Showing results by narrator "Armstrong" in All Categories

Thomas Cromwell is known to millions as the leading character in Hilary Mantel's best-selling Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. But who was the real Cromwell? Born a lowly tavern keeper's son, Cromwell rose swiftly through the ranks to become Henry VIII's right-hand man, and one of the most powerful figures in Tudor history. The architect of England's break with the Roman Catholic Church and the dissolution of the monasteries, he oversaw seismic changes in our country's history.

Stephen Greif and Gareth Armstrong read these classic ghost stories from two masters of the genre. These four suspenseful tales of the supernatural, from M. R. James and Charles Dickens, will keep you on the edge of your seat and leave you with a lingering sense of foreboding. In "The Tractate Middoth", librarian David Garrett has a terrifying encounter while searching for an obscure book, while in "Mr Testator's Visitation", a poor man 'borrows' some furniture from another man's cellar, never expecting the owner to return and claim it. Then, late one night, there is a knock upon his door....

He’s the Man With No Name and the owner of No Alibis, a mystery bookshop in Belfast. But when a detective agency next door goes bust, the agency’s clients start calling into his shop asking him to solve their cases. It’s not as if there’s any danger involved. It’s an easy way to sell books to his gullible customers and Alison, the beautiful girl in the jewellery shop across the road, will surely be impressed. Except she’s not – because she can see the bigger picture.

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.

As the Horus Heresy divides the Imperium, Corax and his few remaining Raven Guard escape the massacre at Isstvan V. Tending to their wounds, the bloodied Space Marines endeavour to replenish their numbers and return to the fray, taking the fight to the traitor Warmaster.

Nathaniel Garro and the Knights-Errant offer a tantalising answer to a question many fans of Warhammer 40,000 and the Horus Heresy have asked themselves - did every member of the traitor Legions turn against the Imperium? This collection of stories follows some few Astartes who turned on their Legion rather than their emperor or else became blackshields - renegades in that grey space somewhere between loyalty and betrayal.

Milton Jones, Milton Jones - so good, they named him. The most popular living comedian on Radio 4 and officially Britain's funniest Milton is here with the complete three series of his award-wining show that leapt from late night to prime time - a show which costars regular guests Alexander Armstrong ( Pointless, Armstrong & Miller), Dave Lamb (the voice of Come Dine with Me) and Joanna Scanlan ( The Thick of It, Getting On).

Since the earliest days of the Great Crusade, Sanguinius - angelic primarch of the IXth Legion - was ever among the closest and most loyal of Horus' brothers. But the Blood Angels have long kept their true nature hidden from the rest of the Imperium, and when the Warmaster hints that the key to their salvation may lie in the ruins of a conquered world, the sons of Sanguinius race to claim it.

For centuries, Swiss banks have served the globe's wealthiest individuals, employing a strict culture of anonymity and gaining massive wealth in the process. But when Credit Suisse collapsed, the veil of secrecy came down and the world was suddenly privy to the corruption, scandal and empty hubris that keep our biggest banks alive.

The Red Queen tells the story of the child-bride of Edmund Tudor, who, although widowed in her early teens, uses her determination of character and wily plotting to infiltrate the house of York under the guise of loyal friend and servant, undermine the support for Richard III and ultimately ensure that her only son, Henry Tudor, triumphs as King of England.

Meet Gerard, the guinea pig detective. Whenever there’s a crime in town, all the pets and street animals can rely on him. He is known, however, to have a very sweet tooth, and only investigates a case when given a delicious treat. Together with Gerard, find out who snatched the cat’s breakfast, investigate the darkest streets in town, and discover the identity of the mysterious monster who scares all the pets.

The highly acclaimed unexpurgated notes taken by James Pope-Hennessy for his official biography of Queen Mary, the present Queen's grandmother. Published in full for the first time and edited by much-admired royal biographer Hugo Vickers. When James Pope-Hennessy began his work on Queen Mary's official biography, it opened the door to meetings with royalty, court members and retainers around Europe. The series of candid observations, secrets and indiscretions contained in his notes were to be kept private for 50 years....

Since the first ‘Best of Young British Novelists’ issue in 1983, Granta has championed the work of authors who have changed the landscape of British literature. In 1983, featured writers included Kazuo Ishiguro, Salman Rushdie, Julian Barnes, Martin Amis and Pat Barker, among many others. Subsequent editions have highlighted the work of Zadie Smith, Nicola Barker, Ben Okri, Jeanette Winterson and others. In 2023, they will introduce listeners around the world to a cohort of outstanding new British voices.

Becky Brown has selected extracts from the Mass Observation Archives to anthologise the voices of everyday people as they deal individually and collectively with the crisis of the Second World War. The diarists themselves have been selected from every level of society - from warehousemen to widows, soldiers to farmhands, WRENs to architects. The extracts have been chosen to both uplift and to ground, to remind listeners that nothing is new, that everything can be weathered and perhaps even made better. After all, World War II saw the birth of the NHS.

The Great Bear will descend from the skies and with his paw lash at the ocean. He will devour all the works of Man. Then he will sleep for 10,000 years, and the breath of his sleep will be death. The prophecy had come true. The world spun. Tidal waves lashed the planet, and a new ice age dawned. The few survivors of a once-great empire struggled to rebuild. Then two moons appeared in the skies, unleashing a terrible evil that threatened not only the new empire but the survival of the world itself.

When a salesman from a Paris department store confides his secret fears to Maigret, the Inspector soon becomes caught up in a treacherous feud between husband and wife that is not as clear cut as it seems.

In The Black Death: New Lessons from Recent Research, celebrated medievalist Dorsey Armstrong shares the fascinating new story of this old pandemic—revealed by dedicated researchers working with 21st-century technologies and a knowledge of language and history that now provide input from all geographic areas of the medieval world. In seven engaging lectures, Professor Armstrong corrects explanations of the pandemic that are now known to be inaccurate and offers a more robust description of plague biology than has ever been known.

The town of Rossmore is a special place, full of character and charm. Nestled beside the Whitethorn Woods, the town has grown since the days when it was small and friendly and everyone knew everyone else. But it still has the woods, with the well dedicated to St Ann, where generations have come to pray or make wishes or just to look back at the pretty little town. Which is why there is going to be such a fuss about the plans for the new road cutting through Whitethorn Woods.

Grey Hutchins comes to Tokyo seeking answers to what happened during the Nanking Massacre in which, in one city, the Japanese Army killed up to 300,000 civilians. But she finds herself increasingly desperate and alone in a nightclub catering to Japanese businessmen. One gangster dominates - an old man rumoured to rely on a powerful elixir for his continued wealth and well-being. It is an elixir that others want for themselves - at any price.

The Officio Assassinorum safeguards the future of humanity. Its agents are the bloody-handed, secret saviours of the Imperium, killers charged with achieving the impossible...and Vindicare assassin Absolom Raithe has just been handed the most difficult assignment of his career.