Showing results by narrator "Elliot Chapman" in All Categories

Written with Gerald Durrell’s usual sharp eye for observing humour in any situation, this comic novel about a man who inherits an alcoholic elephant will delight fans both old and new. At the age of thirty, Adrian Rookwhistle’s life hasn't quite turned out the way he’d have hoped. Working...

The First World War was the defining event of the last century. It claimed the lives of more than 16 million people across the globe and had an enormous impact on all who experienced it. No nation in Europe was left untouched and even neutral states felt its devastating impact. Yet it was the ordinary men and women who were affected the most. This gripping, revealing and poignant collection of stories tells the First World War from the perspective of those who were there, using letters, diaries and memoirs from Imperial War Museum's unparalleled archives.

Beloved naturalist and author Gerald Durrell introduces an eccentric cast of characters in this entertaining collection of stories, first published in 1991. Which of these stories is true and which is semi-true I have, of course, not the slightest intention of telling you, but I hope this will...

South Africa, 1899 - the smouldering hostility between the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State and the British colonies of the Cape and Natal is about to burst into flame. War is coming and no one can prevent it. Colonel Penrod Ballantyne, hero of Abu Klea and Omdurman, is sent to Mafeking to recruit and train men for the fighting ahead. Amber, his wife, the successful novelist, accompanies him - eager to see more of the country her husband is about to risk his life for.

The Angels Weep is the third best-selling book in Wilbur Smith's Ballantyne Novels - an epic exploration into the dark past of colonial Africa. At the dawn of a new century, the pioneers of Rhodesia have staked their claims and stocked their farms in the land they have carved as their own. But in the hills, the Matabele indunas are preparing for the bloody rebellion which will scar the opponents for ever - and etch for them the same tragic legacy for generations to come....

Running: Cheaper Than Therapy is a celebration of the pastime that always makes you feel better, covering every aspect of running life from jogging etiquette and the things we both love and hate about it, through to the weirdest and most wonderful marathons around the world. Also included are the funniest spectator signs ever, cool advice that could improve your PB and brilliantly insightful running philosophies.

Ex-flying ace James ‘Max’ Maxted’s attempt to uncover the secret behind the death of his father, Sir Henry Maxted, has seemingly ended in failure - and his own death. Unaware of Max’s fate, the team continue to pursue their only lead, travelling to Japan in search of a mysterious prisoner held by Sir Henry’s old enemy, Count Tomura. Once there, they encounter former German spymaster Fritz Lemmer, now rebuilding his spy network in the service of a new, more sinister cause.

Diagnosed with pathological demand avoidance (PDA) in his teenage years, Harry Thompson looks back with wit and humour at the ups and downs of family and romantic relationships, school, work and mental health, as well as his teenage struggle with drugs and alcohol. By embracing neurodiversity and emphasising that autistic people are not flawed human beings, Thompson demonstrates that some merely need to take the 'scenic route' in order to flourish and reach their full potential. 

When a brilliant scientist gets a letter from herself about faster-than-light travel, she doesn't know what to believe. The equations work, but her paper is discredited - and soon the criticism is more than scientific. Exiled by the establishment, she gets an offer to build her starship from an unlikely source. But in the heights of Venus and on a planet of another star, a secret is already being uncovered that will shake humanity to its foundations.

At the heart of University College London, nestled in the centre of Bloomsbury, lies a long-forgotten map library packed with thousands of maps and atlases. After Professor James Cheshire stumbled upon it, he spent three years sifting through hundreds of dusty drawers to see what was there. He was stunned to uncover some of the most significant maps and atlases from the last two centuries - many of which had not seen the light of day for decades.

They called them the Orchid Girls. Grace. Molly. Charlotte. One of them is in love. One of them is a liar. One of them is dead. On a jagged Dorset cliff, wind whipping their hair, waves crashing on the rocks below, three friends became two when Charlotte’s body was pulled out of the sea. Fifteen years later Grace and Molly are worlds apart. Grace has a glittering career and a loving husband. Molly is a lonely, unemployed alcoholic. Grace has everything to lose. Molly has nothing.

Sam Holloway has survived the worst that life can throw at you. But he's not really living. His meticulous routines keep everything nice and safe - with just one exception...Three nights a week, Sam dons his superhero costume and patrols the streets. It makes him feel invincible - but his unlikely heroics are getting him into some sticky, and increasingly dangerous, situations. Then a girl comes into his life, and his ordered world is thrown into chaos...and now Sam needs to decide whether he can be brave enough to finally take off the mask. 

Everyone is always changing the world. What we do and how we do it affects our family, friends and colleagues, for better or for worse. But some people change the world more than others. Some succeed because they are geniuses, some because they are lucky and some because they are rich and powerful. But you do not need to be a genius, lucky, rich or powerful to have a profound impact on our world. All you need is an idea and the determination to make it happen.

John and Liz have left the city behind to move to a remote house on the shores of the lake. Though the house is barely unpacked, Liz’s sister, with her children and her husband, have come to visit for the August bank holiday weekend. Over the course of a hot, slow weekend, tensions simmer; things go unsaid – between the two couples, between the two sisters.

When a young mother is found dead in her home with mysterious symbols drawn on her body, DI Katie Rhodes is shaken to her core; something is telling her that the clues link back to her old partner, Nathan Radley. Formerly one of the best criminal psychologists on the police force, Nathan was renowned for getting deep into the minds of the murderers he hunted. But for the past year he has lived in isolation, terrified of losing control over his own dark desires....

The people here - they're not so pretty. But they are at least real.... This is Oxford. The real Oxford. Not the dreaming spires and punting. Not the bicycles and tourists. Not the gowned academics and sandstone colleges. This is Dead End Close. Seven houses and their inhabitants: different people, different lives, brought together in one cul-de-sac...and all with the sinister feeling that someone is watching and steering the events that unfold around its residents.

Seventeen-year-old schoolboy Kim is an idle drifter at one of Britain's most extraordinary institutions, Eton College - crammed with over a thousand boys and not a girl in sight. His head is full of the Falklands War and a possible army career - until the day he hears his new piano teacher, the beautiful but pained India, playing Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. Kim's life is destined never to be the same again.

When the cold, lifeless body of a policeman is pulled from the river Thames in the early hours of the morning, it appears at first glance to be a terrible accident. But when old diary pages predicting the exact details of the crime start appearing online, criminal psychologist Nathan Radley, the owner of the diary, becomes the number one suspect in the most disturbing murder investigation the London police have ever seen. Nathan’s partner, Detective Katie Rhodes is sure he’s innocent, because she was with him the night of the attack.

South Africa, 1899 - the smouldering hostility between the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State and the British colonies of the Cape and Natal is about to burst into flame. War is coming and no one can prevent it. Colonel Penrod Ballantyne, hero of Abu Klea and Omdurman, is sent to Mafeking to recruit and train men for the fighting ahead.

A mysterious advert in a newspaper promising to restore hope to the hopeless brings together four strangers. None realising they will end up investigating a twisted and troubling crime that threatens their very futures. Mitch, a former Crime Scene Investigator, Olivia, a brilliant PhD student, and Florence, a middle-aged solicitor, find themselves working with an enigmatic newspaper Editor who refers to himself only as Ed.