Showing results by narrator "Charles Armstrong" in All Categories

Squeezed between Colombia in the north and Peru in the south, Ecuador is named for its location on the Equator and has a landscape so varied that it has been described as a microcosm of every microclimate found in South America. This diversity makes it a magnet for tourists, mountain trekkers, volunteers, and increasing numbers of US retirees looking for a warm, culturally interesting, economical, and safe place to spend much of their time.

While Israel is a modern and largely secular country, it is one steeped in biblical history - a place where religion still plays an active role in public life. In 70 years, it has grown from a sparsely populated strip of land into a vigorous democracy and regional superpower. Often called the Startup Nation, Israel is a world leader in a number of high-tech industries. Its democratic institutions, despite political and social polarization in recent years, are among the most enlightened in the world.

Italy delights and stimulates with its magnificent cities and monuments, stunningly beautiful landscapes, the glory of its art and architecture, the richness and variety of its food, the elegance of its design and fashion, and the vitality and charm of its people. Italian style and culture have been exported all over the world. At home, however, Italian society and politics are facing challenges as the country struggles to maintain its standard of living, the stability of its currency, and its ability to provide jobs.

In 1841, the 'peasant poet' John Clare escapes from an asylum in Epping Forest, where he had been kept for four years, and walks over 80 miles home to Northamptonshire. Suffering from poor mental health, Clare was attempting to return to his idealized first love, Mary, unaware that she had died three years earlier. In 1995, with his life in crisis and his own mental health fragile, Robert decides to retrace Clare's route along the Great North Road over a punishing four-day walk. 

Nature took on a new importance for thousands of people when the coronavirus pandemic arrived in Britain, providing solace in a time of great anxiety - not least because the crisis struck at the beginning of spring, the season of hope and renewal, and furthermore, in an extraordinary conjunction, the spring of 2020 turned out to be the loveliest spring ever recorded in Britain. Three nature writers, living like everyone else under lockdown, but walking out each day to exercise, resolved to record their experiences of the coronavirus spring, in widely contrasting parts of the country. 

No one has a better perspective on life on both sides of the channel than Julian Barnes. In these exquisitely crafted stories spanning several centuries, he takes as his universal theme the British in France: from the last days of a reclusive English composer, the beef consuming 'navvies' labouring on the Paris-Rouen railway to a lonely woman mourning the death of her brother on the battlefields of the Somme.

It's the issues and theories that are most intriguing and relevant to curious teen minds - questions like: what is knowledge, identity, human nature, right and wrong, faith, freedom, and justice? These are all addressed, offering big ideas, simply explained. Written and designed specifically for the teen market, Heads Up: Philosophy explains challenging but clear text to clarify and explain theories and arguments.

From the pennies in our pocket to the global financial boom, Heads Up: Money puts theory into practice and explains the important issues surrounding all areas of economics including the market, supply and demand, currencies, spending and saving. Using big ideas and economic and personal finance, Heads Up: Money will help young adults understand the financial world around them. 

In an idyllic resort on the island of La Réunion, Liane Bellion and her husband, Martial, are enjoying the perfect moment with their six-year-old daughter. Turquoise skies, blue sea, palm trees, a warm breeze. Then Liane disappears. She went up to her hotel room between three and four p.m. and never came back. Her husband, worried, went to the room along with the concierge - the room was empty, but there was blood everywhere. Despite his protestations of innocence, the police view Martial as their prime suspect.

'We looked like the perfect young family, something out of a magazine, in shades of marshmallow pink....' A photograph. The father smiling beside his new car, the mother pregnant and radiant, the little girl placing cuddly toys in the cot for her new baby brother. All we see is the happiness. 'We don't see my mother. We don't see the lies.' But behind every picture there is a story. And behind that story, there are others. Every family has its secrets.

Immerse yourself in more than 400 years of the world's most celebrated operas and discover the fascinating stories behind them. Explore the lives of singers such as Maria Callas, Luciano Pavarotti, and Jonas Kaufmann. Meet composers like Mozart, Wagner, and Britten, and the librettists with whom they collaborated to create the magical blend of words and music that make up opera.

Originally published as a series of short stories in Sketch magazine, this tale of international intrigue and espionage begins when a visitor stumbles into detective Hercule Poirot's bedroom. In the final moments before his death, he tells Poirot of the crime cartel known only as the Big Four. What follows is Hercule Poirot's biggest case yet, taking him and his sidekick Arthur Hastings on the trail of the Big Four before their plans to take control of the world unfold.