missions outside the wire limits, until he is forced to kill a Nazi guard. That moment changes the course of his life and sets him on an unbelievable adventure across enemy lines.

Atticus the Storyteller is determined to take part in the great Storytelling Festival near Troy. He leaves his family in Crete and sets off on a year-long journey round Greece with his donkey, Melissa; and wherever he goes he tells his favourite myths to anyone who'll listen.

A dark secret is emerging from Bloor's Academy. A boy was once lost in the attics and never seen again. Charlie Bone is intrigued, but he has problems of his own. Uncle Paton has disappeared.

Crumble cakes! When Betsy joins Myrtle the mermaid in her underwater world, she discovers there may be monsters...shipwrecks, lost treasure and secret cities. A seapig's prize seahorse, Pudding Pie, has been stolen by a cantankerous giant octopus and Betsy and Mr Tiger must go to the rescue in their new submarine. But what happens when a tiger's whiskers and tail are simply too long to squeeze into forgotten dark caverns where even the moon cannot shine, and Betsy has to take the final steps of the adventure on her own?

Crumble cakes! A red rogue wind is blowing, and a wicked pirate captain and his crew are marauding the Seven Seas near the island left off the map of the world. A rare egg has gone missing and a very unhappy sea dragon wants it back. A pirate ship, The Kettle Black, is anchored in a secret cove off the island left off the map of the world. Betsy and her mum, Myrtle the mermaid, must dive deep beneath the waves, while Alfonso Glory and Mr Tiger fly high above the clouds in a hot air balloon. It's time for Mr Tiger, Betsy and the Gongalongs to set off on their second adventure....

Through nine years as a columnist with The Age, Bob Murphy revealed himself to be a very different footballer indeed. Shunning the stern-faced statistical analysis that dominates the AFL landscape, he revisited the things about the game that captivated him as a child. His words were the smells of leather and liniment leaping off the page. Gentle, romantic, funny, whimsical, thoughtful, sad - Murphy’s writing is rich, tender yet powerful, above all achingly human.

At the Wings & Co. Fairy Detective Agency, Emily Vole and her friends are beginning to worry. It's five months since their official opening and they still haven't had one case. Then local landowner Sir Walter Cross dies suddenly and mysteriously. The detectives suspect fairy meddling. And when Mr Rollo the tailor mysteriously loses everything and Pan Smith's wedding plans are ruined the night before her big day, they're convinced there must be magic at play.

Six men have reached a certain age, their 40-something years, and each has a very different – and sometimes surprising – story to tell, from the brother who receives an unexpected letter to a compulsive philanderer, and a news photographer sent on an unusual assignment. All are funny, touching, and as beautifully observed as would be expected from the author of the phenomenal best sellers Eats, Shoots & Leaves and Talk to the Hand.

Podgy Bottom is in trouble. All over town cars are being shrunk to the size of a matchbox in the blink of an eye; a giant purple bunny rabbit is running riot and a strange-looking broomstick is causing chaos and calamity.... Sounds like a case for Wings & Co, the famous fairy detective agency! Can Emily, Budget, and Fidget put a stop to this magical mischief before it's too late?

It's just an ordinary day at Mother Goose's Academy. There's Miss Good Fairy teaching the Three Little Pigs, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, and Little Red Riding Hood to read and write, while Miss Bad Fairy is inciting the Ugly Sisters, the Big Bad Wolf, Troll, Wicked Stepmother, Wicked Witch, and Jealous Queen to gobble them all up. The result? Chaos!

A wonderfully atmospheric collection of stories from one of our most captivating writers, inspired by ghost stories, traditional folk tales and country legends from England and France. These tales are richly populated by spirits and ghosts seeking revenge; by grief-stricken women and haunted men coming to terms with their destiny - all rooted deep in the elemental landscapes of Sussex, Brittany and the Languedoc.

Spot on the Fishcake! The famous fairy detective agency, Wings & Co, has a problem. Really quite a big problem. Well, a few of them actually. There's the missing giant, Billy Buckle, who has vanished without a trace, and left his giant daughter with the detectives. There's a surprise visit to the seaside, which uncovers a murder and a stolen diamond. And then there's that tricky business of the TV talent show. Squat on a squid, this is Emily, Buster and Fidget's most complicated case yet. Read by Simon Russell Beale.

Emily Vole makes headline news in the first weeks of her life, when she is found in an abandoned hatbox in Stansted Airport. Then, only a few years later, her neighbour Mrs String dies, leaving Emily a mysterious inheritance: an old shop, a small bunch of golden keys, and a cat called Fidget. In the shop Emily discovers drawers full of fairy wings and the beginning of an adventure of a lifetime as the old Fairy Detective Agency comes back to life. It is up to Emily to reopen the shop, and recall the fairies to duty.

Brought to life by a careless sorcerer, Pernickety Boo is a well-educated umbrella with unexplored magical powers – and after he is left behind on the London Underground by his forgetful creator, Pernickety must find an owner: someone who will truly love him. So when Pernickety meets young Sylvie Moonshine and is welcomed into her home, he thinks that all of his prayers have been answered. But there are plenty of other people who are also interested in the magical umbrella, and who threaten to separate Pernickety from his beloved Sylvie, unless he can find a way to stop them.

'Agatha Christie for kids' - a new mystery in the detective agency series brimming with mystery and magic by million-copy-selling author Sally Gardner. The detectives at Wings and Co are in a bit of a bother. There is a lost leprechaun on the loose, and carpets are flying all over the village of Podgy Bottom as if by magic. Oh, and, worst of all, Fidget the cat has vanished on VERY URGENT business. It looks like a tricky case for our fairy detectives....