Showing results by narrator "Mike Read" in All Categories

Forever England explores Rupert Brooke’s life, from schooldays to the Great War, and in so doing builds a remarkable picture of a long-lost England and a generation’s descent into war. Brooke’s poems emerge dramatically from a tangled web of love, friendship, mental illness and politics. He reveals also the existence of a previously unrecorded love child from a South Seas romance. The WW1 legend was largely brought about by the words of one of his sonnets: "If I should die, think only this of me/That there’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever England".

Often overlooked as a songwriter, despite penning The Beatles' standards "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun", and being the first of the four to release solo material, George Harrison embraced fame reluctantly, retiring from public life after the assassination of John Lennon, but launched a spectacular late 1980s comeback.

Considered by many as lucky to have been in The Beatles, Ringo Starr epitomizes the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. World-famous pop star, acclaimed film actor, the voice of an internationally successful children's TV series and husband to a glamorous movie star - at face value he seems to have led a charmed life. Yet behind the sunglasses and the ready quips loom the horrors of his health problems, alcoholism, and deprived family background.

John Lennon, erstwhile would-be artist and Liverpudlian reprobate, went on to carve out a significant solo career, with the enigmatic Yoko Ono at his side. Discover the truth behind the myth of this most controversial, antagonistic, yet publicly adored genius.

When the most successful pop group in the world, The Beatles, disbanded in 1970, its four members went off to spearhead radically different projects, and none was more successful than Paul McCartney. Since those early days of freedom, McCartney has established himself as one of the most creative artists of his generation and a British show-business treasure. Celebrating his four decades of unparalleled success, this is a multi-faceted account of one of the world's most fascinating musicians.

Rupert Brooke's greatest poetic works including "The Fish", "The Soldier", "The Old Vicarage", "Grantchester", and "Ding-Room Tea" are superbly melded here with testimony from acquaintances of Brooke's and a well-researched narrative by Mike Read.

Owning your own business can be one of the most rewarding and most frustrating things you can do. The mental ups and downs are like riding a rollercoaster, full of excitement and fear. Kevin Stansfield has written a book from the perspective of these brave and courageous business owners who are the backbone and economic driver of the UK and the world’s economy. If you are one of them, then this is the audiobook for you, and even if you're not, if you are interested in improving yourself, the 15 lessons are fundamental principles for success in whatever you do.

At 27, Anne Elliot is no longer considered young enough for worthy romantic prospects. Eight years earlier, she had been persuaded by her friend Lady Russell to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a handsome naval captain with neither fortune nor rank. What transpires when they encounter each other again is movingly told in Jane Austen's last completed novel. A brilliant satire of vanity and pretension, Persuasion is, above all, a love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities.