Audiobooks narrated by Derek Jacobi

Kenneth Grahame (Author), Derek Jacobi (Narrator)

Audiobook

Narnia ... where anything can happen (and most often does) ... and where the adventure begins. The Dawn Treader is the first ship Narnia has seen in centuries. King Caspian has built it for his first voyage to find the seven lords, good men whom his evil uncle Miraz banished when he usurped the throne. The journey takes Edmund, Lucy, their cousin Eustace, and Caspian to the Eastern Islands, beyond the Silver Sea, toward Aslan's country at the End of the World. Performed by Derek Jacobi

C. S. Lewis, C.S. Lewis (Author), Derek Jacobi (Narrator)

Audiobook

Trickery

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Trickery by Roald Dahl, read by Kevin Eldon, Stephen Mangan, Cilian Murphy, Derek Jacobi, Richard E. Grant, Stephanie Beacham, Jessica Hynes, Andrew Scott and Tom Felton. There's a whole world of Dahl still to discover in a newly collected audiobook of his deliciously dark tales for adults . . . How underhand could you be to get what you want? In these ten tales of dark and twisted trickery Roald Dahl reveals that we are at our smartest and most cunning when we set out to deceive others - and, sometimes, even ourselves. Here, among others, you'll read of the married couple and the parting gift which rocks their marriage, the light fingered hitch-hiker and the grateful motorist, and discover why the serious poacher keeps a few sleeping pills in his arsenal. Featuring extraordinary cover art by Charming Baker, whose paintings echo the dark and twisted world of Dahl's short stories. Roald Dahl reveals even more about the darker side of human nature in seven other centenary editions: Lust, Madness, Cruelty, Deception, War, Innocence and Fear.

Roald Dahl (Author), Andrew Scott, Cillian Murphy, Derek Jacobi, Jessica Hynes, Kevin Eldon, Richard E Grant, Richard E. Grant, Stephanie Beacham, Stephen Mangan, Tom Felton (Narrator)

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Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day: My Autobiography

Brought to you by Penguin. The extraordinary, heartwarming autobiography of Captain Tom Moore, the man who captured the nation's heart in lockdown. Captain Tom Moore is an inspiration. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in early April this ninety-nine-year-old Second World War veteran came up with a big idea: he'd walk laps of his garden to raise money for the NHS. Despite using a walking frame as well as recent treatment for cancer and a broken hip, he was determined to hit £1000 by his 100th birthday on 30th April. By the time the telegram from the Queen arrived, he'd raised over thirty million pounds. In this, his official autobiography, published in support of the creation of the Captain Tom Foundation, he tells us of his long and dramatic life. How his spirit was forged on the battlefields of Burma where victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat. How he fearlessly raced motorbikes competitively. How, in his nineties, he took off for the Himalayas and Everest, simply because he'd never been. And, finally, how this old soldier came to do his bit for the NHS, becoming the nation's hero in our darkest hour. A modest, decent, charming man with a can-do attitude and a twinkle in his eye, Captain Tom's story is that of a man whose insatiable curiosity and appetite for life have led him around so many unexpected corners - finding both adventure and joy. He only wanted to help other people - and yet he has inspired a nation to believe anything is possible by reminding us all it is never, ever too late. © Tom Moore 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Captain Tom Moore (Author), Derek Jacobi (Narrator)

Audiobook

Timon of Athens

William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic prose and verse read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly remastered stories are now available to download for the first time. ‘The moon's an arrant thief, And her pale fire she snatches from the sun.’ The story of Shakespeare’s sharp satire on wealth, greed and betrayal. Wealthy and popular, Timon of Athens helps his friends, gives many gifts, and holds a feast. After ignoring his true friends' warnings, Timon runs out of money, and none of his 'friends' will help him. He runs away to a cave where he curses humanity, finds gold, funds someone to destroy Athens, and dies. All of the Shakespeare plays within the ARGO Classics catalogue are performed by the Marlowe Dramatic Society and Professional Players. The Marlowe was founded in 1907 with a mission to focus on effective delivery of verse, respect the integrity of texts, and rescue neglected plays by Shakespeare’s contemporaries and the less performed plays of Shakespeare himself. The Marlowe has performed annually at Cambridge Arts Theatre since its opening in 1936 and continues to produce some of the finest actors of their generations. Thurston Dart, Professor of Music at London University and a Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge, directed the music for this production. The full cast includes: William Squire; Corin Redgrave; Donald Beves; David Rowe-Beddoe; Michael Burrell; Anthony White; Peter Woodthorpe; John Wood; Derek Jacobi; Peter Foster; Philip Strick; Trevor Nunn; Terrence Hardiman; David Coombes; Anthony Arlidge; Philip Strick; John Sharp; Gary O’Connor; Eric Rump; Tom Bussmann; Richard Kay; Corin Redgrave; Jill Daltry; Elizabeth Proud.

