David Starkey's ‘Monarchy’ charts the rise of the British monarchy from the War of the Roses, the English Civil War and the Georgians, right up until the present day monarchs of the 20th Century. With both authority and verve, David Starkey unmasks the personalities and achievements, the defeats and victories, that lie behind the monarchs that form the backbone of British history.

A few months of married bliss, a lovers' nest in Darrowby and the wonders of home cooking are rudely interrupted for James Herriot by the Second World War. James Herriot's fifth volume of memoirs relocates him to a training camp somewhere in England. And in between square pounding and digging for...

Clarissa, the wife of a Foreign Office diplomat, is given to daydreaming. "Supposing I were to come down one morning and find a dead body in the library, what should I do?" she muses. Clarissa has her chance to find out when she discovers a body in the drawing-room of her house in Kent. Desperate to...

A tale of hardship and social injustice, Miss Purdy's Class by Annie Murray is a heartfelt saga with strong emotional relationships at its heart. In the New Year of 1936, Gwen Purdy, aged twenty-one, leaves her home to become a schoolteacher in a poor area of Birmingham.

A Genius Performance by Ian Carmichael and Cast!
Lord Peter Wimsey is invited to view a corpse which has been deposited in the bathtub of an architect. The corpse is quickly identified as that of Sir Reuben Levy, the City financier; and just as quickly it is proved to be someone else. Where is Sir Reuben? And whose body was in the bath?

One of the nation's most popular presenters examines twenty marvels of the natural world from his extraordinary and pioneering experiences.

What was Sir David's first pet? Which animal would he most like to be? What creature lays 'the biggest egg in the world'? How do you communicate with an ancient nomadic community in Fiji? And what did Sir David do when confronted by a ten-foot-long reptile?

In 1968, in a remote part of Canada, a mysterious child is born: a baby who appears to be neither fully boy nor girl, but both at once. Only three people share the secret - the baby's parents and a trusted neighbour. Together the adults make a difficult decision: to go through surgery and raise the child as a boy named Wayne. But as Wayne grows up within the hyper-male hunting culture of his father, his shadow-self - a girl...

This is a BBC radio full-cast dramatisation of Dick Francis's thriller novel, starring Frances Matthews, Caroline Blakison and Mark Colleano. The unexpected arrival of a new apprentice jockey at his father's racing stables heralds the beginning of a series of dark happenings for Neil Griffon. First, his father suffers...

When one of his wife Paola's students comes to visit him, with a strange and vague interest in investigating the possibility of a pardon for a crime committed by her grandfather many years ago, Commissario Brunetti thinks little of it, beyond being intrigued and attracted by the girl's intelligence and moral seriousness. But when she is found murdered, clearly stabbed to death, Claudia Leonardo is suddenly no longer simply Paola's student, but Brunetti's case ...

It is May, 1944 – a time of international tension where nothing is certain . . . Two weeks before D-Day, the French Resistance attack a chateau containing a telephone exchange vital to German communications – but the building is heavily guarded and the attack fails disastrously. Flick Clairet, a young British secret agent, proposes a daring new plan...

First published in 1766 and a perennial favourite since then, "The Vicar of Wakefield" is built around the naive but loveable figure of Dr Primrose. He and his family live in rural bliss until disaster threatens to destroy their happiness...

This collection of six Rumpole stories shows the legendary advocate in top form. We last left Rumpole in his hospital bed after his sudden collapse in court. Now our hero finds himself in the Primrose Path nursing home—or a hospice as he persists in describing it. Things aren't looking good for Rumpole—until suddenly he begins to sense there's something wrong with the place, and all his intelligence and formidable...

A special compilation from Eyewitness, a unique history of Britain in the 20th century, written by Joanna Bourke and narrated by Tim Pigott-Smith. Eyewitness provides a rare and fascinating opportunity to hear the events of the century described by those who saw them happen.

This is a guide to all British birds whose sounds are likely to be encountered by the average birdwatcher. A total of 175 species are heard ranging from the familiar tawny owl to the very rare call of the bittern. This is an authorititive guide and an ideal gift for anyone wishing to learn the sounds of the great variety of birds that can be seen and heard throughout the season. A perennial bestseller. Includes an introductory booklet. Track listing CD ONE 1 Black-throated Diver...

Mix Cellini (which he pronounces with an 'S' rather than a 'C') is superstitious about the number 13. In the musty old house where he is the lodger, there are thirteen steps down to the landing below his rooms, which he keeps spick and span.

