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Audiobooks Narrated by Philip Battley
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In October 1941, Hitler launched Operation Typhoon-the German drive to capture Moscow and knock the Soviet Union out of the war. As the last chance to escape the dire implications of a winter campaign, Hitler directed seventy-five German divisions, almost two million men and three of Germany's four panzer groups into the offensive, resulting in huge victories at Viaz'ma and Briansk-among the biggest battles of the Second World War. David Stahel's groundbreaking new account of Operation Typhoon captures the perspectives of both the German high command and individual soldiers, revealing that despite success on the battlefield the wider German war effort was in far greater trouble than is often acknowledged. Germany's hopes of final victory depended on the success of the October offensive but the autumn conditions and the stubborn resistance of the Red Army ensured that the capture of Moscow was anything but certain.
A major new history of the Royal Navy during the tumultuous age of revolution
The French Revolutionary Wars catapulted Britain into a conflict against a new enemy: Republican France. Britain relied on the Royal Navy to protect its shores and empire, but as radical ideas about rights and liberty spread across the globe, it could not prevent the spirit of revolution from reaching its ships.
In this insightful history, James Davey tells the story of Britain's Royal Navy across the turbulent 1790s. As resistance and rebellion swept through the fleets, the navy itself became a political battleground. This was a conflict fought for principles as well as power. Sailors organized riots, strikes, petitions, and mutinies to achieve their goals. These shocking events dominated public discussion, prompting cynical-and sometimes brutal-responses from the government.
Tempest uncovers the voices of ordinary sailors to shed new light on Britain's war with France, as the age of revolution played out at every level of society.
A fascinating journey through Europe's old towns, exploring why we treasure them-but also what they hide about a continent's fraught history
Historic quarters in cities and towns across the middle of Europe were devastated during the Second World War-some, like those of Warsaw and Frankfurt, had to be rebuilt almost completely. They are now centers of peace and civility that attract millions of tourists, but the stories they tell about places, peoples, and nations are selective. They are never the whole story.
These old towns and their turbulent histories have been key sites in Europe's ongoing theater of politics and war. Exploring seven old towns, from Frankfurt and Prague to Vilnius in Lithuania, the acclaimed writer Marek Kohn examines how they have been used since the Second World War to conceal political tensions and reinforce certain versions of history.
Uncovering hidden stories behind these old and old-seeming façades, Kohn offers us a new understanding of the politics of European history-making-showing how our visits to old towns could promote belonging over exclusion, and empathy over indifference.
According to the rule, Freddie has to say 'yes'.
Freddie is unremarkable-too unremarkable. He doesn't stand out in any way, and in fact teachers and fellow students keep forgetting who he is. Even his mum thinks he's a disappointment, and spends almost all her time at work, producing a TV show.
After a particularly awful night when he embarrasses himself in front of Jasper Perry (the gorgeous teen star of his mum's new show), Freddie decides to follow a new, proactive philosophy designed to transform his social and romantic life: saying 'yes' to every opportunity.
It works! Freddie finds himself auditioning for the school musical (Grease), actually going to parties, and flirting with hot new boy Zach! He's becoming a whole new Freddie-maybe even one that his mum might be proud of.
But the path to love is never smooth, and sometimes getting things very wrong is an important part of figuring out what-and who-you really want.
A funny, heart-pulling story from one of the UK's leading writers of LGBTQ+ teen fiction.
For Lewis Carroll, a deacon in the Church of England, faith in Christ and belief in a loving God stood at the core of his being, but little has been written about what the church or faith meant to the celebrated author of the Alice books. With Lewis Carroll: Formed by Faith, Charlie Lovett provides the first in-depth study of the religious life of the famous author, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.
By examining Dodgson's religious education and core beliefs, this book shows how a deep Christian faith guided every part of his life and work, from his relationships with children to his renowned writings, his work on logic, even his hobbies of photography and theater going. The book includes a detailed account of the career of Dodgson's father-an important figure in the Anglican church and a key influence on his son.
Family records give insight into Charles's early education, and newly discovered manuscript materials paint a full picture of his religious education at Richmond and Rugby Schools. Lovett finds previously unknown influences in Dodgson's life, analyzes his habits of preaching and prayer, explores his training for confirmation and ordination, analyzes his reasons for eschewing the priesthood, and concludes with an account of his death and funeral and his logically constructed theology of the afterlife.
From the author of the critically acclaimed Dominion of the Fallen trilogy comes a sparkling new romantic adventure full of kissing, sarcasm, and stabbing.
It was supposed to be a holiday, with nothing more challenging than babysitting, navigating familial politics, and arguing about the proper way to brew tea.
But when dragon prince Thuan and his ruthless husband Asmodeus find a corpse in a ruined shrine and a hungry ghost who is the only witness to the crime, their holiday goes from restful to high-pressure. Someone is trying to silence the ghost and everyone involved. Asmodeus wants revenge for the murder; Thuan would like everyone, including Asmodeus, to stay alive.
Chased by bloodthirsty paper charms and struggling to protect their family, Thuan and Asmodeus are going to need all the allies they can-and, as the cracks in their relationship widen, they'll have to face the scariest challenge of all: how to bring together their two vastly different ideas of their future . . .
Raz Frewer just made a bet with the Devil.
