Greg Wagland has narrated 22 audiobooks on Listento.it by 11 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.3★ across 173 ratings. The most-rated is The Prince.
The Prince
Summary
The Prince, Machiavelli's 'little book', was written in 1513 and is dedicated to Lorenzo de' Medici. It remains a compelling and controversial treatise on politics, dispensing often cynical, sometimes brutal advice on gaining power and retaining it. Essential listening for our masters perhaps, but most certainly for those of us who would not be mastered. The text used here is the unabridged and classic translation by W. K. Marriott.
Public Domain (P)2013 Magpie Audio
Warrior of the Light
Summary
Paulo Coelho inspired millions around the world and became one of the most beloved storytellers of our time with the international best-selling phenomenon The Alchemist. Now, in the beloved companion to his classic, The Warrior of The Light: A Manual invites us to live out our dreams to embrace the uncertainty of life and to rise to our own unique destiny. In his inimitable style, Paulo Coelho shows listeners how to embark upon the way of the Warrior: the one who appreciates the miracle of being alive, the one who accepts failure, and the one whose quest leads him to become the person he wants to be.
©2003 Paulo Coelho; English translation (c) 2003 (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers
The Communist Manifesto
Summary
‘It was a sweet finish after the bitter pills of floggings and bullets with which these same governments, just at that time, dosed the German working-class risings’. The Communist Manifesto is, perhaps surprisingly, a most engaging and accessible work, containing even the odd shaft of humour in this translation by Samuel Moore for the 1888 English edition. It is, of course, an essential introduction to the thoughts and theories of Karl Marx and his collaborator and editor Friedrich Engels and therefore to the development of communism. This brief but iconoclastic work, essentially a pamphlet, covers the history of the bourgeoisie, aspects of ‘class struggle’ with descriptions and analyses of numerous workers’ parties and movements up to the 1840s. It predicts and elaborates upon the defeat of capitalism and communism’s ultimate global victory. Written over 150 years ago it pulsates with energy, insight and contemporary relevance, ending with the rallying cry, ‘Workers of the World Unite.’ Greg Wagland, a history graduate and enthusiast, brings a certain freshness and energy to his reading of this far from dusty tome. A word about the narrator: born in Oxford, England, Greg Wagland is a classically trained actor, who attended St. Andrews University and drama school. He has worked in television, radio and theatre appearing in productions with the likes of Richard E. Grant, Penelope Keith, Bill Pertwee, Matt Smith, Roger Allam, Liza Goddard, Michael Denison, Dulcie Gray and Lindsay Duncan. He has recorded over 50 audiobooks, a number of those for the well-respected Talking Book Service of the RNIB. Now for Magpie Audio he is putting together an eclectic collection of classic fiction and non-fiction works and is always happy to receive suggestions for new titles.
Public Domain (P)2011 Magpie Audio
The End of Alchemy
Summary
Something is wrong with our banking system. We all sense that, but Mervyn King knows it firsthand; his 10 years at the helm of the Bank of England, including at the height of the financial crisis, revealed profound truths about the mechanisms of our capitalist society. In The End of Alchemy, he offers us an essential work about the history and future of money and banking, the keys to modern finance. The Industrial Revolution built the foundation of our modern capitalist age. Yet the flowering of technological innovations during that dynamic period relied on the widespread adoption of two much older ideas: the creation of paper money and the invention of banks that issued credit. We take these systems for granted today, yet at their core both ideas were revolutionary and almost magical. Common paper became as precious as gold, and risky long-term loans were transformed into safe short-term bank deposits. As King argues, this is financial alchemy - the creation of extraordinary financial powers that defy reality and common sense. Faith in these powers has led to huge benefits; the liquidity they create has fueled economic growth for two centuries now. However, they have also produced an unending string of economic disasters, from hyperinflations to banking collapses to the recent global recession and current stagnation. How do we reconcile the potent strengths of these ideas with their inherent weaknesses? King draws on his unique experience to present fresh interpretations of these economic forces and to point the way forward for the global economy. His bold solutions cut through current overstuffed and needlessly complex legislation to provide a clear path to durable prosperity and the end of overreliance on the alchemy of our financial ancestors.
