Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World For years the imperial red of the British was splattered over vast areas of the world, including America, Asia and Africa. But how did a tiny island manage to take on almost the entire planet? I bought both the hardback and audio versions of this fabulous book so…
Category: Audiobook
‘Refusal’ by Felix Francis
Refusal Six years after investigator Sid Halley’s retirement, a request from racing authority chairman Sir Richard Stewart looks like pushing Sid back into the sleuthing game. But the former jockey-turned-detective has no desire to revive a line of work that got him shot, beaten up and thrown in the path of danger on a regular…
‘Heist’ by Howard Sounes
Heist (Audiobook) In February 2006, an unlikely gang of would-be villains stole £53 million from a cash warehouse in Tonbridge, Kent. Rocketing the caper into the annals of British crimes such as the Great Train Robbery, the theft was audacious in its premise and, at times, positively farcical in its execution. Subtitled ‘The True Story…
‘Oliver Twist’ by Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist Brought up in the workhouse, orphan Oliver escapes to London and finds himself caught in Fagin’s criminal underworld. Everyone knows the basic plot of this classic tale, but I was surprised to learn how much of it was new to me. It turns out that the many film and TV versions rarely do…
‘The Fry Chronicles: An Autobiography’ by Stephen Fry
The Fry Chronicles: An Autobiography (Audiobook) Following on from the highly successful, ‘Moab Is My Washpot,’ (Stephen Fry’s autobiography of his early years), the award-winning comedian, actor, author, director and presenter continues the story of his various antics in and out of the limelight, with this delightful volume. I often read books in the wrong…
‘H. H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil’ by Adam Selzer
H. H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil (Audiobook) Comprehensive examination of the life and career of America’s first serial killer, using contemporary letters, documents, court records and newspaper articles. The book traces the infamous Holmes through several marriages, medical experiments and early attempts at insurance fraud, to the many individuals he…
‘Crimson Rose’ by MJ Trow
Crimson Rose (Audiobook) London, 1587. A new play entitled Tamburlaine opens at the Rose Theatre, but when a member of the audience is murdered, young actor Will Shakespeare is the prime suspect and is thrown into jail. Playwright and part-time spy, Kit Marlowe, knows his friend is innocent and sets out to investigate. But when…
‘The Road to Jonestown’ by Jeff Guinn
The Road to Jonestown (Audiobook) Best-selling author Jeff Guinn turns his investigative talents to the life and work of preacher and so-called cult leader, Jim Jones, who was responsible for the Jonestown Massacre in 1978. From gospel/socialist beginnings in Indiana, to the events surrounding the worst mass-suicide in history, this is an enthralling and scary…
‘The Invisible Man’ by HG Wells
The Invisible Man (Audiobook) An impetuous scientist manages to make himself invisible by interfering with his body’s refractive index. However, on discovering the impossibility of reversing the process, he begins to consider how this new characteristic might have unexpected benefits. Turning to crime, he becomes obsessed with making the most of his invisibility and gradually…
‘Speaks the Nightbird’ by Robert McCammon
Speaks the Nightbird (Audiobook) 1699. A magistrate and his clerk journey to the remote community of Fount Royal in The Carolinas, intending to put on trial a woman accused of witchcraft. But the young clerk, Matthew Corbett, isn’t convinced of the woman’s guilt and when the magistrate falls ill, takes on the task of putting…
