Showing results by narrator "Michael Langan" in All Categories

Sherlock Holmes stories are transportive things. They move listeners through the cloistered sitting room at 221-B Baker Street in late 19th Century Victorian London amid the cluttered sideboard, the inviting armchairs, the comforting hearth, the sprawling divan, the formidable bookshelves — all the beloved trappings in the room of the world's greatest detective and his faithful associate. The stories unfold and the listeners can almost sense the physical presence of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, characters whose vitality has defied the diminishments of time.

The Little Ice Age tells the story of the turbulent, unpredictable, and often very cold years of modern European history, how climate altered historical events, and what they mean in the context of today’s global warming.

In 410 CE, Roman rule of Britain collapsed, bringing a centuries-long occupation to an end. A century later, Britain was dividing into two areas with contrasting cultures, an expansive "Anglo-Saxon" south and east, and a shrinking Celtic west and north. How did this transition happen? And why did the customs of the Germanic incomers prevail in England, unlike elsewhere in Europe? In this account, Nicholas J. Higham addresses these questions head on. Higham draws on archaeological evidence and contemporary literature, including the writings of Gildas, to reconsider the accepted narrative.

Charity Buntington's husband describes his wife as the most lovely and inoffensive person, whom nobody would want to hurt. But someone enters their home in broad daylight, strangles her, then cuts off and takes away her right forefinger. Inspector Hopkins asks Sherlock Holmes to help him investigate the case, but Charity's friend Aurora Jones is also a private detective, and wishes to help bring her friend's murderer to justice. Holmes is impressed with Jones' skills, and although Hopkins is reluctant, he agrees to let Miss Jones assist in the case under Holmes' guidance.

In the late 1800's and early 1900's, the usefulness of consulting detectives in the war against crime was very well established by Mr. Sherlock Holmes. By the early Twentieth Century, Holmes had retired to Sussex, and the void he left behind in London was capably filled by a number of other noted criminal specialists: Solar Pons, Hercule Poirot, Dr. John Thorndyke, Father Brown, Albert Campion, and Lord Peter Wimsey, to name a few. But another who made a name for himself with his unique skills tends to receive less attention today: Max Carrados.

Einar is a Northman with a dream, a Viking bound by blood to a ship and a crew of battle hardened warriors, and oathsworn to Ivar the Boneless. The sons of Ragnar fight a war of vengeance against King Orsten the Roarer, ruler of Sweden, a savage pagan and murderer of Eric and Agnar Ragnarsson. Einar and his crew face losing their precious warship Seaworm and become locked in a fight to keep their ship, survive a brutal war, and treachery from within the Viking army itself...

From a country estate in Sussex to the docklands of Limehouse, from the Royal Albert Hall to a music hall in Shoreditch, from the net-curtained suburbs of Beckenham and Hampstead to a brothel in Bow, Holmes and Watson go plumbing the depths of human depravity to unmask likely and unlikely villains. The cast of colourful characters include a world famous Russian violinist, an intrepid female detective, Miss Dimples and her performing poodles, a diminutive maid named Fancy, a dead policeman on a platform at St Pancras station, as well as Wiggins, Jimsy and Bobs of the Baker Street Irregulars.

A seemingly innocent concern from Lestrade about his cousin leads Holmes back into a world left behind after the affair of The Five Orange Pips. Investigating the appearance of a body at the base of Tower Bridge unveils a hidden cult of Satanists performing ritual sacrifices, until Holmes and the British Secret Service intervenes. Called to Scotland Yard, Holmes is reunited with an old acquaintance and dragged into a plot to undermine the government and give its secrets to Russian spies.

The Uncollected Cases of Sherlock Holmes presents eight new stories about Holmes which set the great detective against the background of Victorian England, an era of enormous progress, in science, transport, and medicine but which also witnessed a surge in urban poverty, prostitution and imperial adventurism. Each of the stories in this collection engages with an aspect of this background.

