Showing results by narrator "Phyllida Nash" in All Categories

This magnificent biography of Henry VIII is set against the cultural, social and political background of his court - the most spectacular court ever seen in England - and the splendour of his many sumptuous palaces. An entertaining narrative packed with colourful description and a wealth of anecdotal evidence, but also a comprehensive analytical study of the development of both monarch and court during a crucial period in English history.

Destroyed by Vesuvius in 79 CE, the ruins of Pompeii offer the best evidence we have of life in the Roman Empire. But the eruptions are only part of the story. In The Fires of Vesuvius, acclaimed historian Mary Beard makes sense of the remains. She explores what kind of town it was - more like Calcutta or the Costa del Sol? - and what it can tell us about "ordinary" life there. From sex to politics, food to religion, slavery to literacy, Beard offers us the big picture even as she takes us close enough to the past to smell the bad breath....

In SPQR, world-renowned classicist Mary Beard narrates the unprecedented rise of a civilization that even 2,000 years later still shapes many of our most fundamental assumptions about power, citizenship, responsibility, political violence, empire, luxury, and beauty.

Byzantium. The name evokes grandeur and exoticism—gold, cunning, and complexity. In this unique book, Judith Herrin unveils the riches of a quite different civilization. Avoiding a standard chronological account of the Byzantine Empire's millennium-long history, she identifies the fundamental questions about Byzantium—what it was, and what special significance it holds for us today.

Fairacre is a village of cottages, a church and the school - and, at the heart of the school, its head mistress Miss Read. Through her discerning eye, we meet the villagers of Fairacre and see their trials and tribulations, from the irascible school cleaner Mrs Pringle, to the young school children, with their scraped knees, hopeful faces and inevitable mischief.

When Phoebe, a young niece of Pride and Prejudice's Mr. Darcy, is shattered by an unhappy romance, she retreats to Pemberley and is joined by kind-hearted Louisa Bingley, unmarried after three London seasons. Once the young ladies are situated in the house, several handsome strangers also arrive - all hopeful of winning the girls' hearts.

From MILLION COPY BESTSELLER Judy Leigh 'Lovely... a book that assures that life is far from over at seventy' Cathy Hopkins When Lin, Josie and Minnie left Miss Hamilton’s class at Middleton Ferris County Primary School, sixty years ago, they could only dream about what the future had in store...

Bloomsbury presents The Throwaway Children by Diney Costeloe, read by Phyllida Nash. Gritty, heartrending and unputdownable – the story of two sisters sent first to an English, then an Australian orphanage in the aftermath of World War II. Rita and Rosie Stevens are only nine and five years...

Brought to you by Penguin. In 402 AD, after invading tribes broke through the Alpine frontiers of Italy and threatened the imperial government in Milan, the young Emperor Honorius made the momentous decision to move his capital to a small, easy defendable city in the Po estuary - Ravenna. From...

From MILLION COPY BESTSELLER Judy Leigh 'Judy’s done it again. Every woman over a certain age should read this wonderful book' Jennifer Bohnet Deep in the Somerset countryside, the Combe Pomeroy village library hosts a monthly book club. Ruth the librarian fears she’s too old to find love...

From MILLION COPY BESTSELLER Judy Leigh ‘Brilliantly funny, emotional and uplifting’ Miranda Dickinson Now in his seventies, Robert Parkin is stunned to find himself the unlikely sex symbol of the village gardening club. Living in happy solitude with his cat Isaac Mewton in the Devon village...

A BRAND NEW feel-good read from MILLION COPY BESTSELLER Judy Leigh, perfect for fans of Dawn French and Caroline James! ✨ You’re never too old to fall in love…again! Cecily Hamilton is months away from her ninety-second birthday. She’s lived life to the full, choosing work over romance...

Throughout her career prize-winning novelist Jane Gardam has been writing glorious short stories, each one hallmarked with all the originality, poignancy, wry comedy, and narrative brilliance of her longer fiction. Passion and longing, metamorphosis and enchantment are Gardam's themes, and like a magician she plucks them from the quietest of corners: from Wimbledon gardens and cold churches, from London buses and industrial backstreets.

Let MILLION COPY bestselling author Judy Leigh whisk you off to the French sunshine for a BRAND NEW story of friendship and fresh starts. 💖🥂 Sixty-one-year-old Maxine Sweet has a new life stretching in front of her. Her longed-for retirement is finally here and she’s ready to enjoy it...

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a husband. So say the friends and family of impoverished widow Octavia Darcy when she unexpectedly inherits a fortune, but she has a different view and looks forward to a new life of independence.

At the end of the fourth century, as the power of Rome faded and Constantinople became the seat of empire, a new capital city was rising in the West. Here, in Ravenna on the coast of Italy, Arian Goths and Catholic Romans competed to produce an unrivaled concentration of buildings and astonishing mosaics. For three centuries, the city attracted scholars, lawyers, craftsmen, and religious luminaries, becoming a true cultural and political capital.

From MILLION COPY BESTSELLER Judy Leigh 'Brimming with warmth, humour and a love of life… a wonderful escapade’ Fiona Gibson Never say never to falling in love… Val didn’t expect to be starting again in her seventies, but when life gives her lemons, Val is determined to make lemonade...

1817. As a young woman, clever, self-reliant Lydia Templeton scandalised society by rejecting Lewis Durrant, the county's most eligible batchelor.

Ten years later, Lydia has no regrets and, having concluded that matters of the heart need no longer trouble her, she is quite happy to remain unwed. But others still seek Lydia's advice on their love lives.

Let MILLION COPY bestselling author Judy Leigh whisk you off to the beaches and beauty of Brittany. Warmhearted, funny and uplifting. Sixty-nine-year-old Fliss has lived a life! A career running her own successful business, a beautiful home, a wardrobe full of designer clothes – Fliss has...

Georgette Heyer remains an enduring international best seller, read and loved by four generations of readers and extolled by today's best-selling authors. Despite her enormous popularity, she never gave an interview or appeared in public. Georgette Heyer wrote her first novel, The Black Moth, when she was 17 in order to amuse her convalescent brother. It was published in 1921 to instant success, and 90 years later it has never been out of print.