William Shakespeare (Author), Anthony White, Corin Redgrave, Derek Jacobi, Donald Beves, Full Cast, William Squire (Narrator)

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Tides of War

Brilliant at war, a master of politics, and a charismatic lover, Alcibiades was Athens' favorite son and the city's greatest general. A prodigal follower of Socrates, he embodied both the best and the worst of the Golden Age of Greece. A commander on both land and sea, he led his armies to victory after victory. But like the heroes in a great Greek tragedy, he was a victim of his own pride, arrogance, excess, and ambition. Accused of crimes against the state, he was banished from his beloved Athens, only to take up arms in the service of his former enemies. For nearly three decades, Greece burned with war and Alcibiades helped bring victories to both sides , and ended up trusted by neither. Narrated from death row by Alcibiades' bodyguard and assassin, a man whose own love and loathing for his former commander mirrors the mixed emotions felt by all Athens, Tides of War tells an epic saga of an extraordinary century, a war that changed history, and a complex leader who seduced a nation. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Steven Pressfield (Author), Derek Jacobi (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Year 1000

What life was like at the turn of The First MillenniumThe Year 1000 is a vivid and surprising portrait of life in England a thousand years ago - no spinach, no sugar, but a world which already knew brain surgeons and property developers, and yes, even the occasional gossip columnist.Uncovering such wonderfully unexpected details, authors Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger bring this distant world closer than it has ever been before. How did monks communicate if they were not allowed to speak? What punishments could the law impose without stone and iron prisons in which to lock up offenders? Why was July called "the hungry month"? The Year 1000 answers these questions, and reveals such secrets as the recipe for a medieval form of Viagra and an hallucinogenic treat called "crazy bread".In the spirit of modern investigative journalism, Lacey and Danziger interviewed the top historians and archaeologists in the field. Their research led them to an ancient and little-known document of the period, the Julius Work Calendar, a sharply observed guide which takes us back in time to a charming and very human world of kings and revellers, saints and slave-labourers, lingering paganism and profound Christian faith.This exuberant and informative book concludes as the shadow of the millennium descends across England and Christendom. While prophets of doom predict the end of the world, AD 1000 sees the arrival of such bewildering concepts as infinity and zero, along with the abacus - the medieval calculating machine. These are portents of the future, and The Year 1000 finishes by examining the human and social ingredients that were to make for success and achievement in the next thousand years.

Danny Danziger, Robert Lacey (Author), Derek Jacobi (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The fifth in the series of the classic fantasy tales - The Chronicles of Narnia. A complete and unabridged edition of this enduringly popular Children's book."Stop it!" cried Eustace. "It's some silly trick you are playing! Ow!" A great cold salt splash had broken right out of the frame and they were breathless from the smack of it, as well as being wet through.Lucy and Edmund, stuck with their awful cousin Eustace, suddenly find themselves in a picture of a sailing ship - the Dawn Treader - and realise they have been drawn back into the land of Narnia. They are reunited with old friends, the young King Caspian and Reepicheep the mouse on a voyage of discovery to the End of the World...On 9 December 2005, Andrew (Shrek) Adamson's live-action film adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will be released by Disney, and it is already being hailed as the biggest film franchise of all time, guaranteed to appeal to adults and children across the globe. The second film is already in development.

C. S. Lewis, C.S. Lewis (Author), Derek Jacobi (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Visitor (A Roald Dahl Short Story)

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of The Visitor, an amusing and chilling story from Roald Dahl, the master of the twist in the tale. Read by actors Derek Jacobi and Richard E Grant. In The Visitor, Roald Dahl, one of the world's favourite authors, tells a funny, fruity story about one of his favourite characters, adventurer and seducer Oswald Hendryks Cornelius. Here, Uncle Oswald gets more than he bargained for in Arabia . . . The Visitor is taken from the short story collection Switch Bitch, which includes three other black comedies which capture the ins and outs, highs and lows of sex (including another Uncle Oswald story, Bitch). This story is also available as a Penguin ebook. Roald Dahl, the brilliant and worldwide acclaimed author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and many more classics for children, also wrote scores of short stories for adults. These delightfully disturbing tales have often been filmed and were most recently the inspiration for the West End play, Roald Dahl's Twisted Tales by Jeremy Dyson. Roald Dahl's stories continue to make readers shiver today. Derek Jacobi's film work includes: The Day of the Jackal, The King's Speech, Gladiator, Hamlet and Henry V. His television work includes: Cadfael, Mr Pye, I, Claudius and Titanic - Blood and Steel. Richard E Grant's film work includes: L.A. Story, Gosford Park, Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life and Withnail and I. His television work includes: The Crimson Petal and the White, Posh Nosh and The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Roald Dahl (Author), Derek Jacobi, Richard E Grant, Richard E. Grant (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Time Machine: An Invention

When the Time Traveller courageously stepped out of his machine for the first time, he found himself in the year 802,700--and everything has changed. In another, more utopian age, creatures seemed to dwell together in perfect harmony. The Time Traveller thought he could study these marvelous beings--unearth their secret and then retum to his own time--until he discovered that his invention, his only avenue of escape, had been stolen. H.G. Well's famous novel of one man's astonishing journey beyond the conventional limits of the imagination first appeared in 1895. It won him immediate recognition, and has been regarded ever since as one of the great masterpieces in the literature of science fiction.

