Audiobooks narrated by Charlie Anson

"Brought to you by Penguin. From renowned author Paul Theroux comes the fascinating, atmospheric tale of George Orwell's years in Burma 'There is a short period in everyone's life when his character is fixed forever . . . ' George Orwell Before George Orwell was Orwell - the pen name he took on becoming a writer - he was Eric Blair, an unlikely policeman in Burma. 19 years old, unusually tall, highly intelligent, a diffident loner fresh from Eton, Blair stood out amongst his fellow trainees in 1920s Mandalay. It was here, over five years in the narrow colonial world of the Raj - a decaying system steeped in overt racism and petty class-conflict - that Eric Blair became the George Orwell we know: an anti-imperialist, a socialist and a writer of rare commitment. The inner journey he made in these years is remarkable, but in the absence of letters or diaries from the period, this richly complex transformation can only be told in fiction, as it is here by Paul Theroux, in one of his most striking and accomplished novels. Drawing on all his powers of observation and imagination, Theroux brings Orwell's Burma years to radiant life, tracing the development of the young man's consciousness as he confronts both the social, racial and class politics of his colonial colleagues, and the reality of the Burma beyond, which he yearns to grasp. Through one writer, we come to understand another - and to see how what Orwell called 'five boring years within the sound of bugles' were in fact the years that made him. 'Always a terrific teller of tales and conjurer of exotic locales' Sunday Times 'The most gifted, most prodigal writer of his generation' Jonathan Raban ©2024 Paul Theroux (P)2024 Penguin Audio"

Paul Theroux (Author), Charlie Anson (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Therapeutic Journey: Lessons from the School of Life

"Brought to you by Penguin. The essential guide to mental health from the bestselling author of The School of Life This is a book about getting unwell. About losing direction and hope. About imagining that we have let ourselves and everyone down. But it is also a book about getting better. About regaining the thread, rediscovering meaning and finding a way back to connection and joy. Here, Alain de Botton follows the arc of a mental health journey, from crisis to recuperation; the moments we realize we cannot cope; the acts of selfcare or therapy in which we find respite; and the days we finally reclaim a sense of stability. Written with understanding and kindness, it is both a source of companionship in our loneliest moments - whether it's a relationship breakdown, a career setback or anxiety around the everyday - and a practical guide that will help us find reasons for hope. We are all on our own journey towards recovery. This book is for anyone ready to understand theirs. 'Alain de Botton is a brave and highly intelligent writer' Observer 'One of our most consistently illuminating writers on contemporary culture' John Gray, New Statesman ©2023 Alain de Botton (P)2023 Penguin Audio"

Alain de Botton (Author), Charlie Anson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Burning Kingdoms (The Smoke Thieves Book 3)

"Brought to you by Penguin. The final book in the acclaimed Smoke Thieves trilogy by bestselling author Sally Green. As war spreads like wildfire, the Smoke Thieves face their greatest challenges yet. With her father tightening his grip on the Northern Plateau, Catherine sends her loyal bodyguard Ambrose into the dragon's den on a desperate mission to disrupt the supply of smoke. In Calidor, Edyon and March face a future divided while, trapped in the demon world, Tash wrestles with the price of her past. But as the battle for the human kingdoms reaches its climax, the demon realm reveals a final, terrible secret. One with the power to change the course of the war - and history - forever. © Sally Green 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020"

Sally Green (Author), Charlie Anson, Daniel Weyman, Finlay Robertson, Jodhi May, Kristin Atherton, Roy Mcmillan (Narrator)

Audiobook

Climate Change and the Nation State: The Realist Case

"Brought to you by Penguin. In the past two centuries we have experienced wave after wave of overwhelming change. Entire continents have been resettled; there are billions more of us; the jobs done by countless people would be unrecognizable to their predecessors; scientific change has transformed us all in confusing, terrible and miraculous ways. Anatol Lieven's major new book provides the frame that has long been needed to understand how we should react to climate change. This is a vast challenge, but we have often in the past had to deal with such challenges: the industrial revolution, major wars and mass migration have seen mobilizations of human energy on the greatest scale. Just as previous generations had to face the unwanted and unpalatable, so do we. In a series of incisive, compelling interventions, Lieven shows how in this emergency our crucial building block is the nation state. The drastic action required both to change our habits and protect ourselves can be carried out not through some vague globalism but through maintaining social cohesion and through our current governmental, fiscal and military structures. This is a book which will provoke innumerable discussions. © Anatol Lieven 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020"

