Showing results by narrator "Gordon Griffin" in All Categories

Larry Darrell is a young American in search of the absolute. The progress of this spiritual odyssey involves him with some of Maugham's most brilliant characters: his fiancée Isabel, whose choice between love and wealth have lifelong repercussions; and Elliot Templeton, her uncle, a classic expatriate American snob. The most ambitious of Maugham's novels, this is also one in which Maugham himself plays a considerable part as he wanders in and out of the story, to observe his characters struggling with their fates.

It’s only a slight exaggeration to say that the British mathematician Alan Turing (1912-1954) saved the Allies from the Nazis, invented the computer and artificial intelligence, and anticipated gay liberation by decades--all before his suicide at age forty-one. This classic biography of the founder of computer science, reissued on the centenary of his birth with a substantial new preface by the author, is the definitive account of an extraordinary mind and life.

Books That Changed History is a unique encyclopedia spanning the history of the written word, from 3000 BCE to the modern-day, chronologically showing the evolution of human knowledge and the changing ways in which books are made. Discover incredible coverage of history's most influential books including the Mahabharata, Shakespeare's First Folio, The Diary of Anne Frank, and Penguin's first ever paperbacks.

From the origins of Homo sapiens to the Space Race, and from the French Revolution to the Digital Revolution, this instalment in the best-selling Big Ideas series offers an essential exploration of the human timeline up to and including the rise of modern Islam, the world wide web and the global financial crisis. Making big historical ideas accessible and easy to understand, with stunning facts and memorable quotes, The History Book audiobook is perfect for students, adults or anyone who wants to travel back in time and understand the fascinating past of mankind.

Lydia Weekes is distraught at the break-up of her marriage. When her young son, Charlie, makes friends with the local doctor, Jean Markham, her life is turned upside down. Charlie tells his secrets to no one but the bees, but even he can’t keep his mother’s friendship to himself. The locals don’t like things done differently. As Lydia and the doctor become closer, the rumours start to fly and threaten to shatter Charlie’s world.

While attending a lavish masked ball in Venice, retired Scotland Yard Detective Jasper has a shock when, at the midnight démasqué, he spots a woman whose accidental death he investigated in England three years ago. Even more stunned than Jasper is the woman's husband, Lord Bantham, who has since remarried, not to mention his new wife who sees her acquired position and wealth slip away. Then there are her old friends who all seem to have known more about the 'accident' than they ever let on. Then, the resurrected lady is found dead the next morning.

Robinson Crusoe is the classic tale about one man's lust for adventure. Crusoe leaves his parents and hometown for the open sea in the year 1651. But the ocean can be unforgiving, and Crusoe unfortunately learns this the hard way. Through a series of wild events, he ends up shipwrecked on a shore in South America, being forced to salvage what he can in order to survive. Overcoming his despair, Crusoe begins a new life on this island, searching for meaning and eventually finding redemption.

The adventure begins in London on Tuesday, October 1st, 1872, when rich British gentleman Phileas Fogg gets in an argument with a group of friends. He enters a wager that sets him on a race to make it around the world in 80 days. Although the trip begins as planned with his valet Jean Passepartout, he is quickly mistaken as a bank robber by Scotland Yard detective Fix. Now being pursued on his journey, Fogg must quickly travel in order to win the wager, see the world, and avoid being apprehended for a crime he did not commit in the ultimate adventure story.

Ionanthe will leave her freedom at the castle doors. The ancient laws of this kingdom demand an eye for an eye – and she must pay the price for her sister’s mistake. Recently crowned Prince Max plans to bring change to his country, but only after his beautiful new bride has arrived – as payment for the debt he is owed… A ruthless ruler and a virgin queen. Trembling with the fragility of new spring buds, Ionanthe will go to her husband: she was given as penance, but he’ll take her for pleasure!

One night a stranger wrapped in bandages and eccentric clothing arrives in an English village. That stranger, Griffin, is a brilliant and obsessed scientist who has discovered how to turn his entire body invisible. Although he initially feels joy at his newfound freedom and abilities, that joy quickly turns to despair when he struggles to discover a way to reverse the process.

