Showing results by narrator "John Mawson" in All Categories

Tower of Basel is the first investigative history of the world's most secretive global financial institution. Based on extensive archival research in Switzerland, Britain, and the United States, and in-depth interviews with key decision-makers—including Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve; Sir Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England; and former senior Bank for International Settlements managers and officials—Tower of Basel tells the inside story of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS): the central bankers' own bank.

Criminal exploits, secret agent intrigue, and clever disguises fill the pages of Francois Eugene Vidocq’s memoirs. A legendary figure in history, Vidocq is known as the first detective and an inspiration to great writers such as Honore de Balzac, Victor Hugo and Edgar Allen Poe. As a player in the criminal underworld, Vidocq is a master of disguises and an accomplished thief, eventually turning his unlawful talents toward catching criminals as the first French chief of secret police.

Robert Radcliffe writes: "In 2000 I began work on what would become a trilogy of books about World War II. Loosely set in 1943, the novels would feature some overlapping characters and locations, yet tell the stories of three very different aspects of the conflict: the air war over Europe, the Battle of the Atlantic, and the fall of Singapore and subsequent treatment of prisoners in the jungles of Thailand."

Harry Holte is a former British Army Officer determined to move on from his horrific experiences in the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan. He has barely begun to build a life for himself in London when a disastrous mistake sees his world torn apart and his only choice is to accept a security role protecting Camp Crescent, an oil exploration outpost in Southern Libya run by the mysterious Trace corporation.

It is the year 1989 in the Angevin Empire - an alternative universe much like our own, save for two vital differences: the House of Plantagenet (the descendants of King Richard I the Lion-Heart and his nephew, Prince Arthur) still rules in England and France and the New World; and, the science of magic has displaced the magic of science. But magic can't solve everything. In a temple atop an ancient Azteque pyramid in New England, where bloody sacrifices were carried out and the beating hearts excised from living victims to appease a horrific god, lies a freshly-killed body....

On April 28, 1789, the H.M.S. Bounty was very far from home. After a long journey around the Cape of Good Hope, Captain William Bligh and his crew emerged into the hot, still air of the South Pacific, and a kind of madness began to take hold. Led by Fletcher Christian, eighteen unhappy sailors set upon Bligh in the night, and at sword-point forced him and his officers into a small rowboat, to try their luck upon the open sea. But why?

At once a sensual and irresistible mystery and a haunting work of psychological insight and emotional depth, The Whole World marks the beginning of a brilliant literary career for Emily Winslow, a superb, limitlessly gifted author.

Enjoy the traditions of holidays past with this classic collection of fun and touching stories. Includes selected readings from Charles Dickens' timeless "A Christmas Carol"; the text of the original newspaper editorial "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus", which has become an indelible part of popular Christmas folklore; O. Henry's unforgettable "The Gift of the Magi"; and much more....

Peterson is bewildered by the satellite photos in front of him. As head of the CIA, he is never supposed to be surprised, but what could be happening in Chad alarms him. The pictures show a small research installation, nestled in the African jungle, where a West German company claims to be building a base to launch communications satellites for use by developing African nations. But Peterson’s analysts tell him that the ordinary, innocent-looking silo is just the size necessary to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile into outer space.

For anyone who ever wanted to be an archaeologist, Ian Graham could be a hero. This lively memoir chronicles Graham's career as the "last explorer" and a fierce advocate for the protection and preservation of Maya sites and monuments across Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. It is also full of adventure and high society, for the self-deprecating Graham traveled to remote lands such as Afghanistan in wonderful company.