Showing results by narrator "Jot Davies" in All Categories

Colin Coleridge is facing a long, boring summer holiday with nothing to do. But when he notices some weird markings outside his house, and some strangers acting very suspiciously in his neighbour’s garden, he decides to investigate. And before too long, Colin and his new friend Lucy have found themselves caught up in a mission involving an ancient sword, a mysterious curse, and a plan to save the world.

Set in the near-distant future, Spaceman of Bohemia follows a Czech astronaut as he launches into space to investigate a mysterious dust cloud covering Venus, a suicide mission sponsored by a proud nation. Suddenly a world celebrity, Jakub's marriage starts to fail as the weeks go by, and his sanity comes into question. After his mission is derailed, he must make a violent decision that will force him to come to terms with his family's dark political past.

Kenneth Clark was the grandest figure in the arts in Britain in the 20th century. Museum director, patron, pioneer of television, cultural panjandrum, he effortlessly dominated the art world for over half a century. Clark belonged to that stratum of society that used to be called "the top people" and was befriended by both the Queen Mother and Winston Churchill. His closest friendships, however, were amongst writers and artists, men such as John Betjeman, Graham Sutherland, Henry Moore and John Piper.

Welcome to Victorian London; the home of the Artful Dodger, Sherlock Holmes... and Ben Kingdom, cocky street urchin - and the saviour of mankind. Unknown to mere mortals, an ancient battle is being waged across the city.

Journey from fantasy mountains to super-cities, through piratical seas and up into space without missing any must-see sights - or putting a foot wrong with the locals! Whether you’re lord of the shoestring-budget or Luxe Skywalker - Notes from Small Planets is your pastiche passport through the best worlds of science fiction and fantasy. Your ultimate travel guide to all the must-see locations in the worlds of science fiction and fantasy.

According to Winston Churchill, Alan Turing made the single biggest contribution to the Allied victory over Nazi Germany with his code-breaking machine. The world is also indebted to Turing's genius for the modern computer. It was clear that Turing had a remarkable mind from an early age. He taught himself to read in just three weeks. At his first school, the headmistress said, "I have had clever and hardworking boys, but Alan has genius."

Devised by devious genius Tom Cutler, The Pilot Who Wore a Dress is a fiendish collection of riddles, mysteries and puzzles to test and tease your brain. This title includes an accompanying PDF. Here's a simple one to get you started: four bodybuilders are huddling together in the street, under a small ladies' umbrella, yet after 20 minutes not one of them has got wet. How is this possible?

Whether searching for extra-terrestrial life, managing the effects of space weather or learning about dark matter, the study astrophysics has profound implications for us all. NASA scientist and astronomer Sten Odenwald explains the key concepts of this vast topic, bringing clarity to some of the great mysteries of space.

Escape into this hugely enjoyable, big-hearted, and beautifully written novel set in Vallerosa, a European country you've never heard of before. Find yourself in Vallerosa, a place lost in time. Vallerosa is every tourist's dream - a tiny, picturesque country surrounded by lush valleys and verdant mountains; a place sheltered from modern life and the rampant march of capitalism. But in isolation the locals have grown cranky, unfulfilled, and disaffected.

When 14-year-old Jacob misses his connecting flight in Chicago, he tries to complete his journey to LA by Greyhound bus. But on board he meets American teenager Jennifer, who is carrying a mysterious package and being chased by an enigmatic pursuer known only as ‘the Cowboy’...And she needs a partner in crime. The unlikely pair soon find themselves on the road-trip of a lifetime – a funny, filmic adventure.

From Socrates' fascinating discussions of morality and virtue to Pythagoras' attempts to understand the arrangement of the cosmos, the thinkers of the ancient world provided us with an astonishing array of ideas that has helped to shape the modern world. Ranging across Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy from Anaximander to Plotinus, Knowledge in a Nutshell: Classical Philosophy explains important ideas such as Plato's Theory of Forms, Zeno's Paradox, and the Stoicism of Marcus Aurelius. This essential introduction brings the great ideas of antiquity to everyone.

Sir Peter Scott had a truly incredible life. He was the only son of legendary explorer Captain Scott. His godfather was J. M. Barrie, and he was married to Elizabeth Jane Howard. He also represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at sailing in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal. He founded the Wildfoul and Wetlands Trust and also helped to found the Worldwide Fund for Nature. This is a beautiful and timely re-discovered book, perfect for those who are interested in preserving our planet.

Banned by the Nazis, the haunting novel At the Edge of the Night (Am Rande der Nacht), by the German writer Friedo Lampe, is a work of magic realism. This poignant book, beautifully translated by Simon Beattie, was, in Lampe’s own words, ‘born into a regime where it could not breathe’; he hoped that one day it might rise again. It evokes the sensations and impressions of a sultry September evening on the waterfront of Bremen, with its charm and tenderness, squalor and lust.

From the award-winning author of Space Mutts comes the second otterly chaotic title! Part of the Awesome Animals range - the funniest fiction staring the wildest wildlife! There's a new family on the river…the beavers. And they're ruining everything for the Otters. The beavers' big fat dam has blocked up the river and worse…it's stopped their supply of delicious crayfish! Something must be done! It seems like things can't get any worse for our otters until they discover a mountain lion has also moved in.

Wolf Hadda's life has been a fairy tale. From humble origins as a Cumbrian woodcutter's son, he has risen to be a hugely successful entrepreneur. Then early one morning, there comes a loud knocking at his door and the fairy tale ends. Within months he is universally reviled as a convicted fraudster and paedophile, abandoned by his friends, divorced by his wife, cut off from his daughter, and his company Woodcutter Enterprises has collapsed.

At the age of 42, his father not long dead and his young sons growing fast, Toby Ferris set off on a seemingly quixotic mission to track down each of the 42 surviving paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, who, at the age of 42, had been approaching the end of his own short life. Over the next five years Ferris would travel to 22 galleries in 19 cities in 12 countries across 2 continents: Budapest to San Diego, Detroit to Naples, Berlin to Madrid, ticking off his Bruegels as he went. The results of his journeying are a revelation....

Sing along with this fun collection of 40 classic nursery rhymes! Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, Little Miss Muffett and many other popular nursery rhyme characters are brought together in this entertaining collection of 40 familiar favourites. Including lively action rhymes, bouncy counting rhymes and soothing bedtime rhymes, children will love singing along, over and over again. Come and join in the fun! Includes 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', 'Jack and Jill', 'This Little Piggy', 'Three Little Kittens' and other nursery favourites.

The thrilling debut from comedy writer and stand-up star Will Smith - a novel about loneliness, about not belonging, and about the corroding effects of keeping secrets. It's Jersey in 1987, and the storm clouds are gathering over Colin Bygate. Sitting on a headland, stewing over the discovery that his wife used to date Rob de la Haye, a brash hotelier who is everything that Colin is not, he spots a pupil near the edge of the cliff.

We've all had sleepless nights thinking about it. You're home alone. Someone breaks in. In defending yourself, you end up killing the intruder. Now you're the one the police want. That is the situation that criminal barrister Paul Reeve arrives home to find. His wife, Alice, stands in the bedroom, clutching a bloodied letter opener in her shaking hand. 'What have you done, Alice?' 'I didn't have a choice....' We would all believe the person we love most.

Einstein, Bounce and Puzzle are thrilled to be back at Sandcliff Lighthouse for another holiday. There are lots of other pups staying there this time which means fun for everyone! But when the local beach is covered in dog poo, the pals find themselves in a sticky situation. It gets so bad that even the puffins - who visit every year - are staying away! And then the local people start to blame the kennels, even though the pups know that Jackie and Trevor always clean up after them.