For the most part, the dead man received public sympathy. A decent, hardworking chap, with not an enemy anywhere. People were surprised that anybody should want to kill Jim. But Jim has been drowned in the Dumb River, near Ely, miles from his Yorkshire home. His body has been discovered before the killer intended – disturbed by a torrential flood. It's up to Superintendent Littlejohn of Scotland Yard to trace the mystery of the murder to its source, leaving waves of scandal and sensation in his wake.

Consisting of articles taken from his popular column in The Yorkshire Post, Julian Norton's The Diary of a Yorkshire Vet On Call features anecdotes from his veterinary work in North Yorkshire. From hairy pigs near Helmsley to a bullock with an enormous eye at Old Byland, these true stories bring to life the drama and humour in the daily routine of a rural vet. Along the way, Julian deals with llamas near Brimham Rock, greedy sheep in Cold Kirby, eagles, seals, alpacas and Geoffrey Boycott. 

After a whirlwind romance and dream wedding, the new Mrs Ramsforth is whisked away to an idyllic Greek island by her adoring husband. But as soon as they arrive at their luxurious hotel overlooking the azure sea, Damaris is struck by the feeling she’s been here before.... Puzzling over the familiarity, Damaris’ honeymoon goes from unsettling to a complete nightmare when she finds herself standing over a dead body, unable to explain how she got there. Now only one man can save her – fellow holidaymaker and former Scotland Yard inspector Jasper. 

The main aim of detective stories is to entertain, but the best cast a light on human behaviour and display both literary ambition and accomplishment. Even unpretentious detective stories, written for unashamedly commercial reasons, can give us clues to the past and give us insight into a long-vanished world that, for all its imperfections, continues to fascinate. 

Halloween 1861. A special train with two carriages steams across the Lake District at night on its way to a place notorious for its record of supernatural incidents. Lighting inside the carriages is poor, and without warning, the lamp goes out in the last compartment of the second carriage, plunging it into darkness. When the special reaches the end of its journey, the passengers pour out on to the station platform. There are almost 60 of them in all, laughing and jostling. 

At the lush Villa Calypso on the French Riviera, a dying billionaire launches a devious plan: at midnight each day he appoints a new heir to his vast fortune. If he dies within 24 hours, that person takes it all. If not, their chance is gone forever. Yet these are no ordinary beneficiaries, these are men who crossed him, women who deceived him and distant relations intent on reclaiming the family fortune. All are determined to lend death a hand and outwit their rivals, and retired Scotland Yard detective Jasper, in pursuit of the prize.

Set in the reign of Queen Anne, Thackeray's novel follows the troubled progress of Henry Esmond Esq, a gentleman and an officer in Marlborough's army. Enamoured of the Jacobite Lady Castlewood and her wayward daughter Beatrix, he distinguishes himself in Marlborough's campaigns against Louis XIV, but comes to grief in an ingenious but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to depose George I in favour of the Old Pretender.  

 A man is found dead in an escape tunnel in an Italian prisoner of war camp. Did he die in an accidental collapse - or was this murder? Captain Henry 'Cuckoo' Goyles, master tunneller and amateur detective, takes up the case. This classic locked room mystery with a closed circle of suspects is woven together with a thrilling story of escape from the camp, as the Second World War nears its endgame and the British prisoners prepare to flee into the Italian countryside. 

After the death of leading haematologist Professor Anstruther, antiquarian book dealer Anthony Sparrow is tasked with clearing out his mansion of its books and papers. He soon begins to question the real circumstances of the old man's death: was he in fact murdered, and if so, who was responsible? The answer might be found in the personal diaries and letters which Sparrow unearths. But as he closes in on the answer, the perspective suddenly shifts and everything which he was sure about dissolves into darkness and shadows.

Four strangers arrive at the solicitors’ office of Puckle, Puckle, and Nunnery. They have never met and have no idea why they have been invited. But they - along with a missing man - are descendants of the late Algernon George Culver Mayton, the inventor of 'Mayton’s Marvellous Mixture', and each entitled to a portion of the Mayton fortune. But before they can split the money, the missing man must be found. They begin their search, but then Detective Sloan receives a call that one of the legatees has died following an attack of food poisoning....