Showing results by narrator "David Timson" in All Categories

Inspector Rudge does not encounter many cases of murder in the sleepy seaside town of Whynmouth. But when an old sailor lands a rowing boat containing a fresh corpse with a stab wound to the chest, the Inspector's investigation immediately comes up against several obstacles. The vicar, whose boat the body was found in, is clearly withholding information, and the victim's niece has disappeared. There is clearly more to this case than meets the eye - even the identity of the victim is called into doubt.

A compelling portrait of the time when freedom of speech and the need to throw off censorship came to the fore, told through its great trials, from Lady Chatterley's Lover to Howard Marks. Born in 1915 into the fringes of the Bloomsbury Group, Jeremy Hutchinson went on to become the greatest criminal barrister of the 1960s, '70s and '80s. The cases of that period changed society forever, and Hutchinson's role in them was second to none.

Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler, long considered the bible of fishing, is a joyful celebration of the English countryside and the relaxed and reflective lifestyle of the devoted fisherman. Through dialogue between teacher and student, the book sheds a unique light on fishing, baiting, and cooking, including an original recipe for trout. Its music, rhymes, poetry, and humor are all brought to life by a full cast.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire has always maintained its initial appeal to both the general public and scholars alike. Its sheer scale is daunting, encompassing over a millennium of history, covering not merely the Western Empire from the days of the early emperors to its extinction in AD 476, but also the Eastern Empire, which lasted for another thousand years until the Turks vanquished it in 1453. But Gibbon’s style is enticing, and the sheer honesty of the man endears him to the listener.

Charles Dickens was a master of the macabre. His stories of madness, murder and revenge, often imbued with a sympathetic moral undertone, have continued to thrill and chill fans ever since they were written. Here then are 15 tales that display the full range of Dickens' Gothic talents. "The Signalman," perhaps the most well-known, is a chilling story about a mysterious figure and its deathly omen. "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain" shows the consequences for those who make deals with the dead. Listen for more.

Chief of the Intelligence Department Sir Leonard Wallace - bearing always the hallmark of coolness and wit - is up to his earlobes in trouble. Summoned by the Viceroy of India, he makes a rapid flight to India to investigate the mysterious death of British officer Major Elliot and the theft of some very important dispatches.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire has always maintained its initial appeal to both the general public and scholars alike. Its sheer scale is daunting, covering not merely the Western Empire from the days of the early emperors to its extinction in AD 476, but also the Eastern Empire, which lasted for another thousand years until the Turks vanquished it in 1453. But Gibbon’s style, part historical fact and part literature, is enticing, and the sheer honesty of the man endears him to the listener.

On 26th November 1922, Howard Carter first peered into the newly opened tomb of an ancient Egyptian boy-king. When asked if he could see anything, he replied: ‘Yes, yes, wonderful things.' In Tutankhamun’s Trumpet, acclaimed Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson takes a unique approach to that tomb and its contents. Instead of concentrating on the oft-told story of the discovery, or speculating on the brief life and politically fractious reign of the boy king, Wilkinson takes the objects buried with him as the source material for a wide-ranging, detailed portrait of ancient Egypt.

Welcome to James Keane – card sharp and ladies’ man – and one of the finest soldiers of Wellington’s army. Keane – hot-tempered, a maverick, never quite accepted by his fellow officers – is in trouble for killing his man in a duel: An activity forbidden by Wellington. To avoid court martial, he takes on an unwelcome assignment: to form an ill-assorted bunch of reprobates into an elite unit capable of operating behind the lines. A nineteenth-century Dirty Dozen.

In the fighting pits of the Conqueror, Khârn and his fellow World Eaters compete in ever-bloodier contests of carnage and mayhem. As the Butcher's Nails dig ever deeper into their brains, the Legion have forsaken the Crimson Path. Now they walk a darker, more dangerous road: the Eightfold Path.

