Showing results by narrator "Neil" in All Categories

The body of a well-liked local historian is found half-buried under a wall near the village of Helmthorpe, Swainsdale. Who on earth would want to kill such a thoughtful, dedicated man? Penny Cartwright, a beautiful folk singer with a mysterious past, a shady land-developer, Harry's editor, and a local thriller writer are all suspects, and all are figures from Harry's previous, idyllic summers in the dale. A young girl, Sally Lumb, knows more than she lets on, and her knowledge could lead to danger.

In this persuasive and powerful manifesto, Neil Mercer, Professor of Education at Cambridge and Director of the Oracy Centre, calls for oracy to have an equal footing alongside literacy and numeracy: students should leave school not only as readers and writers, but as accomplished speakers and listeners. With warmth, clarity and insight, he demonstrates how oracy education has nothing to do with “speaking posh”, or eliminating style, slang and regional accents, but instead empowers people to find and express their unique voice.

The broken body of Jason Fox has been found in a dirty alleyway. At first it looks like a typical after-hours pub fight gone wrong. But Inspector Alan Banks soon realises that the truth is rarely so straightforward.

Do you believe in magic? Carter doesn’t. He knows magic tricks are just that - tricks. And as a street magician he’s also pretty good at them. But then Carter runs away from his con man uncle, and he finds himself alone and in danger from dastardly carnival ringleader, B. B. Bosso. He could really use some magic now.... A chance encounter with the mysterious Mr Dante Vernon leads Carter to a magic shop, where he teams up with five other like-minded kids, and the Magic Misfits are born! Can the gang use their magical talents to save the day and stop B. B. stealing a priceless diamond?

What is consciousness? Is the mind a machine? What makes us persons? How can we find the path to human maturity? These are among the fundamental questions that Rowan Williams helps us to think about in this deeply engaging exploration of what it means to be human.

As the fighting competition grips Vuzgal, the city-state declares its independence and strength. Alva prepares to retake the lost floor of Water. The Adventurer Guild hones their blades, training and cultivating. They prepare for war, for the Willful Institute to reap what they have sown. Erik and Rugrat’s travels take them to the sixth realm, a realm with cities under the sun and dungeons beneath. Not all of Earth’s modern knowledge is used to help or heal. The Beast Mountain range is united under the empire.

Clyde Hatchett has known he's had a corpse-king inside him, slowly trying to take over his body and raise an army of undead for a while now. And while that may seem like a rather, um, urgent matter to attend to, it's only now, after being forced out of Glaton by his best friends and then having to rescue someone's sister from a bad marriage, that he's actually in a place to deal with it. And he better deal with it quickly, since his entire left hand is starting to look like it belongs to the Crypt-Keeper.

We join Montana, recently returned from an impromptu study abroad trip, a bit wiser, a bit broader in perspective, and a lot freaked out by the once-dead person who's currently in his bedroom. Possible zombie sightings aside, he's finally ready to take his job as Duke seriously. And just in time too - not only are the politics of the capital rapidly closing in on Montana's little valley holding, but there are also goblins to negotiate with. Plus, that cult threatening to take the lives of his citizens.

It's winter in Cherringham, and petty thief Charlie Topper's life is in danger. Desperate, he reaches out to Jack and Sarah for help: last summer - during a robbery - he witnessed a cold-blooded murder, and now he fears the killer is after him. Can Jack and Sarah solve this very cold case - before the desperate murderer comes for them too? Set in the sleepy English village of Cherringham, the detective series brings together an unlikely sleuthing duo: English web designer Sarah and American ex-cop Jack.

Montana's new life in Vuldranni, the medieval fantasy game world he lucked into, isn't quite the tranquil extended fishing trip he'd been hoping for. But you gotta admit, he's doing pretty well for himself. Now he's Montana Coggeshall, heir to a dukedom. If he can get his crew to Osterstadt and claim it in time.

