Showing results by narrator "Norman" in All Categories

London, 1847: On shore leave while his ship is being repaired, sailor Thomas Rutherford is restless, waiting to return to sea. At twenty-eight years old, Tom knows nothing but life on tall ships and is determined to captain his own. But Tom has a second passion: painting. And so he passes time with his paintbox and sketchbook... until he is struck by the discovery of a delicate glove laced with the unmistakable scent of turpentine. The owner is Catherine Ogilvie – captivating, headstrong and a talented artist in her own right.

Arianne Capizola is her father’s daughter. Humble. Hardworking. Honest. She’d rather spend her days helping at the local shelter than brushing shoulders with her vain and entitled classmates. Niccolò Marchetti is his father’s son. Dark. Dangerous. Deceitful. He’d rather spend his days getting bloody in the ring than attending class and keeping up pretenses.

The Black Toad explores potent examples of the folk-ceremonial magical practices and witchcraft of the south-west of England; dealing especially with Devon and the author's homeland of Cornwall. Within the West Country, the popular belief in witchcraft and its attendant charms, magical practices and traditions continued to be observed and survived long after such ways had faded in most other parts of the British Isles. Described within The Black Toad is a collection of some of the fascinating magical practices and lore of the West Country's cunning folk and early modern witches; ways that have survived and evolved within the rarefied Craft of the area's modern day witchcraft practitioners of the old persuasion. As this book affirms, these ways of the Old Craft and Cunning Arte include a belief in and working relationship with the spirit forces of the land, the Faerie, animal and plant lore, as well as the magical use of Psalms to cure or curse, the invocation of Christ and the power of the Holy Trinity. For all those who are interested in learning about the Old Path as it is taught and practised today by West Country witches this book of practical magic and sorcery will be a revelation. As the late Cecil Williamson, founder of the witchcraft museum in Boscastle, North Cornwall and a modern cunning man himself, said and Gemma Gary's excellent book proves - It still goes on today.

Eddie Bielawski was born in the town of Wegrow in Poland in mid-1938. Not a propitious time and place for a Jewish child to be born. As a young child, he sees the Nazi army marching toward Russia. Day and night they marched - soldiers, trucks, tanks, and more soldiers, in a never-ending line - an invincible force. One night, his father had a dream. In this dream, he saw what he had to do: where to build the bunker, how to build it, and even its dimensions. This would be their Noah's Ark, saving them from the initial deluge.

DEI Exposed puts the spotlight on a Big Con: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Alessia “Allie” Wells is a woman of science. She doesn’t believe in things like werewolves and vampires, sparkly or otherwise. Until her wedding day, when a darkly alluring man appears and kidnaps her in the middle of her glamorous Upper East Side nuptials, whisking her away to a magical island. As the weeks pass, Alessia struggles to accept this new world—an enchanting land rife with fascinating creatures—and her place in it. She soon learns of the curse that is holding her new island captive…and killing everyone on it.

This is the story of how a handful of geeks and mavericks dragged the computer out of corporate back rooms and laboratories and into our living rooms and offices. It is a tale not only of extraordinary innovation and vision but also of cunning business deals, boardroom tantrums and acrimonious lawsuits.

Norman Wisdom's early years could easily have come straight from the pages of a Dickens novel. Left by their frightened mother and ill-treated by a brutal father, Norman and his brother were forced to fend for themselves, sleeping rough in London and stealing food to survive. This is a rags to riches tale of the man Charlie Chaplin said would take his mantle and who went on to make millions laugh around the world for over five decades.

Written by an anonymous storyteller in the 13th Century, and describing events between 960 and 1020, Njáls saga is one of the great works of medieval literature. The longest and most celebrated of the Icelandic sagas, it deals with family honour, vengeance and a vicious blood feud spanning almost 50 years. Based on the classic translation by Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson, this gripping dramatisation centres around two friends.

PI Bridget “Birdie” Hartley is not your ordinary girl next door. She’s brave, bold, witty, and a force to be reckoned with. Known as Serenity Springs’ town sleuth, she has solved her fair share of mysteries. Besides solving crime, Birdie lived a seemingly normal life. Until the unfathomable landed on her doorstep...

