These are strange times for the English aristocracy. When hard-up William Fitz William Delamere Chalmers, Lord Dawlish—otherwise known as Bill—sets off for America to make a fortune, he does not expect to be left one by an American millionaire with whom he strikes up a passing acquaintance.Honor demands that Bill Dawlish should restore this unexpected windfall to the rightful heirs, but this involves him in complicated adventures with greedy relations, haughty dowagers, dogs, chick...

Alice’s adventures, funny, inventive and disturbing, have fascinated children and adults alike since their publication. This is a new unabridged recording using many voices to take the parts of The White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and the Cheshire Cat and, of course, Alice herself. It makes for a roller-coaster ride of delightful fantasy.

Charles Dickens is a name that dominates the landscape of English literature. From his early years of hardship he rose to become one of the great novelists of any age. But amongst his other talents were that of short story writer, turning his pen to many subjects and genres as well as travel articles, speaking tours and as an advocate for social justice. He was also amongst the first to commercialise Christmas and a publisher of various periodical magazines for which he also contributed an...

Six gripping dramatised documentaries detailing the history of the turbulent Tudor period.Passion, power, sex and suspicious deaths – the Tudor story is one of drama and dysfunction, and it has kept us enthralled for over 400 years. In these six dramatised documentaries, we take a behind-the-scenes look at Tudor England and get to know the key characters we have grown to love and hate, such as Mary Tudor, Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. Compiled from contempor...

Thomas Hardy was born in the hamlet of Upper Bockhampton about three miles east of Dorchester in Dorset, England, on 2nd June 1840.Despite a fairly wide education and being an avid reader his parents thought it unlikely he would lead a successful scholarly or clerical career and he was apprenticed in 1856, at age 16, to a local architect whose speciality was in church restoration. Hardy’s only opportunity to read was in the morning before work between the hours of five and eight.

Charles Dickens enjoyed entertaining his friends with readings of ghost stories, especially at Christmas time. In his classic tale The Signalman, the then high technology world of steam railway comes to contact with what looks like a good old fashioned haunting. A night at a desolate country inn dramatically changes Tom Smart's fortunes in The Bagman's Story. Together with Christmas Ghosts and Mr Testator’s Visitation, these tales are fine examples of Dickens’s spine-chilling talents. Thes...

The date is AD 1650. Dodos are leading idyllic lives on an island in the Indian Ocean, but soon there will be no dodos anywhere at all on earth. Beatrice and Bertie are happily planning their wedding bliss and thinking of all the dodolings they will produce, unaware of the dangers lurking offshore in the anchored ship. The sea monkeys and rats within are dangerous, mean and HUNGRY, and the unsuspecting dodos are in TROUBLE!

Thomas Hardy – The Short Stories - An Introduction. Many giants of Literature originate from the shores of these emerald isles; Shakespeare, Dickens, Chaucer, The Brontes and Austen to which most people would willingly add the name Thomas Hardy. Far From The Madding Crowd, Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, The Mayor Of Casterbridge are but three of his literary masterpieces. But let us add to this his short stories. They are often overlooked as being the poor, under-developed relative of a greate...

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?The theme ...

Completely updated and revised, Cruise Ship Tourism, 2nd Edition covers the economic, social and environmental impacts of cruising, combining the latest knowledge and research to provide a comprehensive account of the subject. Despite the industry growing rapidly, there is a substantial gap in the related literature, and this book addresses the key issues for researchers, students and industry professionals. This second edition: - Reviews the fundamental principles of the industry, the cru...

When Ned helps his grandmother clear out her attic, he finds a very unusual Victorian doll – she speaks! Ned and Lady Daisy soon become fast friends, even though he's teased at school for owning a doll. Ned learns to stand up to his father and the school bully in order to protect Lady Daisy. But then the doll is stolen – will Ned ever find her again?

Martin, a kitten, is branded a 'wimp' by his siblings for his friendly interest in mice. He loves caring for them and can't understand their desire for freedom. Only when he becomes the pet of a big city apartment dweller does he realise why his pets deserted him.