Showing results by narrator "Robert Powell" in All Categories

Joe Coppock squints at the world with his lazy eye. He reads his comics, collects birds' eggs and treasures his marbles, particularly his prized dobbers. When Treacle Walker appears off the Cheshire moor one day - a wanderer, a healer - an unlikely friendship is forged and the young boy is introduced to a world he could never have imagined.

Boneland is Alan Garner’s continuation of the story thread which began in his first and enduringly popular fantasy children’s novel, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, published in 1960, it has never been out of print. The Moon of Gomrath followed in 1963 taking the story further with the same two children, Colin and Susan. But Boneland is particularly fascinating because it takes the story into adulthood, with Colin again the main proponent.

Alan Garner is an exceptional lecturer and essayist. This rich collection of writings, spanning more than twenty years, explores an enviable range of scholarly interests: archaeology, myth, language, education, philosophy, the spiritual quest, mental health, literature, music and film. The book also serves as a poetic autobiography of one of England's best-loved but least public writers. He hears himself declared dead at the age of six; he draws on the deep vein of a rural working-class childhood in a family of craftsmen who instilled the passion for excellence and for innovation and humour.

An exciting medieval historical novel, based on fact, about William Marshal, probably the greatest knight of the Middle Ages.

Set on the Isle of Slingers, this novel follows the exploits of Jocelyn Pierston, a sculptor who falls in love successively with three generations of island women, seeking female perfection, just as he strives to realise the ideal woman in stone.

Here, for the first time, is a complete history of the world based on the beliefs and writings of secret societies, researched with the help of an initiate of more than one secret society.

When we think of great events in the history of the world, we tend to think of war, revolution, political upheaval, or natural catastrophe. But throughout history there have been moments of vital importance that have taken place not on the battlefield, or in the palaces of power, or even in the violence of nature, but between the pages of a book.

Dr Iannis practices medicine on the island of Cephalonia, accompanied by his daughter, Pelagia, to whom he imparts much of his healing art. Even when the Italians do invade, life isn't so bad - at first anyway. The officer in command of the Italian garrison is the cultured Captain Antonio Corelli, whose most precious possession is his mandolin.

In Where Shall We Run To?, Alan Garner remembers his early childhood in the Cheshire village of Alderley Edge: life at the village school as ‘a sissy and a mardy-arse'; pushing his friend Harold into a clump of nettles to test the truth of dock leaves; his father joining the army to guard the family against Hitler; the coming of the Yanks, with their comics and sweets and chewing gum. From one of our greatest living writers, it is a remarkable and evocative memoir of a vanished England.

Pip is an orphan, brought up by his sister and her husband, the kindly blacksmith Joe Gargery. One evening, while visiting his parents' graves, he has a shocking encounter with an escaped convict who forces Pip to help him. The very next day, he is invited to go and see Miss Havisham, a rich old lady who is seeking a playmate for the beautiful Estella. These two chance events are to change Pip's life in ways he could never have imagined...

George Gordon Byron was born in 1788, the son of the profligate 'Mad Jack' Byron, and succeeded to the title in 1798 moving to the family seat of Newstead Abbey. He attended Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he proved to be a poor scholar, preferring boxing, the low life and poetry, publishing his first volume of poems in 1806. In 1809, at 21, he embarked on a grand tour of Europe and on his return to England he married the humourless Annabella Milbanke, who gave birth to his daughter Augusta in 1815.

When British and American intelligence catch wind of a major Al Qaeda operation in the works, they are primed for action, but what can they do? They know nothing about the attack - the what, where, or when. They have no sources in Al Qaeda, and it's impossible to plant someone. Or is it?

When journalist Robert Andrew Powell finished his first marathon, he cried, cradled in his father’s arms. Long distance runners understand where those tears come from, even if there are others who will never understand what drives someone to run 26.2 consecutive miles in a grueling mental and physical test. Powell’s emotional reaction to completing the race wasn’t just about the run, though. It was also about the joy and relief of coming back up after hitting rock bottom.

From the producers of the Number One bestselling CD The Wit of Cricket, here is a brand new collection of the funniest cricket stories at home and abroad, recorded live at Great Brickhill Cricket Club in Bedfordshire. Join in the laughter at hilarious anecdotes about the Ashes, overseas tours, sledging, Test Match Special, and much more!

> Far from the Madding Crowd is perhaps the most pastoral of Hardy's Wessex novels. It tells the story of the young farmer Gabriel Oak and his love for and pursuit of the elusive Bathsheba Everdene, whose wayward nature leads her to both tragedy and true love. It tells of the dashing Sergeant Troy whose rakish philosophy of life was "...The past was yesterday; never, the day after." And lastly, of the introverted and reclusive gentleman farmer, Mr Boldwood.

Detective Inspector Faro has reopened the case of the 'Gruesome Convent Murders' for which one murderer has already been caught and executed, although he claimed to be innocent of the second murder. Faro's stepson Vince is determined to help with the detection. Behind the middle-class exterior of Victorian Edinburgh society lie betrayal and greed. The list of prime suspects is long because many had good reason for silencing the lovely, exotic, and amoral Lily Goldie, and even a police colleague is under suspicion.

An esteemed new client engages the services of Sherlock Holmes. He embarks upon an adventure that takes him all the way across London whilst Dr. Watson tries to extricate himself from a very unwise marriage. Watson moves into 221 Baker Street, where he receives an unexpected early-morning call from Mrs. Hudson, who has something of great importance to share with him.

Claire arrives at her new job as researcher at a grand English country house, nursing a broken heart. But tucked into the back of a long-forgotten drawer she finds a letter written in an elegant hand. It tells of a wartime secret about the beautiful Lady Violet – whose passionate affair with an Italian prisoner of war scandalised the village and ended in tragedy. Captivated, Claire promises to find Violet’s daughter, Tabitha, and reunite her with a priceless piece of her mother’s jewellery. With only the name of an Italian bakery, Pasticceria Mancini, to guide her, and the help of her handsome neighbour Jim, Claire travels to Tabitha’s last known location – Florence.

Lawrence’s style is bold, intimate and inventive and he always has the capacity to shock. His great strength comes from the realism of the characters he portrays and the play on tension – first seen in the exchanges between Gertrude and Morel and continuing with Paul, his Mother and his two women – which never lets up. Then marvel at the depth and quality of the writing as the story moves relentlessly towards its conclusion.

Recorded live by Peter Alliss, Tim Brooke-Taylor, and Robert Powell in front of an enthusiastic audience at Hindhead Golf Club in Surrey, here are dozens of hilarious stories about legendary players such as Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods – and also caddies, club golf, pro-celebrity tournaments, and commentary gaffes!