©2016 Mervyn King (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
Heart of Darkness
Summary
'But these chaps were not much account, really. They were no colonists; their administration was merely a squeeze, and nothing more, I suspect. They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force - nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others.' In fading light on the Thames Estuary near London, as Charles Marlow and his companions relax on deck, waiting for the turn of the tide, he tells of the time he turned ‘freshwater sailor’ on the River Congo. His perilous journey upriver in a little steamboat with a band of white colonialists and a group of cannibals takes him closer to the coveted ivory, closer to Kurtz the rogue agent, closer to certain unspeakable rites and the heart of darkness. Here we encounter the darkness of the jungle; the darkness of forced labour, cruelty, and death; and that darkness that exists in the ‘civilized’ human heart. Serialised in three parts in 1899, this book was first published in 1902. Joseph Conrad, considered one of greatest novelists in the English language, was born in Poland in 1857, only learning to speak the language fluently in his 20s and always with a strong Polish accent. Frequently, he touches on themes connected with the sea and colonialism, for he had travelled the world as a merchant seaman. He had even skippered a steamboat called Roi des Belges in King Leopold II’s private fiefdom of the Congo; these experiences and encounters find a home in this most disturbing and claustrophobic of stories. For Magpie Audio, Greg Wagland brings a certain vitality and immediacy to his reading of this unabridged classic.
Public Domain (P)2011 Magpie Audio
The Party
Summary
A gripping story of obsession and betrayal, privilege and hypocrisy, set in the unassailable heart of the British establishment. "As the train pressed on, I realised that my life was in the process of taking a different direction, plotted according to a new constellation. Because, although I didn't know it yet, I was about to meet Ben and nothing would ever be the same again." Martin Gilmour is an outsider. When he wins a scholarship to Burtonbury School, he doesn't wear the right clothes or speak with the right kind of accent. But then he meets the dazzling, popular and wealthy Ben Fitzmaurice, and gains admission to an exclusive world. Soon Martin is enjoying tennis parties and Easter egg hunts at the Fitzmaurice family's estate, as Ben becomes the brother he never had. But Martin has a secret. He knows something about Ben, something he will never tell. It is a secret that will bind the two of them together for the best part of 25 years. At Ben's 40th birthday party, the great and the good of British society are gathering to celebrate in a haze of champagne, drugs and glamour. Amid the hundreds of guests – the politicians, the celebrities, the old-money and newly rich – Martin once again feels that disturbing pang of not-quite-belonging. His wife, Lucy, has her reservations too. There is disquiet in the air. But Ben wouldn't do anything to damage their friendship.... Would he?
©2017 Elizabeth Day (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers
Late Checkout
Summary
DCI Kenny Murrain sees, hears and feels things that others do not. It’s a gift but also a curse. When he wakes to the phantom sound of screaming, he knows a murder has been committed, but not where or why. Then a woman’s body is found in a Stockport hotel room. It’s a murder that seems both frenzied and carefully planned, the scene expertly cleansed of any evidence. Over the following days, more bodies are discovered. The same frenzied attacks, the same meticulous planning. The same killer. The victims all have links to one man, a police colleague with a dark past. But Murrain discovers a more unexpected connection - with Marie Donovan, a former undercover officer now part of Murrain’s own team.
©2016 Alex Walters (P)2019 W. F. Howes Ltd
This Magic Moment
Summary
A Desperate Duke Everything about Lord Harry's easygoing life is about to change. After unexpectedly inheriting the title of duke of Sommersville, he's also discovered it comes with a load of debt. To save the estate, he's going to need money. Lots of it - and quick. A Free-Spirited Duchess Lady Christina has no problem with Harry marrying her for her dowry. After all, they've been friends since childhood. But gone is the laughing, charming boy she once knew. And she won't share anything of herself until she gets that Harry back. No matter how tempting he proves to be...
©2004, 2013 Patricia Rice (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Merely Magic
Summary
Magic is her birthright.... The daughter of one of the strongest magical lineages, Ninian Malcom Siddons is a powerful witch. Determined to use her magic only for good, she lives a simple, solitary life as a healer in her village, where she meets Drogo. A man of science doesn't believe in anything he can't see.... Lord Drogo Ives believes only logic and science can explain the wonders of the universe and doesn't believe the local folklore about Malcolm witches and Ives men - until he meets Ninian. Despite the odds against them and their (many) differences, the bond between Drogo and Ninian grows stronger each moment they are together...until the chaos and danger surrounding them forces each to decide: their love...or their lives....
