Showing results by narrator "Philip Franks" in All Categories

Trapped in a London flat, Beth remembers a transgressive love affair in 1960s Paris. The most famous writer in Russia takes his last breath in a stationmaster’s cottage, miles from Moscow. A father, finally free of his daughter’s demands, embarks on a long swim from his Canadian lakeside retreat. And in the grandest house of all, Danni the Polish housekeeper catches the eye of an enigmatic visitor.Rose Tremain awakens the senses in this diverse collection of short stories.

First he considers moments in history - Periclean Athens, the English Civil War, the American and French Revolutions, among them - in which the challenges we face today were first encountered and what solutions, however imperfect, were found. Then he lays bare the specific problems of democracy in the 21st century and maps out a set of urgently needed reforms. With the advent of authoritarian leaders and the simultaneous rise of populism, representative democracy appears to be caught between a rock and a hard place, yet it is this space that it must occupy, says Grayling, if a civilised society that looks after all its people is to flourish.

A stolen maypole, romantic con artists and the case of a missing child. The villagers are quite a handful, from the rogue that is Claude Jeremiah Greengrass and his wily dog, Alfred, to the mysterious spinster Adelaide Bowes. Even some of the newcomers seem to be a little odd. But thankfully for Constable Nick, they are mostly law-abiding characters. But when old conflicts between villages flare up, it’s Constable Nick who has to sort things out.

Miss Mackenzie by Trollope was the runner-up in Radio 4's 'Neglected Classics' vote. Margaret Mackenzie is a single woman in her mid-thirties who receives a large inheritance when her brother dies. She must then deal with what comes with the fortune, including several suitors, who may, or, may not, simply be after her money.

Robert Nobel, the school pariah, triumphs over his own fears and the school bully in this extraordinary tale of self-empowerment, legend and death. Robert is a boy who can do anything - or so old Edith Sorrel at the nursing home tells him. Robert doesn't think so, knowing as he does that he is the school geek. But something compels him to do what Edith asks - to visit old Chance House, where a boy once fell to his death from the top floor flat, to confront his fears and find some answers.

Book One in the best-selling 'Uncle Albert' science/adventure series. Famous scientist Uncle Albert and his niece Gedanken enter the dangerous and unknown world of a thought bubble. Their mission: to unlock the deep mysteries of time and space... In this action-packed adventure story, discover why you can't break the ultimate speed barrier and find out how to become older than your mother, how to put on weight without getting fat, and how to live forever without even knowing it.

In these 17 essays (and one short story) the 2011 Man Booker Prize winner examines British, French, and American writers who have meant most to him, as well as the cross-currents and overlappings of their different cultures. From the deceptiveness of Penelope Fitzgerald to the directness of Hemingway, from Kipling's view of France to the French view of Kipling, from the many translations of Madame Bovary to the fabulations of Ford Madox Ford, from the National Treasure status of George Orwell to the despair of Michel Houellebecq, Julian Barnes considers what fiction is.

August 1914: In the sweltering heat, the fate of Europe hangs in the balance. Germany is hurling her forces into a carefully planned invasion of Belgium and France. Bound by an 1839 treaty to protect Belgium from any invader, Britain came to its defence. With the British Expeditionary Force numbering just 120,000 men, and dwarfed by the vast manpower of Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm II remains unfazed by this ‘contemptible little army'. But the BEF was, man for man, the best trained army in Europe.

In 1964, a young artist sat sketching former prime minister Winston Churchill. The Sunday Times refused to print the resulting drawing of this frail, aged figure - so far from the public image of the man - it was too truthful. In Long Drawn Out Trip, Gerald tells his life story for the first time. With captivating, often thrilling stories, he takes us back to his wartime childhood and the terrible curse of asthma, through his days as an advertising draughtsman, to his field reporting in Vietnam and the giddy highs of rock 'n' roll.

The Royal British Legion was founded in 1921. It is now the country’s leading charity providing financial, social and emotional support to those who have served or who are currently serving in the British Armed Forces and their dependants. The RBL is behind the annual Poppy Appeal, the highest...

Avid antiques collector Pierre-Francois Chaumont unearths the find of a lifetime at a Paris auction house: an 18th-century portrait of a gentleman who looks just like him. Researching into the painting's history, he has the chance to abandon his tedious existence and walk into a brand new life.

Telling the Story shows how leaders affect our understanding of what is possible and desirable through the stories they tell. It opens a door into the world of narrative leadership: what stories are and how they work, when to tell a story and how to tell one well, and how the language and metaphors we use influence our actions and change how we think about the world.

The Psychology of Conflict is a timely new contribution on the unique benefits of applying philosophy and psychology to mediating between people in conflict. Following his previous book with Dr. Freddie Strasser - Mediation: A Psychological Insight into Conflict Resolution - Paul Randolph here examines the application of existential philosophy to the psychology of conflict, particularly as seen in mediation.

These 25 new stories mark Graham Swift's return to the short form after seven acclaimed novels and confirm him as a master storyteller. They unite into a richly peopled vision of a country that is both a crucible of history and a maze of contemporary confusions.

Author, bookseller, spy-breaker, killer. Enter the world of Russell Stickles. Not since George Harvey Bone in Hangover Square has there ever been a singular protagonist as compelling. As sickly. As sick. From the creator of Dead Funny: Horror Stories by Comedians comes a stunning novel that re-invents the tale of the empty man.

What if the villain of your childhood turned out to be someone really rather extraordinary? A disgraced politician, Sir James Hastings is living out his retirement in a secluded Surrey village. He is unmoved by his centenarian mother's death - a woman he emotionally buried upon her abandonment. Raised by his father, a charismatic war-hero turned racing driver, the young James, torn between self-blame and longing, eventually dismissed her.

In the mid-20th century the relationship between America and Britain had a chequered past. Theirs was a history of protection and oppression, of rebellion and ultimately war. But then the shared crisis of the Second World War brought Britain and America closer than ever before or since and saw an unprecedented level of military cooperation. How was such a radical shift possible?

Jack und Cliff freuen sich: Sie dürfen mit Onkel Curtis auf der Asturia nach Florida fahren. Doch gleich zu Beginn der Reise häufen sich die seltsamen Vorgänge: Cliffs Koffer lässt mit seinem Schlüssel nicht öffnen, ihre Kabine wird durchwühlt und sie verfolgen einen verdächtigen Lauscher.

In einem streng geheimen Forschungslabor wagt Wissenschaftlerin Dr. Julia Bahr ein fragwürdiges Experiment: die Genmanipulation an einem Menschen. Die Folgen sind grauenhaft. Als ein Mitarbeiter der Ärztin ermordet wird, interessiert sich die Kriminalpolizei für die Forschungsarbeit auf der "Ebene 03" - und auch eine fremde Macht. TV-Reporter Klaus Peter Halmer und seine Freundin Dominique werden in den Strudel der Ereignisse hineingezogen und stellen sich immer mehr die Frage: Darf der Mensch Gott spielen?

Der stolze Hirsch ist in einem Zaun verfangen und hat die ganze Nacht vor Angst gezittert. Gemeinsam mit dem Falken versucht das Schäfchen ihm zu helfen. Doch wird seine Befreiung gelingen, bevor die Jäger ihn finden? Eine weitere liebevolle Geschichte mit dem kleinen Schäfchen, umgesetzt von hervorragenden Sprechern, die in die Rolle von Tieren und Pflanzen schlüpfen. Das Ganze gewürzt mit dichter Atmosphäre, feinen Geräuschen und harmonischer Musik macht sie zum Hörspaß für die ganze Familie.