Leighton Pugh has narrated 63 audiobooks on Listento.it by 50 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.4★ across 321 ratings. The most-rated is Napoleon.
Two Treatises of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration
Summary
John Locke (1632-1704) was a product of his troubled times: he lived through the English Civil War, the Interregnum, the Restoration, Monmouth’s Rebellion, the Bloody Assizes and the Glorious Revolution. His empirical thinking was very much directed at finding rational solutions to the root causes of those troubles. Considered the founder of English empiricism and a precursor of the Enlightenment, his ideas on religious toleration, human rights and limitations on governmental power may seem so normal to us now as to be common sense, so well have they been assimilated by the social psyche; but this was far from being the case when Locke proposed them. The son of a Puritan family - his father fought as a captain of cavalry in the parliamentary army in the English Civil War - Locke was educated at Westminster school and then Oxford University, where he studied medicine and natural philosophy. He became the personal physician to the Earl of Shaftesbury, later the Lord Chancellor and founder of the Whig party. It was probably at Shaftesbury’s behest that he produced the Two Treatises Concerning Government. He began work on these in 1679, after travelling extensively in France. But in 1683 he fled to Holland following the failed Rye House Plot, in which he was suspected of having been involved by the authorities. The Two Treatises would not be published until 1689, after the Glorious Revolution. The first treatise is essentially an in-depth critique of Robert Filmer’s Patriarcha, a work which argued in favour of the divine right of kings and which was much referred to in the reign of Charles II, mainly by clerics preaching from the pulpit asserting the divine right in support of the monarch. Locke systematically dismantles and invalidates every one of Filmer’s assertions, dissecting his arguments one by one, invoking scriptural references in support of his counterarguments and disentangling and clarifying a host of ideas pertaining to the nature and origins of authority. In the second treatise, which is the better known, much more influential and important work, Locke suggests a different account for the origins and nature of government, referring back to the Hobbesian notion of the state of nature postulating three basic natural rights: the right to life, to liberty and to property. Section by section the philosopher examines his subject, lays out his thinking process and explains his conclusions, very different from Hobbes’ ideas, articulating a series of beliefs and concepts now germane to government by liberal democracy: the separation of church and state, and of the legislative and executive powers, the doctrine of checks and balances and the labour theory of value being among them. Locke’s contention that populations had the justifiable right to overthrow tyrannical governments clearly influenced Thomas Jefferson and played an important part in the American Revolution and the setting up of the Republic. A Letter Concerning Toleration, here translated by William Popple, was originally written in Latin and focuses on the problems of religion and government advocating a philosophy of tolerance among Christians as the solution, albeit with certain qualifications. These seminal Locke works are read with brio by Leighton Pugh.
Public Domain (P)2019 Ukemi Productions Ltd
The Masterpiece
Summary
Perhaps the most autobiographical of Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle of novels, The Masterpiece is a hard, bleak, and raw portrait of unrecognized artistic genius. Claude Lantier, brother to Nana and son of Gervaise, is a struggling painter who dreams of conquering the Paris art scene with his revolutionary "open air" style of painting. Discouraged and mocked, Claude retreats to the countryside with a young woman from Clermont, with whom he has fallen in love, before returning to Paris, where he continues to experience rejection at every turn. Zola's depiction of a frustrated artist is said to have drawn heavily on the real-life experiences of Edouard Manet and Paul Cezanne, the latter of whom broke off his friendship with the author upon reading the novel. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Public Domain (P)2020 Naxos Audiobooks
The Praise of Folly/Against War
Summary
Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536) was known as Prince of the Humanists - though a theologian, a Catholic priest and the leading European scholar of his time. A close friend of Sir Thomas More, Erasmus' writings had a strong influence on the growing movement for change in Christian Europe, both Lutheran and the Counter-Reformation. These two essays are among his most important - and well-known - writings. 'The Praise of Folly', written in Latin in 1509 and spoken by the goddess Folly (who champions a lively enjoyment of life), was a bold satire on (in the cautious contemporary environment) not only Western classical traditions but also the Catholic Church. Dedicated to More himself, Erasmus wittily challenged entrenched views in so forthright (and humanist) a style that it could have brought him in direct conflict with the papacy. Fortunately the pope, Leo X, enjoyed the humour and the challenge! It is here presented in the lively modern translation by Leonard H. Dean. 'Against War' (c. 1517) is 'an impassioned plea for peace among beings human, civilised, Christian'. A deeply humanist text, widely read through Europe in the ensuing years, it has a continuing currency. 'Nothing is either more wicked or more wretched, nothing doth worse become a man than war.' Leighton Pugh reads the classic translation by John Wilson.
