Showing results by narrator "Callum" in All Categories

A dashing Regency romance from the legendary Georgette Heyer, founder of the genre. Captain John Staple's exploits against Napoleon's armies in the Iberian Peninsula have earned him the nickname 'Crazy Jack' amongst his comrades in the Dragoon Guards - but once the Battle of Waterloo brings the curtain down once and for all on the Napoleonic Wars, the boisterous, adventure-loving captain finds life in peacetime intolerably dull.

The Honourable Christopher Fancot, on leave from the diplomatic service in the summer of 1817, is startled to find his entrancing but incorrigibly extravagant mother on the brink of financial and social ruin - and more than alarmed to find that his twin, Evelyn, has disappeared without trace. Christopher - Kit - is forced into an outrageous masquerade by the tangled affairs of his wayward family: his rigid uncle, Lord Brumby; the surprisingly wily Sir Bonamy Ripple; the formidable old Lady Stavely and Evelyn's betrothed, Cressy.

Renowned novelist and poet Thomas Hardy is best known for his fatalistic, often tragic novels set in the 'realistic dream-country' of Wessex, in south and south-west England. Drawing on his own life, he created some of the most memorable characters and stories in Victorian literature—many of which are included here. In five dramas taken from Radio 4's 'Hardy's Women' season, we meet a few of Thomas Hardy's most compelling female protagonists.

It's been said that, after 9/11, the 2008 financial crash and the COVID-19 pandemic, we're a more fearful society than ever before. Yet fear, and the panic it produces, have long been driving forces - perhaps the driving force - of world history: fear of God, of famine, war, disease, poverty, and other people. In Fear: An Alternative History of the World, Robert Peckham considers the impact of fear in history, as both a coercive tool of power and as a catalyst for social change.

An extraterrestrial computer intelligence (the Vessel) arrives in Earth's orbit. It plugs into, and takes control of all, human telecommunication systems. The Vessel seems benign and offers all its knowledge to everyone for free. The Vessel's knowledge fast-forwards human technology. We benefit, yet the very future of humanity is at risk.

Saturday Morning Forever: The Cartoon Network Effect is a soul-charged, nostalgia-laced journey through the cartoons that shaped a generation. From the suburban scams of Ed, Edd n Eddy to the emotional myth-building of Steven Universe, JJ unpacks the emotional, spiritual, and subconscious weight behind the madness.

Oregon, summer 1983. A series of mysterious deaths shakes the coastal town of Harmony Bay from its peaceful sleep. Shortly after the death of his wife, Sheriff Cody is called upon to investigate numerous murders which all exhibit strange puncture wounds. Cody and his team expect the murders are committed by a serial killer, but it soon becomes clear something more sinister lurks behind this idyllic town, which becomes his worst nightmare.

For Frank Harte, impoverished schoolteacher, January in London means a yearly fight to survive. A former soldier, his injuries have barred him from all but the lowest paid posts, and the cold incapacitates him still more. The chance to work as tutor to Viscount Gracewater, son of the famous big-game hunting Earl, comes as a lifeline to Frank. The Earl’s Knightsbridge mansion is huge, elegant - and, most temptingly, kept warm from basement to attics. Viscount “Scapegrace” Gracie, used to foreign climes, is delicate. But the Earl’s house is a dark one beneath its bright veneer.

Unlock the door to executive success with "Boardroom Blueprint," the essential guide for ambitious professionals aiming to fast-track their way to the boardroom. This transformative book by Callum Laing is your secret weapon to leapfrogging decades in your career, promising advancement of 20 years in just 60 days. "Boardroom Blueprint" distills Laing's extensive experience into a straightforward five-component methodology, challenging conventional career advancement methods.

I have six weeks left of my sabbatical in LA before I go home to my family and our business. I’ve spent months traveling, surfing and working on my tan but I get bored easily and I needed more. So that’s what led me to my temporary job at S&M gyms – and Violet West. The most hypnotically beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, whose killer curves and sharp tongue rock my world. But the clock is ticking and my return ticket is booked. I need to be careful I don’t fall too hard. I need to keep my composure when she tempts me to take a leap of faith with her.

