Showing results by author "Stephen John" in All Categories

On the surface, the Victorian age is one of propriety, industry, prudishness and piety. But scratch the surface and you'll find scandal, sadism, sex, madness, malice and murder.

Perhaps thanks to TV period dramas, the popular imagination may picture the Edwardian era as an idyllic window between the wars, a time of manners and tea on the lawn. But below the surface lies a frenetic and often bizarre age where scientific leaps forward went hand in hand with belief in fairies, and secrets of sex, lies and murder simmered. Across 12 episodes, in this sequel to his Victorian Secrets, Stephen Fry uncovers some of the startling and unexpected hidden histories of the Edwardians.

Flappers, ‘It’ girls, confidence tricksters, drug dealers, spies, jazz musicians. This wide ranging series about the first ever modern decade is full of colourful characters, dark deeds, strange beliefs and crazy predictions. Join Stephen Fry as he relishes secrets sexual, political and financial, observes the emergence of the first ever youth cult and reveals the secrets of this roaring decade.

For those looking for the real story behind the fictionalized movie account of the 47 Ronin story, this is the definitive, fascinating account of this unforgettable tale of a band of samurai who defied the Emperor to avenge the disgrace and death of their master, and faced certain death as a result. It led to one of the bloodiest episodes in Japanese history, and in the process, created a new set of heroes in Japan.

After an audacious assassination attempt on boss Daniel Kinahan's life, the Kinahan Cartel recruited an unprecedented number of killers to retaliate against their attackers, the Hutch gang. Kinahan Assassins is the compelling behind-the-scenes account of one man's thirst for vengeance and how it proved fatal for his organization. Kinahan Assassins has the stories of the men who killed for the cartel - including vulnerable drug addicts, a former British soldier, an MMA fighter and an invisible 'Mr Nobody' who acted as a cartel quartermaster - as well as those who gave them orders.

It's been six months since Kate, Michael and Emma confronted the Dire Magnus, but the trail to their long-lost family remains cold. Then Michael and Emma find the man who was the last person to see them. He knows about a secret map of a distant, mysterious land - maybe this is the clue that will lead them to their parents...Meanwhile, Kate's connection to the Book of Time grows ever stronger, and when a dangerous trick traps her in the past, she must find new friends to help her return home.

Betjeman's England is a place of patriotic poets and seaside coves, provincial cathedrals and eccentric dons. For 50 years, Betjeman celebrated the glories of Englishness and what it meant to be English. Against a tide of rapid change, he unearthed forgotten heroes, bygone haunts, and old-fashioned modes of thought. But as this original collection reveals, his appeal goes far beyond simple nostalgia. It lies in his passionate convictions, his humour and his humanity.

They were taken from their beds one frozen night, when the world was covered in snow. The silhouette of a tall, thin man has haunted Kate ever since. Ten years on, Kate, Michael, and Emma have grown up in a string of miserable orphanages, and all memories of their parents have faded to a blur. Arriving at Cambridge Falls, the children quickly realise there is something different about this place – and Kate feels sure she has seen the dark, crooked house before.

Many an incredible story may have been told about young courageous men and women cycling the globe in search of adventure, covering vast distances at speed each day with not a care in the world. Well, this story is a little different. It is a story about a 350-pound middle-aged, disabled, working-class husband and father. I was never a regular cyclist, and I knew nothing about bicycle maintenance and repair. Solo, self-financed, with no support network and without any fixed route plan other than, “I’m going that way.” What could go wrong? I wondered.

Steven Pacey reads this suspenseful novelisation of a classic TV adventure for the Fifth Doctor. When the TARDIS is sabotaged and becomes dimensionally unstable, its internal fabric begins to dissolve, and Nyssa is drawn into a junction with a strangely deserted spacecraft. The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough follow in pursuit, and discover the shocking purpose of Terminus. The Doctor forms an uneasy alliance with two space pirates, whilst Tegan and Turlough become frighteningly enmeshed in the spaceship's infrastructure.

Richie Stephens is an actor who often plays hardened gangsters and criminals. This is easy for him because he was a drug trafficker, kidnapper, drug addict, alcoholic, and all-around criminal himself. His life twisted and turned in harrowing self-destructive adventures that took him from his native Ireland to San Francisco, Australia, and finally, Los Angeles, coalescing into a classic tale of a man trying to run from his problems by moving to new and more exotic locations—a hard and painful realization that comes at a point in which he’s about to take his own life.

What if Hitler had won the war, if Japan had another sneak attack, or if the cold war turned hot? What If? provides a fascinating new perspective on history's most pivotal events. Featuring today's foremost historians speculating on what could have happened, we discover where we might be if history had not unfolded the way it did.

Here's a brilliant parable for everyone who wants to lead a fuller, happier life. Millions of business people have already used the best-selling FISH! books to improve the way they work. Now, the authors turn their attention to life's daily personal challenges, helping listeners deal with them simply and effectively. By applying the FISH! principles of Play, Make Their Day, Choose Your Attitude, and Be Present, FISH! For Life shows readers how to confront life's issues and to reach their full potential.

The final instalment in the Books of Beginning series. Emma, Michael and Kate are locked in a race against time: to find their parents, to defeat the evil Dire Magnus and to locate the final Book of Beginning. When all three books are united, their power will be unstoppable. Embarking on a perilous journey to the land of the dead, Emma is forced to confront terrifying monsters and ghosts. As the fabric of time begins to fray, she becomes the final piece of an extraordinary puzzle.

On February 2, 2002, Stephen King, Pat Conroy, John Grisham, and Peter Straub gathered at New York's Town Hall for a very special evening. These four best selling authors stepped up to the microphone to raise money for one of the most recognizable voices in audiobooks, Frank Muller, an actor who sustained terrible injuries from a motorcycle accident. All profits will be donated to The Wavedancer Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports artists who fall prey to illness or injury.

Hans-Åke Lilja, founder of Lilja's Library, has compiled a brand-new anthology of horror stories to celebrate 20 years of running the number-one Stephen King news website on the web! This anthology includes both original stories like a brand new novella by John Ajvide Lindqvist (Let the Right One In), very rare reprints like The Blue Air Compressor by Stephen King, and at least one classic tale that inspired Lilja's love of the macabre at a very young age! Now, let's join Lilja....

Responding to Mearsheimer's controversial essay blaming the West for the Ukraine crisis, McFaul and Sestanovich put the blame back on Putin and his ideological extremism, denying that NATO expansion provoked him. Mearsheimer replies.

In our modern age the biblical Genesis flood account has been probed and analyzed for answers to scientific, apologetic, and historical questions. It is a text that has called forth flood geology, fueled searches for remnants of the ark on Mount Ararat, and inspired a full-size replica of Noah's ark in a biblical theme park. Some claim that the very veracity of Scripture hinges on a particular reading of the flood narrative. But do we understand what we are reading? Longman and Walton urge us to ask, what might the biblical author have been saying to his ancient audience?

Sherlock Holmes —the name immediately brings to mind an image of the great detective sitting in his rooms in 221B Baker street, his fingers steepled before his hawkish nose, his sharp grey eyes focused on the client who has brought a little puzzle for him to solve. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said when one reads the names of the other literary detectives of the time period, sometimes referred to as the rivals of Sherlock Holmes.

Based on the format of the American TV show Saturday Night Live, this home-grown comedy production was an enormous success and bought recognition and fame to a great many performers, many of whom are now household names.