Showing results by narrator "Roger Davis" in All Categories

At dusk, on a warm evening in 2016, a group of 40 men gathered in the corner of a dusty field on a farm outside Parys in the Free State. Some were in fury. Others treated the whole thing as a joke - a game. The events of the next two hours would come to haunt them all. They would rip families apart, prompt suicide attempts, breakdowns, divorce, bankruptcy, threats of violent revenge and acts of unforgivable treachery. These Are Not Gentle People is the story of that night and of what happened next.

A revolution is under way across the globe, yet very few people understand it. Basic Blockchain explains everything you need to know to understand the technology that will soon disrupt and revolutionise everything from financial and health services to the property market and how we vote.

Einstein’s Fridge tells the story of how scientists uncovered the least known and yet most consequential of all the sciences and learned to harness the power of heat and ice. The laws of thermodynamics govern everything from the behaviour of atoms to that of living cells, from the engines that power our world to the black hole at the centre of our galaxy. Not only that, but thermodynamics explains why we must eat and breathe, how the lights come on and ultimately how the universe will end.

The Handley Page Victor was the third of the three V Bombers and the longest lasting, serving in the RAF until 1993, and still doing invaluable service in the first Iraq war. Moreover, in 1982, it was the only Victor tanker fleet based on Ascension Island that made possible the Vulcan Black Buck bombing of Port Stanley airfield and the long-range reconnaissance of Argentina by Nimrods. Victor Boys tells the story of all the great things that were achieved, recounted firsthand by the operators themselves.

She made a profit from her youth. She's not beautiful anymore - but she will be young forever. Called away from his pregnant girlfriend, Detective Sergeant Cathal Breen knows the sight of the murdered prostitute will be with him all his life. But this is what he does: he finds killers. Helen Tozer, more than most, understands why.

Sharkey Ward commanded 801 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Invincible, was senior Sea Harrier adviser to the Command, flew over 60 missions and was awarded DSC. Yet had he followed all his instructions to the letter, Britain might well have lost the Falklands War. His dramatic first-hand story of the air war in the South Atlantic is also an extraordinary, outspoken account of inter-service rivalries, bureaucratic interference and dangerous ignorance of the realities of air combat among many senior commanders.

A classic of WWII, this is the vivid memoir of Private Bowlby, who came through the North Africa campaign only to have to battle in bitter fighting against a stubborn and skilled German defence in Italy. It is a truly authentic account of what it was like to fight your way through one of the most gruelling and dangerous campaigns of the Second World War, where so often the hunters became the hunted.

China's Great Wall of Debt is a penetrating examination of the country's opaque financial system and the complex factors - demographic shifts, urbanisation, industrialisation, a pervasive over-reliance on debt-fuelled investments - that have brought the country to the brink of crisis. Anchored by stories of China's cities and its people, from factory workers and displaced farmers to government officials and entrepreneurs, the narrative will take readers inside the country's ghost cities, zombie companies, start-ups, and regulatory institutions as McMahon explains how things got so bad, why fixing the problems is so hard, and what the economic outlook means for China and for the rest of us.

Twenty-four aircrew who flew the iconic aircraft with the Fleet Air Arm, the Royal Air Force, and the South African Air Force (SAAF) relate their experiences and affection for the Blackburn Buccaneer. Arranged in chronological order, the book traces the history of the aircraft and the tasks it fulfilled. In addition to describing events and activities, it provides an insight into the lifestyle of a Buccaneer squadron and the fun and enjoyment of being a "Buccaneer Boy" in addition to being part of a highly professional and dedicated force.

Tornado Boys is the latest in the ever-popular Boys series and differs from earlier titles. With the introduction of female pilots to the RAF in 1994, the Tornado was the first aircraft to be flown by both men and women. This is acknowledged in the book with a chapter written by one female pilot. Another aspect that makes this book different from the rest of the series is that it covers an aircraft which is still in active service, especially as a key player in current Middle East operations.