The world's greatest gentleman thief is back, and this time he must summon all his brilliance and prowess to escape the clutches of his most worthy adversary: the master English Detective Sherlock Holmes! Assisted by his trusty companion Dr. Wilson, Holmes is called to Paris to investigate crimes believed to involve the legendary debonair rogue Lupin.

The rise of George Villiers from minor gentry to royal power seemed to defy gravity. Becoming gentleman of the royal bedchamber in 1615, the young gallant enraptured James, Britain’s first Stuart king, royal adoration reaching such an intensity that the king declared he wanted the courtier to become his ‘wife’. For a decade, Villiers was at the king’s side – at court, on state occasions and in bed, right up to James’s death in March 1625.

The Iberian Peninsula, 1809. French troops led by one of Napoleon's best generals are amassing on the border. Wellington's outnumbered force and his unreliable Spanish allies need to pick off the smaller French units if they are to stand their ground. For that they need information: accurate intelligence on numbers, arms, and whereabouts. That's where Captain Keane and his company of reformed scouting officers are invaluable tools--despite being unpopular with the regular soldiers.

Penguin Classics presents Anthony Trollope’s Barchester Towers, adapted for listening and now available as a digital audiobook as part of the Penguin English Library series. The text is read by the actor David Timson. Trollope's comic masterpiece of plotting and backstabbing opens as the Bishop of Barchester lies on his deathbed. Soon a pitched battle breaks out over who will take power, involving, among others, the zealous reformer Dr Proudie, his fiendish wife, and the unctuous schemer Obadiah Slope.

The Roman poet Juvenal was the greatest satirist of Imperial Rome. His 16 satires encompass attacks on the immorality, abuses and hypocrisy of the Romans of his day. The last of the great Roman poets, he wrote between CE 110 and 130, his approach to satire coming close to modern expectations of the genre.

In the little hamlet of Wyvern’s Cross, where good manners, tennis and tea are pivotal to the functioning of society, little Dr Bickleigh has a rather large problem: he needs to erase his insufferable wife. His meetings with Ivy are becoming tiresome, and although his burning passion for Gwynyfryd Rattery does not play out as imagined in the toolshed, there is now the infinitely superior Madeleine Cranmere to be worshipped… Resourceful but impulsive, Dr Bickleigh is consumed with the image of his goal.

The Complete Charles Dickens Collection: Part One contains all of Charles Dickens' major published works from 1836 to 1849. From the short stories by 'Boz' which began Dickens' journey as an author, to the great works of literature that have inspired generations - including Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, and more - and essays that give us a deeper insight into his life, opinions, and travels, this collection is an essential addition to your library.

Dating from the third century AD, Artemidorus’ The Interpretation of Dreams (Oneirocritica) is the only dream-book from Graeco-Roman antiquity that has survived intact. It represents the most influential pre-Freudian treatment of dreams and the theory of their interpretation. In the ancient world it was widely believed that some dreams had allegorical significance that, if correctly interpreted, offered insight into the future. Artemidorus makes a clear distinction between predictive and non-predictive dreams, setting out the general principle of interpretation.

A thinly disguised autobiographical novel, The Way of All Flesh is a powerful critique of late Victorian beliefs and values. It tells of several generations of the Pontifex family, with Ernest, son of hypocritical and domineering parents, at the center of its narrative. After a disastrous career in the church, culminating in a spell in prison, Ernest goes on to find his own way in the world, rejecting both Christianity and the strictures imposed by his family.

Beginning at the end of Augustus' reign, Tacitus's Annals examines the rules of the Roman emperors from Tiberius to Nero (though Caligula's books are lost to us). Their dramas and scandals are brought fully under the spotlight, as Tacitus presents a catalog of their murders, atrocities, sexual improprieties, and other vices in no unsparing terms. Debauched, cruel, and paranoid, they are portrayed as being on the verge of madness. Their wars and battles, such as the war with the Parthians, are also described with the same scrutinizing intensity.