Showing results by narrator "David Thorn" in All Categories

American author Howard Pyle (who also wrote The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood) weaves the tales of chivalrous knights, the magic sword of Excalibur, the magician Merlin the Wise, and the legendary Arthur, later to become King of Britain. Pyle describes bouts of jousting and knightly jealousies played out in grand style.

The first set of an extraordinary collection of 10 sets of personal letters written by Lord Chesterfield to his illegitimate son, young Philip Stanhope, then living abroad with his tutor to further his education. His Lordship, later secretary of state, hoped that his son would follow in his footsetps and took endless pains to instruct him on the essential and finer beharioral traits of a the aristocracy, which might lead him to such dizzying heights.

The colorful Cossack way of life is made alive and real in this historical novel.

Tolstoy's first novel and acknowledged as one of his best, it is based on his own forays into the Caucasus, abandoning his aristocrat life of gambling and carousing in Moscow and volunteering to be attached to the regular army.

Welcome to the French Revolution, where a dashing English aristocrat risks his life to enter France and save innocents from the guillotine.

The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel is a secret society of English aristocrats who are determined to rescue their French counterparts from execution. Their leader is the mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel, whose name comes from the drawing of a red flower he uses to sign his messages.

Since publication in 1908, The Wind in the Willows has established itself as one of the most popular children's books ever written. The animals Rat, Toad, Mole, Badger, and many more share their trials and tribulations as well as joys as they progress through the seasons of the year. The magical fantasy of their journeys starts on the river bank and goes to the heights of Toad Hall, a truly fine mansion of many secret passages. All children will delight and be taken away on the wings of imagination.

Based on historical fact, full of intrigue and chivalry at a time when Normandy was not part of France, this is the romantic childhood history of Richard the Fearless, Duke of Normandy. After his father was assassinated, when he was just nine years old, he is kidnapped and imprisoned by Louis of France, who wanted to annex Normandy. But thanks to the bravery and daring of Richard's loyal squire and knight, Osmond de Centeville, he makes good his escape.

Richard Hannay, Buchan's hero in this 1915 thriller, stumbles across a dark plot to attack England by the German Reich (of World War I vintage) but has to flee when his discovery becomes known. He then engages in several hot pursuits and narrow, if theatrical, escapes, but all's well that ends well.

The Lost Prince is the enchanting story of a young boy discovering his true destiny. Twelve-year-old Marco knows he is being trained for something, but he isn't sure what. All his life he has traveled with his father in secrecy, learning many languages and the ways of a gentleman, but forbidden to speak about their country of origin, Samavia. Samavia has been fraught with war for the last 500 years, ever since the prince mysteriously disappeared.

American poet, critic, and short-story writer Edgar Allan Poe is universally recognized for his cultivation of the macabre in fiction. His stories are characterized by an original kind of supernatural horror, often using the awareness of death as a catalyzing force in its own right. His tales and poems brim with psychological depth and intense imagery, made vivid through his musical language and hypnotic rhythms, which are especially captivating when heard aloud.

The wonderful adventure story of two boys, one the son of a mysterious impoverished grandee and the other a handicapped son of a n'eer-do-well drunkard, who together travel through Europe on a secret mission to save Samavia from its wicked rulers.

This extraordinary “eye-witness” account of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey's rise and fall from power was written between 1554 and 1558 by his gentleman-usher, George Cavendish, who was privy to so much of the Cardinal's ambitious endeavors. However, Cavendish prudently waited a long time before chronicling his observations for fear of his life, as there were those who may have take his memoirs the wrong way.

This Series, in seven parts, tells the story of America from the earliest founding through the days of Woodrow Wilson and The Great War (World War I). You'll hear stories of great explorers and pioneers.

Entertaining stories of nature with a moral lesson thrown in for good measure are fun as well as thought provoking. Children will be enthralled with the intimate look into the lives of the woodland creatures and their way of life. Subtleness in making a moral point is always a strength in Ms. Gatty’s stories.

The ubiquitous butler, Jeeves, comes to the rescue of his new master, Bertie Wooster, from a fate worse than death, so they say. And in the second tale, poor Bertie is summarily dispatched to New York, by an overbearing aunt, to extract his cousin from an amorous affair with a vaudeville artiste! How absolutely dreadful! Jeeves’ managing of affairs offers such wonderful amusing stories that make us laugh and enjoy his ingenuity to the fullest.

For many enlightened, liberal-minded thinkers today, and for most on the political left, evil is an outmoded concept. It smacks too much of absolute judgements and metaphysical certainties to suit the modern age. In this witty, accessible study, the prominent Marxist thinker Terry Eagleton launches a surprising defence of the reality of evil, drawing on literary, theological, and psychoanalytic sources to suggest that evil, no mere medieval artefact, is a real phenomenon with palpable force in our contemporary world.

Here is Henrietta Marshall's entertaining biography of this larger than life personality. She takes us through Napoleon's colorful life, from military campaigns to his solitary end on Elba.

These entertaining stories of nature, with a moral lesson thrown in for good measure, are fun as well as thought provoking.

Sir Richard's family has spent years waiting for him to die, but despite his weak heart, the old man simply refuses to cooperate. In the meantime, he makes their lives miserable by changing his will every few months, depending on which of his strange brood he favors that moment. Now he calls them together to announce his most diabolical revision yet: complete disinheritance of all the wastrels who bear his name. But he never gets a chance to sign the papers—by morning, he's dead. Scotland Yard sends Inspector Cockrill.

Edith Nesbit re-tells the stories of William Shakespeare's plays, making them accessible to children, while evoking the drama and excitement of the originals.

From the New York Times bestselling author of A Deadly Education comes the fourth volume of the Temeraire series, as the Napoleonic Wars bring Will Laurence and Temeraire to Africa in search of aid. “Temeraire is a dragon for the ages.”—Terry Brooks Tragedy has struck His Majesty's Aerial...