From 1913 to 1934, mystery readers were treated to Carrados' published adventures in the form of twenty-six short stories and one full-length novel. In his time, Carrados was one of the most popular detectives in literature. The July 1924 issue of The Strand contained a new Sherlock Holmes story - but it was the announcement of a new Carrados adventure that decorated the magazine's cover.

The British constitution is regarded as unique among the constitutions of the world. What are the main characteristics of Britain's peculiar constitutional arrangements? How has the British constitution altered in response to the changing nature of its state—from England, to Britain, to the United Kingdom? What impact has the UK's developing relations with the European Union caused? These are some of the questions that Martin Loughlin addresses in this Very Short Introduction.

As Inspector Lestrade asks "why, gentlemen, would someone break into a house, murder the owner and then steal only one volume of an Australian atlas, when all three volumes were there for the taking," more atlases are stolen before Holmes solves the mystery.

881 AD, Northumbria. Hundr, The Man with the Dogs Name, sails the England’s coastline raiding and challenging Viking champions to single combat. His wife and child died in a savage war with Rollo the Betrayer and Hundr seeks to soothe his grief in the fog of war. Hundr, a Northman with a dog's name… ruthless Viking warlords and savage individual combat… epic battles, gladiatorial fights, twists and turns. Hundr is lost in a violent sea storm and falls foul of fellow Vikings who force men to fight in the hjaldr-garth slave fighting pit.

Jean-Pierre Filiu, acclaimed historian of Gaza, is intimately familiar with the land's people and places; he speaks the local dialect. But nothing prepared him for what he encountered there in December 2024. This is his unforgettable, unbearably intimate account of one month in a place shattered by Israel's all-out war.

880 AD, Norway. Rollo the Betrayer has risen to become a powerful Duke in Normandy and sails with his warriors and his spite to exact revenge upon Viking warriors Hundr and Einar the Brawler. Hundr, a Northman with a dog's name… Viking warships flying the raven banner… epic battles, berserkers, twists and turns. Hundr and Einar are faced with a brutal enemy and must fight to protect their home, their loved ones and their reputations. The war with Rollo takes them deep into Viking Norway, and into a war with the King of Frankia and his vast army.

Many of the adventures of my friend, Mr Sherlock Holmes the consulting detective, in which I was privileged to assist him, I have recorded elsewhere. There were however, a number of instances when, sometimes for reasons of his own which I could not fathom, he expressly forbade me to forward others for publication.

Rhys Northwick, Duke of Whitby, has unabashedly devoted himself to a life of debauchery and hedonism. With his friends falling prey to the despicable institution of marriage, the responsibility of hosting the sinful Wicked Dukes Society house parties has fallen largely on his shoulders. Rhys doesn’t mind. He’ll happily seduce bored widows and wives out of their drawers any day. Until an encounter with a tempting divorcée leaves him longing for the only woman in London who is immune to his rakish charms.

Using academic, comprehensive, logical, and, at times, mathematical approaches, The Science of Weird Shit convincingly debunks ESP, communicating with the dead, and alien abduction claims, among other phenomena. All the while, however, French maintains that our belief in such phenomena is neither ridiculous nor trivial; if anything, such claims can tell us a great deal about the human mind if we pay them the attention they are due.

The Great Game continues for Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. In 'The Gravesend Gryphon and other Sherlock Holmes stories', the great detective encounters a wounded old soldier, Baroness Orczy's old man in the corner, H. G. Wells's Sea lady, and a household with a troublesome family member. He helps a failure to become a hero, assists in a search for hidden treasure, and counters human trafficking in North East England. He even helps a 'Saint George' to defeat a dragon. The game is definitely afoot.

882 AD Norway. A new power rises amongst the Viking north, wild Danes under the sway of powerful Loki worship threaten the land with fire and blood. Hundr, The Man with the Dog’s Name… Einar the Brawler… Viking warriors bent on destruction and carnage.. epic battles, axes, shields, twists and turns. Hundr, Einar, and King Harald Fairhair of Norway sail south to meet a rising challenge. War looms, and Loki, the chained-one, threatens to break free from his fetters and toss Midgard into the chaos of the Ragnarök.