Showing results by narrator "David McCallion" in All Categories

Many of the world's leaders have turned to Niccolo Machiavelli's The Art of War as a guide to the fundamentals of war, including Frederick the Great, Napoleon, as well as countless other military leaders. Limited warfare is one of the philosophies promoted in this work. Machiavelli believed that military conflict should be a last resort and should only be considered when diplomacy fails. He was also of the belief that society could only remain stable and secure with a strong state military.

Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped tells the story of a young orphaned 17-year old boy named David living in Scotland during the 18th century. While trying to make his way in the world, David moves in to his uncle's estate, where he soon after finds clues that prove that his father, and thus himself, should have been the rightful heir to the estate, rather than his uncle.

Felix Holt, the Radical is the story of a young English nobleman, Harold Transome, and the idealist Felix Holt. Transome amasses a fortune while in the colonies and returns home to run for Parliament while taking a liking to one Esther Lyon, the daughter of a clergyman. Everything goes as planned until Felix Holt comes on the scene with his own radical ideas, determined to educate the working-class citizens on the value of integrity and the common man.

The annual West Uist literary festival - The Gathering - always attracts the best in the business. But with the tiny island population suddenly doubling, the local police force is stretched to breaking point. And this year they have to deal with more than just drunken fights and rowdy behaviour.... Ranald Buchanan, the local poet, is found dead, with his head brutally caved in, and Inspector Torquil McKinnon is brought in to investigate. Did Ranald trip and fall, as suggested? Or is something more sinister happening?

Victory is the story of a loner who believes that the best way to avoid life's pain and pitfalls is to distance himself from others. In spite of his misgivings, Axel Heyst agrees to manage a coal company on a remote island. When the company eventually fails, he again turns his back on people and society, more convinced than ever that his original philosophy was right.

A family day out turns sour for DI McKay when he stumbles across an unidentified corpse. The day becomes darker still when his brother-in-law goes missing and is eventually found dead, the result of a seemingly accidental fall. Meanwhile, DCI Helena Grant has a disastrous on-line date with a pompous senior manager of a local hotel chain. Her initial amusement turns to unease at his disturbing behaviour. And, as she arrives home, she receives a threatening text from someone who has been watching her.

Star investigative reporter Ralph Buchanan’s glory days are behind him. His newspaper has banished him abroad, not knowing the greatest moment of his long career is waiting for him there. When Simone Jasnin asks him to help expose a grave injustice, he finds himself embroiled in a harrowing tale that began in a dusty rural settlement, setting in motion a chain of events that will change the lives of everyone involved. Seven years later, members of a prominent family are being brutally murdered. The only clue is a hand-carved wooden bangle left at the scene of each crime.

Jimmy McGuire, a washed-up comic, is found dead on the streets of Inverness, his body garroted. Back in the 1990s, McGuire had been half of a promising double act until his partner, Jack Dingwall, was convicted of rape. Soon, a second corpse is found in an abandoned industrial site on the edge of the Moray Firth. The body has been there for some days and has also been garroted. The victim turns out to be a former musician turned record producer who had also been the subject of rape allegations.

Detective Inspector Munro is a burly Scottish policeman who doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Detective Sergeant West is an intelligent young woman, new to the force, with a lot to prove. When a missing person case lands on their desks, Munro is skeptical there is much to it. But their investigation soon comes to some strange findings, and before long a body is found. With a serial killer on their hands, they must act fast to trace a woman placed at the scene of the crime. Yet discovering her true identity, let alone finding her, proves difficult. And as the plot thickens they realise the crime is far graver than either of them could have imagined.

Down-on-his-luck businessman Tam McDonnell thinks he may have rescued his ailing pub when a local man comes good on his promise to fill the venue with punters in exchange for a percentage of the takings. That's until he discovers a newly hired barmaid dead in the toilets. DI Charlie West's team struggle to find a motive. Clearly murdered, if the corkscrew in her neck is anything to go by, the victim was loved by all who knew her and apparently led a squeaky-clean life—cleaner than the toilet, at any rate.

Having been the victim of a hit-and-run accident, and despite being black and blue, DI Munro wastes no time in trying to find out the identity of the perpetrator. In the meantime, a junior detective receives a call from a concerned member of the public, worried that a recently deceased friend’s will had been unlawfully changed. What connects these two events will be crucial to the detective’s investigation. But when prime witnesses turn up dead, they’ll discover they have a more serious case on their hands.

King Solomon's Mines tells the story of renowned hunter Allan Quatermain as he leads an expedition into the heart of Southern Africa in search of a missing treasure hunter. He's persuaded to go on the trek by the brother of the missing man, the aristocrat Sir Henry Curtis, who is desperate to find out if his brother has survived after leaving in search of the fabled treasure mines of King Solomon.

Like many Jules Verne classics, The Mysterious Island takes you on an unforgettable journey of adventure and reflection. During the American Civil War, a group of Union soldiers escape their confederate captors when they steal a balloon. What they didn't anticipate is the violent storm that awaits them and leads them into uncharted territory.

The classic adventure Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne tells the story of Professor Lidenbrock and his journey to the center of the Earth through a volcano. Alongside his nephew, Axel, Lidenbrock finds a secret message hidden in one of the runic notes of a newly acquired manuscript from Iceland.

Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb is a retelling of 20 of Shakespeare’s most beloved stories. Within the pages of this book, the 19th-century authors bring to life the Shakespearean plots and characters of another age in an easy-to-understand prose of a newer generation.

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne follows the adventures of the mysterious captain Nemo and his incredible submarine, the Nautilus. Joining the captain on his epic journey around the world is Professor Pierre Aronnax, his servant Conseil, and the Canadian whaler Ned Land. These three become guests of the reclusive submariner when they are washed overboard on a ship that is tracking the Nautilus, believing that it is some kind of giant sea creature.

One of the most remarkable figures of the Renaissance, Michel de Montaigne was a brilliant French philosopher and statesman whose work directly influenced René Descartes, Friedrich Nietzsche, Isaac Asimov and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He was a humanist and a sceptic, with an insatiable and wide-ranging curiosity. In 1571, on his 38th birthday, he withdrew from public life and retired to the library in his castle tower, where he assembled a body of work that is still highly relevant today.

Vincent Van Gogh: The Ambiguity of Insanity is a fictionalized biography and gripping novel of the life of the 19th-century Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. The author, Giuseppe Cafiero, draws a psychological portrait of the post-impressionist painter through the women that marked his life and the cities in which he lived.

The young Danish Prince, Hamlet, is vexed by a trip home to Denmark from school in Germany, to attend his father, the king's funeral. Upon arriving at home, Hamlet has discovered that his mother has already become married to the former King's brother, Hamlet's uncle. What's more, the man has declared himself to be King of Denmark even though Hamlet was the true and rightful heir. Hamlet is enraged by this deception, and immediately suspects foul play in his father's murder.

Honoré de Balzac uses his classic style of detail to describe a most controversial setting in his novel Le Pere Goriot. The story takes place in Paris just after the fall of Napoleon in 1819. The story focuses on three characters, Rastignac, a student who wants to try and make it big in the capital, Vautrin, an interesting and funny character who is also quite mysterious, and the main character, Goriot, that carries a heavy burden that only a loving parent would endure.