Showing results by narrator "Michael Langan" in All Categories

It's easy to think that ancient history is, well, ancient history—obsolete, irrelevant, unjustifiably focused on Greece and Rome, and at risk of extinction. In What Is Ancient History?, Walter Scheidel presents a compelling case for a new kind of ancient history—a global history that captures antiquity's pivotal role as a decisive phase in human development, one that provided the shared foundation of our world and continues to shape our lives today.

Once again, the pen of Stephen Herczeg has produced another set of eclectic stories from the world of Sherlock Holmes and his creator. All have featured in annals of the MX Books of New Sherlock Holmes stories and the many anthologies from Belanger Books. A disturbing Christmas gift sees Holmes employed to find the owner of a severed foot. A break-in at the British Museum leads Holmes into the ominous presence of animal-like humans. Before Holmes met him, Colonel Lysander Stark built a career as a German spy undermining Foreign governments.

883AD, Scandinavia. Harald Fairhair is King of Norway, and Bjorn Ironside King of Sweden. To the west, the Crippled King of Mann builds an army in thrall to Loki. He threatens to destroy the Viking world and set Midgard on the road to the Ragnarök, the end of days.

In 1945 seven of Hitler's henchmen were incarcerated as solitary inmates of the vast Spandau prison in Berlin originally built to accommodate hundreds. Every conceivable precaution was taken to ensure escape was impossible for such high-profile prisoners. Hitler's henchmen had been tried and convicted for their complicity in Hitler's campaign and had escaped the death penalty, unlike many of their former comrades.

Holmes and Watson are on the trail of seemingly unrelated deaths preceded by sudden unexplained madness as they work to solve the case of the abominable worm. Are the deaths murders? And if so, what is the motive and who is responsible? Can Holmes and Watson solve the mystery of the abominable worm before her Majesty's navy experiences an unprecedented two-fold loss. Rebecca St. John has established herself as a force to be reckoned with in London's mysterious spiritual world and the hidden world of London's private clubs. But she wants more.

Another eight eclectic tales from the pen of Stephen Herczeg. All have featured in annals of the MX Books of New Sherlock Holmes stories and the many anthologies from Belanger Books. The body was in the box, and then it wasn't. Holmes must find the dead girl and the identity of her killer. A young girl appears to be possessed by a demon. What is the truth and who is behind it? Dead bees. Honey that tastes of ash. A retired Holmes must track down the cause and unearth the mystery behind the strange colour creeping across the countryside.

Séamas Duffy’s fourth novel, Sherlock Holmes and the Sixty Steps, follows a similar format to his previously published Holmes collections: a novella together with some shorter stories. The four stories are: “The Tragedy of Langhorne Wyke” (1890); “The Mystery of the Thirteen Bells” (1895); “The Adventure of the Sixty Steps” (1897); and “The Problem of the Coptic Patriarchs” (1898).

880 AD, Norway. Rollo the Betrayer has risen to become a powerful Duke in Normandy and sails with his warriors and his spite to exact revenge upon Viking warriors Hundr and Einar the Brawler. Hundr, a Northman with a dog's name… Viking warships flying the raven banner… epic battles, berserkers, twists and turns. Hundr and Einar are faced with a brutal enemy and must fight to protect their home, their loved ones and their reputations. The war with Rollo takes them deep into Viking Norway, and into a war with the King of Frankia and his vast army.

Launched in 1914, two years after the ill-fated voyage of her sister ship, RMS Titanic, the Britannic was intended to be superior to her tragic twin in every way. But war intervened and in 1915 she was requisitioned as a hospital ship. Just one year later, while on her way to collect troops wounded in the Balkans campaign, she fell victim to a mine laid by a German U-boat and tragically sank in the middle of the Aegean Sea. There her wreck lay, at a depth of 400 feet, until it was discovered fifty-nine years later by legendary explorer Jacques Cousteau.

