Showing results by narrator "Derek Perkins" in All Categories

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore are as different as England and America themselves, and yet almost two centuries later these two iconic tales remain an important part of Christmas tradition all over the world. Now they are brought together in this very special holiday recording.

Although she spent her life withdrawn from the people of Amherst, Massachusetts, every man, woman, and English professor in this small university town claims ownership of poet Emily Dickinson. They give tours in her house, lay flowers on her grave, and now, as the hundredth anniversary of her death approaches, they organize festivals in her name. Dickinson scholar Owen Kraznik has just been railroaded into organizing the event when Amherst starts to burn.

The intentional killing of a woman's dog unleashes a torrent of rage. In her desire for revenge, the woman curses the dog's killer: All that the murderer loves most, he will lose. This haunting tale brilliantly demonstrates Elizabeth Gaskell's understanding of the tensions between Catholics and Protestants and the harsh realities of class society.

Who are the popes, and how does the Roman Catholic Church define their role? What about the present day popes? What is the ecumenical significance of the papacy, and what are its prospects in the global world? These and other questions are tackled as Leonardo De Chirico explores the biblical, historical, and theological fabric of the papacy.

The citizens of Concord, Massachusetts, never tire of their heritage. For decades, the intellectuals of this little hamlet have continued endless debates about Concord’s favorite sons: Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, and their contemporaries. Concord’s latter-day transcendental scholars are a strange bunch, but none is more peculiar than Homer Kelly, an expert on Emerson and on homicide. An old-fashioned murder is about to put both skills to the test.

Ever since she drove her best friend's fiance to kill himself, Isabel Drew has been nicknamed Jezebel. She is domineering, arrogant, vain—and beautiful enough to get away with it. She is starring as a princess in a medieval pageant when her past catches up to her. On tiny slips of paper, threats appear, promising death to Isabel and those around her. Fearing she may be attacked, she invites the brilliant Inspector Cockrill to keep her safe after the performance. But her precautions come too late. During the first show, Isabel falls from her tower and is dead before she hits the ground.

Young and filled with idealistic fervor, Arturo packs his blade and travels to the fabled City of Swords in the hopes of joining the dashing Bravadori. Yet upon arriving, he discovers these masked vigilantes have more in common with brutal thugs than noble monster slayers. Disillusioned and mocked, he stubbornly refuses to give up his dreams. When an impending bandit attack threatens untold depravities upon a distant village, and no others will heed the call for help, Arturo joins forces with a worthless outcast and a walking legend to attempt the impossible.

Flying the notorious "hump route" between India and China in 1943, a twin-engine plane suffered mechanical failure and crashed in a dense mountain jungle. Among the passengers and crew were celebrated CBS journalist Eric Sevareid, a Soviet double agent posing as an OSS operative, and General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell's personal political adviser. Against the odds, all but one of the 21 people aboard the aircraft survived - but they fell from the frying pan into the fire.

Gravedigger John Gascoigne lives in Downfell Hurst with his wife, Florrie, their three children and his mother, Gran. John is a deep thinker but extremely taciturn - a man of few words and many grunts. Which is why everyone is alarmed when he's hit on the head by a cricket ball, and it suddenly seems as if the words won't stop. What's more, he says he is talking to Saint Christopher - only no one else can see the saint, and they're beginning to worry John's not quite right in the head.

Mordred is the son of King Arthur, bastard child of his union with his half sister Morgause. Prophesied by Merlin to kill Arthur, Mordred is stolen away from his mother and raised in secrecy by a kind couple on an isolated Orkney island in the hopes that he will defy his fate. Mordred, known to history as a traitor and a murderer, is no villain but a quick-witted young man, with hopes and dreams of his own. But try as he might, Mordred cannot escape Merlin's prophecy.

A startling and vivid account of World War I, Secret Warriors uncovers how wartime code breaking, aeronautics, and scientific research laid the foundation for many of the innovations of the 20th century.

After the fall of Ringwall, Pentamuria lies in ruins. The magic of the elements is fading away and the realm of fire begins a merciless conquest. In this situation, it is up to Nill, the last Archmage and possible Changer, to sort out the mess and stop Sergor-Don. But the king of the fire realm is not the only threat. A new, incredibly powerful magician who calls himself the "Pillar of Light", along with his followers, demands dominion over Pentamuria and forces Nill to decide whether to fight not only for his own life but for the fate of the whole world.

After being appointed Archmage, Nill finds himself in a bind. On the one hand, he now holds the office of a powerful magician, but on the other, his actual magical abilities are weak. Nill has no choice but to leave Ringwall and go in quest of the old magic, but the journey is perilous - especially because of Nill’s old rival Sergor-Don, who took up his inheritance as King of the Fire Kingdom. But the young ruler is not satisfied with his new kingdom. He wants to lead the Fire Kingdom back to its ancient strength and power with only one goal in mind: Ringwall´s doom.

Alexander the Fatherless: nephew of the villainous King March of Cornwall, who murdered his father. Burning with vengeance, Alexander sets out on a journey to Camelot to seek justice from King Arthur. His path will lead him to the Dark Tower, where the sorceress Morgan le Fay lies in wait. Morgan seduces Alexander and sends him on a quest to Jerusalem to recover the Holy Grail - which she believes will help her take the throne.

A dark evil threatens Morgana de Moray's Highland home. The Druid Princess is left with no choice but to strike a deadly bargain with the dangerous Berserker and risk all to unleash the beast from within the man.

By land and water shall it go home, and lie hidden in the floating stone until by fire it shall be raised again. Arthur has raised the sword and claimed his birthright as High King of Briton, determined to unite the many tiny kingdoms that make up his country. Now he sits upon his throne at Camelot with Merlin by his side, his most trusted adviser. But Merlin is growing old, and his sight is dimming. He knows that Mordred, child of Arthur's unknowing union with his half-sister Morgause, will be Arthur's downfall.

Shryke is running for his life. But how do you escape an enemy who can follow you everywhere and everywhen? Shryke knows you can't, yet still he runs. There are horrors buried deep in his memory that have been locked away from him by some secret magic. All he knows is that he is the Quantum Assassin, and he stands alone against the end of everything - the lone warrior in a war he can’t hope to win.

Well met, traveler! Since you are going in my direction, why don't we walk on together for a while? If luck is with us, perhaps we shall overtake Omar before nightfall, if that pirate of an innkeeper spoke true.

In this scholarly study, Charles Stephenson describes the political, diplomatic, and military build-up to the Soviet offensive and its decisive outcome. He also considers to what extent Japan's capitulation is attributable to the atomic bomb or the stunningly successful entry of the Soviet Union into the conflict.

Auguste Dupin is one of the few persons in Paris who can identify the rare Cthulhu Encryption inscribed in the flesh of a dying madwoman. The Comte de Saint-Germain has a second cryptogram that's a partner to the one Dupin now owns, and believes it to be the key to a fabulous treasure hoard buried by the pirate Levasseur. Harassed by shoggoths and tracked by Saint-Germain, Dupin must find the key to the complex puzzle. Can the might of Cthulhu be held at bay? And will any answer that Dupin finds enable him and his friends to escape with their lives?