The British and American bomber crews of the Second World War often had to endure the most terrifying conditions. Not for them the glorious, all-or-nothing exhilaration of the Battle of Britain pilots—rather, the slow dwindling of courage as mission followed mission, the long freezing, ear-shattering journey to the target, the bursting flak, the prowling night fighters. Then, if they were lucky, the long haul home, sometimes nursing a battered, barely flyable machine, often perilously short of fuel.

This is not just another one of those audiobooks about 'rules'; this audiobook may be the defining factor that will turn your dream into reality. Many have succeeded at being an entrepreneur, but many, many more have failed. Which side would you rather be on? Sure, entrepreneurship is often about breaking the rules. But there are also a number of them that you should follow if you want to survive long enough to see what happens when you do. A business should be more than just a venture - it should be an adventure!

Tony Blackman describes in layman's terms and with statistical back-up what it was like to tame the first prototypes and to master the unusual characteristics necessitated by the Vulcan's shape. Tony puts the developments, demonstrations at Farnborough, incidents, and accidents in their political and historical context, but as his story is a highly personal one, we also get a true sense of the way he felt while he was flying the aircraft. His words and descriptions will make people feel, as he did, the excitement of handling such an incredibly powerful monster.

The past 20 years saw unprecedented growth and stability followed by the worst financial crisis the industrialised world has ever witnessed. In the space of little more than a year, what had been seen as the age of wisdom was viewed as the age of foolishness. Almost overnight, belief turned into incredulity. Most accounts of the recent crisis focus on the symptoms and not the underlying causes of what went wrong.

Seize and Hold vividly demonstrates how military objectives can be seized by clever tactics and ruthless action. From the First World War to Vietnam, this collection gives exciting, atmospheric descriptions of 11 20th-century battlefield triumphs. Portraying military skills at their most daring and inventive, Seize and Hold is full of more drama and excitement than Hollywood could ever invent.

Benjamin Harris was a young shepherd from Dorset who joined the army in 1802 and later joined the dashing 95th Rifles. His battalion was ordered to Portugal, where he marched under the burning sun, weighed down by his kit and great-coat, plus all the tools and leather he had to carry as the battalion's cobbler—'the lapstone I took the liberty of flinging to the Devil'. Rifleman Harris was a natural storyteller with a remarkable tale to unfold, and his recollections have become one of the most popular military books of all time.

At All Costs transports you to the battlefront for more than two centuries of astonishing military confrontations. From the Battle of Minden in 1795 to dramatic Second World War stories and the Battle for Goose Green in the Falklands, Bryan Perrett gives astoundingly vivid accounts of international forces in daring actions, achieving victory against the odds.

Prior to 1600, sugar was a costly luxury, the preserve of the rich. But with the rise of the European sugar colonies in the Americas in the 17th century, sugar became cheap, ubiquitous and hugely popular - an everyday necessity. As recently as the 1970s, very few people suggested that sugar posed a global health problem; yet today, sugar is regularly denounced as a dangerous addiction, on a par with tobacco, and the cause of a global obesity epidemic. While sugar consumption remains higher than ever.

With the epic blockbuster film Dunkirk, to be released in July, 2017, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring, amongst others, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, and Mark Rylance, this reissue has never been more timely. "Where is the RAF?" was the oft-quoted question asked by soldiers waiting on the beach at Dunkirk, to where they had retreated following the German blitzkrieg through northern France, and where they were now being pounded by the Luftwaffe. The air forces were there, as Norman Franks proves, detailing the outstanding achievements of the Allied pilots.

In the time of Vespasian, just after Rome has crushed the Jewish Revolt, Julius Varro, a Roman Questor (an investigating magistrate ) is commissioned to investigate the story that a Jew rose from the dead after being crucified in Jerusalem. Because the fast-growing Nazarene sect founded by the martyr's followers is becoming a threat to the stability of the region, there is much riding on debunking the story.