Public Domain (P)2017 Ukemi Productions Ltd
Lies
Summary
Gripping and packed with twists and turns, this stunning thriller will make you question whether we can ever really trust the ones we love....
What if your whole life was based on lies?
When Joe Lynch stumbles across his wife driving into a hotel car park while she's supposed to be at work, he's intrigued enough to follow her in.
And when he witnesses her in an angry altercation with family friend Ben, he knows he ought to intervene.
But just as the confrontation between the two men turns violent and Ben is knocked unconscious, Joe's young son has an asthma attack - and Joe must flee in order to help him.
When he returns, desperate to make sure Ben is OK, Joe is horrified to find that Ben has disappeared.
And that's when Joe receives the first message....
©2017 T. M. Logan (P)2017 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Scarpia
Summary
Man is a delicate mechanism...he can easily be set off course. It is the late 18th century, and a young Sicilian nobleman, Vitellio Scarpia, finds himself penniless and in disgrace on the streets of Rome. After leaving his home to pursue a military career, his impulsive and undisciplined nature has led to his expulsion from Spanish royal guard, and he must now seek his fortune in Italy - a fortune inseparably bound up with the ruler of the Eternal City, the Pope. Scarpia enrolls in the papal army and becomes the lover of an alluring countess who introduces him into Roman society, with its blend of religiosity, sophistication, and intrigue. Half enthralled, half appalled, Scarpia enjoys the life of the decadent city, learning in due course that as an unsophisticated provincial he is no match for the worldliness of Rome. Patronized by a powerful cardinal, Scarpia is sent on a mission to Venice, where he encounters the beautiful, exquisitely gifted singer Floria Tosca. As the armies of revolutionary France invade Italy, and war and revolution engulf the whole peninsula, the lives of the two become fatefully entwined. Piers Paul Read brilliantly reimagines the infamous villain of Puccini's opera, Tosca, telling a story that shines a light into the dusty corridors of history and the dark corners of the human soul.
©2015 Piers Paul Read (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
The Spice Box Letters
Summary
Katerina inherits a spice box after her grandmother Mariam dies. It contains letters and a diary written in Armenian. Katerina learns that Mariam's childhood was shattered by the Armenian tragedy of 1915. Exiled from her home in Turkey and separated from her beloved brother, Mariam's life was marred by grief. Katerina tries to find resolution in her own life as she completes Mariam's story on a journey that takes her across Cyprus and then half a world away to New York.
©2015 Eve Makis (P)2016 W.F. Howes Ltd
Babes in the Wood
Summary
Both gripping police procedural and an insight into the motivations of a truly evil man, Babes in the Wood by Graham Bartlett with Peter James is a fascinating account of what became a thirty-two year fight for justice. On 9 October 1986, nine-year-olds Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway went out to play on their Brighton estate. They would never return home, their bodies discovered the next day concealed in a small clearing in a local park. This devastating crime rocked their close-knit community and the whole country. Following the investigation moment by moment, drawing on exclusive interviews with officers charged with catching the killer, former senior detective Graham Bartlett and best-selling author Peter James tell the compelling inside story of the murder hunt and the arrest of local man Russell Bishop. The trial that followed was one of the most infamous in the history of Brighton policing - a shock result sees Bishop walk free. ‘Not guilty.’ Three years later, Graham is working as a junior detective in Brighton CID. A seven-year-old girl is kidnapped and found wandering naked on the freezing South Downs. When Bishop’s name comes up as a suspect, it’s clear history had come close to repeating itself. With the law and science against them, the police are frustrated that, still, he would escape justice for the double murder. Decades later detectives are handed a surprise second chance. Can Bishop finally be made to answer for his horrendous crimes?
©2020 Graham Bartlett (P)2020 Macmillan Publishers International Ltd
Arrest Me, for I Have Run Away
Summary
Shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year, Arrest Me, for I Have Run Away is a stunning short story collection on human nature and identity. Stevie Davies' latest work, it is bound to captivate and charm the listener.
