Showing results by narrator "Charles Armstrong" in All Categories

Max Hastings grew up with romantic dreams of a life amongst warriors. But after his failure as a parachute soldier in Cyprus in 1963, he became a journalist instead. Before he was thirty he had reported conflicts in Northern Ireland, Biafra, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Middle East, Cyprus, Rhodesia, India and a string of other trouble spots. His final effort was as a war correspondent during the Falklands War. Going to the Wars is a story of his experiences reporting from these battlefields. It is also the story of a self-confessed coward: a writer with heroic ambitions.

A timeless collection of poems chosen by Classic FM listeners and read by an outstanding cast of actors, including Sir John Gielgud, Joanna Lumley, and David Tennant.

Classic FM Favourite Poems is a delightful anthology of British verse chosen through a Classic FM listeners poll. This new collection draws on the huge success of Classic FM Favourite Poems, published over 10 years ago. Enjoy all your favourite poems in these wonderful recordings.

This collection of Culture Smart guidebooks introduces listeners to Italy, Germany, and Spain. Each guidebook includes concise chapters on the local customs, traditions, and values of the country's inhabitants and, crucially, the key historical and cultural events that have shaped them. There are sections on social and business etiquette, tips on communication, both verbal and non-verbal, and advice on how to be a good guest.

Out of the blue, private investigator and ex-soldier Lee Arnold receives a visit from an old army mate, Abbas al'Barri. Now living in Ilford with his family, Abbas is convinced that he's had a message from his estranged son, Fayyaad, who was radicalised and was last thought to be fighting for ISIL in Iraq. Does Fayyaad's message indicate a change of heart? Abbas is desperate for Lee's help in establishing some contact with him.

This collection of Culture Smart guidebooks introduces listeners to China, Japan, and India. Each guidebook includes concise chapters on the local customs, traditions, and values of the country's inhabitants and, crucially, the key historical and cultural events that have shaped them. There are sections on social and business etiquette, tips on communication, both verbal and non-verbal, and advice on how to be a good guest.

Discover the key battles, tactics, technologies and turning points of the Second World War—the epic conflict that shaped the modern world. The World War II Book explores the causes, key events and lasting consequences of the Second World War. Using the original approach of the series, entries profile more than 90 of the key ideas and events during and surrounding the conflict—from the rise of Hitler and Fascism in the 1930s, to Pearl Harbor, the D-Day landings and the bombing of Hiroshima, to the founding of the State of Israel in 1948.

In Agatha Christie’s short story, “The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman,” Poirot and Hastings investigate the suspicious death of Count Foscatini in his apartment in Regent’s Court. Found dead at the dinner table, with three empty dinner plates, suspicion is immediately place on his two dinner guests. But is there more to the story? This short story originally appeared in the October 24, 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.

Bacon concealed many important aspects of his life. He described himself as an asthmatic child in Ireland with foxhunting parents and a tyrannical father, but he was also rescued by a series of formidable women—women who in this biography emerge in their own right. He was never just a dissolute young man but was also a passionate reader, largely self-taught. Early on, influenced by Eileen Gray, he became a hard-working and ambitious designer, a brief career explored here in detail for the first time. He dreamed of remaking the modern room.

On 21 November 1915, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, Endurance, finally succumbed to the crushing ice. Its crew watched in silence as the stern rose twenty feet in the air and then, it was gone. The miraculous escape and survival of all twenty-eight men on board have entered legend. And yet, the iconic ship that bore them to the brink of the Antarctic was considered forever lost. A century later, an audacious plan to locate the ship was hatched. The Ship Beneath the Ice gives a blow-by-blow account of the two epic expeditions to find the Endurance.

During the third week of February 1944, the combined Allied air forces launched their first-ever round-the-clock bomber offensive against Germany. The aim was to smash the main factories and production centres of the Luftwaffe and draw the German fighter force up into the air and into battle. Officially called Operation ARGUMENT, this monumental air assault very quickly became known simply as Big Week.

You know about MI5. You know about MI6. Now uncover the story behind Britain’s most secretive intelligence agency in the first-ever authorised history of GCHQ.

A land of mountains, hills, and fertile plains, Romania is a tourist destination waiting to be discovered. It is a rich and complex country: a place whose cities are home to beautiful parks and vibrant cultural scenes and whose people welcome guests warmly into their homes, sharing the best of whatever they have and partying into the night, suffused by Latin joie de vivre. Buffeted over time between three great powers - the West, Russia, and Turkey - Romania betrays the cultural influences of each, and it can be a difficult place to get a handle on.

In Agatha Christie’s “The King of Clubs,” Poirot investigates the possible double murder of a famous dancer and theater impresario. Could the words of a fortune teller and a playing card provide a solution to the mystery? This short story originally appeared in the March 21, 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.

In Agatha Christie’s short story, “The Double Clue,” Poirot investigates the robbery of a collection of medieval jewelry from the safe of a dealer. Since the theft occurred during a dinner party, the suspects could be any of the guests. But which one? This short story originally appeared in the December 5, 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.

In Craven House, among the shifting, uncertain world of the English boardinghouse, with its sad population of the shabby genteel on the way down and the eternal optimists who would never get up or on, the young Patrick Hamilton, with loving, horrified fascination, first mapped out the territory that he would make uniquely his own. Although many of Hamilton's lifelong interests are here, they are handled with a youthful brio and optimism conspicuously absent from his later work.

In Agatha Christie’s short story, “The Lemesurier Inheritance,” Poirot and Hastings are asked to keep an eye on the heir of a Northumberland estate. The house, thought to be cursed since the middle ages, is the locale of several recent near-death accidents for a young boy and rumors of the curse increase. But is it possible the accidents are man-made? This short story originally appeared in the December 19, 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.

In Agatha Christie’s short story, “The Adventure of "The Western Star,” Poirot investigates the case of a missing diamond, “The Star of the East”, belonging to Lady Yardly. But what is the connection between it and a similar diamond owned by the famous American film actress Mary Marvell? And why does a Chinese man want it returned? This short story originally appeared in the April 11, 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.

In a small fishing village on the Devon coast, Lucy Locke has built a life that anyone would envy. She and her husband, Daniel, own successful businesses and live with their two children in a picturesque home overlooking the harbor. But everything changes one morning when, following a monumental storm, the family yacht is found empty—and Lucy’s husband is nowhere in sight. As the search for Daniel mounts, so does Lucy’s sense of dread, raised to a fever pitch when another more terrifying revelation pushes her storybook life to the brink of total destruction.

Number 4 Euston Square was a respectable boardinghouse, like many others in Victorian London. But beneath this ordinary veneer lurked a murderous darkness. On 8th May 1879, the corpse of former resident Matilda Hacker was uncovered in the coal cellar. The investigation that followed stripped bare the shadow-side of Victorian domesticity, throwing the lives of everyone within into an extraordinary maelstrom.

In Agatha Christie’s short story, “The Plymouth Express,” a rich young American woman is found murdered on the train from Bristol to Plymouth and her valuable jewelry missing. Poirot’s suspects include her indebted gambler husband, her french adventurer lover, and her maid. But where is the murder weapon? This short story originally appeared in the April 4, 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.