He needs a cure to save his dying wife, and Lucifer has it-- a mystical lamp, but its pieces were scattered around the globe centuries earlier.
If he can find them, he'll get his cure; if he can't, the Devil gets his soul.
Now, with the help of three willing strangers (well, two of them are willing), he's got just four days to search the planet for the pieces.
The powers of the ancient lamp can change the world. In the right hands, it can cure the sick. Turn dark to light and bad to good.
In the wrong hands, it can transform decent to decadent. Innocence to evil. Pink Floyd to Coldplay.
And the Lord of the Underworld has plans for it.
★★★★★ 'You will love this. Five stars... if I could give it more stars I would.'
★★★★★ 'Reminds me of the great writing in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.'
★★★★★ 'Best book I've read in a long time.'
★★★★★ 'One of the best comedic adventure stories I've ever read!'
A spellbinding exploration of the human capacity to imagine the future
Our ability to think about the future is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal. In The Invention of Tomorrow, cognitive scientists Thomas Suddendorf, Jonathan Redshaw, and Adam Bulley argue that its emergence transformed humans from unremarkable primates to creatures that hold the destiny of the planet in their hands.
Drawing on their own cutting-edge research, the authors break down the science of foresight, showing us where it comes from, how it works, and how it made our world. Journeying through biology, psychology, history, and culture, they show that thinking ahead is at the heart of human nature—even if we often get it terribly wrong. Incisive and expansive, The Invention of Tomorrow offers a fresh perspective on the human tale that shows how our species clawed its way to control the future.
As a writer lies dying, he has one last story to tell: a tale of faith and devotion, a meditation on what lies beyond this life, and a prayer of gratitude that may lead to rebirth.
'Language is a map leading to a place not on the map,' announces a young writer lying in a hospital bed at the beginning of The Presence of Absence. As he contemplates his impending physical disappearance and the impact on his beloved wife, he realizes, 'Life doesn't start when you're born . . . it begins when you commit yourself to the eventual devastating loss that results from connecting to another person.'
Infused with poetic clarity and graced with humor, Simon Van Booy's innovative novella asks us to find beauty-even gratitude-in the cycle of birth and death. Stripped of artifice, The Presence of Absence is a meditation between the writer and the reader, an imaginative work that challenges the deceit of written words and explores our strongest emotions.
Simon Van Booy is not only a master storyteller but a writer whose fiction is rich with philosophical insights into things both mapped and undiscovered. The Presence of Absence parts the darkness to reveal what has been just out of sight all along.
From the author of the critically acclaimed Dominion of the Fallen trilogy comes a tale of dragons, and Fallen angels-and also kissing, sarcasm, and stabbing.
Lunar New Year should be a time for familial reunions, ancestor worship, and consumption of an unhealthy amount of candied fruit.
But when dragon prince Thuan brings home his brooding and ruthless husband Asmodeus for the New Year, they find not interminable family gatherings, but a corpse outside their quarters. Asmodeus is thrilled by the murder investigation; Thuan, who gets dragged into the political plotting he'd sworn off when he left, is less enthusiastic.
It'll take all of Asmodeus's skill with knives, and all of Thuan's diplomacy, to navigate this one-as well as the troubled waters of their own relationship . . .
Captain Gibb MacGalloway might adore women, but he does not allow them aboard his ship . . .
Females are too distracting for his crew-and too distracting for him, truth be told. But when his brother, the Duke of Dunscaby, asks him to provide safe passage to Miss Isabella Harcourt, the daughter of an old family friend, Gibb has no choice but to bend his rules. However, it is not until the lass comes aboard that he realizes Miss Harcourt is the lovely wallflower he'd tricked into giving him a wee kiss only the day before.
Isabella Harcourt expected to spend her days as a spinster . . .
Until her father announces he has arranged her marriage to an American silver miner who is over twice her age. Worse, things grow even more daunting when she meets the blue-eyed stare of the man who'd imparted her first kiss only one day prior-a very passionate, bone-melting kiss. Now they must make a voyage across the Atlantic, pretending there had never been an attraction between them, pretending they'd never met. After all, she is promised to another, and he is married to the sea. By the time the ship arrives in Savannah, will this star-crossed pair be able to say their goodbyes?
Contains mature themes.
Lady Charity MacGalloway likes little dogs, long country walks, and summer cloudbursts, but she wants absolutely nothing to do with the Season or the pompous heirs trolling the marriage mart.
Harry Mansfield is not only the town of Brixham's butcher, he's also a boxer, and he's about as far removed from polite society as any man can be. But when Lady Charity steps into his shop, she manages to take everything he thinks he knows about women of quality and turns it upside down.
Her Ladyship not only employs him to repair her stable's roof, she cunningly negotiates an agreement where Harry's sister receives reading lessons in exchange for very surreptitious boxing lessons. All goes well until Charity is spotted attending one of The Butcher's fights. Immediately, her family shuffles her to London to mitigate any hint of scandal.
As a new Season begins, Charity does not ally herself with the hopeful young ladies looking for a match. Neither does she want flowers, sonnets written in her honor, nor carriage rides through the park. She desperately desires Harry Mansfield, regardless of if he labors as a butcher or a boxer, and she will stop at nothing to make him hers.
Contains mature themes.