©2000, 2011 Patricia Rice (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Imperfection
Summary
Imperfection is the second in a series of classic murder mysteries with a twist set in Leeds, featuring DI Stewart Gardener. When theatregoers are treated to the gruesome spectacle of an actor’s lifeless body hanging on the stage, DI Stewart Gardener is immediately called in to investigate. Is the killer still in the audience? A lockdown is set in motion, but it is soon apparent that the murderer is able to come and go unnoticed. How do they do it? Is the killer a theatre worker or an actor? And what kind of grudge do they have to bear? Frustratingly, the killer leaves a trail of clues for the Detectives. Taunted by these and flummoxed as to their meaning, DI Gardener realises that his own family may be in danger. Identifying and capturing the culprit will mean establishing the motive for their macabre crimes, but perhaps not before more victims meet their fate.
©2019 Ray Clark (P)2020 W. F. Howes Ltd
The Trouble with Magic
Summary
Is Her Magic a Gift or a Curse...? All the Malcolms have some magic, but Lady Felicity's ability to read people's emotions simply by touching them or their possessions overwhelms her. She's reached a marriageable age, but how can she ever wed when she can see so clearly a man's guilty secrets? Only He Can Tell the Difference.... Ewen Ives, itinerant rake and adventurous inventor, knows better than to underestimate the mischief of the Malcolms. But sparks fly when he encounters Felicity, and Ewen can't seem to refuse her plea for assistance....
©2003, 2012 Patricia Rice (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Six Short Stories
Summary
This wide-ranging collection comprises the following six short stories by Joseph Conrad: Youth: A Narrative (1902) Karain: A Memory (1898) An Outpost of Progress (1898) The Lagoon (1898) Amy Foster (1909) The Anarchist - A Desperate Tale (1903) Youth: A Narrative is an epic tale of a perilous voyage under sail to Bangkok, with a cargo of coal, narrated by Charles Marlow. An Outpost of Progress, a darkly comic tale, set in an African ivory-trading station, is very much a prelude to Heart of Darkness. Amy Foster is about a Polish man shipwrecked on the English coast and his subsequent alienation, loneliness and love. The Lagoon and Karain: A Memory are gripping tales from the Malay archipelago. The Anarchist charts the journey of a skilled mechanic from Paris to a desolate cattle station in South America, via Devil's Island.
Public Domain (P)2013 Magpie Audio
Must Be Magic
Summary
An Explosive Attraction.... Lady Leila Staines has always felt like an outcast among her magically gifted sisters. Desperate to discover her own talent, she seeks out Dunstan Ives, a dark and brooding aristocrat with a scientific bent who may hold the key to unleashing Leila's hidden powers. Can Create a Spark That's Pure Magic.... Dunstan has shunned the decadent society that wrongfully condemned him of murder, and he's vowed never again to succumb to the spell of a beautiful woman. But the bewitching Lady Leila makes him a proposal no man in his position can resist.
©2002, 2012 Patricia Rice (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Imposition
Summary
A burglary, a murder and a killer who wears a mask. A woman is found dead in her bed, badly beaten. Precious items are missing from the house, including a Fender Stratocaster guitar belonging to her husband. Was it just a burglary gone wrong? Perhaps it is not a motive DI Stewart Gardener should be looking for, but a pattern. And he needs to get to the bottom of the mystery fast, before someone else is hurt. The culprit is an impostor, wearing masks that DI Gardener and his team must peel off layer by layer. But Gardener is not alone searching for the killer. Someone else is seeking retribution. When their paths cross, will justice or revenge triumph? Imposition is the fifth stand-alone title in Ray Clark’s murder mystery series set in Leeds.
