Showing results by narrator "Benjamin Soames" in All Categories

Classic Poems for Boys comprises a delightfully varied set of over 20 poems for 5- to 10-year olds. From rousing favorites like Felicia Dorothea Hemans’ "Casabianca" and John Keats’ "A Song About Myself", to dreamy, thoughtful poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Rudyard Kipling, this is a collection to be treasured.

The great myths of Ancient Greece have inspired mankind for centuries. Each of the heroes has to undergo trials of strength and courage to prove his valor against a host of monsters - the Minotaur, half man, half bull; Hydra, the many-headed serpent; Medusa the Gorgon. Meanwhile, the gods, lead by Zeus the Thunderer from his seat on Mount Olympus, watch, encourage, help - and sometimes hinder.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in collaboration with his friend, William Wordsworth, revolutionized English poetry. In 1798 they produced their Lyrical Ballads, poems of imagination and reflection using "the language of men" - pointing the way forward for a generation of Romantic poets.

Oscar Wilde's first play confronts the hypocrisy of public "morality" compared with genuine, private kindness. The reasons for its continued popularity are not difficult to identify: the play's witty dialogue contains many of Wilde's most quoted aphorisms, its stylish setting provides opportunities for elegant presentation, and its cast of memorable characters play out a story which is genuinely moving. This new audio production brings together a full cast worthy of Wilde's creative genius.

The tales of the Norse gods, of the giants, demons, trolls and dwarves, still have the power to fascinate more than a thousand years after they were first told. Here are the stories of the one-eyed god Odin, Tyr the god of war, of the cunning Loki, of Thor the mighty thunder god and a host of others.

Nine remarkable men produced inventions that changed the world. The printing press, the telephone, powered flight, recording, and other innovations have made the modern world what it is. But who had these ideas and made realities of them? As David Angus explains, they were very different: quiet, boisterous, confident, or withdrawn. But all had a moment of vision that they combined with single-minded determination to battle through numerous obstacles and produce something that really worked.

The glory of ancient Greece is all around us, even in the 21st century, because Greece was the cradle of Western civilisation. We know about the gods and their characters - Zeus, Athene, Apollo, Ares, Aphrodite - and their heroes, both legendary (Heracles) and historical (Alexander the Great). Architecture, mathematics, politics, philosophy, observation of nature and the cosmos and much more emerged in ancient Greece.

These two great poems date from Shakespeare’s early years and are full of passion and invention. In Venus and Adonis, the goddess of love pleads with the beautiful boy to submit to her advances and become her love - but he only wants to hunt boar. In the more serious Rape of Lucrece, Shakespeare draws on the Roman tale of the Emperor Tarquin’s desire for Lucrece and its tragic consequencies. These poems give prominent parts to the two heroines, and Clare Corbett and Eve Best shine.

This is a story from the More Tales from the Greek Legends collection.

Lemuel Gulliver sets out on a series of travels, but each time he finds himself shipwrecked in new and unfamiliar lands. And how unfamiliar! In Lilliput, everyone is tiny, and it takes thousands of them to capture him; in Brobdingnag, they’re huge and treat him as a sort of living toy; in Laputa, they live on a floating island inventing impossibly mad projects; and the Houyhnhnms are horses! But through all his adventures, Gulliver learns to see humans in a different way, too.

One thing that hasn't changed much at all in the last 10,000 years is the human brain. The relentless curiosity of the human mind, combined with our ability to solve problems, has resulted in huge innovation and change. Here, then, are some of the most revolutionary ideas of the last 300 years.

Journey back in time to the age of the dinosaurs, the biggest, scariest creatures the world has ever known. Which dinosaurs hunted in packs like wolves? What was the deadliest dinosaur of them all? Which were the very largest species? Not all dinosaurs were bloodthirsty meat-eaters, but all were armed and dangerous. You are advised to keep well clear as we tour the world of the dinosaurs, taking a detailed look at all the most amazing species.

The Adventures of Odysseus is the story of what happened after the Trojan War when Odysseus, the most cunning of all the Greek heroes, left Troy and made his way back home to his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus. It was first told by a poet named Homer nearly 3,000 years ago and is retold in this new version especially for younger listeners.

With the growth of civilization came more scientific methods, generally discovered by significant individuals. This informative and entertaining audiobook presents the major figures in the history of medicine, from Hippocrates in Ancient Greece to the Roman doctor Galen and the medieval abbess Hildegard of Bingen. It also explores the Arabs Ibn Sina and Al-Razi and the start of major anatomical investigations during the Renaissance by Andreas Vesalius.

Nine remarkable men produced inventions that changed the world. The printing press, the telephone, powered flight, recording and others have made the modern world what it is. But who were the men who had these ideas and made reality of them? As David Angus shows, they were very different - quiet, boisterous, confident, withdrawn - but all had a moment of vision allied to single-minded determination to battle through numerous prototypes and produced something that really worked. This is a fascinating account for younger listeners.

Naxos AudioBooks presents the history of the Plantaganets as seen through the eyes of Shakespeare. These easy-to-understand introductions feature key speeches and scenes from the plays themselves, and are very accessible for children approaching Shakespeare for the first time, as well as being an invaluable aid to the history of the Plantaganets, from Richard II to Richard III. This set covers Richard II, Henry IV parts 1 and 2, Henry V, Henry VI parts 1, 2, and 3, and Richard III.

This is a story from the Tales from the Greek Legends collection.

The Victorian era was a time of great change and rapid progress. Britain was undergoing the most tremendous development. Scientific discoveries had prompted the Industrial Revolution, which made Britain the world leader in iron and steel production. Science was undergoing a revolution, enabled by the groundbreaking work of Michael Faraday, who led the Royal Institution. Great swathes of Central Africa were mapped by the explorer David Livingstone and the understanding of humankind’s place in the world was being redefined by the theories of the great naturalist Charles Darwin.

Classic Poems for Girls is a collection of over 25 funny, whimsical and moving poems for 5- to 10-year olds, designed to fuel the imagination. From the adventures of the Jumblies, who sail away in a sieve; to the sticky end of a girl named Matilda; to the courtship of a maiden who lived long ago, in a kingdom by the sea, there’s a poem to suit any feeling or mood. Seasoned Naxos AudioBooks readers Laura Paton, Anne-Marie Piazza, Benjamin Soames and Roy McMillan work their magic on the works of Edward Lear, Louisa May Alcott, Christina Rossetti, and many more.

'In a Nutshell', the new audiobook series from Naxos AudioBooks, continues with a fascinating history of Afghanistan. For centuries it has been the playground of big powers, from Alexander the Great to the British Empire and the Soviet Union. It has been torn by internal strife and ideological differences, yet Afghans, tribal though they may be, remain a proud nation. Here is a short history, setting the background to the current situation.