Showing results by narrator "Mike Rogers" in All Categories

Religion is at the heart of man’s societies. ‘For a long time,’ Durkheim writes early on in his book, ‘it has been known that the first systems of representations with which men have pictured to themselves the world and themselves were of religious origin.’  Durkheim decided to examine how and why this phenomenon functioned and evolved - by looking specifically at simple societies and their religions, rather than at religions in more complex or developed societies.

The rivalry between two of the dominant city states of Ancient Greece, Athens and Sparta, erupted into a war lasting nearly 30 years and was to have a dramatic effect on the balance of power in the area. Between 431 and 404 BCE, the two cities battled it out on land and sea, aided by their alliances with neighbouring states: Athens’ Delian League vigorously opposed Sparta’s Peloponnesian League in a conflict which effectively involved the whole region. 

A fantastic mystery short story collection, the perfect Christmas gift for crime fiction lovers A beloved detective dies in a fire Sherlock Holmes takes a trip to Italy A disastrous case of mistaken identity From his well-loved detective duo, DCI Dalziel and DI Pascoe to his own reimagining of...

Darlington is a small Northern town where everyone knows everyone. And Detectives Tanzy and Byrd know there’s a twisted serial killer in their midst... They find Julia Porter’s body tied to a chair in her quiet family home in the outskirts of Darlington. She’s covered in blood, and someone has cut out her eyes. Next to her is a message written in red crayon: She didn’t see it coming. Detectives Tanzy and Byrd have never seen the like of this in their town before. Then a few days later a woman is handed a package on the high street. It contains Julia Porter’s eyes ... It’s a warning.

X Ways to Die continues the tense, multi-stranded story which begun with Motive X. It is at once an explosive, high-voltage thriller and a fearless exploration of the darkest side of human nature. To enter Stefan Ahnhem's world, with its interwoven plot-lines and sprawling cast of characters, is to put yourself in the hands of a master storyteller.

Dunja Hougaard has gone underground to covertly investigate her former boss, Sleizner. For months, Dunja and her team have been gathering information. When a high-ranking man within the Danish intelligence service and an unknown woman are found dead at the bottom of a lake outside Copenhagen, the trap is finally ready to close. The only question is: whom will it catch? And meanwhile, on the other side of the strait in Helsingborg, the Swedish police Fabian Risk detective receives a message that changes everything.

AD 1209: When a robbery in Sherwood goes wrong, Robin Hood, Sir Alan Dale and a handful of their outlaw friends are forced to flee their homes to escape the wrath of a vengeful King John and his iron-hearted Sheriff of Nottinghamshire. After travelling to the Languedoc, a land of good food, fine wine, elegant love poetry and religious tolerance, the Sherwood men find themselves caught up in a blood-soaked crusade launched by Pope Innocent III.

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) was already an established figure in the fields of philosophy, biology, sociology, anthropology and with an established interest in evolution, when Darwin produced his ground-breaking On the Origin of the Species (1859). But Spencer viewed evolution in wider terms—including ‘the social organism, ethical and metaphysical matters.' He was keen to offer a complete framework of the philosophy of evolution and, in 1862, published his First Principles.

Keeping the peace in a West Texas town like Buffalo Peak should be easy for a legendary frontiersman like Marshal Elwood "Firestick" McQueen. He’s got his longtime buddies "Beartooth" Skinner and "Moosejaw" Hendricks as his deputies—not to mention the famous rifle that earned him his nickname. But when Firestick learns that their ornery old friend “Rip” Ripley just rode into town, all bets are off. It’s darn near impossible to keep the peace when Rip’s specialty is disturbing it. Firestick finds a decade-old wanted poster for Rip—the reward is one dollar.

John Caudwell is one of Britain's wealthiest, most successful–and most colourful–businessmen. Love, Pain & Money: The Making of a Billionaire retraces the inspirational journey, from the very shaky beginnings of his phone empire to owning yachts, private planes, a fleet of top flight cars, a Jacobean mansion in the Midlands and London's most expensive home (featured in a Channel 4 documentary). It's a fascinating insight into the drive, ambition, focus and vision required to become a billionaire.