H. G. Wells, H.G. Wells (Author), Derek Jacobi (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Tempest

William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic prose and verse read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly remastered stories are now available to download for the first time. ‘We are such stuff As dreams are made on; and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.’ Magical and dreamlike in its tone, Shakespeare’s The Tempest begins with a storm of epic proportions and a shipwreck. Banished from Italy, Prospero lives on a remote island with his daughter. Using his magic, he vows to seek revenge on the injustice dealt to him by his brother, but in doing so, Shakespeare questions the difficulty of distinguishing ‘men’ from ‘monsters’, and the realities of justice. All of the Shakespeare plays within the ARGO Classics catalogue are performed by the Marlowe Dramatic Society and Professional Players. The Marlowe was founded in 1907 with a mission to focus on effective delivery of verse, respect the integrity of texts, and rescue neglected plays by Shakespeare’s contemporaries and the less performed plays of Shakespeare himself. The Marlowe has performed annually at Cambridge Arts Theatre since its opening in 1936 and continues to produce some of the finest actors of their generations. Thurston Dart, Professor of Music at London University and a Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge, directed the music for this production. The full cast includes: Terrence Hardiman; Ian Lang; Michael Hordern; Denis McCarthy; Ian Lang; Denys Robertson; Derek Jacobi; Patrick Wymark; Philip Strick; Clive Swift; Natasha Parry; Miles Malleson; Margaret Field-Hyde; Jill Daltry; Margaretta Scott; Ena Mitchell.

William Shakespeare (Author), Derek Jacobi, Full Cast, Ian Lang, Michael Hordern, Patrick Wymark, Terrence Hardiman (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old

** THE INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON ** 'There are many laughs in this book but it's so much more than just a comedy. It's a story about how friendship, selflessness and dignity lie at the heart of the human experience. When I'm an old man, I want to be Hendrik Groen' John Boyne, author of international bestseller The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas *** 'Another year and I still don't like old people. Me? I am 83 years old.' Hendrik Groen may be old, but he is far from dead and isn't planning to be buried any time soon. Granted, his daily strolls are getting shorter because his legs are no longer willing and he had to visit his doctor more than he'd like. Technically speaking he is ... elderly. But surely there is more to life at his age than weak tea and potted geraniums? Hendrik sets out to write an exposé: a year in the life of his care home in Amsterdam, revealing all its ups and downs - not least his new endeavour the anarchic Old-But-Not Dead Club. And when Eefje moves in - the woman Hendrik has always longed for - he polishes his shoes (and his teeth), grooms what's left of his hair and attempts to make something of the life he has left, with hilarious, tender and devastating consequences. The indomitable Hendrik Groen - Holland's unlikeliest hero - has become a cultural phenomenon in his native Netherlands and now he and his famously anonymous creator are conquering the globe. A major Dutch bestseller, The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen will not only delight older readers with its wit and relevance, but will charm and inspire those who have years to go before their own expiry date. *** Praise for The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 ¼ Years Old 'A story with a great deal of heart, it pulled me in with its self-deprecating humour, finely drawn characters and important themes. Anyone who hopes to grow old with dignity will have much to reflect on' Graeme Simsion 'There are many laughs in this book but it's so much more than just a comedy. It's a story about how friendship, selflessness and dignity lie at the heart of the human experience. When I'm an old man, I want to be Hendrik Groen' John Boyne 'A funny but also touching diary praised for its wit and realism' BBC Radio 4 Front Row 'I laughed until I cried and then laughed and cried some more' David Suchet 'Thoughtful, anxious and gruff... Laced with humour' The Best New Fiction Mail on Sunday 'Amusing [and] wickedly accurate ... I was constantly put in mind of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, another comi-tragedy concerning the tyranny of institutions of the unwanted. Enjoy Groen's light touch but do not be fooled by it. We live in an ageing society. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen is a handbook of resistance for our time' ***** FIVE STARS Sunday Express 'Highly entertaining ... a delightful and touching saga of one man's way of coping with old age ... we may assume that Hendrik Groen is a character of fiction. But it is a fiction so closely based on the observation of real life that it is utterly convincing' Daily Express 'A joy to read, as much concerned with friendship and dignity as it is with the debilitating effects of aging ... An entertaining and uplifting story of a man in the winter of his days, stoic in the face of bureaucratic nonsense and an unabashed need to wear a nappy. Imagined or not, this is the diary of someone who wants nothing more than to be allowed see out his days with dignity and respect. It's not too much to ask, really, is it?' John Boyne Irish Times 'Full of off-beat charm and quirky characters' Cathy Rentzenbrink, Stylist 'Hendrik pens an exposé of his care home, sets up the Old-But-Not-Dead club and relishes the arrival of a new female resident. This geriatric Adrian Mole made me laugh and think. Terrific' Fanny Blake, Woman and Home

Hendrik Groen (Author), Derek Jacobi (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Derek Jacobi