Tim Pigott-Smith discusses playing Leontes, in this ebook taken from Shakespeare On Stage: Thirteen Leading Actors in Thirteen Key Roles.In each volume of the Shakespeare On Stage series, a leading actor takes us behind the scenes, recreating in detail a memorable performance in one of Shakespeare's major roles. They discuss their character, working through the play scene by scene, with refreshing candour and in forensic detail. The result is a masterclass on play...

A memoir of theatrical life and much more by Tim Pigott-Smith, one of the best known and most prodigiously talented actors of his generation.From his appearance as Ronald Merrick in the television adaptation of The Jewel in the Crown to his recent role in the hit play King Charles III, Tim Pigott-Smith has been recognised as one of Britain's most loved contemporary actors. On stage his work encompassed the Bristol Old Vic, Royal Shakespeare Compan...

Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, a collection of narratives written between 1387 and 1400, tells of a group of thirty people from all layers of society who pass the time along their pilgrimage to Canterbury by telling stories to one another, their interaction mediated (at times) by the affable host Chaucer himself. Naxos AudioBooks’ third volume presents the tales of six people, here in an unabridged modern verse translation (by Frank Ernest Hill, (1935)). This is an ideal way to appreciate...

Here are more than sixty eyewitness accounts from history. Many are notable events: the Battle of Thermopylae, the Black Death in 1341, the Great Fire of London, the execution of Louis XVI, the Death of Nelson and the American Civil War and the bombing of Hiroshima. But there are also snapshots of more ordinary life no less memorable for that including working conditions during the Industrial Revolution, views of slave owners and slaves, Paul Gaugin choosing a bride on Tahiti and the arres...

Conan Doyle (18591930) will always be remembered for the character of Sherlock Holmes, but he was a prolific writer of short stories, of science fiction and historical fiction including The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard. In his comprehensive biography, Pearson considers how his life is reflected in his books including his background as a doctor and his enduring (and public) belief in spiritualism.

The rich life Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) is featured here: his work as a doctor, his novels and journalistic writings, his support of Spiritualism and his defence of fairies. This is a unique set for the 150th anniversary of his birth. After his early years in medicine, the writing talents of Arthur Conan Doyle took over. Sherlock Holmes and Professor Challenger were among his successes. David Timson, an actor and director who has read the complete Sherlock Holmes collection for Na...

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the first book in the Grail Series—the spellbinding tale of a young man, a fearless archer, who sets out wanting to avenge his family's honor and winds up on a quest for the Holy Grail.A brutal raid on the quiet coastal English village of Hookton in 1342 leaves but one survivor: a young archer named Thomas. On this terrible dawn, his purpose becomes clear—to recover a stolen sacred relic and pursue t...

A selection of the award-winning author’s plays for theatre and radioWell known for his hit TV series Doctor Foster, Mike Bartlett is one of Britain’s most prolific and high-profile contemporary playwrights. He has been Writer-In-Residence at the both the National Theatre and The Royal Court Theatre, and has written numerous works for the stage, radio and television.This outstanding collection opens with the play that catapulted him into the limeli...

Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard introduces 12 dramatised stories, featuring detectives whose abilities rival that of the great Sherlock Holmes.Dramatised for radio by Chris Harrald, these 12 stories are written by masters of the crime and thriller genre, all contemporaries of Arthur Conan Doyle. They include:The Murders on the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan PoeThe Problem of Cell 13 by Jacques FutrelleMurder By Proxy by Matthias McDon...

The 9th installment in the Aubrey/Maturin seriesAll of Patrick O'Brian's strengths are on parade in this novel of action and intrigue, set partly in Malta, partly in the treacherous, pirate-infested waters of the Red Sea. While Captain Aubrey worries about repairs to his ship, Stephen Maturin assumes the center stage; for the dockyards and saloons of Malta are alive with Napoleon's agents, and the admiralty's intelligence network is compromised. Maturin's cunning is the sole bulwar...

We join Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, captain in the Royal Navy and surgeon/intelligence agent respectively, where we left them at the end of The Thirteen Gun Salute: shipwrecked on a remote Dutch East Indies island.Employing great enterprise, Aubrey secures a new ship and sails for Australia. A penal colony by charter, in fact a grim outpost of legalized slavery, conditions there exacerbate Maturin's Irish temper and nearly provoke a diplomatic crisis. And an excursion...

On 1 July 1916, Dauglas Haig's army launched the 'Big Push' that was supposed finally to bring the end to the stalemate on the Western Front. What happened next was a human catastrophe: scrambling over the top into the face of the German machine guns and artillery fire, almost 20,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers were killed that day alone, and twice as many wounded - the greatest loss in a single day ever sustained by the British Army. The battle did not stop there, however. It dragge...