Anatol Lieven (Author), Charlie Anson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The School of Life: An Emotional Education

"Brought to you by Penguin. *Introduction narrated by Alain de Botton* THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER The essential guide to how to live wisely and well in the twenty-first century - from Alain de Botton, the bestselling author of The Consolations of Philosophy, The Art of Travel and The Course of Love This is an audiobook about everything you were never taught at school. It's about how to understand your emotions, find and sustain love, succeed in your career, fail well and overcome shame and guilt. It's also about letting go of the myth of a perfect life in order to achieve genuine emotional maturity. Written in a hugely accessible, warm and humane style, The School of Life is the ultimate guide to the emotionally fulfilled lives we all long for - and deserve. This audiobook brings together ten years of essential and transformative research on emotional intelligence, with practical topics including: - how to understand yourself - how to master the dilemmas of relationships - how to become more effective at work - how to endure failure - how to grow more serene and resilient 'What he has managed to do is remarkable: to help us think better so that we may live better lives' Irish Times 'A serious and optimistic set of practical ideas that could improve and alter the way we live' Jeanette Winterson, The Times 'Alain de Botton likes to take big, complex subjects and write about them with thoughtful and deceptive innocence' Observer © Alain de Botton 2019 (P) Penguin Audio 2019"

Alain de Botton (Author), Alain de Botton, Charlie Anson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Demon World (The Smoke Thieves Book 2)

"Brought to you by Penguin. After narrowly escaping the fall of Rossarb, Princess Catherine leads a rag-tag group of survivors into the barren wasteland of the Northern Plateau. With the Brigantine army snapping at their heels, Edyon and Ambrose become separated from the group, while demon hunter Tash leads Catherine and March to an unlikely refuge - the hidden tunnels of the demon world itself. They soon find that the tunnels hold their own dangers and, while Tash travels deeper, hoping to learn more about their mysterious inhabitants, Catherine and March must return to the surface to resume the war. But the world above is in turmoil. King Aloysius's army has captured the Pitorian prince, Tzsayn, and is poised to overrun the whole country. To have any hope of challenging her father's tyranny, Catherine needs to form her own army, but when danger lurks at every turn, how can she tell an ally from an enemy? What Tash discovers in the demon tunnels could change everything, but if the message doesn't reach Catherine in time, the war might already be lost . . ."

Sally Green (Author), Charlie Anson, Daniel Weyman, Finlay Robertson, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Yasmin Paige (Narrator)

Audiobook

Man and Boy

"The 20th anniversary edition of the multi-million copy bestseller! ‘Wistful, touching and funny’ Mail on Sunday ‘Hilarious and tear-jerking in turns’ Express ‘A sharp, witty and wise book straight from the heart’ Daily Mail Harry Silver has it all. A successful job in TV, a gorgeous wife, a lovely child. But in one moment of madness, he chucks it all away. A modern classic, Man and Boy is a hilarious and touching novel about how Harry comes to terms with his life, brings up his son alone and, gradually, learns what words like love and family really mean."

Tony Parsons (Author), Charlie Anson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Licence to be Bad: How Economics Corrupted Us

"Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Licence to be Bad written by Jonathan Alred, read by Charlie Anson. Over the past fifty years, the way we value what is 'good' and 'right' has changed dramatically. Behaviour that to our grandparents' generation might have seemed stupid, harmful or simply wicked now seems rational, natural, woven into the very logic of things. And, asserts Jonathan Aldred in this revelatory new book, it's economics that's to blame. Licence to be Bad tells the story of how a group of economics theorists changed our world, and how a handful of key ideas seeped into our decision-making and, indeed, almost all aspects of our lives. Aldred reveals the extraordinary hold of economics on our morals and values. Economics has corrupted us. But if this hidden transformation is so recent, it can be reversed. Licence to be Bad shows us where to begin."

