Showing results by narrator "Hugh Kermode" in All Categories

In 1848, Europe was engulfed in a firestorm of revolution. The streets of cities from Paris to Bucharest and from Berlin to Palermo were barricaded and flooded by armed insurgents proclaiming political liberties and national freedom. The conservative order which had held sway since the fall of Napoleon in 1815 crumbled beneath the revolutionary assault.

Quantum physics is the cornerstone of our world, offering a framework so expansive and precise that it underpins nearly every piece of modern technology. Yet, at the same time, it’s one of the hardest subjects to grasp. In Why Nobody Understands Quantum Physics, a leading scientist and a literary mind unite to explain the revolutionary discoveries and astounding phenomena at the heart of quantum physics. From the greenness of grass to the solidity of matter, they unravel why the universe behaves in the peculiar ways it does and why it's so important.

Winston Smith works in the Ministry of Truth - or Minitrue as it is called in Newspeak - altering newspapers and reports to follow the arbitrary dictates of Big Brother’s propaganda.

The headlines may be all COVID now; as a few short months ago, they were all Brexit, but breakdown of the UK's political sphere has been a long time coming and it is a symptom of a much deeper malaise. We seem to have lost our faith in all our social institutions, from parliament and the press to banking and religion. It is this wider disillusionment that All in It Together, a cultural, political and social history of Britain from 2000 to 2015, explains.

Seymour Merriman's holiday in France comes to an abrupt halt when his motorcycle starts leaking petrol. Following a lorry to find fuel, he discovers that it belongs to an English company making timber pit-props for coal mines back home. His suspicions of illegal activity are aroused when he sees the exact same lorry with a different number plate - and confirmed later with the shocking discovery of a body.

Discover the world's greatest myths and legends - from Greek mythology to Norse mythology - in this comprehensive guide. What did Japanese mythology say about the beginning of the universe? How did Oedipus become the classic tragic hero in Greek mythology? Who brought about the origin of death in Maori mythology?

The moment Inspector Danilov lays eyes on the dismembered body, he realises that he has an exceptional case on his hands. And when the first body is followed by another, and another, each displaying a new bloody message, he has no option but to face the truth. He is dealing with the worst kind of criminal: someone determined, twisted...and vengeful.

In Bloody Foreigners and The Last Wolf, Robert Winder explored the way Britain was shaped first by migration and then by hidden geographical factors. Now, in Soft Power he explores the way modern states are asserting themselves not through traditional realpolitik but through alternative means: business, language, culture, ideas, sport, education, music, even food...the texture and values of history and daily life.

A rich account of the impact of the Second World War on the lives of people living in the farms and villages of Britain. On the outbreak of war, the countryside was invaded by service personnel and evacuee children by the thousands; land was taken arbitrarily for airfields, training grounds, and firing ranges, and whole communities were evicted. Prisoner-of-war camps brought captured enemy soldiers to close quarters, and as horses gave way to tractors and combines farmers were burdened with aggressive new restrictions on what they could and could not grow.

The sensational novel which launched Collins’ Detective Story Club in 1929 was by Edgar Wallace, who wrote more crime stories in the 1920s, and more films, than any other author. This new edition of The Terror, with its original jacket artwork, also includes another classic Wallace text, White Face. A dangerous gang of criminals is imprisoned after a daring robbery, although the ringleader who masterminded the crime disappears with the loot.

In the distant future, at the end of civilisation, the remnants of society hang on, having retreated behind walls, while prisoners roam the wide-open space beyond. But is anybody free? Finbarl, a guard defending the walls of Athenia, fights to keep the flame of civilisation burning. It is the only world he knows and one he’s willing to die for. But when he intervenes to protect a boy and his mother from a fellow guard, little does he realise his world is about to unravel, setting him upon a dangerous journey of betrayal, heartbreak and discovery.

The Essential Classics Collection is a continent-hopping, century-spanning collection of five of the greatest novels ever written, and the perfect way to listen to those classics you've always been meaning to try. Read by a cast of incredible narrators including Joanne Froggatt, Stephen Fry, David Rintoul, Hugh Kermode, and Malk Williams.