Timothy Snyder opens a new path in the understanding of modern nationalism and 20th-century socialism by presenting the often overlooked life of Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz, an important Polish thinker at the beginning of the 20th century. During his brief life in Poland, Paris, and Vienna, Kelles-Krauz influenced or infuriated most of the leaders of the various socialist movements of Central Europe and France. His central ideas ultimately were not accepted by the socialist mainstream at the time of his death.

The fields of folklore have never been more popular—a recent resurgence of interest in traditional beliefs and customs, coupled with morbid curiosities in folk horror, historic witchcraft cases and our superstitious past, have led to an intersection of ideas that is driving people to seek out more information. Tracey Norman (author of the acclaimed play WITCH) and Mark Norman (creator of The Folklore Podcast) lead you on an exploration of those more salubrious facets of our past.

Adam Smith is now widely regarded as 'the father of modern economics' and the most influential economist who ever lived. But what he really thought, and what the implications of his ideas are, remain fiercely contested. Was he an eloquent advocate of capitalism and the freedom of the individual? Or a prime mover of 'market fundamentalism' and an apologist for inequality and human selfishness? This exceptional book, by a writer who combines to an unusual degree intellectual training and practical political experience, dispels the myths and caricatures and gives us Smith in the round.

When a local girl goes missing and another one turns up dead, Spenser finds clues that connect to a grim reminder of another fatal mistake in her past. Years ago, Spenser was kicked off a task force dedicated to bringing down a notorious human trafficking network. She made a mistake that cost a woman her life. Unexpectedly she finds evidence linking to the network in her area, and she’s forced to confront her past when she calls the woman who’d been her superior on the task force—the woman who’d fired her.

Arianne Capizola is living a lie. Angry. Abandoned. Afraid. She'd rather spend her days locked away on her father's estate than with the guy who stole her innocence: her fiancé. Niccolò Marchetti is living a nightmare. Broken. Banished. Betrayed. He'd do anything to save the girl he loves, even if it means paying the ultimate price.

It's scary how much life can change in an instant. One minute I'm preparing for a new school year in my San Diego town, and the next I'm being ripped from my childhood home. Making the cut from my father's death two years ago that much deeper. Not only am I being forced to leave a place that reminds me so much of him, but I'm being forced to move hundreds of miles across the country to a city I've only learned about through Mom and social media.

The fighting in North Africa during World War II is commonly overlooked, aside from the famous battle at El Alamein that pitted the British under General Bernard Montgomery against the legendary "Desert Fox", Erwin Rommel. But while the Second Battle of El Alamein would be the pivotal action in North Africa, the conflict in North Africa began all the way back in the summer of 1940, when Italian dictator Benito Mussolini declared Italy’s entrance into the war, seeing an opportunity for Italy to enlarge its colonial holdings in Africa by seizing portions of the British Empire.

Sweetwater Falls is a charming town with all sorts of characters. From chaperoning the school dance with Ryker to putting drunk drivers behind bars. It seems former FBI Agent Spenser Song has finally gotten the hang of her Sheriff duties. The next morning, hunters stumble upon the body of the town's star baseball player. A bright-eyed senior at Taft High, now bruised, beaten, and left for dead by the culprits. With the unconscious teen now fighting for his life in the hospital. Spenser searches the muddied crime scene for clues and interviews those close to the boy.

Over 30 years ago, a small band of people began an intentional community called Findhorn. They lived by applying principles of attracting to oneself, through love, whatever materials, energy, or help were needed to promote wholeness or further growth. David Spangler, who was one of those early residents of Findhorn, began writing down how those laws worked. In 1975, his writings were first published as The Laws of Manifestation. This long-unavailable book is now available again.

Rachel used to be a mom who spent her days weary, anxious, and guilt laden. She had five kids in five years, lived on three different continents, and then was blindsided by a devastating health diagnosis. Neglecting her own physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional needs for so long—in an effort to be a selfless mother—had left her utterly depleted. And physically unwell. Then she began asking a question she’d never considered before: Could it be that taking good care of myself is not actually selfish, but maybe, just maybe, something a responsible adult does?