Humanity can make short work of the oceans' creatures. In 1741, hungry explorers discovered herds of Steller's sea cow in the Bering Strait, and in less than thirty years, the amiable beast had been harpooned into extinction. It's a classic story, but a key fact is often omitted. Bering Island was the last redoubt of a species that had been decimated by hunting and habitat loss years before the explorers set sail.

I've been in love with Skye since we were kids. But she's off-limits, not just because I’m her boss, but she's my best friend's ex. And, together we made a pact as teenagers. And unbreakable bro code. Never Touch each other’s ex. Ever. But I’m forced to spend hour after hour, day after day, with her beauty. In meetings, conference calls, emails, business trips. Every. Single. Week. It’s hideously torturous, and I shouldn’t want her the way I do. But then I think she might feel the same way…

I was born into privilege. I had it all; the house, the car, more money than I knew what to do with. But it came at a price. Duty. An arranged marriage for the sake of the family empire to a woman who couldn’t bear to look at me. As I stood at the altar, the weight of that burden became too much. So, I did the only thing I could. I ran. To another country and unintentionally straight into the arms of another woman.

Using our past as a basis for a new understanding of our future, Hanno Sauer traces humanity's fundamental moral transformations from our earliest ancestors through to the present day, when it seems we have never disagreed more over what it means to be good. Our current political disagreements may feel like the end of the world, but where will the evolution of morality take us next?

In 1994, the producers at MicroProse UK aspired to design a tactical game that matched or exceeded the success of their American counterparts. Nearby, a bespectacled teenage boy toiled away on his home computer, dreaming of the day his programming aptitude would catch up to the epic campaigns unfolding across his imagination. From his early experiments in board games to digital battlefields that lit up best seller charts, Monsters in the Dark charts the career of legendary designer Julian Gollop through the creation of 1994's X-COM.

After defeating the evil Grendilock and saving Cadno, the last firefox, Charlie Challinor is looking forward to a well-earned rest. But when a familiar face appears from the realm of Fargone, Charlie's family is once again swept up into adventure. Along with Lippy, Roo and new magical friend Blodyn, Charlie must travel to Fargone to face the dreaded Draig, the shadowy monster that is draining the life from the land - and uncover the lost secret that links Draig's history to Charlie's own.

Blending memoir and nature writing at its finest, Ingrained is an uplifting meditation on the challenges of working with your hands in our modern age, on community, consumerism, and the beauty of the natural world – one that asks us to see our local trees, and our own wooden objects, in a new and revelatory light.

Set entirely on a London bus travelling from Hoxton to Highbury and taking place over just 36 minutes, the events of The 392 unfold through a cast of charismatic characters coming from very different worlds. On the 392 are all the familiar faces you might expect to see on any bus ride through inner-city London in the grip of gentrification; delinquent school kids, the high-flyers, the weird, the wonderful and the homeless. These Londoners share two things: a bus journey and a threat. A threat which is ready to blow apart everything they know.

When Sir Reginald Sinclair, one of Britain's greatest actors, is found dead at his country estate along with his housekeeper and the local vicar, the pressure is on Detective Inspector Malcolm Goode and his team to solve the case quickly. But with very few clues and no obvious suspects, the investigation just seems to uncover the many secrets hidden away by the Sinclair family. With every new line of inquiry leading to another dead end and no motive to be found, finding a solution seems impossible.

In The Love That Dares, queer love speaks its name through the words of lovers from years gone by. Alongside the more famous names coexist beautifully written letters by lesser-known lovers, giving us an insight into queer love outside of the spotlight of fame or fortune. These letters give us a glimpse into the passion and courage it took to continue a gay relationship in times when it was at best improper and at worst illegal. Enlightening introductions to each set of letters give readers an idea of the historical context in which they were written.