Audiobooks narrated by Ben Allen

Live Forever?: A Curious Scientist's Guide to Wellness, Ageing and Death

Time wants you dead. Not just you, but your friends, family, pets – everyone you've ever met… With over 17,000 known diseases affecting humans, and countless poisons, carcinogens and toxins in our environment, it's a miracle that our bodies manage to keep us alive. And that is, of course, if they don't betray us themselves, whether through cancers or autoimmune conditions. Biomedical researcher Professor John Tregoning tells the unlikely story of how, against all odds, we manage to stay alive. Taking an organ-by-organ tour of the human body, Tregoning embarks on his own experimental quest, testing 'life-extending' diets and exercise regimes to separate fact from fad. Exploring the multitude of ways our bodies can kill us, from inherited genetic conditions, through heart attacks, arrythmias and angina, onto the delicate workings of the brain, Live Forever? offers compelling insight into how our bodies work, how we can best look after them – and ultimately live longer, healthier lives.

John Tregoning (Author), Ben Allen (Narrator)

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Letters & Reminiscences

Collected here are some of Dostoyevsky's finest letters to his family and friends, as-well as reminiscences from those close to him. This audiobook also includes thoughts on his life and work from his contemporaries (including Ivan Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy). These letters give an insight into the work, life, and psychology of one of the greatest writers of all time. Dostoyevsky, a Russian novelist and short-story writer whose psychological penetration into the darkest recesses of the human heart, together with his unsurpassed moments of illumination, had an immense influence on 20th-century fiction. He is commonly regarded as one of the finest novelists who ever lived, penning works including four long novels: Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Devils, and The Brothers Karamazov. Literary modernism, existentialism, and various schools of psychology, theology, and literary criticism have been profoundly shaped by his ideas. His works are often called prophetic because he so accurately predicted how Russia’s revolutionaries would behave if they came to power. In his time he was also renowned for his activity as a journalist.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Author), Ben Allen (Narrator)

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Winter Notes on Summer Impressions

In June 1862, Dostoevsky left St. Petersburg on his first excursion to Western Europe. Ostensibly making the trip to consult Western specialists about his epilepsy, he also wished to see the source of the Western ideas he believed were corrupting Russia. Over the course of his journey he visited a number of major cities, including Berlin, Paris, London, Florence, Milan, and Vienna. His impressions on what he saw, Winter Notes on Summer Impressions, were first published in the February 1863 issue of 'Vremya' (Time), the periodical he edited, and are collected here.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Author), Ben Allen (Narrator)

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Dog Training and Behaviour Solutions: The stress-free way to live in harmony with your dog

A collection of articles, based on modern science, using force free and fear free methods Solutions to common issues from pre-puppy to adulthood The book is a compilation of articles written by these professionals on various aspects of puppy and dog ownership, care, training, and managing and treating behavior problems. As such, you do not need to read the book cover to cover, but the articles are compiled in such a way that it will take you through in a sensible order if that's what you wish to do. Alternatively, you can skip to whichever issue you wish to look up and read articles about it. If previous knowledge of a preceding article is required, it is usually mentioned in the article you're reading. A Collaboration of Force-Free Professionals It is good to see some articles referring back to others written by a different author, proving that this is indeed a collaboration between like-minded professionals and the advice isn't coming from a singular source. All of the writers do well at maintaining an overall ‘tone' but of course, they write as individuals so you do get different voices. You may find you prefer some to others. Despite a generally professional voice, the tone is friendly, and at (appropriate) times, humorous. From a grammar perspective, it is well written, so easy to read. Something for Everyone Some of the articles are brief and provide a quick and easy read; others are more lengthy, but the formatting and editing breaks them up well with subheadings making the text much easier to take in. The advice is well presented without complex jargon and easy for anyone to take in, from people brand new to dog training to seasoned professionals looking for another way of presenting their information or an alternative method. Easy to understand anecdotes and comparisons help people to understand their dogs' perceptions of situations.