In the last thirty years, the developing world has undergone tremendous changes. Overall, poverty has fallen, people live longer and healthier lives, and economies have been transformed. And yet many countries have simply missed the boat. Why have some countries prospered, while others have failed? Stefan Dercon argues that the answer lies not in a specific set of policies, but rather in a key "development bargain," whereby a country's elites shift from protecting their own positions to gambling on a growth-based future.

In this game-changing book, Keith Frayn, an international expert in human metabolism and nutrition, dispels common misconceptions about human metabolism, explaining in everyday language the important metabolic processes that underlie all aspects of our daily lives. Frayn describes the communication systems that enable our different organs and tissues to cooperate, for instance in providing fuel to our muscles when we exercise, and in preserving our tissues during fasting.

An eclectic mix of eight stories drawn from the annals of the MX Series of New Sherlock Holmes stories and the many Holmes anthologies of Belanger Books, all from the pen of emerging pastiche author Stephen Herczeg.

881 AD, Northumbria. Hundr, The Man with the Dogs Name, sails the England’s coastline raiding and challenging Viking champions to single combat. His wife and child died in a savage war with Rollo the Betrayer and Hundr seeks to soothe his grief in the fog of war. Hundr, a Northman with a dog's name… ruthless Viking warlords and savage individual combat… epic battles, gladiatorial fights, twists and turns. Hundr is lost in a violent sea storm and falls foul of fellow Vikings who force men to fight in the hjaldr-garth slave fighting pit.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the late Terry Golledge wrote 10 Holmes masterful pastiches that perfectly captured Dr. Watson's voice, as well as Holmes’ personality and methods. Mr. Golledge passed away in 1996, before these stories could be published. In early 2022, Terry’s son, Niel Golledge, reached out to Sherlockian editor David Marcum, who was electrified to read such wonderful previously lost tales about the heroes of Baker Street.

The Little Ice Age tells the story of the turbulent, unpredictable, and often very cold years of modern European history, how climate altered historical events, and what they mean in the context of today’s global warming.

879 AD, Norway. Halvdan, son of Ragnar Lothbrok and King of Dublin, is locked in a savage war with Irish Dubgaill warriors in a battle for supremacy of Ireland’s coastal strongholds. Hundr, a Northman with a dog's name…Viking warships flying the raven banner…and the echo of Ivar the Boneless. Hundr and Einar the Brawler are drawn into a search for the son of Bjorn Ironside, lost during the war for Ireland’s future. Old enemies seething with vengeful fury emerge to throw Hundr and Einar into the most dangerous fight of their lives.

Five Times Faster is an inside story from Simon Sharpe, who has spent ten years at the forefront of climate change policy and diplomacy. In our fight to avoid dangerous climate change, science is pulling its punches, diplomacy is picking the wrong battles, and economics has been fighting for the other side. This provocative and engaging book sets out how we should rethink our strategies and reorganize our efforts in the fields of science, economics, and diplomacy, so that we can act fast enough to stay safe.

Using academic, comprehensive, logical, and, at times, mathematical approaches, The Science of Weird Shit convincingly debunks ESP, communicating with the dead, and alien abduction claims, among other phenomena. All the while, however, French maintains that our belief in such phenomena is neither ridiculous nor trivial; if anything, such claims can tell us a great deal about the human mind if we pay them the attention they are due.

882 AD Norway. A new power rises amongst the Viking north, wild Danes under the sway of powerful Loki worship threaten the land with fire and blood. Hundr, The Man with the Dog’s Name… Einar the Brawler… Viking warriors bent on destruction and carnage.. epic battles, axes, shields, twists and turns. Hundr, Einar, and King Harald Fairhair of Norway sail south to meet a rising challenge. War looms, and Loki, the chained-one, threatens to break free from his fetters and toss Midgard into the chaos of the Ragnarök.

Fourteen stories, all in classic style, introduce Holmes to new clients with strange and quirky problems. Clues to a fortune are hidden in a ludicrous painting, a modern mummy walks, and a novel tourist attraction holds the key to why an unattractive lady is suddenly pursued by an amorous admirer.