©2017 Stevie Davies (P)2020 Audible, Ltd
Blood on the Altar
Summary
One Sunday morning in 1993 a 16-year-old girl named Eliza Claps goes missing from a church in the centre of Potenza, Italy. Shortly before her disappearance, Elisa had met Danilo Restivo, a strange local boy with a fetish for cutting women's hair on the back of buses. Elisa's family are convinced that Resitvo is responsible for their daughter's disappearance, but he is protected by local bigwigs: by his Sicilian father, by a doctor with links to organised crime, by a priest who had vices of his own. Years go by, and Elisa's family can find only false leads. 2002, and Restivo is now living in Bournemouth. In November that year, his neighbour is found murdered, with strands of her own hair in her hands. Once again the police are at a loss to pin anything on him. It's not until 2010, when Elisa's decomposed body is found in the church where she went missing, that the two cases are linked and Restivo is finally dealt with. Blood on the Altar combines a gripping true crime case with Jones' deep understanding of Italian culture - the impunity it offers to the powerful - he so expertly demonstrated in his best seller The Dark Heart of Italy.
©2019 Tobias Jones (P)2019 Audible, Ltd
A Twist of the Knife
Summary
A fantastic collection of short stories by Peter James. Combining stories from ebook story collections Short Shockers One and Short Shockers Two, and with never-before-seen new material, this is a story collection you won't forget. From a woman intent on revenge, to a restaurant critic with a fear of the number thirteen, and from a story of ghostly terror to the first ever case of his best-loved Detective, Roy Grace, James exposes the Achilles heels of each of his characters, and makes us question how well we can trust ourselves, and each other. Funny, sad, but always shocking, each tale carries a twist that will haunt readers for days after they turn the final page . . .
©2014 Peter James (P)2014 Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
A Theologico-Political Treatise/A Political Treatise
Summary
Though it first aroused anger and controversy rather than admiration and acceptance, A Theologico-Political Treatise was a landmark in the analysis of theology (with particular reference to the Bible and its Jewish and Christian interpretations) and its relationship to philosophy and politics. Spinoza’s scholarly analysis, based on careful study, demonstrated that the Bible was composed by many writers over the centuries - and that even the Pentateuch, the first five books, were not the work of Moses, as was generally assumed at the time. When the treatise appeared in 1670, this was highly controversial, questioning as it did the nature of God and miracles. Further, theology and philosophy, he maintained, should be kept separate. The treatise is also notable for the unequivocally libertarian view Spinoza promulgated: ‘Everyone should be free to choose for himself the foundations of his creed, and that faith should be judged only by its fruits; each would then obey God freely with his whole heart, while nothing would be publicly honoured save justice and charity.’ Baruch Spinoza was born in 1632 into a Sephardic/Portuguese family in Amsterdam but left Judaism, embraced Christianity and died in 1677 a highly learned philosopher. Best known for his Ethics, which, for his own safety, was published posthumously, A Theologico-Political Treatise was published in his lifetime, though anonymously. It underpinned his later reputation as the father of modern metaphysics and moral and political philosophy. Its unmistakable blend of considered scholarly argument with passionate declarations make it lively and relevant listening even in the 21st century. A Political Treatise, in which Spinoza set out to examine three forms of government - monarchy, aristocracy, democracy - was left unfinished at his death but reflects a clear-thinking analysis presented through a 17th century prism. A Theologico-Political Treatise: translation by Robert Harvey Monro Elwes. A Political Treatise: translation by A. H. Gosset.
Public Domain (P)2018 Ukemi Productions Ltd
The Templar Brotherhood
Summary
The awe-inspiring finale to the Hounds of God trilogy, perfect for fans of Dan Brown, Scott Mariani and Chris Kuzneski. The shadowy chambers of the Knights Templar hold a devastating secret.... Having barely escaped the crosshairs of a deadly cult, Robin Jessop and David Mallory are determined to unlock the truth behind a conspiracy unresolved for 700 years - the mystery of what gives the enigmatic Templars their unwavering power. Infiltrating the group’s archives, they make a startling discovery. An ancient Templar passport hinting at a sacred mission: the transportation of an artefact of incomprehensible value. Delving through centuries of deception, the two come face-to-face with a secret that could shake Christendom to its core.