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Dick Francis' thriller novel. The unexpected arrival of a new apprentice jockey at his father's racing stables heralds the beginning of a series of dark happenings for Neil Griffon. But even dark threats, violence and cold-blooded murder fail to deter him from taking control and running things his way.

David Mitchell, who you may know for his inappropriate anger on every TV panel show except Never Mind the Buzzcocks, his look of permanent discomfort on C4 sex comedy Peep Show, his online commenter-baiting in The Observer or just for wearing a stick-on moustache in That Mitchell and Webb Look, has written a book about his life. As well as giving a specific account of every single time he's scored some...

The finale of Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman left Rose emerging into strength and light. Her life had changed out of recognition but, yet, out of it had emerged positives. A tougher attitude. New friendships. Independence. A clearer sense of self. In her middle years, Rose had found her form. But what of Minty, the woman who snaffled Rose's husband and her job? Now married to Nathan and the mother of...

Great Explorers of the World Here are the stories of nine great adventures and the men who took part in them. They pushed back the frontiers of man's knowledge of the world by their vision, courage and sheer doggedness. Their journeys are placed within their historical context, but also contain the words of the men themselves.

"The Riddle of the Sands" by using Erskine Childers is a classic espionage novel that unfolds in opposition to the backdrop of early twentieth-century Europe. The story follows Carruthers, a central authority professional in London, who is invited by using his pal Davies for a crusing experience along the German North Sea coast. Initially waiting for a leisurely tour, Carruthers quickly will become embroiled...

FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER THE WOMAN BEFORE ME Longlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker prize 2016 From the top of the Ferris wheel, Ellie can see everything. Her life, laid out beneath her. Ellie looks up. She wants freedom. Down below, her little sister and mother wait, watching as people bundle off the wheel and disappear into the crowd. No Ellie. Must be the next box.

A collection of 15 stories from Roman mythology. All the famous myths: the birth of Venus, the founding of Rome are here as well as the great gods and goddesses like Jupiter, king of the gods, Juno his wife, and the warrior Mars.

The aim of this audiobook is entertainment - and surprise - but there will be a fair bit of erudition and incidental education along the way. We discover the oldest words, the newest, the longest, the shortest, the most frequently used, the costliest (yes, words can come with a price attached), the funniest, the most fatal, the most unusual...from the words Shakespeare gave us to the latest in sexting, the BEST and the...

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was one of the most influential presidents of the USA, uniting the country and abolishing slavery after a terrible civil war. On the 200th anniversary of his birth, his life and works are presented here in an easy introductory form. Through a balance of biography and the key speeches and letters, the man is brought to life, demonstrating his keen intelligence and determination, which...

Described by the Daily Telegraph as the wizard of the talking book, Martin Jarvis has made the voices of William and his gang of outlaws his own in these marvellous readings. Roar with laughter as the lovable rogue, hampered by the loathsome Violet Elizabeth, wreaks havoc in this ever-popular series of stories. This collection includes: 'William and the Russian Prince', 'William's Busy Day' , 'William The Great Actor'...

At the great Cornwall estate of Manderley, Maxim de Winter and his frightened new wife try to live with the haunting legacy of Maxim's first wife, the beautiful and cold Rebecca, who died in a sailing accident.

Following his expedition to Indonesia, as told in Zoo Quest for a Dragon, David Attenborough's next animal collecting and filming trip – as part of the successful Zoo Quest television series – was to New Guinea, home of the exotic Birds of Paradise. The quest demanded hazardous treks across treacherous terrain in the Jimi Valley and on the edges of uncharted territory. But the arduous adventures were finally rewarded...

As part of his continuing adventures filmed for the BBC TV series Zoo Quest, David Attenborough ventured to the Northern Territory of Australia. It is an area that extends for a thousand miles from north to south and nearly six hundred miles from east to west. Dripping, waterlogged jungle covers the north of the Territory, while a ferociously arid desert lies in the south. For a three-man film crew hoping to capture...

Obadiah Demurall is a sorceror who is seeking to control the highest power in the universe. He will stop at nothing. The only people in his way are Raphah, Kate, Thomas - and the mysterious Jacob Crane.

