Showing results by author "Os Swift" in All Categories

Brother Foulques de Villaret just wants to stay in Acre and perform his sworn duties. Instead, the young Hospitaller Knight of Saint John must undertake a dangerous journey from the Holy Land to a remote village nestled in the Alps, the 'Spine of the World'. His mission: buy 500 peasant boys and return them to Acre to be trained as soldiers of Christ.

A wild land too mountainous to be tamed by plows…A Duke of the Holy Roman Empire, his cunning overshadowed only by his ambition…A young Priestess of the Old Religion, together with a charismatic outlaw, sparking a rebellion from deep within the forests…And an ex-Hospitaller caught between them all. At the end of the thirteenth century, five hundred orphans and second sons are rounded up from villages in the Alpine countryside and sold to the Hospitaller Knights of St John.

1310 AD. There is a new power in the Aegean, and its ships fly the black and white of the Knights of Saint John. Thomas Schwyzer has served the black knights for as long as he can remember. He would do anything for Grandmaster Foulques and his fellow brother sergeants. They are his family. His friends. Without them he would have no place in this world. His faithful years of service have not gone unrecognized.

The perfect Christmas present! A bumper audio collection featuring four favourite festive stories about Peggy the pug! Titles include: The Pug Who Wanted to be a Unicorn The Pug Who Wanted to be an Elf The Pug Who Wanted to be a Reindeer The Pug Who Wanted to be a Pumpkin --- In THE PUG WHO...

A Signature Performance: Four-time Emmy Award winner David Hyde Pierce delivers an air of lovable self-importance in his rendition of the classic social satire that remains as fresh today as the day it was published.

'A fast-paced, beautifully written, and moving story. Refreshing to read a book set in a different theatre of war. Wartime Shanghai jumped off the page' CLARE FLYNN 'Wow what a stunning read this was … All the moments in this book held me' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Unputdownable read'...

The Ultimate Classics Collection: Volume Three is the third instalment of our wide-ranging classic collections. Volume Three features 10 essential works that reach further back into early Greek and Italian stories from Dante, Machiavelli, and Homer, as-well as comparatively modern works from Daniel Defoe, Henry David Thoreau, and others. Read by a cast of incredible narrators including David Rintoul; Daniel Weyman; Rachel Atkins; and more, this is a chance to expand your listening by going back to some of the earliest pieces of classic literature.

A Tale of a Tub marks Jonathan Swifts first significant work, crafted between 1694 and 1697 and published in 1704. Often considered his most challenging satire, this prose parody intricately weaves together sections of humorous digression and the fable of three brothers, each symbolizing a major branch of Western Christianity. The narrative is widely interpreted as a critique of religious fervor, drawing criticism from figures like William Wotton. While the tale consistently satirizes religious excess, the digressions serve as sharp parodies of contemporary literature, politics, theology, ...

In his scathing and provocative pamphlet, Jonathan Swift masterfully exemplifies the art of satire by suggesting a shocking solution to the dire plight of impoverished Irish families fattening their children and selling them to wealthy Protestant landowners. Published in 1729, Swifts audacious Proposal ignited fierce backlash and accusations of barbarism—precisely the moral decay he sought to illuminate. Join us as we delve into this powerful critique of society and explore the depths of human absurdity. (Summary by Hugh)

This set includes five tales of extraordinary heroism, marvelous intrigue, and exceptional courage that have inspired and amazed people for generations.

A small force of peasants from the forest regions surrounding Lake Lucerne, rise up against their Austrian overlords in the 14th century. Outnumbered seven-to-one by the battle-hardened Habsburg army, they have little hope. A daring moonlight raid leaves the outlaw Noll Melchthal in possession of an Austrian fortress. In the north, an outraged Leopold of Habsburg assembles the ultimate punitive force: a great army, thousands strong, boasting the best knights and soldiers the Holy Roman Empire has to offer.

The Irish Classics Collection is a wide-ranging collection of 9 classic works of fiction and poetry by Irish authors, read by an award-winning cast of narrators. Included here are stories by some of the greatest writers of all time, including James Joyce; Bram Stoker; Oscar Wilde; W.B. Yeats; Elizabeth Bowen; and more.

The only home Foulques has ever known has been razed by the Mamluks. Only by the grace of God does he and a handful of knights manage to escape to the island of Cyprus. Once there, Foulques learns that Najya has been taken captive by none other than Badru Hashim and is enroute to the slave markets of North Africa. Foulques immediately attempts to organize a rescue force but his uncle has seized control of the Order of Saint John and considers the risks too high. He is left with only two options: remain loyal to his uncle and the Order or forsake his oaths and strike out after Najya on his own.

WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 1996 Four men once close to Jack Dodds, a London butcher, meet to carry out his peculiar last wish: to have his ashes scattered into the sea at Margate. For reasons best known to herself, Jack’s widow, Amy, declines to join them . . . On the surface a simple tale of...

'Vivid, tremendous, unforgettable' - KIM STANLEY ROBINSON on WHEN THERE ARE WOLVES AGAIN, the extraordinary speculative novel of past, present and future, a Guardian Best Science Fiction Book of 2025. Decades from now, two women sit beside a campfire and reflect on their life stories. Activist...

Liverpool is a unique city within the United Kingdom - in terms of its dialect, hedonism, friendliness, rejection of 'Englishness', and most pertinently, its politics. It is bastion of working-class left-wing politics like no other - as evidenced by the suspension of a Liverpool FC match after...

***LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE*** From the Booker-winning author of Last Orders and Waterland comes a long-awaited new novel. ‘Mothering Sunday is bathed in light; and even when tragedy strikes, it blazes irresistibly… Swift’s small fiction feels like a masterpiece’ The...

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LAST ORDERS AND MOTHERING SUNDAY, reissued for the first time in Scribner For forty years, Willy Chapman has struck a strange but steadfast bargain between the two poles of his life: his beautiful but emotionally damaged wife and the sweet shop he runs on a south...

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LAST ORDERS AND MOTHERING SUNDAY. One summer morning in 1943, lock-keeper Henry Crick finds the drowned body of a sixteen-year-old boy. Nearly forty years later, his son Tom, a history teacher, is driven by a bizarre marital crisis and the provocation of one of his...

‘The Silk Code had me absolutely hooked… A great storyline full of bravery, trust, love, survival, betrayal and determination.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Based on the true story of ‘Englandspiel’, one woman must race against the clock to uncover a traitor, even if it means...