Showing results by narrator "Paul Panting" in All Categories

Oh, how delightful it is to fall in love for the first time! How exciting to go to your first dance when you are a girl of 18! But life can also be hard and cruel, if you are young and inexperienced and travelling alone across Europe . . . or if you are a child from the wrong social class . . . or a singer without work and the rent to be paid. Set in Europe and New Zealand, these nine stories by Katherine Mansfield dig deep beneath the appearances of life to show us the causes of human happiness and despair.

"Here is a nice thing for a lady now - this hand-glass: fifteenth century; comes from a good collection, too; but I reserve the name of my customer, who was just like yourself, my dear sir, the nephew and sole heir of a remarkable collector." The dealer, while he thus ran on in his dry and biting voice, had stooped to take the object from its place; and, as he had done so, a shock had passed through Markheim.

A burning summer's day explodes into violence when a murderous gang targets the exclusive island of Terror's Reach, home to business tycoon Valentin Nasenko and his family. The residents are facing annihilation, and only one man stands a chance of saving them: former CID Officer Joe Clayton, now working as a bodyguard to Nasenko's wife. When night falls, he must draw upon all his experience to keep them alive.

Sixteen classic stories from masters of the genre: "The Judge's House", by Bram Stoker; "A Jug of Sirup", by Ambrose Bierce; "The Reconciliation", by Lafcadio Hearn; "The Woman With a Candle" by W. Bourne Cooke; "The Ebony Frame", by E. Nesbit; "On the Northern Ice", by Elia W. Peattie; "The Haunted Doll's House", by M. R. James; "The Old House in Vauxhall Walk", by Charlotte Riddell; "The Underground Ghost", by John Berwick Harwood; "Haunted", by Anon (from Tinsley's Annual); plus five more....

A large sum of money is stolen from Tudways Bank, and a clerk named Franklin Gale is the obvious suspect. But Gale’s father is positive his son is innocent, and hires private detective Sebastian Zambra - who finds that the key to the mystery lies with a five-pound note and a performing monkey.

When Lomax Harder accompanies John Franting to Gontle’s, purveyor of fine firearms, he finds himself in possession of a gun. This accidental acquisition leads to a situation that can have only one outcome....

During the six long years of the Second World War the British psyche was changed irrevocably. British men and women on both the war front and at home were forced to take life-altering decisions, independently. What no-one could predict was the consequences on the family and on society of these...

Brothers in War is the immensely powerful story of eight Beechey brothers, and how they paid the ultimate price for King and country in the Great War. Some were keen to enlist from the start, others were conscripted and some dead against. Eventually, all eight would be swept up into its devastating path as, despite astonishing displays of courage and strength of character, they met their fates on the battlefields of France, Flanders, East Africa, and Gallipoli.

I met a man in the Strand one day that I knew very well - though I had not seen him for years. We walked together to Charing Cross, and there we shook hands and parted. Next morning - I learnt, for the first time, that the man had died six months before.

Barnaby Grimes is a tick-tock lad, high-stacking his way across the rooftops of his city in search of adventure and mystery. In each tale, he encounters a supernatural force and must battle the horrors that await him.

A young, hard-up aristocrat decides to visit his wealthy relative in the hope of obtaining a loan. When he arrives at Greylands Court, he is warmly greeted by his cousin, but his hostess is strangely hostile. However, her husband urges the young man to pay no attention to her, and invites him to tour his menagerie. There he sees the star of his cousin’s collection: a sleek, black Brazilian puma.

Western intelligence is in meltdown trying to locate Salim Dhar, the world’s most wanted terrorist. But only renegade MI6 officer Daniel Marchant knows how to find him. Everywhere Marchant moves, from Marrakech to Sardinia, he is shadowed by the exotic CIA agent Lakshmi Meena. As Britain braces itself for a series of terrifying terrorist attacks, Marchant is forced to confront dark personal truths about loyalty and love.

Daniel Marchant, a suspended MI6 officer, is running the London Marathon. He is also running out of time. A competitor is strapped with explosives: if he drops his pace, everyone around him will be killed, including the US ambassador to London. Marchant tries to thwart the attack, but is he secretly working for the terrorists?

It can all feel a bit too much. We find ourselves occupied, morning to night, with reacting, responding and coping with uncontrollable and often challenging circumstances. How can we rise above stress, anxiety and frustration? How do we perform a restart? Is it possible to radically transorm our daily life? How can we invite deeping meaning and freedom into our lives?

Connor and Ethan are spending their summer holidays aboard the world's first orbiting city, Starville (basically Beverley Hills in space!). The amazing space station is bursting with celebrities and the mega-rich. But Connor and Ethan are too busy selling ice cream to see the sights.

The eagerly anticipated follow-up to Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World. Overflowing with wonderfully engaging facts, vibrant music and sound effects, it is a celebration of just some of the inspirational women who put their mark on the world we live in. Prepare to be inspired. List of women featured: Elizabeth Blackwell, Qiu Jin, Boudicca, Flora Drummond, Pocahontas, Noor Inayat Khan, Harriet Tubman, Valentina Tereshkova, Ada Lovelace, Sayyida al-Hurra, Hatshepsut, Josephine Baker, Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley.

Discover eye-opening facts about a collection of go-getting women who have pioneered careers in a kaleidoscope of different industries. Prepare yourself for a celebration of women who opened doors and made it possible for more women to achieve amazing things today. List of women featured: Junko Tabei, Sophie Blanchard, Maria Merian, Elizabeth Magie, the London Matchgirls, Rosa May Billinghurst, Katherine Johnson, Annette Kellerman, Katia Krafft, Rosalind Franklin, James Barry, Madam C.J. Walker and Lotte Reiniger.

From best-selling author and illustrator Kate Pankhurst, descendant of Emmeline Pankhurst, comes another 'smart, informative, inclusive and accessible' book about trail-blazing women. This time, it's women who have helped protect our natural world from way before it was on a political agenda. Discover their untold stories.

Enjoy four hilarious and heartwarming stories from the best-selling and award-winning Rob Biddulph, featuring his most iconic and beloved characters, from Penguin Blue and the Odd Dog Out, to Fred the Bear and Wilbur the Seal.

It’s a windy day and he has a brand-new kite – but where’s he going on this maiden flight? Penguin Blue and his friends go on an adventure full of good ideas, homesickness and the perils of kites, from the best-selling and multi-award-winnning Rob Biddulph, creator of the internet phenomenon #DrawWithRob. As seen on YouTube, FaceBook, Instagram, CBeebies and TV news everywhere!