In post-war East Midlands, in a home dominated by their difficult grandmother and aunt, Yvette and Lucille are two sisters struggling to bring joy into their lives. Their mother, having run off in scandal, leaves the two to suffer a dysfunctional family life and oppressive domesticity. But one day, Yvette meets a free-spirited gypsy and his family, awakening her sexual desires and compounding her disenchantment.

William Shakespeare, Sir Walter Raleigh, Thomas Hobbes - three of the greatest Englishmen who ever lived. They, and many others, are here remembered by another great Englishman, John Aubrey, whose "Brief Lives" are some of the wittiest and most moving miniature portraits ever written. Aubrey - a scholar, antiquarian and close observer of both the foibles and the courage of his contemporaries - lived through...

WINNER OF THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION WINNER OF THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE KERRY GROUP IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNER OF THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing is an unforgettable novel from a major new literary talent. Eimear McBride's award-winning debut novel tells the story of a young woman's relationship with her brother, and the long shadow cast by...

When Atlanta police detective Michael Ormewood is called out to a murder scene at the notorious Grady Homes, he finds himself faced with one of the the most brutal killings of his career: Aleesha Monroe is found in the stairwell in a pool of her own blood, her body horribly mutilated. As a one-off killing it's shocking, but when it becomes clear that it's just the latest in a series of similar attacks, the Georgia Bureau...

When a NASA satellite discovers an astonishingly rare object buried deep in the Arctic ice, the floundering space agency proclaims a much-needed triumph — a triumph with profound implications both for NASA policy and for the impending presidential election. To verify the find, the White House calls upon the skills of intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton. Accompanied by a team of experts, including the charismatic...

Take a trip down memory lane and read about the life of Britain's most beloved vet, who charmed us all with his bestselling tales of veterinary life in Yorkshire. A wonderful, glorious insight into the life of the man behind the books' 5***** Reader Review Moving . . . A book I shall treasure and read several times' 5***** Reader Review ______ After qualifying as a vet in 1939, Alf Wight, aka James Herriot, moved to a...

Haunted by his wife and son's brutal abduction and murder, ex-soldier Will Jaeger runs to the ends of the earth to recover and to hide. But even there he is found, and compelled to undertake one last mission, and to confront a savage past he can barely even remember. Jaeger agrees to lead an expedition into the Mountains of the Gods in the remote Amazon jungle. At the dark heart of this real life Lost World lies a...

From the disappearance of the Beaumont children to the abduction of William Tyrrell to the double murder of Karlie Pearce-Stevenson and her daughter Khandalyce, Xanthé is determined to expose the truth to maximise dignity for both deceased victims and those left behind. Xanthé talks to experts to uncover the hows and whys of tragic murders and haunting disappearances. Along the way listeners will also...

Lottery winner Cleo Dowling is living her dream, running a bookshop in the sleepy village of Kilrowan and larking around with her gorgeous painter husband, Pablo. But the dream turns into a nightmare when Pablo accepts a commission to paint a portrait of a Dublin 4 princess... Bestselling author Pixie Pirelli is a media consultant's dream, running the treadmill of red carpets, chat shows and book signings.

In this hard-hitting book, Michael Carr-Gregg focuses on the special trials of raising adolescent girls today: what to do when your previously quiet, loving daughter becomes a restless, rebellious stranger who behaves like a responsible adult one day and a vampish brat the next. Part of the problem is that girls are becoming sexualised earlier, and their physical development is shooting ahead of their cognitive capacities.

Four classic fairy tales from Hans Christian Andersen, read by David Tennant, Anne-Marie Duff, Sir Derek Jacobi and Penelope Wilton. Here are four of Hans Christian Andersen’s best-loved short stories, specially adapted for young children and read by some of Britain’s most well-known actors. The Brave Tin Soldier read by David Tennant: A one-legged toy soldier falls in love with a paper ballerina. Thumbelina read...

Hank Prank is always getting into trouble. His sister Hot Henrietta has a temper that tends to get the better of her just at the wrong moment. Not surprisingly, they are the depair of their long-suffering parents and the bane of their teacher's lives

Spanning almost a hundred years, this rich and evocative true story recounts the lives of three generations of remarkable Chinese women. Their extraordinary journey takes us from the brutal poverty of village life in mainland China, to newly prosperous 1930s Hong Kong and finally to the UK. Their lives were as dramatic as the times they lived through. A love of food and a talent for cooking pulled each generation...