The Amritsar Massacre of 1919 was a seminal moment in the history of the British Empire, yet it remains poorly understood. In this dramatic account, Kim A. Wagner details the perspectives of ordinary people and argues that General Dyer's order to open fire at Jallianwalla Bagh was an act of fear. Situating the massacre within the "deep" context of British colonial mentality and the local dynamics of Indian nationalism, Wagner provides a genuinely nuanced approach to the bloody history of the British Empire.

When the lifeless body of crime journalist Tom Pinder is fished out of the river near Jack's barge, it seems that the hardened old drinker may just have had one too many... and accidentally slipped to a watery death. But Pinder's young colleague doesn't buy that explanation, and asks Jack and Sarah to investigate. As they dig deep into the stories that Pinder was working on, Jack and Sarah soon discover that he had made some very dangerous enemies prepared to stop at nothing to keep a dangerous truth buried.

Up until now, Montana's gotten by pretending he's a regular guy. Well, a regular, overpowered, god-defeating guy who maybe just learned his hair is in all the wrong places. But the big city is calling, and in order to succeed there, Montana must actually prove himself a deserving duke. If Glaton finds him lacking, Coggeshall could be forced into even further isolation. But if Glaton falls in love with him, the regular guy from Motor City could end up with limitless power, in charge of it all. And just like that, the fate of the entire Empire is in Montana's hands.

The Pilgrim's Progress is regarded as one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature and is considered by some to be the first novel written in English. First published in 1678, it has been translated into more than 200 languages and had never been out of print. In this production dramatist Brian Sibley delivers a fresh perspective and wonderful re-telling of the adventures of Christian, a pilgrim who embarks on a perilous journey from his hometown, the allegorical City of Destruction, to the Celestial City, or Heaven.

Franny Doyle is having the worst day. She’s been sacked, the subway doors ripped her favorite dress to ruins, and now she’s flashed her unmentionables to half of lower Manhattan. On the plus side, a dashing stranger came to her rescue with his (Gucci!) suit jacket. On the down side, he can’t get away from her fast enough. Worse yet? Someone posted their (entirely not) meet-cute online. Suddenly Franny and her rescuer, Hayes Montgomery, are the newest social media sensation, and all of New York is shipping #SubwayQTs.

The Army of Earth is being sent on its first tour of duty. Its 50,000 proud and valiant troopers are the best of the best, full of hope for brilliant victories and spoils of war that can help Earth's humanity along in its development. There's just one little problem, though. The operation's Geckho commanders view their human vassals as mere cannon fodder, good only for plugging up holes in their defensive line and shipping out to the space war's most punishing hotspots where the chance of surviving is practically nil.

Within our heads, we carry around an infinite and endlessly unfolding map of the world. Navigation is one of the most ancient neural abilities we have - older even than language - and in Dark and Magical Places, Christopher Kemp embarks on a journey to discover the remarkable extent of what our minds can do.

Following his successful mission to recover the missing warship, ESS Crimson, Captain John Duggan finds himself unredeemed in the eyes of his superiors. His duties resume, and this time, he's given something easy - escort a cargo ship to a distant planet and bring it home safely. But war is never so predictable, and a straightforward mission becomes something much more important. The outcome may well determine the future of humanity. Someone has terrible plans for the ESS Crimson, and Duggan is about to find himself party to endless destruction.

A Brief Welcome to the Universe offers a breathtaking tour of the cosmos, from planets, stars, and galaxies to black holes and time loops. Best-selling authors and acclaimed astrophysicists Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott take listeners on an unforgettable journey of exploration to reveal how our universe actually works. Propelling you from our home solar system to the outermost frontiers of space, this book builds your cosmic insight and perspective through a marvelously entertaining narrative.

The Hierarchy of Heaven and Earth was originally published in a condensed form (condensed by Harding) in 1952 and described by C.S. Lewis as "a work of the highest genius". This publication, and this audio version, now makes available the original huge work. It is clearly and beautifully written and read. This book opens your eyes to the universe as it is actually presented and opens your mind to the way it functions. One day, this book will be recognized as one of the greatest works of philosophy.