Showing results by author "Šimon" in All Categories

The future is always bright…if you know where to look. Join me each week for A Bit of Optimism! I talk to inspiring people who teach me more about life, leadership and general interesting things.

It is late summer AD 44, and the battle-weary Roman legions are in their second year of campaigning against the British tribes. The troops' commander, General Plautius, is under pressure from the emperor to crush the natives once and for all. Centurions Macro and Cato are with the crack Second Legion under the precarious leadership of Centurion Maximus, and it's their task to hold a ford across the river Tamesis when the natives are forced into a trap.

Jude's life has been turned upside-down thanks her new man, Piers Targett, who's keen to get her involved in his hobby – or obsession – of Real Tennis. But when one of Piers' friends dies on the court in suspicious circumstances, Jude finds herself caught up in the police investigation. Meanwhile, Jude's neighbour Carole is trying to identify the human remains known locally as the “Lady in the Lake”.

A podcast about painting. Interviews and conversations with top contemporary painters on process, inspiration and what it means to be an artist.

It's 1804. Napoleon Bonaparte is emperor of France, his ultimate aim to rule Europe. After defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar, he wins a glorious victory against Austria at Austerlitz. He then deposes the Spanish king and places his own brother on the throne. But he is yet to triumph over his most hated enemy: Great Britain. Arthur Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington) throws himself into the British campaign in Europe. After glory in Portugal, he commands the army in a series of triumphant battles across Spain.

Fifteen years after Rome's invasion of Britannia, centurion Marco is back. The island is settled now, bustling with commerce. Macro's goal is to help run his mother's Londinium Inn and exploit his land grant. He's prepared for the dismal weather and the barbaric ways of the people. But far worse dangers threaten all his plans.

As the Black Death swept across Europe, killing up to a half of the population in certain areas, a young Geoffrey Chaucer came of age in England. While he and his family avoided the worst of the disease, all were shaped by its presence and impact on the British island. With expert Simon Doubleday, professor of history at Hofstra University, in After the Plague, examine medieval literature like The Canterbury Tales for firsthand accounts from minority voices not typically heard from in the period.

Gideon Sable specializes in stealing the kind of things that can't usually be stolen. But these days the master thief is officially retired from the game. Now, instead of pulling off elaborate heists with his crew of supernatural specialists, he runs a magical shop in the heart of London with his partner Annie Anybody. Still, he can't resist occasionally going out in the night to steal things when Annie's not looking. But after one of his late-night illicit jaunts, Gideon returns to the shop to find that while he's been stealing, someone else has been hard at work . . . stealing from him.

The gripping new race-against-time thriller by the best-selling author of Relentless, The Last 10 Seconds and The Final Minute. When Jane Kinnear sees her lover being murdered, she suddenly finds herself in danger. Taken to an anonymous police safe house, it soon becomes clear that her lover was an MI5 informant with important information about an imminent terrorist attack.

You’re on a trip with your family, miles from anywhere. A shot rings out - and your whole life changes in an instant. A woman is racing towards you, chased by three gunmen. Although you don’t know it, she harbours a deadly secret. She’s in terrible danger. And now you are, too. You’re running, terrified, desperate to find safety. You know that the men hunting you have killed before. And if they catch you, you’ll be next.…

In A Beginner's Guide to Dying Simon considers and collates the things that have given him such a great sense of peace and contentment, and why dying at 46 really isn't so bad. And for that reason it's also only partly about 'dying'. It is mostly a hymn to the joy and preciousness of life, and why giving death a place can help all of us make even more of it.

The multi award-winning SmartPass study guide with and without commentary options. This is a full-cast, unabridged performance with comprehensive commentary and analysis for any student to fully understand and appreciate the play. Universally accepted as Shakespeare's finest play, we peel back the layers of Hamlet to discover how and why it deserves such a place of honour in world literature.

The Elizabethan house of Bracketts is about to be turned into a museum. It had once been the home of the celebrated poet Esmund Chadleigh and is to become a shrine to his life and poetry - but the transition is far from smooth. Carole Seddon had been reluctant to join the Bracketts Board, and now she realises that she should have listened to her instinct. The simmering tension between the board members is about to boil over. A human skeleton is discovered in the kitchen garden, and before too long there is a second body, not yet cold.

Invited to a Private View of the work of controversial artist Denzil Willoughby, the good citizens of Fethering are not quite sure what to expect. And it certainly turns out to be a lively affair, culminating in a confrontation between Willoughby and his ex-lover, followed by a heated argument with the gallery owner and a rival artist. But what no one could have anticipated was that the evening would end in sudden, violent death.

Carole Seddon has never enjoyed holidays much. Nevertheless, she has allowed herself to be persuaded by her friend Jude to accept a fortnight’s free accommodation at a luxurious Turkish villa owned by Jude’s property developer friend Barney Willingdon. But from the outset the holiday is marred by a series of menacing incidents.

Sisters Anna, Victoria and Charlotte are back for four more series, in which relationships are forged, hearts are broken and family ties are strained - but not severed. Older sister Anna continues to live her life on her own terms, despite her sisters' insistence on being there for her. But when she suffers a couple of knocks to her confidence and needs a shoulder to cry on, they are too self-absorbed to be any use. Fortunately, niece Emily provides moral support and Anna reciprocates with some down-to-earth advice about Emily's love life.

London, 1969: The Kray twins, the nemeses of Charles Holborne, barrister, are finally convicted of multiple murders and sent away for the longest prison terms ever imposed by a British court. But with London in the grip of a housing crisis and unscrupulous landlords hiking rents, there are new ruthless enforcers terrorizing destitute East Enders. When a tenant dies during a violent altercation with bailiffs, Charles is instructed to represent the businessmen charged with conspiracy to murder.

What if there was a way of eating that may help us live healthier for longer and protect the future of our planet, too? The good news is that evidence now shows a plant-based diet may offer us exactly that – and straight-talking nutritionist Simon Hill has done the hard work translating the science into actionable advice for everyday life. Before transitioning to a plant-based diet Simon held many of the common misconceptions.

Listen as Horrid Henry makes his own scary movie; persuades Peter to hand over his stash of Grump Cards (as a brilliant scheme to get him out of the punishments his parents give him); and spends a weekend at Aunt Ruby's where he has to share a bedroom with his two arch-enemies, Stuck-Up Steve and Bossy Bill. Follow along as Henry's school decides to have a mini-Olympics and Harry sets up his own Holympics, with medals for crisp-eating, TV watching, and Burping to the Beat.

The Romanovs were the most successful dynasty of modern times, ruling a sixth of the world's surface. How did one family turn a war-ruined principality into the world's greatest empire? And how did they lose it all? This is the intimate story of 20 tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by holy autocracy and imperial ambition.