Showing results by narrator "Adrian Hobart" in All Categories

This book considers nuclear deterrence as a form of authority. It describes the rise of deterrence in the Anglosphere particularly as the rule of economic law hardened to protect a civilization in its deterministic, automated phase.

Aristotle said that philosophy begins with wonder, and the first Western philosophers developed theories of the world which express simultaneously their sense of wonder and their intuition that the world should be comprehensible. But their enterprise was by no means limited to this proto-scientific task. Through, for instance, Heraclitus's enigmatic sayings, the poetry of Parmenides and Empedocles, and Zeno's paradoxes, the Western world was introduced to metaphysics, rationalist theology, ethics, and logic.

Deep winter, AD 376: Emperor Valens has withdrawn the field armies from Moesia and Thracia to fight in the Persian War. The impoverished limitanei legions left behind to defend the banks of the River Danubius are now all that stand between the war-hungry Goths and heart of the Eastern Roman Empire.

379 AD: Thracia has fallen to the Gothic horde. With the ashes of Adrianople still swirling in the air, the Eastern Roman Empire is in turmoil. The emperor is dead, the throne lies empty and the remaining fragments of the army are few and scattered. Numerius Vitellius Pavo, now Tribunus of the XI Claudia, tries to hold his patchwork ranks together amidst the storm. One of the few legions to have survived the disaster at Adrianople, the Claudia do what they can to keep alive the dying flame of hope.

378 AD: Fritigern's Gothic horde tightens its iron grip on Thracia and only a handful of well-walled cities to the south remain in imperial hands. The few tattered legions pinned in these cities can only watch on from the battlements as smoke rises across their lost lands and the Goths roam at will, pillaging and extorting. Every Roman—legionary or citizen—speaks of only one thing: the Emperors of East and West, Valens and Gratian, who are said to be closing swiftly on this war-stricken land, each bringing with them vast armies capable of vanquishing the horde.

381 AD: The great struggle between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Gothic Horde rumbles into its fifth year. It seems that there can be no end to the conflict, for although the Goths are masters of the land, they cannot topple the last of the imperial cities. But heralds bring news that might change it all: Emperor Gratian readies to lead his Western legions into the fray, to turn matters on their head, to crush the horde and save the East!

376 AD: The Eastern Roman Empire is alone against the tide of barbarians swelling on her borders. Emperor Valens juggles the paltry border defenses to stave off invasion from the Goths north of the Danube. Meanwhile, in Constantinople, a pact between faith and politics spawns a lethal plot that will bring the dark and massive hordes from the east crashing down on these struggling borders.

376 AD: The Eastern Roman Empire is alone against the tide of barbarians swelling on her borders. Emperor Valens juggles the paltry border defenses to stave off invasion from the Goths north of the Danube. Meanwhile, in Constantinople, a pact between faith and politics spawns a lethal plot that will bring the dark and massive hordes from the east crashing down on these struggling borders. The fates conspire to see Numerius Vitellius Pavo thrust into the limitanei, the border legions, just before they are sent to recapture the long-lost eastern Kingdom of Bosporus.

AD 377: Numerius Vitellius Pavo and the men of the XI Claudia return to Constantinople from their brutal Persian sortie to hear widespread tales of Thracia’s plight and the precarious mountain blockades. Each of them knows what is at stake should those passes fall: the heartland of the Eastern Empire would face the wrath of the barbarians and loved ones would be at the mercy of their savage blades.

AD 377: when Optio Numerius Vitellius Pavo and a select group of the XI Claudia are summoned to the Persian front, they leave Thracia behind, knowing little of what awaits them. They know only that they are to march into a burning land of strange gods. They whisper tales of the mighty Persian Savaran cavalry and pray to Mithras they will see their homes and families again. All too soon it becomes clear to them that this is no ordinary mission - indeed, the very fate of the empire might rest upon their efforts.

A body lies amongst the undergrowth in Mildenheath Woods. His hands are bound behind his back, and he's been killed execution-style. But the victim isn't a gangland kingpin: he's a well-liked young man, never in any trouble, who had his whole life ahead of him. But as Jack Culverhouse and Wendy Knight begin to dig deeper into what happened, a shocking new truth comes to light. Was the victim quite as innocent as he seemed?

Berlin. May 1945. A city without institutions in a continent that has become a wasteland. Thousands of former Nazis have been killed in Allied purges, and many more incarcerated in the very concentration camps they themselves established. But the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, has a problem. One of those former Nazis is actually a British spy, Edward Kayne, who has intercepted a top-secret document that Churchill insists is vital to settling the peace.

Since their parents died, Cassie and Sam only have each other. And now Sam is in trouble. Sam has got involved with the wrong guys and he owes them money. When he is found beaten and bloody, Cassie knows these people will stop at nothing. Sam has one week to find nineteen thousand pounds. There’s only one way to make that much money that fast: DareMe—a new social media craze that is sweeping the nation, where players film themselves completing reckless dares for money.

He’s got a serial killer plotting his demise, CI Quinn on his case, and two crazed Pomeranians nipping at his heels … time for a nice round of golf then. Naturally, there’s a body in the clubhouse just waiting to be discovered and with the list of suspects growing, Mike soon wishes he chosen a safer sport, like chainsaw juggling, perhaps. General Trout had a fatal appointment with the business end of a nine iron and those around him all appear to have both motive and opportunity. Did they all really want him dead?

The eighth book in Griff Hosker's incredible Lord Edward's Archer series of historical novels.

Mike Atwell is in trouble, he just doesn’t know how deep yet. His life as a private investigator is yet to generate any income, and another unpaid case just landed on his desk—Frosty Fred, the county’s favourite ice cream salesman has just been found dead at the wheel of the chilly chariot. But was Fred as universally loved as everyone thinks? There is an ice cream turf war in play, but is it just ice cream they are selling or are there other ‘products’ to be had if one knows how to ask?

The seventh audiobook in Griff Hosker's epic Lord Edward's Archer series of historical adventures.

When famed mystery author Imelda Bywater turns up dead during her annual seaside writing retreat, recently retired police detective Mike Atwell can't resist the chance to solve one more case. Teaming up with his quirky ex-wife, Sharon, and genius teen hacker, Dexter, Mike finds himself pulled into the glitzy world of writers, agents, and obsessive fans on the hunt for Imelda's killer. Everyone's a suspect—from Imelda's cuckolded publisher husband, the kooky married writers next door, and even the arrogant guest upstairs. The list keeps growing as secrets and lies unravel.