Jonathan Aldred (Author), Charlie Anson (Narrator)

Audiobook

One Day in December

"Penguin presents the audiobook edition of One Day in December by Josie Silver, read by Eleanor Tomlinson and Charlie Anson. Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn't exist. After all, life isn't a scene from the movies, is it? But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there's a moment of pure magic...and then her bus drives away. Laurie thinks she'll never see the boy from the bus again. But at their Christmas party a year later, her best friend Sarah introduces her to the new love of her life. Who is, of course, the boy from the bus. Determined to let him go, Laurie gets on with her life. But what if fate has other plans? Following Laurie, Sarah and Jack through ten years of love, heartbreak and friendship, One Day in December is a joyous, heart-warming and immensely moving love story that you'll want to escape into forever."

Josie Silver (Author), Charlie Anson, Eleanor Tomlinson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Barcelona Legacy: Guardiola, Mourinho and the Fight For Football's Soul

"Manchester, 2018: Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho lead their teams out to face each other in the 175th Manchester derby. They are first and second in the Premier League, but today only one man can come out on top. It is merely the latest instalment in a rivalry that has contested titles, traded insults and crossed a continent, but which can be traced back to a friendship that began almost 25 years ago. Barcelona, late-nineties: Johan Cruyff's Dream Team is disintegrating and the revolutionary manager has departed, but what will come next will transform the future of football. Cruyff's style has changed the game, and given birth to a generation of thinkers: men like Ronald Koeman, Luis Enrique, Laurent Blanc, Frank de Boer, Louis van Gaal, and Cruyff's club captain Pep Guardiola and a young translator, José Mourinho. The Barcelona Legacy is an audiobook in part about tactics, about how the theories that underpin the modern game were forged by Cruyff and his successors, but also about the people and personalities who gathered at the Camp Nou for what was effectively the greatest coaching seminar in history, about their friendships and rivalries and, in one case, an apocalyptic falling out that continues to shape the game today."

Jonathan Wilson (Author), Charlie Anson (Narrator)

Audiobook

George VI (Penguin Monarchs): The Dutiful King

"Penguin presents the audiobook edition of George VI: The Dutiful King by Philip Ziegler, read by Charlie Anson. If Ethelred was notoriously 'Unready' and Alfred 'Great', King George VI should bear the designation of 'George the Dutiful'. Throughout his life he dedicated himself to the pursuit of what he thought he ought to be doing rather than what he wanted to do. Inarticulate and loathing any sort of public appearances, he accepted that it was his destiny to figure regularly and conspicuously in the public eye, gritted his teeth, largely conquered his crippling stammer and got on with it. He was not born to be king, but he made an admirable one, and was the figurehead of the nation at the time of its greatest trial, during the Second World War. This is a sparklingly brilliant and enjoyable book about him."

Philip Ziegler (Author), Charlie Anson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Only Human: Themis Files Book 3

"Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel, read William Hope, Charlie Anson, Laurence Bouvard, Adna Sablylich, Laura Kirman, Aaron Vodovoz, Julie Rogers, Christopher Ragland, Patricia Rodrigues, Jennifer Woodward, Eric Meyers, Madeleine Rose, Lance C Fuller and featuring a cameo from the author. We always thought the biggest threat to humanity would come from the outside. We were wrong. As the human race picks up the pieces of destruction left behind, a new world order emerges. New alliances are formed. Old divisions are strengthened. And, with a power struggle fuelled by the threat of mutually assured destruction, nothing is certain. At a time when the world's nations should have been coming together, they have never been more divided. With the human race teetering on the brink of total war, Rose, Vincent and Eva must choose sides. But doing the right thing might mean making the ultimate sacrifice."

Sylvain Neuvel (Author), Aaron Vodovoz, Adna Sablyich, Charlie Anson, Christopher Ragland, Eric Meyers, Jennifer Woodward, Julie Rogers, Lance C Fuller, Laura Kirman, Laurence Bouvard, Madeleine Rose, Patricia Rodrigues, Sylvain Neuvel, William Hope (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Charlie Anson