Showing results by narrator "Matt Bates" in All Categories

A shameful act of drunken impetuousness results in Michael Henchard losing his wife and daughter in an auction. This evil deed remains secret for years, during which time Henchard climbs the social ladder from working as a roving hay-trusser to becoming the upstanding Mayor of Casterbridge.

Rebecca hasn't seen her father, Leo, since she was six. Her family never talk about him, and she has long since pushed him firmly to the back of her mind. All she knows is that once upon a time, he was a well-loved children's TV star. But when a journalist turns up uninvited at her office, asking questions about her once-famous father, Rebecca starts to wonder whether there is more to Leo's absence than she realised. Then, looking for answers, she unearths a book of fairy tales written by Leo and dedicated to her - but what use are children's stories to her now, all these years later.

The dropping of two atom bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and their shocking aftermath finally ended World War II in the eastern theatre. But they weren't the only experimental weaponry at the time. In this fascinating account, Chris McNab examines the development of a range of hitherto unknown and at times shockingly effective weapons that were developed and unleashed on an unsuspecting world over the course of the war.

Join the art critic Ben Eastham on a private tour of an extraordinary museum. Let him walk you through a building constructed from memory and filled with a series of bewildering art works, while he delivers a guide comprised of personal experience, professional expertise and sympathy. In this...

In more than 40 stories from the glory days of rock’n’roll, featuring Lou Reed, Elton John, Sting and The Clash, Allan Jones remembers a world that once was – one of dark excess and excitement, outrageous deeds and extraordinary talent, featuring legends at both the beginnings and ends of their careers.

Headaches are a common part of many people's lives - for the most part causing the occasional inconvenience. However, for some, headaches can be a major burden. Around 10 million adults in the UK experience migraines, and more than 500,000 people are living with daily, or near-daily, headaches. In Headaches, Dr Mark Weatherall explains the current scientific understanding of what headaches are, what causes them and why certain people get them. This audiobook will examine how to manage headaches, the treatment options available and answer commonly asked questions.

Spring, 1950. Alexandra de Falla, a half-English, half-Spanish young writer abandons her privileged but suffocating life in London and travels to Spain to be reunited with her long-estranged family. Instead of providing the sense of belonging she yearns for, the de Fallas are riven by seething emotions and in the grip of the wild customs and traditions of Andalucía, all of which are alien to Alexandra.

In an overcrowded Stockholm underground station, a father and his two boys are late for their train. Joel, the youngest, is howling in his pushchair, and his seven-year-old brother, Kristoffer, refuses to take the lift. A woman approaches and offers to lead Kristoffer up the stairs. Reluctantly his father agrees, but when he arrives on the platform Kristoffer and the woman have vanished without a trace. Many years later Joel, now an adult, goes missing in suspicious circumstances.

Matt Beckford's sole ambition is to turn forty with his life sorted. With a Porsche on the drive and a high-flying job, it looks like things are perfect. But when Matt's wife unexpectedly calls time on their marriage, a chain of events is set in motion that very quickly sees him facing forty broke, homeless and completely alone. But all is not lost because Matt has a plan…

Evie has just started her second year at University. She is young, beautiful and popular. She should be having the time of her life, except she has something to hide - a one-night-stand with her English professor, Simon. Not wanting any of his other students to be used in the same way, Evie reports their relationship to University HR. But hours later, Village Vixen, the student gossip blogger, is baying for blood. She's found out about the accusation and is firmly on Simon's side.

Mysteries of the Ancient World examines some of the most bizarre, surprising and unexplained phenomena of the ancient world. Ranging from cold cases millennia in the making to the sudden, baffling disappearances of entire civilizations to the creation of mysterious monuments, it searches for the truth behind these remarkable stories. With a careful analysis of the various theories that have been used over the years to try and understand these curious occurrences, the author gets to the bottom of what really happened.

A working-class orphan with aspirations for a university education, Jude Fawley is nothing if not ambitious. However, his class and economic situation drive him into a career as a stonemason, rather than to fulfil his scholarly leanings. It is a loveless marriage that finally propels him to pursue his dreams and find new love, but although his life follows a path that is dotted with joy, his ultimate fate is to suffer.