Admired by J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis and considered by W. H. Auden to be “the only English children’s book in the same class as the Alice books,” The Princess and the Goblin is a classic example of nineteenth-century children’s literary fairy tales. This is an ageless tale of courage and loyalty, beauty and mystery, and above all, good and evil.The discovery of a secret stairway running to the top of the castle where she lives leads Princess Irene to a revelation even more w...

Three young truants from a church meeting on Sunday make their way to a seashore hideaway, where they observe a huge black man muttering incantations and performing weird rites. When the man discovers the children, he chases them with a knife. In defense, Davy Crawfurd flings a rock at him, and they narrowly escape.Years later, young David Crawfurd goes to South Africa to make his fortune and is caught in the very heart of a great native uprising. Under strange circumstances, he co...

Having entered the British Navy at the age of twelve, Horatio Lord Nelson achieved the rank of captain at the age of twenty. As captain, he was quickly recognized as a magnetic and controversial figure. He triumphed at Cape St. Vincent and the Nile but failed at Tenefife and Boulogne. With the glories of Copenhagen and Trafalgar yet ahead of him, his ardent passion for Emma Hamilton, the wife of a British Ambassador, cast a heavy shadow over his career.Audacious in battle (he once ...

In this engaging collection of stories, Rumpole continues to deftly juggle the vagaries of law, the ambiguities of crime, and the contradictions of the human heart in his death-defying performances on behalf of justice. The irreverent, claret-swilling, poetry-spouting barrister takes on suspect connoisseurs in the art world, journeys deep into the throbbing heart of Africa, dabbles in some feminist politics, decides the countryside is a very dangerous place, and incurs the wrath of his wif...

Hudson Taylor is one of the most remarkable of Christianity's heroes. A gawky, determined Yorkshire boy of commonplace origins, mediocre education, and uncertain health, Hudson Taylor lived in the assurance that under God's direction he would someday evangelize China's 400,000,000 souls. Today he is remembered both as the founder of the world-famous China Inland Mission and one of history's great men of faith.Hudson Taylor left England on September 19, 1853, and did not reach China...

Alfred Hitchcock said, "Mr. Ambler is phenomenal," and Graham Greene referred to him as "our greatest thriller writer." This is an ideal title for introducing listeners to this master. Ambler brilliantly paints realistic portraits of his characters and the foreign landscape, mixing suspense with a subtle twist for added color.When Arthur Abdel Simpson first spots Harper in the Athens airport, he recognizes him as a tourist unfamiliar with the city and in need of a private driver—in...

One of the most distinctive periods in poetry occurred in England early in the 1800s. This is now referred to as the age of romanticism, a movement which rebelled against the neoclassical forms and celebrated the imagination as a spiritual force. John Keats was a prominent shaper of this new movement, and as such, he was not without his critics."I think I shall be among the English Poets after my death," he soberly prophesied. Indeed, Keats suffered an early tragic death of tubercu...

Winston Churchill believed passionately in the value of secret intelligence, in times of war as well as of peace. Historian David Stafford makes the compelling case that one cannot understand Churchill's astounding success as a modern-day statesman without reference to his deep involvement in the world of espionage.With absorbing detail about the secret world of agents and double agents, this groundbreaking work traces Churchill's connections with that world, from his days as a mem...

An Inspector Morse MysteryThe case seems so simple that Inspector Morse deems it beneath his notice. A wealthy, elderly American tourist has a heart attack in her room at Oxford’s luxurious Randolph Hotel. Missing from the scene is the lady’s handbag, which contained the Wolvercote Tongue, a priceless jewel that her late husband had bequeathed to the Ashmolean Museum just across the street. Morse proceeds to spend a great deal of time thinking—and drinking—in the h...

A twisted tale of love lost, alluring demons, idiotic servants, beautiful ladies, magicians, spells, pirates, and duels, Stolen from Gypsies has been called a comedic tour de force comparable to Shakespeare. The unusual hero is British nobleman Ambrogio Smythe, a rich but comical hypochondriac. Obsessed by childhood memories of Gypsies, the frail but determined Ambrogio leaves his ancestral estate in Warwickshire and makes his way to Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. Happily maroo...

Laurence Olivier was the most famous actor of his century and one of the greatest of all time. His looks made him a matinee idol; his talent made him world-renowned as an actor, director, and producer. From his stage roles as Hamlet and Archie Rice to his screen roles as Heathcliff and Henry V, his range was unparalleled. But beneath the glamorous image, Olivier was often lonely, confused, and plagued by self-doubts.In this revealing account, Spoto tells for the first time the trut...

Robert Browning was a deeply religious man who wrestled to obtain and keep his Christian faith. His conviction was that life in this world is so riddled with evil and sorrow that only a future life can make sense out of it. He viewed life as a training ground which God provided in His divine love and sovereign will.Given Browning’s intensely romantic love affair with Elizabeth Barrett, it is characteristic that he should view love as life’s animating force and the key to its meanin...