Howards End is the story of the liberal Schlegel sisters and their struggle to come to terms with social class and their German heritage in Edwardian England. Their lives are intertwined with those of the wealthy and pragmatic Wilcox family and their country house, Howards End, as well as the lower-middle-class Basts. When Helen Schlegel and Paul Wilcox's brief romance ends badly the Schlegels hope to never see...

Why do we have to live with men? As another evening with her best friends and a few bottles of wine comes to an end, Cat O'Connor is left pondering this very question. And, escaping from a ruined love affair, she is about to find the answer. When Cat joins a group of women in a huge, decaying farmhouse deep in the countryside, she prepares to embark on six months without men. Cat is promised a nirvana of...

Everyone knows that Louis is a loudmouth, he never stops talking and drives everyone crazy. No one believes him when he announces that he's going to do a sponsored silence to raise money for the new school library. But Louis is determined, just for once, to keep his mouth shut. To his surprise he finds that he actually enjoys listening, that lessons are much better when he's really involved in them - and that it's...

Told who to cheer for, who to believe in, Yuri grows up in a country where no freedom of thought is encouraged - where even one's neighbours are encouraged to report any dissension to the authorities. But it is still a shock when a few careless words lead him to a virtual death-sentence - sent on a nightmare journey up north to a camp amidst the frozen wastes. What, or who, can he possibly believe in now?

Narrated by the man himself and written in his unmistakable tone and style, Alan Partridge: Nomad is filled with all the joie de vivre you'd expect. In Alan Partridge: Nomad, Alan dons his boots, windcheater and scarf and embarks on an odyssey through a place he once knew - it's called Britain - intent on completing a journey of immense personal significance. Diarising his ramble in the form of a 'journey journal'....

This edition features an interview with Cathy Kelly. It all started with Paris... At the top of the Eiffel Tower, a young man proposes to his girlfriend, cheered on by delighted tourists. With her trademark warmth and insight, Cathy Kelly weaves a delightful tale spinning out from this once-in-a-lifetime moment, drawing together a terrific cast of characters with stories of their own. Vonnie, a widow and exceptional cake-maker...

What's the connection between a dig in Alexandria for Alexander the Great's tomb and a wanted Nazi war criminal? Nina and Eddie are about to find out as they go on a search across the globe, from Egypt to Argentina and Italy to Iran, to find the truth. They have located the most exciting archaeological treasures the world has ever known - they have found Atlantis and walked in the Garden of Eden, they have...

When jockey Martin Stukely dies following a fall in a steeplechase at Cheltenham races, he accidentally embroils his friend Gerard Logan in a perilous search for a stolen videotape. Gerard Logan is a glass-blower on the verge of widespread acclaim for his work. He has long been accustomed to the frightful dangers inherent in molten glass and maintaining a glass-making furnace, but now he is suddenly faced with a series...

Agatha Raisin's ex-husband James has become engaged to a beautiful young woman, and Agatha has been kindly invited to the wedding. This is a difficult pill to swallow, so to take her mind off it, Agatha begins a flirtation with Sylvan, a Frenchman she met at James's engagement party. She also decides to holiday in Istanbul, where unfortunately, she bumps into James and his fiancée, not once but twice - convincing him...

Edinburgh, 2025 - sweat city. Global warming has led to strict water rationing. The ruling Council of City Guardians has been forced to become more user-friendly - so citizens now live for the weekly lottery draw. Then people start dying after drinking poisoned whisky, and subversive, blues-haunted investigator Quintilian Dalrymple is thrown into a nightmare case which threatens the Council's very existence.

A killer is stalking the dark streets of Dublin. Before each attack, he makes the sign of the cross; then he sends his victims to God. After a diplomats daughter is brutally assaulted and left for dead, her body branded with burns from a scalding hot cross, the case falls to Detective Inspector Mike Mulcahy. Mulcahy is one tough cop, but this crime is beyond imagination and The Priest is a nemesis more evil and elusive than...

When Sam Spade gets drawn into the Maltese Falcon case, we know what to expect: straight talk, hard questions, no favours, and no way for anyone to get underneath the protective shell he wears like a second skin. We know that his late partner, Miles Archer, was a son of a bitch; that Spade is sleeping with Archer's wife. What we don't know is how Spade became who he is. Now SPADE & ARCHER completes the picture.

