Showing results by narrator "Richard Aspel" in All Categories

The Northern Ireland conflict is one of the most protracted, bitter, and complex campaigns of terrorism the Western world has ever seen. Since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the region has come a long way, finally achieving a hard-won peace. Yet hostility between Unionists and Nationalists is as strong as ever, communities remain divided, and sectarian violence is rife. Edwards and McGrattan’s balanced introduction skilfully dissects the “Troubles” to offer fresh perspectives on their complicated history and legacy.

Former Australian Army officer Mike Williams is trying to forget a troubled past - with a carefree existence as an overland tour guide in Africa. But then one day on the road, he receives word that the South African Police have some news for him. A bloody and tragic run-in with ivory hunters in Mozambique the year before had left Mike's world in shreds. But now the authorities are on the poachers' trail and they need his help to catch them.

Tenacious English journalist Sarah Thatcher is along for the ride, and insists on becoming involved.

Award-winning journalist and best-selling author Ian McPhedran takes us to the heart of the RAAF through personal accounts of fighter pilots’ bombing raids over Iraq, of hi-tech spy planes over Afghanistan, of the operational nerve centre of the Middle East war, and of the men and women who deliver humanitarian aid across the world. This is the compelling narrative, in the RAAF’s 90th year, of its aircraft, leadership, traditions, and personalities at a time of rapid change.

On 19 July 1916, 7,000 Australian soldiers - in the first major action of the AIF on the Western Front - attacked entrenched German positions at Fromelles, in Northern France. By the next day, no fewer than 5,500 were wounded and just under 1,900 were dead - a bloodbath that the Australian War Memorial describes as 'the worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history'. Just days later, three Australian divisions attacked German positions at nearby Pozières, and over the next six weeks they suffered another 23,000 casualties.

It has been remarked that if the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn’t. Commencing with a brief history of neuroscience, from the ancient practice of drilling holes in the head to relieve headaches to the latest results from MRI and CT scans, this accessible guide sets out to explore exactly what we do know about the brain. Including the most up-to-date research on the cerebral processes, this entertaining introduction assumes no previous scientific knowledge.

In 1788, Thomas Kendall, a naïve 19-year-old sentenced to transportation for burglary, finds himself bound for Sydney Town and a new life in the wild and lawless land beneath the Southern Cross. Thomas fathers a dynasty that will last more than 200 years. His descendants play their part in the forging of a nation, but greed and prejudice see an irreparable rift in the family which will echo through the generations. It is only at the dawn of the new millennium - as an old journal lays bare a terrible secret - that the family can finally reclaim its honour....

The year is 1957, and the place is Paris, where the psychic wounds of World War II have barely begun to heal and the Algerian war is about to escalate. Saffie, an emotionally damaged young German woman, arrives on the doorstep of Raphael, a privileged musician who finds her reserve irresistible.

In the year 2010 after the Invasion of Heaven, human psychonauts trample the sacred fields of Heaven, and the angels retreat to higher altitudes to avoid the contamination of the physical. In the year 2050 the Millennial Wars have reduced the Earth to a devastated battleground. In the year 3000 the evil Humen are determined to destroy the power of Heaven, while the Residuals, a primitive race of people, live fearfully in the ruins of civilisation. In the midst of this hatred and fear is born a unique friendship that could change the course of history.

Lydon Hall is a house full of character, as the estate agent's literature claims. But its many interesting features should surely not include a corpse in the elegant drawing-room? Is this death the suicide it appears to be? The investigation centres upon a tight-knit village community. Both the glamorous French widow of the deceased and the man who lives rough on the moor after a mental breakdown seem to know more about this death than is at first apparent.

Berlin in autumn: Christine Starlight lives in an artists' colony with her lover Jude, whose patience and beauty have eased her battle with chronic pain. But Christine begins to be haunted by childhood recollections of a little girl's disappearance and the flapping of a blackbird's wings. Then her world is rocked by the return of a childhood friend... Mayfridh rules over a land where a wolf is the queen's counsellor, fate turns on the fall of an autumn leaf and mortals feel no pain.

Two gypsy boys are fleeing through a war-ravaged countryside during the night, carrying a secret bundle. The boys stumble across a town that has been reduced to smoking rubble, and a zoo that is still intact. When the boys take shelter in the zoo, they discover a menagerie of talking animals. Both the boys and the animals tell their tales and speak of their desire for freedom. Like The Silver Donkey and The Ghost’s Child, this is another beautiful fable-like tale that will move you to tears.

Tomorrow begins right here as we embark on an enthralling and jargon-free journey into the world of computers and the inner recesses of the human mind. Readers encounter everything from the nanotechnology used to make insect-like robots, to the computers that perform surgery and, reminiscent of films like Terminator, computers that can learn by teaching themselves.

With over two billion adherents, Christianity is the world’s largest religion. However, with a multitude of denominations, and varying opinions on many central tenets, it can be difficult to obtain a balanced overview of this complex faith. Best-selling author Keith Ward provides a unique and authoritative introduction to Christianity that will reward both the curious and those seeking a deeper understanding of their religion.

Detective Inspector January David has always put his professional before his private life, but the two worlds are about to clash horrifically as he visits his latest crime scene. He is confronted by a lifeless figure suspended ten feet above a theatre stage, blood pouring from her face into a coffin below. This gruesome execution is the work of an elusive serial killer. Three women from three different London suburbs, each murdered with elaborate and chilling precision. And as January stares at the most beautiful corpse he's ever seen, he detects the killer's hallmark.

They say no one from the convict settlement of Sydney Town crossed the steep ranges of the Blue Mountains until 1813. But the quick-witted convict Clancy Fitzgerald did it in 1798, dragging with him the proud - but reluctant - Eliza Philips. Faced with constant danger and wrenching isolation, Clancy and Eliza found themselves pale-skinned strangers in a land of ancient traditions and spiritual beliefs.

Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg is a leading authority on teenage behavior. Surviving Adolescents is the sensible, sanity-saving guide every household needs. Young people today enter puberty earlier than ever before and leave home later. The good news is that teenagers aren't impossible to live with, especially if parents adopt the common-sense strategies set out in this book.

Vast, diverse, dynamic, and turbulent, the true nature of Africa is often obscured by its poverty-stricken image. In this controversial and gripping guide, Tom Young cuts through the emotional hype to critically analyse the continent’s political history and the factors behind its dismal economic performance. Maintaining that colonial influences are often overplayed, Young argues that much blame must lie with African governments themselves and that Western aid can often cause as much harm as good.

Does free speech have limits? Can torture be justified? Who is really in charge of your rights? Every day we are confronted with news of foreign governments who refuse to acknowledge liberties that we in the Western world take for granted. But civil liberties are nearly always under threat, no matter where you live. Tom Head traverses the globe in order to provide a clear introduction to what civil liberties are and why they're worth defending.

The proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons is one of the most pressing security threats of the 21st century. From Sudanese refugees hunted by gun-toting militias to air passengers targeted by shoulder-fired missiles, no one is safe from this deadly scourge. Providing a gripping overview of these cheap and easily obtainable weapons, the threat they pose in the wrong hands, and strategies for reining them in, this guide is required listening for anyone wishing to fully understand one of today’s key threats.

In 1788, Thomas Kendall, a naive nineteen-year-old sentenced to transportation for burglary, finds himself bound for Sydney Town in the penal colony of New South Wales. Discarding allegiance to the country that has disowned him, Thomas, an honest man at heart, seizes a second chance and begins a new life in the wild and lawless land beneath the Southern Cross. Thomas Kendall fathers a dynasty that will last beyond 200 years.