Showing results by narrator "Richard Mitchley" in All Categories

Benjamin 'Ben' Jonson was born in June 1572. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair and his equally accomplished lyric poems. A man of vast reading and a seemingly insatiable appetite for controversy, including time in jail and a penchant for switching faiths, Jonson had an unparalleled breadth of influence on Jacobean and Caroline playwrights and poets.

Keats. A short life but a legacy of works that few, if any, can rival. And of course his end was to be tragically Romantic. Keats was returning one night to his home in Hampstead when he coughed. He coughed a single drop of blue blood upon his hand and said, ‘I know the colour of that blood, it is arterial blood, it is my death warrant, I must die’. And so it was that tuberculosis took its slow, devastating hold.

The Blue Wizard has lost his Singing Kettle! A Singing Kettle that can tell the future, and Wiffen has found it. But the future is not looking good for Titch and Mitch and their friends. The Black Witch is up to her evil tricks again, and this time she has kidnapped Lucinda, a pixie princess. Can Titch and Mitch stop her in her tracks? The fifth fantastic ‘Titch and Mitch’ story from best-selling author Garth Edwards.

Peter Pan is a classic story. The Admirable Crichton is a classic play. And here, in this volume, are two classic short stories. They are certainly of their day and perfect pieces of their craft. And really that’s not surprising, for JM Barrie was a writer of great note. Short stories are often overlooked as being the poor, under-developed relatives of greater works. But from writers of the calibre of Barrie, this is just not so. He creates stories and characters that drive, meld, and develop into narratives that in their numerically shorter length are, in fact, the perfect length.

When Delphinium presses the button marked DANGER, bells ring and sirens wail. What a way to celebrate her 10th birthday! But others on the space station are worried by the white blob on their computer screens. Could it signal an invasion? Meanwhile, Jason is enjoying a little fun aboard a skip-ship. But he and Delphinium accidentally start the machine and find themselves hurtling through space, out of control....

As the Century draws to a close it shows no sign of its literary talents diminishing. Authors stride into stories with a confidence and knowledge that now speak of a gilded age. We are challenged on many levels but always, always the story delivers a literary triumph.

Philip Edward Thomas was born on 3rd March 1878 at 14 Lansdowne Gardens in Stockwell, Lambeth, which was then a part of Surrey. His family had a rich Welsh heritage. Thomas was educated at Battersea Grammar School before proceeding to St Paul's School in London and then becoming a history scholar, between 1898-1900, at Lincoln College, Oxford. Whilst still studying for his degree he married Helen Berenice Noble in June 1899, in Fulham, London.

Billy is a street urchin, pickpocket and petty thief. Mister Creecher is a monstrous giant of a man who terrifies all he meets. Their relationship begins as pure convenience. But a bond swiftly develops between these two misfits as their bloody journey takes them ever northwards on the trail of their target . . . Victor Frankenstein.A moving, thrilling story about friendship, trust and betrayal, from bestselling author Chris Priestley. Read by Richard Mitchley.

Our greatest fears are of the unknown. Usually we think those fears are in front of us...or behind us. But perhaps the human body itself holds the greatest horror. What happens after death? Do our bodies have a new existence either in whole...or part? Will others seek to claim them and do unspeakable things? We don’t know. But our authors do. And they have the talents and wits to make these diabolical stories vehicles for horror, for terror, for the unimaginable....

As private as she was eccentric, Emily Dickinson published only a handful of poems in her lifetime. Most of her work, much of which dealt with themes of death and immortality, was published posthumously, to mixed reviews. But it would be her unconventional poetic style, which was most criticized early on, that would ultimately gain her recognition as one of the greatest American poets of all time. Here, a lovely sampling of the poems of Emily Dickinson is presented for your listening pleasure.

It’s September 1939 and Britain has just entered the Second World War. But in the small town of Golfodd there are no bombs, no soldiers and no machine guns. For Tom, Mary, Gary and Dil the whole thing is a disappointment. They want excitement. But they aren’t looking for trouble, so when they start shadowing the mysterious new woman in town, they don’t expect it to lead them down to the bottom of the old, rotten mines of Golfodd. Then things get dark and dangerous...

Kidnapped by the King of the Castle to make pixie soup, Titch and Mitch are in trouble again. Yet they still find time to free cuckoos from cuckoo clocks, save the crab queen’s crown and solve the mystery of Echo Quarry - all with a little help from their friends! The third fantastic 'Titch and Mitch' story from bestselling author Garth Edwards.

Shipwrecked and washed up on an island, Titch and Mitch discover a whole new world of adventure, danger, and wonderful new friends - from yellow seagulls to flying bicycles, talking turkeys to dragonmice with toothaches.... Enjoy making friends? Going on visits? Helping others? Adventure? Then welcome to the world of Titch and Mitch. This is a charming and humorous story about the exploits of two lively pixies, from début author Garth Edwards.

Summer beckons each and every one of us to its warm embrace. For many of us it is the season we can most enjoy; the days are long and warm and all manner of things become easier. Nature shows us her most colourful side as she fills the landscape with colours and textures of every hue. As for ourselves we all seem a little more approachable, a little more likable. For poets, the Summer season conjures up many themes and images.

In this series we listen to short stories that are NOT by perhaps the most well-known author of this type. But the many other rich talents in the volume may have treated the subject matter a little differently, or were perhaps just overlooked in the stampede to applaud the winner, but these authors are of equal merit.

Abraham Stoker was born in Dublin, Ireland on the 8th of November 1847, the third of seven children. He began to also write short stories and in 1872 ‘The Crystal Cup’ was published.

When the wind blows and the rain lashes, our emotions can become dulled and our thoughts depressed but sometimes these swirling conditions can excite and invigorate. Whether we shut the door physically or delight in watching nature's displays, we cannot ignore the weather. It’s the natural topic of conversation for the British. Summer breezes and spring showers can elevate our senses, bringing a thump to the heart, a grin to the face and an abandon to immerse yourself in nature's ever changing wonders.

Thought of as the first modern writer for children, Edith Nesbit also wrote for adults, producing more than 50 books in total. Like many consummate writers who yearn to be recognised as poets, her other works are given greater recognition. Now, in this volume, you be the judge. These poems are brought to your ears by Ghizela Rowe and Richard Mitchley.

M R James is widely regarded as THE master of the ghost story. His stories abound with spectres skulking in the shrubbery, in shadowy corners and dark recesses. 'The Mezzotint' is a whimsical and apparently supernatural tale of art on the move; a dying man devises a gruesome plan for testing his heirs in 'The Tractate Middoth', and something is lurking under the bedclothes in 'Rats'.

Is it really true that working longer hours makes you more successful? Do you really need to hide your emotions in order to gain respect as a manager? Does higher pay really always lead to higher performance? The world of management is blighted by fads, fiction and falsehoods. In Myths of Management, Cary Cooper and Stefan Stern take you on an entertaining journey through the most famous myths surrounding the much-written about topic of management. They debunk false assumptions, inject truth into over-simplifications and tackle damaging habits head-on.