On a routine trip to the supermarket with his daughter one Saturday morning, Stephen Lewis, a well-known writer of children's books, turns his back momentarily. When he looks around again, his child is gone. In a single moment, everything is changed. The kidnapping has a devastating effect on Stephen's life and marriage. Memories and the present become inseparable - as Stephen gets lost in daydreams of the past...

The original six BBC TV episodes starring Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Tim McInnerny, Brian Blessed, Peter Cook, Miriam Margolyes and Rik Mayall includes: "The Foretelling", "The Queen of Spain's Beard", "Born To Be King", "Witchsmeller Pursuivant", "Archbishop", and "The Black Seal".

You've lost your daughter. She's addicted to drugs and to an abusive boyfriend. And she's made it clear that she doesn't want to be found. Then, quite by chance, you see her busking in New York's Central Park. But she's not the girl you remember. This woman is wasted, frightened and clearly in trouble.

No. 7 Ocean Drive is a multimillion-dollar beachfront house in the Hamptons, but its beautiful exterior hides a horrific past. This house was the setting for a series of depraved killings that have never been solved. Neglected, empty and rumoured to be cursed, it's known as the Murder House, and locals keep their distance. Detective Jenna Murphy has moved to the area to escape her troubled past and rehabilitate a...

The face of war is changing. The other side doesn't play by the rules much any more. There's thinking, in some circles, that we need to play by a different set of rules too . . .' Fresh from Afghanistan, James Bond has been recruited to a new agency. Conceived in the post-9/11 world, it operates independent of Five, Six and the MoD, its very existence deniable. Its aim: to protect the Realm, by any means necessary.

At 48, Tim Cranmer is a secret servant in retirement, free to devote himself to his manor house, his vineyard and his young mistress, Emma. But a rival in love disappears with Emma, and Tim sets off in pursuit.

Here is a major new recording and the riveting account of Ancient Rome in all its madness and debauchery. The politics of empire-building and the hypocrisies, back-stabbings, and corruptions of Rome's first family come to light. First published in 1934, the book retains a marvelously modern and often...

A short but perfectly formed complete Discworld novel.

It stars the legendary Cohen the Barbarian, a legend in his own lifetime. Cohen can remember when a hero didn't have to worry about fences and lawyers and civilisation, and when people didn't tell you off for killing dragons...

There is a hint of Armageddon in the air. According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (recorded, thankfully, in 1655, before she blew up her entire village and all its inhabitants, who had gathered to watch her burn), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact.

Dead to the World Photographer Philip Holt established his reputation as an amateur detective in The Desperate People, when he proved that his brother Rex had been murdered and solved the case. This time, his skills are again in demand after he meets Robert Scranton, a wealthy American, on the plane returning to England from the USA.

In his first and only official autobiography, music icon Elton John reveals the truth about his extraordinary life, which is also the subject of the smash-hit film Rocketman. The result is Me - the joyously funny, honest and moving story of the most enduringly successful singer/songwriter of all time. Read by actor and..

Greece is a favourite destination for Seven Sights Travel, a seedy company which provides escorted tours for wealthy travellers. When Marcus Didius Falco and Helena hear that a young girl and a newly-wed woman, both Roman visitors, have been murdered at Olympia, they both step in to investigate.

All three BBC radio dramatisations of the bestselling fantasy trilogy – plus bonus material A breathtaking epic spanning multiple worlds, His Dark Materials follows the adventures of Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, two children catapulted into a life-or-death struggle to save the future of the Cosmos. In Northern...

A breathtaking epic, the award-winning His Dark Materials trilogy spans a multitude of worlds. The opening installment Northern Lights is set in a parallel world like, yet very unlike, our own. Twelve-year-old Lyra, whose daemon Pantalaimon is part of her very self, is growing up in an ancient, ritual-haunted...

The Complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy features all five complete and unabridged audiobooks of this much-loved 'trilogy' in a CD pack. On 12 October 1979 the most remarkable book ever to come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor (and Earth) was made available to humanity. This was ...

Every table at Quentins Restaurant has a thousand stories to tell: tales of love, betrayal and revenge. Ella Brady wants to make a documentary about the renowned Dublin restaurant that has captured the spirit of a generation and a city in the years it has been open. In Maeve Binchy's magical Quentins, you...

Another title in the ever popular Agatha Christie series. The suave and debonair Colonel Race must solve a question, not of ‘accidental death or suicide’, but ‘murder or double murder’. Pretty, young Anne came to London looking for adventure. In fact, adventure comes looking for her – and finds her immediately...