©2017 James Becker (P)2020 W. F. Howes
The Order of the Day
Summary
Winner of the 2017 Prix Goncourt Éric Vuillard’s gripping novel The Order of the Day tells the story of the pivotal meetings which took between the European powers in the run up to World War Two. What emerges is a fascinating and incredibly moving account of failed diplomacy, broken relationships and the catastrophic momentum which led to conflict. The titans of German industry - set to prosper under the Nazi government - gather to lend their support to Adolf Hitler. The Austrian Chancellor realises too late that he has wandered into a trap as Hitler delivers the ultimatum that will lay the groundwork for Germany’s annexation of Austria. Winston Churchill joins Neville Chamberlain for a farewell luncheon held in honour of Joachim von Ribbentrop: German Ambassador to England, soon to be Foreign Minister in the Nazi government, and future defendant at the Nuremberg trials. Suffused with dramatic tension, this unforgettable novel tells the tragic story of how the actions of a few powerful men brought the world to the brink of war.
©2019 Eric Vuillard and Mark Polizzotti (P)2019 Macmillan Publishers International Ltd
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship
Summary
Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship - Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre was the original German title - was Goethe’s second novel, published 1795-6, almost two decades after The Sorrows of Young Werther. It again focuses on a young man but this time on his growing understanding and maturity as he makes his way in the world. As such, it is regarded as the founding work in the ‘coming of age’ genre: the ‘bildungsroman’ ( a term actually coined some 30 years later), which characterised a philosophical novel tracing the cultural, emotional and educational development of an individual from youth to adulthood. Disdaining to follow his father’s advice to pursue a bourgeois life in business and disappointed in love, Wilhelm Meister searches for a more fulfilling path - and is initially drawn to the arts. He becomes involved in a theatre troupe, the works of Shakespeare and specifically Hamlet beckon. But his artistic life is interrupted when mundane brutality in the form of an attack by bandits intrudes. Wilhelm, despite being wounded, survives the encounter, which leads him to another level of understanding, and his personal journey to maturity continues. The novel was hugely influential throughout the 19th century and beyond and remains a key work in classic European literature. Thomas Carlyle’s admired but slightly archaic translation has been lightly revised for this recording which features a sensitive reading by Leighton Pugh.
Public Domain (P)2020 Ukemi Productions Ltd
Selections from Parerga and Paralipomena Volume 2
Summary
Volume 2 of Parerga and Paralipomena has a very different character from Volume 1. There are, in total, 31 Essays, 24 of which are presented here. The range of topics is very varied, opening with 'On Philosophy and Its Method' and including 'On Pantheism', 'On Ethics', 'On Jurisprudence', 'On Men of Learning', 'On Thinking for Oneself', 'On Religion' and 'The Vanity of Existence'. Quite a few open windows on to the personality of Schopenhauer himself - for example, he praises dogs as companions, argues that animals should be chloroformed before slaughter: animal welfare was very much in his sights. He inveighs against useless indulgence in luxury: 'the most effective way of alleviating human misery would be to diminish luxury, or even abolish it altogether.' A thinker at home with his thoughts, he remarks with a touch of resigned humour: 'The pen is to thought what the stick is to walking, but one walks most easily without a stick, and thinks most perfectly when no pen is at hand. It is only when a man begins to get old that he likes to make use of a stick and his pen.' His writings range widely over the international intellectual and cultural spectrum. There are numerous references to Eastern thought - especially Buddhism and Brahmanism as translations into European languages from Pali and Sanskrit gathered force during Schopenhauer's active life. He clearly found himself comfortable in this body of thought, often comparing it favourably with the Western Judaic-Christian heritage. As always he makes liberal use of quotations and footnotes and these have been translated and incorporated into the main text for this recording. For Leighton Pugh, who has now recorded the main body of Schopenhauer's work for Ukemi Audiobooks, spending many days in the studio with this hugely influential figure has been like 'training at altitude.' He remarked that the time spent with the varied and accessible essays in Parerga and Paralipomena Volume 2 proved to be among the most enjoyable. Translations by T Bailey Saunders, Ernest Belfort Bax, Walter Jekyll and Charles Joséfé.
Public Domain (P)2019 Ukemi Productions Ltd
Boy X
Summary
Kidnapped and drugged, Ash wakes up on a remote tropical island. His mum - a genetic scientist - has been imprisoned and infected with a deadly virus. He sets out to cross the jungle to find out and rescue his mother. Soon he realises he's quicker and sharper than before. But there's something else.... Why are the animals watching him, and how can he use the jungle to his advantage?
