Showing results by narrator "Clive Mantle" in All Categories

James Fynch doesn't believe in magic. He is an ordinary boy, immersed in the world of modern technology—until his 14th birthday, when something extraordinary happens. Turning the dials of an ancient clock, he finds himself mysteriously transported to a magical, parallel world. Here, he begins to learn of the firestone, one of four mythical crystals able to defeat the rising darkness. The barrier between worlds hasn't been broken for centuries, but with dark powers rising, it is more fragile than ever before.

Athens, 1912, and the country is on the brink of war. The new Greek Prime minister Venizelos, tired of the Ottoman overlords, has a dream - which he refers to as his 'Great Idea'. The idea is to form a new nation, uniting all the Greek people scattered around the Mediterranean. Not such a great idea in the view of other countries, among them Britain, who believes in letting sleeping dogs lie. Not to mention cats. Such as the one recently poisoned in Salonica which belonged to the exiled former Sultan.

Malta, 1913, and hot air balloons hover over the Grand Harbour. But one of them falls from the sky, the balloonist dying later from his injuries. He is not the only one to die unexpectedly at the Naval Hopspital, however, as a letter to the Times points out. Special Investigator Seymour of the Foreign Office is sent out from London to uncover the truth. Malta is still a British protectorate; indeed, with its red post boxes, English beer, and English language, it seems like an exotic "Little Britain". But as the rumblings of war reach the small island, many of the old Maltese families are becoming divided in their loyalties.

Jack McColl is a globe-trotting salesman for a luxury car firm. He is also a part-time spy for the fledgling Secret Service on the eve of the First World War. As 1913 ends he is in China, checking out the German naval base at Tsingtao between automobile demonstrations in Peking and Shanghai. Caitlin Hanley is a young Irish American journalist with the sort of views that most British men would find dangerously advanced.

BERLIN 1948: - A vanquished city of rubble - sliced into sections by the Allies, and set well back behind the Russian lines. A city of old women, black marketeers and sleazy cabarets in ruined cellars.In the British sector was Squadron Leader Michael Harrison, a war hero who had helped to bomb Berlin into fragments. He hated the Nazis who had killed his sister and her children. But here he was, doing his best to ensure that food and fuel was somehow brought in to save the surviving Berliners.

Barcelona in 1912 is a city still recovering from the dramatic incidents of the so-called 'Tragic Week' when Catalan conscripts bound for the unpopular war in Spanish Morocco had rebelled at the city's dockside against the royalist forces. In the fighting many were killed and afterwards even more were thrown into prison. Including an Englishman, who was later found dead in his cell.

On 6 June, 1944, Britain woke up to a profound silence. Overnight, 160,000 Allied troops had vanished and an eerie emptiness settled over the country. The majority of those men would never return. This is the story of that extraordinary 24 hours. Using a wealth of first-person testimonies, renowned historian Max Arthur recounts a remarkable new oral history of D-Day, beginning with the two years leading up to the silent day that saw the UK transformed by the arrival of thousands of American and Canadian troops.

A racy romp for young readers involving spies, helicopters, and a dramatic dash across a border.

India. The country of curry, chutney, tigers, the Taj Mahal... and the Blue Rat Gang! In Delhi, hundreds of children have been enslaved. Will no one help them? Does no one care? One person does. And one dog too. On trains and rickshaws, travelling from slums to palaces, Tim and Grk plunge into the heart of India for the most exciting adventure of their lives.

Oliver grew up in a family of explorers—but his biggest adventure is about to begin! Along with his new friends, a grumpy old albatross, a short-sighted mermaid and a friendly island called Cliff, Oliver goes off in search of his missing parents. But before he can put his rescue plan into action there's the evil Stacey de Lacey and an army of greasy, green sea monkeys to contend with...

Grk is walking happily through the park, sniffing trees and chasing squirrels, when he's suddenly snatched by two men in black suits. Where are they taking him? And how can Tim get him back? Tim and Grk's eighth amazing adventure takes them to the home of pizza, pasta, and the leaning tower of Pisa. There they meet the Duke of Macaroni, a man with a terrible secret which he will do anything to hide....

Published in time for Remembrance Day 2008, the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War, We Will Remember Them commemorates the veterans who are no longer among us. With an introduction by Henry Allingham, 110, only survivor of the Battle of the Somme and Britain's oldest living man, Max Arthur's new book expands the circle of contributors by interviewing the families of First World War veterans.

Fred Dibnah's World celebrates the life and work of Britain's best known steeplejack and national treasure, Fred Dibnah. Before his death in 2004, Fred presented many popular series, including Magnificent Monuments, The Age of Steam and Made in Britain, all of which attracted viewers in their millions.Fred is the companion to the 12-part BBC2 series celebrating the life of this great man, which combines highlights from some of Dibnah's classic programmes with previously unseen footage.

Martin Sturrock desperately needs a psychiatrist. The problem? He is one.Emily is a traumatised burns victim, Arta a Kosovan refugee recovering from a rape. David Temple is a long-term depressive, while the Rt Hon Ralph Hall MP lives in terror of his drink problem being exposed. Very different Londoners, but they share one thing: every week they spend an hour at the Prince Regent hospital, revealing the secrets of their psyche to Professor Martin Sturrock.

Tim can’t speak much French. Grk can speak even less. But they have to learn fast when they take the train to France and track down the evil Colonel Zinfandel.In the sixth of their thrilling adventures, Tim and Grk chase Colonel Zinfandel from the top of the Eiffel Tower to the bottom of the River Seine, and finally discover the true meaning of revenge.

On a bright September morning in 1939, two days after Britain has declared war, a group of privileged but desperate people gather in Southampton to board the largest, most luxurious airliner ever built - the Pan American Clipper, bound for New York: an English aristocrat, fleeing with his family and a fortune in jewels; a German scientist, escaping from the Nazis; a murderer under FBI escort; a young wife running away from a domineering husband; and a handsome, unscrupulous thief.

Britain's history is a sweeping saga of blood, death, love, sex and betrayal, peopled by a cast of extraordinary characters. Yet, when it comes down to it, there are only around 150 key things we really need to know that have shaped the story of these islands. Whether it's the Battle of Hastings or Henry VIII, the English Civil War or the Blitz, Remember, Remember, is a history of Britain in bite-sized chunks, containing all the important dates, people and events - but without the boring bits.

Sports day gets off to a shaky start when a bump to Stacey’s head kicks off a chain of events that aren’t on the programme. It soon becomes clear that the pupils are up against more than just each other, and James, Lenny and Alexander find themselves in a race to save their school from winning first prize for freakiness...The fifth spooky story in the 'Too Ghoul for School' series.

The day I was appointed Chair of the shop union was the same day the Pope was elected. There the similarities end, however. For while his elevation took place beneath the fine art of the Sistine Chapel, with the mysterious white smoke rising, mine took place in the cold store, with nothing more mysterious than the bacon delivery and yesterday's waste...A vicar for twenty years, Simon Parke trades in his dog collar for a job on the tills in his local supermarket.

St. Sebastian's School in Grimesford is the pits. Can James and his friends get to the bottom of the problem and flush out the ghosts, or will every term at the school be plagued with misery?