Showing results by narrator "Napoleon Ryan" in All Categories

Almost everyone swears, or worries about not swearing, from the two year-old who has just discovered the power of potty mouth to the grandma who wonders why every other word she hears is obscene. Whether they express anger or exhilaration, are meant to insult or to commend, swear words perform a crucial role in language. But swearing is also a uniquely well-suited lens through which to look at history, offering a fascinating record of what people care about on the deepest levels of a culture - what's divine, what's terrifying, and what's taboo.

1081. William's bloody conquest is over and Britain is under Norman rule. But one bastion of resistance remains: Wales. A divided land where brother fights brother and kings battle for power. The English use this to further their own ends, and while one king is tempted by an offer he cannot resist, the others wage war over long-forgotten feuds.

When Lord Meriwell collapses and dies at his dining table, Barnaby and Penelope Adair are summoned, along with Inspector Basil Stokes, to discover who, how, and most importantly why someone very close to his lordship saw fit to poison him. When Lord Meriwell dies at his dining table, Nurse Veronica Haskell suspects foul play and notifies his lordship’s doctor, eminent Harley Street specialist Dr. David Sanderson. In turn, compelled by a need to protect Veronica who is at Meriwell Hall as David’s behest, David calls on his friends Barnaby and Penelope Adair for assistance.

Why Shakespeare? What explains our continued fascination with his poems and plays? In Living with Shakespeare, Susannah Carson invites 40 actors, directors, scholars, and writers to reflect on why his work is still such a vital part of our culture.

When a detested viscount is found murdered by the banks of the Thames and Charlie Hastings becomes the prime suspect, Barnaby and Penelope Adair join forces with Stokes to discover the real story behind the unexpected killing. Charlie Hastings is astonished to find himself accused of murdering Viscount Sedbury. Admittedly, Charlie had two heated altercations with Sedbury in the hours preceding the man’s death, but as Charlie is quick to point out to Stokes—and to Barnaby and Penelope—there are a multitude of others in the ton who will be delighted to learn of Sedbury’s demise.

In the autumn of 1940, four children meet on a train. Behind them is London, under heavy aerial attack; ahead of them is a ship bound for the safe shores of Canada. Arthur has promised his mother not to let his little brother, Philip, out of his sight. Pippa and Dora are on their own: polar opposites, brought together by the adventure of a lifetime. But disaster strikes mid-Atlantic, and in the chaos one of the children makes a choice that will determine the course of their lives forever.

Nothing could keep Christopher and Rebecca apart: not her abusive parents, or even the fiancé she brought home after running away to England. But when World War II finally strikes the island of Jersey, the Nazi invaders ship Rebecca to Europe as part of Hitler’s Final Solution against the Jewish population.

A violent drunk with a broken heart, Mackie looks for love in all the wrong places. When two hit men catch him with his pants down, he barely makes it out alive. Worse still, his ex-gangster uncle, Rab, has vanished, leaving him an empty house and a dead dog. Reluctant PI Sam Ireland is hired by hotshot lawyers to track Rab but is getting nothing except blank stares and slammed doors. As she scours the dive bars, the dregs of Glasgow start to take notice.

The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon is an exciting story of detection involving legends, expert decipherment of ancient texts, and a vivid description of a little-known civilization. Recognized in ancient times as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the legendary Hanging Garden of Babylon and its location still remains a mystery steeped in shadow and puzzling myths. In this remarkable volume Stephanie Dalley, a world expert on ancient Babylonian language, gathers for the first time all the material on this enigmatic World Wonder.

One fine autumn evening, Anna returns from work and starts making dinner, eager to welcome home her husband, Mark. It's just like any other day in their ten-year, Pinterest-perfect marriage—until he says he's leaving her. Discovering that the man she thought she knew better than anyone else is capable of abandoning it all sends Anna reeling. She believed the life they'd built together—and the bright future they'd imagined—counted for everything. How can he walk away?