©2016 Dan Smith (P)2016 W.F. Howes Ltd
Agricola, Germania, A Dialogue Concerning Oratory
Summary
These three vibrant texts show different sides of the Roman historian Tacitus (c56–c102 CE), best known for his principal (and much longer) legacies of The Annals and The Histories. Agricola was a successful general and governor of Britain (77-83CE), a task which he carried out with firmness and probity - in contrast to much of the corruption and repression in place during the reign of Emperor Domitian. Included in his account are the prebattle speeches of both Agricola and the Briton Calgacus. Tacitus' account of Germania shows a very different land with its many tribes, their habits and qualities in a strongly rural and resistant environment. A Dialogue Concerning Oratory, by contrast, is placed decidedly at the heart of Roman culture, a survey of rhetoric and the art of eloquence. The ability to speak clearly and well was admired throughout the Greek and Roman eras; educated men were expected to have received training in form and delivery: exordium, narration, period. Tacitus presents individuals who display the art of oratory in various forms, referring to the giants of the past - the speeches of Cicero, Brutus, Caesar and many others were kept in volumes and studied. And they question whether eloquence and the skills of oratory had declined in the age.
Public Domain (P)2016 Ukemi Productions Ltd
If Ever I Fall
Summary
A heart-rending story of family tragedy, perfect for fans of Amanda Prowse and Jojo Moyes. Is holding on harder than letting go? Dan's life has fallen apart at the seams. He's lost his house and his job, and now he's going to lose his family, too. All he's ever wanted is to keep them together, but is everything beyond repair? Maria is drowning in grief. She spends her days writing letters that will never be answered. Nights are spent trying to hold terrible memories at bay, to escape the pain that threatens to engulf her. Jack wakes up confused and alone. He doesn't know who he is, how he got there, or why he finds himself on a deserted clifftop, but will piecing together the past leave him a broken man? In the face of real tragedy, can these three people find a way to reconcile their past with a new future? And is love enough to carry them through?
©2017 S. D. Robertson (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers
The World as Will and Idea, Volume 3
Summary
In this final part to Schopenhauer's momentous and hugely influential work, his original and wide-ranging observations are as lively as ever. Though cast as a 'pessimist' by history, he is anything but that to read - and listen to. Here are the last supplementary comments his original work (published 1818), the fruit of decades of further reflection. These essays - some fairly substantial - include 'On Instinct and Mechanical Tendency', 'On Genius', 'On Madness', 'The Inner Nature of Art', 'The Metaphysics of Music', 'The Metaphysics of Love of the Sexes', and 'The Way of Salvation'. This translation by Haldane and Kemp omitted - for reasons of 'modesty' - a fascinating essay 'On Pederasty'. This has now been translated and read by Leighton Pugh and included here, offering a truly complete recording of Schopenhauer's opus magnus. And once again it is clear why Schopenhauer influenced a wide range of philosophers, writers and artists over the succeeding generations, including Nietzsche, Thomas Mann, Samuel Beckett and many others.
Public Domain (P)2017 Ukemi Productions Ltd
Selections from Parerga and Paralipomena Volume 1
Summary
The two sizeable volumes of Parerga and Paralipomena hold a special place in the output of Arthur Schopenhauer. Parerga means 'supplementary to a main work', and Paralipomena suggests a further supplement, but these two books were anything but a casual addition to his major opus, The World as Will and Idea. For a start, it was the publication of Parerga and Paralipomena in 1851 which brought Schopenhauer to the attention of the general public, decades after The World as Will and Idea first appeared. Suddenly, people sat up and took notice, and Schopenhauer was established as a major figure in 19th-century German - and world - philosophy, a reputation he has never lost. This recording of the major part of volume 1 contains, arguably, the most important essays. From volume 1, Leighton Pugh reads 'Sketch of a History of the Doctrine of the Ideal and the Real', 'Fragments for the History of Philosophy' and 'Transcendent Speculation on Apparent Design in the Fate of the Individual'. David Rintoul then takes over to read the most well-known section of volume 1, 'Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life' and 'Counsels and Maxims'. In general it could be said that the content of volume 1 of Parerga and Paralipomena presents ideas which are supplementary to the main thrust of Schopenhauer’s life work, whereas volume 2 sees him responding, more briefly but with customary clarity, to a great variety of topics. The translations in this recording of volume 1 are by Ernest Belfort Bax, David Irvine and T. Bailey Saunders.
Public Domain (P)2019 Ukemi Productions Ltd