England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk, and later his successor. Cromwell is a wholly original man...

Doctor Finlay's relationship with nurse Angus continues to be on and off, whilst Doctor Cameron's surgery is due to move from Levenford town centre to Tannochbrae, on the shores of Loch Lomond.

The Old Curiosity Shop follows the story of Little Nell who lives with her grandfather in his magical shop of curiosities in London. Her grandfather's attempts to secure an inheritance for Nell lead them into financial trouble with the evil dwarf Quilp. Nell manages to flee and lead her grandfather to safety...

The 'terrible mistake' was the contemporary utilitarian philosophy, expounded in Hard Times (1854) as the Philosophy of Fact by the hard-headed disciplinarian Thomas Gradgrind. Naxos

In Framley Parsonage, the fourth novel of Trollope's Chronicles of Barsetshire, the author leaves the confines of Barchester and looks to the countryside, where he relates the moral difficulties of Mark Robarts, the young clergyman who has recently been appointed Vicar of Framley. Desperate to keep up...

On a winter’s evening, a trio of unruly teenagers board a bus, ganging up on Luke Murray, threatening to kill him. No one intervenes until Jason Barnes, a young student, challenges the gang. Luke seizes the chance to run off the bus, but he’s followed. Andrew Barnes is dragged from the shower by his wife Valerie: there’s a fight in the garden and Jason’s trying to break it up. As Andrew rushes to help, the gang flees.

The first novel in Jessica Stirling's enthralling saga series is set in 1930s England, where an East End girl with ideas of her own makes a surprising journey from the back streets of Shadwell to the salons of Mayfair. Susan Hooper is private secretary to bestselling author, Vivian Proudfoot. Well-spoken and well-read, she soon learns how to hold her own with London's literary sophisticates. But the attentions of...

A family struggles to survive bereavement, bombing and bitter rivalry... Love is Blind is a gripping wartime saga from much-loved author Anne Baker, which follows a family's path through heartache and war. Perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Sheila Newberry. Patsy Rushton's brother Barney doesn't know the meaning of hard work, so when their father tragically dies, Patsy has no choice but to save the...

Vintage Classics Murdoch: Funny, subversive, fearless and fiercely intelligent, Iris Murdoch was one of the great writers of the 20th century. To celebrate her centenary, Vintage Classics presents special editions of her greatest and most timeless novels. A lay community of thoroughly mixed-up people is encamped outside Imber Abbey, home of an enclosed order of nuns. A new bell, legendary symbol of religion and magic...

Three married couples and a divorcee move in to the newly-built Gurney Close, which overlooks the river Wye. They organise a party to celebrate their new homes, and all goes well - until one of them is found dead the next morning. Lambert and Hook investigate.

A multi-generational story of intrigue, rivalry and romance between two families auction houses in Bath. For three generations the family-run auction houses of the Dashwoods and the Kings have been fierce rivals. The grandparents Henry Dashwood and Edward King were once best friends, despite their different backgrounds. Best friends until they fell for the same girl Eleanor Faraday eventually picked Henry but the...

Postwar Paris is alive with optimism, but lavender keeper Luc Ravens and his love, Lisette, remain haunted by the horrors they have endured. Casting their fate to the winds, they set sail for Australia, hoping to rebuild their lives in a land that's full of promise. But trouble has a way of catching up with them. When an eager young law student discovers a secret family connection with the Ravens on the other side of...

When Cliff Hardy signs on as a bodyguard for charismatic populist Rory O’Hara, who is about to embark on a campaign of social and political renewal, it looks like a tricky job; O’Hara has enemies. Sure enough, a murder and a kidnapping soon cause the campaign to fall apart. Hired to investigate the murder, Hardy uncovers hidden agendas among O’Hara’s staff and powerful political and commercial forces at work.

The second novel by Donna Tartt, best-selling author of The Goldfinch (winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize), The Little Friend is a grandly ambitious and utterly riveting novel of childhood, innocence and evil. The setting is Alexandria, Mississippi, where one Mother's Day a little boy named Robin Cleve Dufresnes was found hanging from a tree in his parents' yard. Twelve years later, Robin's murder is still unsolved and...