Where did I come from? Why do I have two arms but just one head? How is my left leg the same size as my right one? Why are the fingerprints of identical twins not identical? How did my brain learn to learn? Why must I die? Questions like these remain biology's deepest and most ancient challenges. They force us to confront a fundamental biological problem: How can something as large and complex as a human body organize itself from the simplicity of a fertilized egg?

Charlie Muffin is back at rock bottom. The ex-spy has had a rough few years since British intelligence first turned on him and forced him to go into hiding. He’s drinking again, forgetting things - getting soft. He hasn’t even noticed the tap on his phone. Though Charlie doesn’t know it yet, the walls are closing in again. He takes a job for his only friend, Rupert Willoughby, who sends Charlie to Rome to check the security system for some valuable jewels. Charlie has chosen the wrong time to visit the Eternal City. There’s a mole in the British embassy there, and the agents of the East and West are homing in fast.

Halfdan and his master, Winston the Illuminator, are guests in a monastery when they’re awakened in the middle of the night and asked to solve a crime. A monk praying in the church has been brutally murdered, and his severed hand offers the first clue of a motive. As they investigate who could have committed such a heinous atrocity - and why - Halfdan and Winston must negotiate bitter rivalries within the monastery’s hierarchy, a sensitive class structure, and the tension between the new laws King Cnut has sworn to uphold and the codes of honor that precede them.

Charlie Muffin, an endearing spy, irritates his new boss and co-workers because of his appearance and age, but that doesn't stop them from taking the credit for his accomplishments. But Charlie perseveres and proves to be right over and over again in this story of the capture of a KGB general who is running a spy network in England.

The crime-solving duo known as the King's Hounds - Halfdan and his master, Winston - are investigating a possible plot against King Cnut by onetime enemy-turned-ally Jarl Thorkell. Joined on the arduous journey by Winston's woman, Alfilda, and Atheling, his cranky mule, they venture to the markets in Thetford to gather information.

The year is 1018 and the war with England is finally over, but the unified kingdom ruled by Cnut of Denmark is far from peaceful. Halfdan has lost everything to the war but his sense of humor. Once a proud nobleman, now he wanders the country aimlessly powered only by his considerable charm and some petty theft. When he finds an unlikely ally in Winston, a bookish former monk, the two set out together for Oxford, the seat of the new king.

After a trumped-up trial, Charlie Muffin lands in jail for treason - ready to learn the secrets of his fellow inmate, a convicted British traitor. Nobody expected KGB agents to stage a prison break to free their man. Charlie faces another choice: go to Moscow to complete his assignment or face 40 long years in prison. It doesn’t take him long to decide. Charlie doesn’t have the full picture, of course, which is the way of espionage. But Charlie doesn’t regret his Iron Curtain escape, as it leads him to Natalia Fedova, the KGB interrogator assigned to determine if his defection is genuine or staged.

Fifteen years ago, Sam Becker's sister was killed, a tragedy that haunts him to this day - particularly as his best friend, Marcus, was jailed for her murder. Driving home from the bittersweet celebration of what would have been her thirtieth birthday, Sam is confronted with a terrifying scene, and has just moments to try to save four lives. In the aftermath of this chilling drama, he is hailed as a hero by the press - but to the investigating police, things do not add up.

Fleance is the son of Scottish thane Banquo, friend and then victim of the ruthless Macbeth. Ten years have passed since his father's brutal murder, and still Fleance lives in hiding in the woods of Northern England - his identity cloaked, his birthright denied. With sweet, beautiful Rosie by his side, he has settled into a simple life rather than one of power and prestige. But every man has his price....

Charlie Muffin has come back to England. The ex-spy, a veteran of 25 years’ service to the Crown, was last seen in Berlin, where an attempt on his life by his own organization led to international embarrassment. They had expected Charlie—a disheveled, middle-aged survivor of every double cross in the book—to die easily. Instead, he disappeared.