Jake Sawyer is in limbo. Facing an enquiry into his capture of a vicious killer, he turns private detective, and takes the seemingly hopeless case of a teenage boy, missing for seven years. When a young woman podcaster investigating the boy’s disappearance also goes missing, Sawyer is drawn into the secretive world of urban exploration. But then an adult male body is found, showing signs of extreme torture, and the murder reminds Sawyer of an unsolved case from his early career. He connects the past with the present, uncovering a terrible link which could hold the key to the disappearances.

These three ‘Consolations', written by Seneca to his mother and two friends, have been described as ‘the crowning achievement in the canon of ‘consolation letters'. But sentimental they are not, for they emerge from the writer's deep-seated commitment to Stoicism, where individuals are exhorted to inhabit qualities of virtue, positivity, resilience, and indifference. This recording opens with Seneca's consolatory letter to Marcia, who, after three years, was still mourning the death of her son.

The original Latin name of this important essay by Seneca, written around 60 CE, was De Beneficiis, which is why it is generally translated as ‘On Benefits'. However, it is more usefully titled ‘On Favours', because this is what it is essentially about: the giving and receiving of favours, with all the implications of such transactions.

Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval is the single most important Arthurian romance. It contains the very first mention of the mysterious grail, later to become the Holy Grail and the focal point of the spiritual quest of the knights of Arthur's court. Chrétien left the poem unfinished, but the extraordinary and intriguing theme of the Grail was too good to leave, and other poets continued and eventually completed it.

Probably written in the latter half of the 14th century in the South-West-Midlands dialect, Piers Plowman is a remarkable example of allegorical, alliterative verse that conveyed, for the first time ever, the authentic voice, spirit and character of the ordinary people of England. Very little is known about William Langland, the presumed author, but it is very much a product of the medieval mind combining Christian belief with dramatic poetry in a drama of identity.

Robbie is a quiet man, passive and unassuming. He is the sort of man who is taken for granted by the people around him, passed by for promotions and bossed around by his wife. Middle-aged Robbie has never known love, or passion, or power. Oh, in his head he has dreamed his dreams, plotted his plots, planned his revenges, but he know he would never make any of them reality. And then one day he does.

Tom Novak is back. When a spate of deadly terrorist attacks hit the streets of London, Tom finds himself thrust into the middle of a fight for the survival of all he holds dear. When the attackers hit closer to home than he could ever imagine, Tom is forced to make a choice between his duty or his conscience. In doing so, he enters a series of increasingly dangerous worlds, in the darkest corners of humanity. Can Tom and his colleagues get to the bottom of a plot which threatens the very fabric of society? Will they stop the terrorists before it’s too late?

Seventy-year-old British ex-pat miserymonger George Pearly lives on the Costa del Sol, all alone except for his ancient, three-legged dog, Ambrose. George hates his life and everybody in it. These feelings are mutual. Everyone hates George, too. From this unhappy equilibrium the situation quickly deteriorates. First, George discovers he is dying of a mystery illness. 

The Chameleon Project - a Black Operations unit led by Bruce McQuillian whose existence is known only to a handful of men. When a corrupt politician with an appetite for preteen girls kidnapped and tortured while under his Unit's surveillance, McQuillian is left with a dilemma - what to do with the rogue commando responsible? As the stakes escalate, a sinister plot involving a triad of the Russian Bratva, an influential French arms dealer and one of the most powerful men within the British security services threatens to engulf the Isles.

A wave of apparently random homicides is sweeping through their idyllic seaside town of Helsingborg. The murders have no pattern, no order, no reason. The perpetrator is immune to psychological profiling; forensically untraceable; utterly invulnerable to modern police techniques. The body count is growing. But lead investigator Fabian Risk is distracted by his mission to expose a corrupt colleague, and his boss Astrid is spiralling back into addiction. As the hunt for the solution becomes ever more desperate, their tight-knit team begins to unravel.