©2020 Ray Clark (P)2020 W F Howes
Impression
Summary
A series of murders threatens to side-line Yorkshire Police’s search for a missing girl. Sally Summerby charges into a Leeds police station, utterly distraught. Her five-year-old daughter has gone missing, presumably abducted. Yet despite mobilising all of their resources, the police can find no sign of the child. DI Stewart Gardener gets wind of the case when investigating the murder of a woman in her rented suburban house. She has been pinned to the floor with a bayonet. Yet under her body is a photo of the child. The mother knows nothing of this woman. And she is clearly shocked when it is established the latter is a sex worker. But as several weeks have passed since the abduction, she becomes more and more desperate. DI Gardener and his trusty Sergeant Sean Reilly are also getting frustrated. A local businessman linked to the victim’s property has been poisoned. And to add to the detectives’ woes, a neighbourhood weirdo who fancies himself as a private detective and thinks he can solve the crimes keeps bothering them. Gardener is sure the cases are linked, but the clock is ticking, resources are stretched, and the pressure is mounting to find who is responsible and why. Impression is the fourth DI Gardener murder mystery. It can be enjoyed as a stand-alone or alongside the other books. The full list of books is as follows: Impurity Imperfection Implant Impression
©2020 Ray Clark (P)2020 W. F. Howes Ltd
Implant
Summary
Bramfield, near Leeds, a sleepy little market town nestled on the borders of West and North Yorkshire. Detectives Stewart Gardener and Sean Reilly discover the naked corpse of Alex Wilson, nailed to the wall of a cellar in his uncle's hardware store. His lips are sewn together, and his body bears only one mark, a fresh scar near his abdomen. Within 48 hours, their investigation results in dead ends, more victims, no suspects and very little in the way of solid evidence. Gardener and Reilly have a problem and a question on their hands: are the residents of Bramfield prepared for one of history's most sadistic killers, the Tooth Fairy? For fans of Peter May, Mark Billingham and Peter James.
©2019 Ray Clark (P)2020 W. F. Howes Ltd
Impurity
Summary
A murder with no weapon or motive. A detective on edge. A community that wants answers. Impurity is the first in a series of six books featuring Leeds based Detective Inspector Stewart Gardener. One fateful night, DI Stewart Gardener intervenes in a street brawl, and his wife is shot dead. Finding his wife’s murderer is never far from his mind, but with no leads and a hazy recollection of events, it seems hopeless. Soon he is presented with a shocking case. A man is found dead in a grubby apartment, and It is not long before another man meets the same fate. The deaths are caused by a rapid disintegration of the victims’ flesh. Pathology cannot ascertain the cause. The only connection between the victims is they both worked seasonally as Santas. Who would want to kill such innocuous men as these? Can DI Gardener overcome his grief and solve the case?
©2019 Ray Clark (P)2020 W. F. Howes Ltd
Snow Fallen
Summary
One winter's night, a lone figure arrives on foot in a remote Pennine village. The next morning, as the first heavy snow begins to fall, a man's body is discovered in the village churchyard. Anne Tilston, one of three sisters living in a brooding run-down house in the shadow of the church, realises that the dead man is her father, a disgraced former senior police officer long estranged from his family. As DCI Kenny Murrain's team arrive in the village to investigate the unexplained death, a further body is discovered in a nearby field - a young man from the village with no apparent connection to Tilston or his daughters. With the snow continuing to fall, another body is discovered, and Murrain finds himself stranded with his team in the sisters' house with a seemingly motiveless killer waiting outside in the night.
©2016 Alex Walters (P)2019 W. F. Howes Ltd
The War of the Worlds
Summary
H. G. Wells' classic science fiction work, first serialized in 1897, is one of many invasion narratives prevalent in British literature towards the end of the 19th century. However, The War of the Worlds not only introduces the extraterrestrial element of brutal Martian forces on the rampage but also explores many other contemporary issues and themes. Here then is a powerful first-person narrative that grapples with Martians, tripods, heat rays, the behaviour of crowds, love, human resilience and Woking.
Public Domain (P)2015 Magpie Audio
The South Sea Bubble and Tulipomania: Financial Madness and Delusion
Summary
These two unabridged chapters from Charles Mackay’s two-volume evergreen work, Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841) deal with the disastrous South Sea Bubble and the extraordinary outbreak of Tulipomania in Holland. The South Sea Company, a British joint stock company founded in 1711, was granted a monopoly to trade in Spain’s South American colonies. In return, the company took on the national debt of England. Speculation in the company's stock led to a great economic bubble known as the South Sea Bubble in 1720, which caused financial ruin for many, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Aislabie. Mackay describes this exciting period with great relish and in considerable detail. Tulipomania was an equally bizarre and tragicomic period in Dutch history when almost the whole population began trading and speculating in tulip bulbs, leading to the financial ruin of thousands. At the height of tulip mania, in 1637, a single tulip bulb might sell for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. It is often considered the first recorded economic bubble.For those interested in contemporary finance, economics or social history these incidents are sure to delight and horrify in equal measure. Also included is Mackay’s amusing chapter on the passing fashions in slang in London. The South Sea Bubble and Tulipomania: Financial Madness and Delusion is read by Greg Wagland for Magpie Audio.
Public Domain (P)2011 Magpie Audio