In 1939, as Hitler's troops march on Prague, a Jewish couple makes a heartbreaking decision that will save their eight-year-old son's life but change their family forever. Australian journalist Juliet Rieden grew up in England in the 1960s and 70s always sensing that her family was different in some way. She longed to have relatives and knew precious little about her Czech father's childhood as a refugee. On the night...

It is 1789, and three young provincials have come to Paris to make their way. Georges-Jacques Danton, an ambitious young lawyer, is energetic, pragmatic, debt-ridden--and hugely but erotically ugly. Maximilien Robespierre, also a lawyer, is slight, diligent, and terrified of violence. His dearest friend, Camille Desmoulins, is a conspirator and pamphleteer of genius. A charming gadfly, erratic and untrustworthy, bisexual...

The Lord of the Night is coming. The future of civilization is at stake. Miro is in the Imperial capital to prepare the Empire for the onslaught. He knows his homeland lies directly in the enemy's path but struggles to form the alliances he needs. As the high lords bicker, Ella seeks Killian's help. But, amid the growing tensions, their responsibilities drive them apart, as Killian can't be seen to favor Ella's homeland.

Two years have passed since the war, yet without essence the Empire's economy has collapsed. Trade is at a standstill, famine sets in, and, with no food and no essence, the people begin to riot. In the midst of the growing unrest, Miro struggles to balance his life with Amber against his resolve to keep threats to the Empire at bay. His sister, Ella, helps to build the machinery the Empire desperately needs, but she longs to...

The second book in the epic Evermen Saga. With the fate of their homeland still in jeopardy, siblings Ella and Miro must face the Primate’s evil as he discovers a new technique: a way to extract essence from human blood. The Primate has been temporarily defeated, but his home was once inhabited by the Evermen, and their ancient secrets still remain there. As the mysterious Evrin sets out to destroy everything he can...

An empire divided by magic. A nation on the brink of rebellion. After losing their parents in the last doomed uprising, two siblings will find themselves at the center of an epic struggle for power. When Ella witnesses an enchanter saving her brother's life, she knows what she wants to be. But the elite Academy expects tuition fees and knowledge. Meanwhile her brother, Miro, dreams of becoming one of the world's...

Memoirs such as this will ensure we do not lose the struggle against "forgetting" - that sly accomplice of tyranny' Magda Szubanski In 1939, as Hitler's troops march on Prague, a Jewish couple makes a heartbreaking decision that will save their eight-year-old son's life but change their family forever. Australian journalist Juliet Rieden grew up in England in the 1960s and 70s always sensing that her family...

Adam Deveril, the new Viscount Lynton and a hero at Salamanca, returns from the Peninsula War to find his family on the brink of ruin and the broad acres of his ancestral home mortgaged to the hilt. It is Lord Oversley, father of Adam's first love, who tactfully introduces him to Mr Jonathan Chaleigh, a City man of...

Captain John Staple's exploits in the Peninsula had earned him the sobriquet Crazy Jack amongst his fellows in the Dragoon Guards. Now home from Waterloo, life in peacetime is rather dull for the adventure-loving captain. But when he finds himself lost at an unmanned toll-house in the Pennines, his...

Miles from anywhere, Darracott Place is presided over by irascible Lord Darracott. The recent drowning of his eldest son has done nothing to improve his temper. For now he must send for the unknown offspring of the uncle whom the family are never permitted to mention. Yet none of that beleaguered family..

Hardly anyone ever leaves Des Moins, Iowa. But Bill Bryson did, and after ten years in England he decided to go home - to a foreign country. In an ageing Chevrolet Chevette he drove nearly 14,000 miles through 38 states to compile this amusing state-of-the-nation report on small-town America. From the Deep South to the Wild West, from Elvis's birthplace to Custer's Last Stand, through dire places he renamed Dullard,...

The Ultimate Classic Collection is drawn from our extensive back catalogue of over 300 short stories and showcases some of the finest examples of the genre: from romance to horror, detective and crime stories to the best of women's writing. The stories in this superb collection are as follows: The Girl from Arles...

Shortlisted for best audiobook in the Specsavers National Book Awards 2018. Investigative reporter Ross Hunter nearly didn’t answer the phone call that would change his life - and possibly the world - forever. I’d just like to assure you I’m not a nutcase, Mr Hunter. My name is Dr Harry F. Cook. I know this is...

Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, one hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will cast their votes in the world’s most secretive election. They are holy men. But they have ambition. And they have rivals. Over the next seventy-two hours one of them will become the most...