Various, Various Authors (Author), Ben Allen, Deirdra Whelan (Narrator)

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Never The Wind

A bittersweet gothic fantasy of family, friendship, memory, and the uncanny told from the perspective of a blind teenager in Puglia, Southern Italy, set in the same world as The Book of Hidden Things, perfect for readers of Neil Gaiman, Donna Tartt and Haruki Murakami. Praise God, never the wind 1996 - Luca Saracino is thirteen and has been completely blind for eight months when his parents move to a Southern Italian farmhouse they dream of turning into a hotel. With his brother dropping out of university and the family reeling from Luca's diagnosis, they are chasing dreams of rebirth and reinvention. As Luca tells his story without sight - experiencing the world solely through hearing, smell, taste and touch - he meets the dauntless Ada Guadalupi, who takes him out to explore the rocky fields and empty beaches. But Luca and Ada find they can't escape the grudges that have lasted between their families for generations, or the gossiping of the town. And Luca is preyed upon by the feral Wanderer, who walks the vineyards of his home. As Luca's family starts to crack at the seams, Luca and Ada have to navigate new lands and old rivalries to uncover the truths spoken as whispers on the wind.

Francesco Dimitri (Author), Ben Allen (Narrator)

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eden

eden opens with a summons. The gardeners of eden are called by their masters, the angels, to see a dead body. It is that of a bird, a creature who has strayed beyond the garden walls. The garden’s inhabitants live an eternal and unblemished life – surrounded by bountiful fields, orchards and lakes, a place where the lord’s bidding is done. But outside, where there is poverty and sickness and death, this bird has met a fate that is beyond their imagining. For the gardeners, this summons is a warning. Because something is wrong in eden. Years after the fall of Adam and Eve, a woman called Tabi has escaped, and the angels fear further rebellion. They know gardener Ebon and Jamin, the angel with the broken wing, would both follow Tabi anywhere, would risk the world outside if only they could find her. Perhaps another fall is coming . . . Deliciously intriguing and utterly propulsive, eden by Jim Crace is both a love story and a song to freedom, a novel that toys with creation myth and asks, where does authority lie? Who commands fear? And what – outside of hallowed ground – is an angel but a bird? 'One of our most original and inventive novelists' - Observer

Jim Crace (Author), Ben Allen (Narrator)

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The Partisan: The explosive debut thriller for fans of Robert Harris and Charles Cumming

Brought to you by Penguin. It is the summer of 1961 and the brutal Cold War between East and West is becoming ever more perilous. Two young prodigies from either side of the Iron Curtain, Yulia and Michael, meet at a chess tournament in London. They don't know it, but they are about to compete in the deadliest game ever played. Shadowing them is Greta, a ruthless resistance fighter who grew up the hard way in the forests of Lithuania, but who is now hunting down some of the most dangerous men in the world. Men who are also on the radar of Vassily, perhaps the Soviet Union's greatest spymaster. A man of cunning and influence, Vassily was Yulia's minder during her visit to the West, but even he could not foresee the consequences of her meeting Michael. When the world is accelerating towards an inevitable and catastrophic conflict, what can just four people do to prevent it? Epic in scope, The Partisan is a thrill ride like no other, taking you from the hallowed halls of Cambridge to the grimy depths of the Moscow underworld, from 1960s London to the Eastern Front in the Second World War. © Patrick Worrall 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Patrick Worrall (Author), Ben Allen (Narrator)

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Bad Gays: A Homosexual History

Too many popular histories seek to establish heroes, pioneers and martyrs but as Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller argue, the past is filled with queer people whose sexualities and/or dastardly deeds have been overlooked. We all remember Oscar Wilde, but who speaks for Bosie? What about those 'bad gays' whose un-exemplary lives reveals more than we might expect? Part-revisionist history, part-historical biography and based on the hugely popular podcast series, Bad Gays subverts the notion of gay icons and queer heroes and asks what we can learn about LGBTQ history, sexuality and identity through its villains and baddies. From the Emperor Hadrian to notorious gangster Ronnie Kray, the authors excavate the buried history of queer lives. This includes fascist thugs, famous artists, austere puritans and debauched bon viveurs, Imperialists, G-men and architects. Together these amazing life stories expand and challenge the mainstream assumptions of sexual identity. Amusing, disturbing and fascinating, Bad Gays puts centre stage the queers villains and evil twinks in history.

