Showing results by author "A.N. Wilson" in All Categories

Certain works of literature, history, science, philosophy, political theory and religion offer powerful examples of how books can spark revolutions, birth great religions, spur scientific advancements, shape world economies, teach us new ways of thinking, and much more. And with this fascinating collection crafted from our extensive library of courses, you can now get a single course that represents 36 of our best lectures on literary works that changed the world.

Charles Darwin: the man who discovered evolution? The man who killed off God? Or a flawed man of his age, part genius, part ruthless careerist who would not acknowledge his debts to other thinkers? In this bold new life - the first single volume biography in twenty-five years - A. N. Wilson, the...

Bloomsbury presents Goethe, written and read by A. N. Wilson Goethe remains one of the most influential figures in modern literature and thought. Goethe was the inventor of the psychological novel, a pioneer scientist, great man of the theatre and a leading politician. As A. N. Wilson argues in...

Bloomsbury presents Confessions written and read by A. N. Wilson. Known for his journalism, biographies and novels, A. N. Wilson turns a merciless searchlight on his own early life, his experience of sexual abuse, his catastrophic mistakes in love (sacred and profane) and his life in Grub Street...

A celebration of the life of Queen Elizabeth II, showing us that the Queen's qualities of duty, self-sacrifice and love of country were present in her from an early age. 'The moments in life of "knowing". On Bognor Beach, with Grandpa England, she had "known" that he, and Papa, and she, would...

Filled with the twists, pathos and unusual characters that sprang from this novelist's extraordinary imagination, The Mystery of Charles Dickens looks back from the legendary writer's death to recall the key events in his life. In doing so, A.N. Wilson seeks to understand Dickens' creative genius and enduring popularity. Following his life from cradle to grave, it becomes clear that Dickens's fiction drew from his own experiences. Dickens knew first-hand the poverty and pain his characters endured, including the scandal of a failed marriage.

In 1774, Josiah Wedgwood, master craftsman possessed with a burning scientific vision, embarks upon the thousand-piece Frog Service for Catherine the Great. Josiah's nephew Tom journeys to America to buy clay from the Cherokee for this exquisite china. Tom is caught up in the American rebellion, and falls for a Cherokee woman who will come to play a crucial role in Josiah's late, great creation: the Portland Vase.

It looks like a wardrobe, but open it up and it leads you back into a world of childhood - of fantasy. Lewis, now famed the world over as a children's author and religious apologist, was a university Professor who kept his private life a doggedly guarded secret. Living exclusively in the world of men, his life was really dominated by women - by his mother, whose death when he was a child scarred his whole life; by Jane Moore, with whom he lived for 33 years; and by Joy Davidman, the American he married.

A. N. Wilson has been thinking about the Bible, and reading it, since he read theology for a year at university. Martin Luther King was 'reading the Bible' when he started the Civil Rights Movement. When Michelangelo painted the fresco cycles in the Sistine Chapel, he was 'reading the Bible'. In The Book of the People, A. N. Wilson explores how readers and thinkers have approached the Bible and how it might be read today.

To many Queen Victoria was a ruler shrouded in myth and mystique, portrayed as an aging, stiff widow. But in truth Britain’s longest-reigning monarch was passionate, expressive, humorous, and unconventional. A. N. Wilson’s exhaustively researched and definitive biography includes a wealth of new material from previously unseen sources, showing us Queen Victoria as she’s never been seen before.

In this biography of Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, A. N. Wilson narrates the complex drama of the writer's life: his childhood of aristocratic privilege but emotional deprivation, his discovery of his literary genius after aimless years of gambling and womanizing, and his increasingly disastrous marriage. Wilson sweeps away the long-held belief that Tolstoy's works were the exact mirror of his life and instead traces the roots of Tolstoy's art to his relationship with God, with women, and with Russia.

It's been almost a year since Cyrus and Antigone Smith earned their places as Journeymen at Ashtown, home of an ancient order of explorers that has long guarded the world's secrets and treasures. While their studies go well, Cy and Tigs are not well liked since losing the Dragon's Tooth to the...

Will Henry’s fiery new magic consume him in the second book of the bestselling 100 Cupboard series, about 100 cupboard doors leading to 100 worlds of adventure? Henry has discovered that the hundred cupboard doors hidden behind his bedroom wall are actually portals to other worlds. Now he...

Discover the dangers locked behind the cupboard doors in the first book in the bestselling 100 Cupboard series, about 100 cupboard doors leading to 100 worlds of adventure! Henry isn’t brave, but when he hears a thumping and scratching on the other side of his bedroom wall, he can’t...

N. D. Wilson, author of Leepike Ridge and 100 Cupboards, returns with an action-packed adventure that will captivate fans of both Percy Jackson and Indiana Jones with lost civilizations, ancient secrets, and buried treasure. For two years, Cyrus and Antigone Smith have run a sagging roadside...

Henry’s final battle has arrived in the third book of the bestselling 100 Cupboard series, about 100 cupboard doors leading to 100 worlds of adventure! Hidden cupboards behind Henry’s bedroom wall unlocked portals to other worlds that Henry and his cousin Henrietta couldn’t resist...

Open the cupboard door to this action-packed fantasy that will take readers to the very beginning of the bestselling 100 Cupboards series! 100 Cupboards, 100 Worlds of Adventure! When Hyacinth finds an unusual door, two boys in search of vengeance, and a witch intent on destroying the world, the...

For over six decades, Queen Victoria ruled a great empire. Beside her for more than 20 of those years was her beloved husband and the father of their nine children, Prince Albert. A composer, engineer, soldier, politician, linguist and bibliophile, Albert was one of the architects of Victorian Britain's transformation as a centre of political, technological, scientific and intellectual advancement. Albert lived only 42 years but fathered four royal dynasties and helped pioneer the modern constitutional monarchy.

'An unlikely hero has a master storyteller to tell his tale. The King and the Christmas Tree is a poignant Christmas treat.' Lucy Worsley, historian, broadcaster and author Every December, a huge Christmas tree arrives in Trafalgar Square. Bedecked in lights, it is a shimmering, festive beacon...

In this companion biography to the acclaimed Victoria, A. N. Wilson offers a deeply textured and ambitious portrait of Prince Albert, published to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the royal consort’s birth. For more than six decades, Queen Victoria ruled a great Empire at the height of...