Ben Miller, Huw Lemmey (Author), Ben Allen (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Foot Soldiers

Beware of Russians bearing gifts. Defectors are not always welcome. Is the information they bring worth the cost of protecting them for the rest of their lives? Is it even genuine? Might they be double agents? These are some of the questions facing MI6 when a Russian agent hands himself in to them in Denmark. As a team begins to assess his value, his former employers in the Kremlin develop a brutal plan to show that no defector will ever be safe. And they know where to find him. Which means there must be a mole in MI6. So it is that the cavaliers of Six find themselves being interrogated by nondescript Jonas Merrick of Five - the man called back from retirement and his beloved caravan, the man the young guns call the Eternal Flame because 'he never goes out.' But while he may be grey, Jonas is also ruthless. As he quietly works through the suspects in London, and violent mayhem breaks out in Denmark, Jonas plans not just to unmask a traitor, but to hit back at the Russians with deadly force. First encountered in The Crocodile Hunter, Jonas Merrick is set to become one of the great figures of modern spy fiction.

Gerald Seymour (Author), Ben Allen (Narrator)

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The Colour Storm: The compelling and spellbinding story of art and betrayal in Renaissance Venice

Brought to you by Penguin. The new spellbinding and enchanting story from the internationally acclaimed author of Tomorrow Renaissance Venice is a furnace of ideas and ambition. Artists flock here, not just for wealth and fame, but for revolutionary colour. Yet artist Giorgione 'Zorzo' Barbarelli's career hangs in the balance. Competition is fierce, and his debts are piling up. When Zorzo hears a rumour of a mysterious, other-worldly new pigment, brought to Venice by the richest man in Europe, he sets out to acquire the colour and secure his name in history. Winning a commission to paint a portrait of the man's wife, Sybille, Zorzo thinks he has found a way into the merchant's favour. Instead he finds himself caught up in a conspiracy that stretches across Europe and a marriage coming apart inside one of the floating city's most illustrious palazzos. As the water levels rise and the plague creeps ever closer, an increasingly desperate Zorzo isn't sure whom he can trust. Will Sybille prove to be the key to Zorzo's success, or the reason for his downfall? Atmospheric and suspenseful, and filled with the famous artists of the era, The Colour Storm is an intoxicating story of art and ambition, love and obsession in Renaissance Venice - capturing a moment of artistic invention that echoes through the centuries. 'Addictive, ambitious and knife sharp. A compelling thriller and a celebration of art. Ravishing' Rachel Joyce, bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry 'An epic tale of love, of courage, of hope' Evening Standard 'Bask in the brilliance' The Mail on Sunday © Damian Dibben 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Damian Dibben (Author), Ben Allen (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Air War

The Air War is the eighth book in the critically acclaimed epic fantasy series Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky. An empress demands her birthright . . . All is in turmoil as the world moves towards war. In Solarno, spies eye one another and ready their knives – while the people of Myna watch troops gather at its borders. Emotions run high as old fears reawaken. And in Collegium students argue politics, too late to turn the tide. At the heart of the Empire, new pilots complete their secretive training, generals are recalled to service and armies are readied to march. Their Empress, heir to two worlds, intends to claim her birthright. For nothing – either within the Empire or beyond it – will stand in her way. The Air War is followed by the ninth book in the Shadows of the Apt series, War Master’s Gate.

Adrian Tchaikovsky (Author), Ben Allen (Narrator)

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Seal of the Worm

Seal of the Worm is the tenth and final book in the critically acclaimed epic fantasy series Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky. An ancient enemy stirs once more . . . The Empire has vanquished its enemies at last, but at a terrible price. With her chief rival cast into the abyss, Empress Seda must face the truth of what she’s unleashed in her hunger for power. Now the Seal has been shattered, the ancient Worm stirs towards the light for the first time in a thousand years. Already it is striking at the surface, consuming everything in its voracious path. Unchecked, it will ravage the world. As her victory seems hollow indeed, Seda knows that only the most extreme solution can lock the Worm in the dark once more. But if she’ll go to such horrific lengths to save them all from the Worm, who’ll save the world from her? Start the epic journey with Empire in Black and Gold, the first audiobook in the Shadows of the Apt series.

Adrian Tchaikovsky (Author), Ben Allen (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Ben Allen