Showing results by narrator "Ben Onwukwe" in All Categories

When Thomas Harding discovered that his mother's family had made money from the slave plantations worked by people of African descent, what began as an interrogation into the choices of his ancestors soon became a quest to learn more about Britain's role in slavery. It was a history that he knew surprisingly little about. In White Debt, Harding vividly brings to life the story of the uprising by enslaved people that took place in the British colony of Demerara (now Guyana) in the Caribbean in 1823.

Temilola is a kind-hearted boy from the upper echelons of Nigerian society who wakes up alone in the middle of Lagos and discovers that he has lost his memory. He soon finds that this is the least of his problems, as he must now attempt to survive the dangerous streets of Lagos.

Paddington Bear has a magical moment, the animals of Brambly Hedge are struggling at the dusty mill. Lara’s godmother sorts out a noisy lion, and Rapunzel is rescued from the tower.

The electrifying sequel to Wilbur Smith's new series for the next generation - starring teen protagonists Ralph and Robyn Ballantyne. In the wild Lebombo Mountains of South Africa, Ralph and Robyn are on the run from the nefarious Josef Gerhard. His beastly man-made predasaurs have unleashed a...

Author and adventurer Bruce Chatwin was one of the 20th Century’s most charismatic writers. His first book, In Patagonia, changed the face of travel writing and made him a literary sensation. Collected here are dramatisations and readings of some of his best-known work, as well as a bonus programme shedding light on his relationships and writing.

A groundbreaking history of the Black Joke, the most famous member of the British Royal Navy’s anti-slavery squadron, and the long fight to end the transatlantic slave trade. Initially a slaving vessel itself, the Black Joke was captured in 1827 and repurposed by the Royal Navy to catch its former compatriots. Over the next five years, the vessel liberated more enslaved people than any other in Britain’s West Africa Squadron.

Bloomsbury presents The Bringer of Dust by J.M. Miro, read by Ben Onwukwe 1883. Agrigento, Sicily. A city of spires and now broken hopes and bodies… With the orsine destroyed, Cairndale lies in ruins, and Marlowe has vanished. His only chance of rescue lies in a fabled second orsine –...

A thrilling new Wilbur Smith series for the next generation with high action and high stakes - starring teen protagonists Ralph and Robyn Ballantyne. Ralph and Robyn live at Crocodile Lodge, their family ranch in South Africa, where they help with the animals, aid the conservation effort and...

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Ben Onwukwe. This definitive recording includes an introduction by Stephen Belcher. Gathering a wide range of traditional African myths, this compelling new collection offers tales of heroes battling mighty serpents and monstrous...

In 2020, after three and a half years of bitter negotiations, Britain left the European Union. For some it was a day of freedom, for others a tragedy which would leave Britain isolated and poorer. Vote Brexit, the Remain campaign warned us, and it would be an act of self-harm. The economy would...

Rogue assassin Josh Thane is an artist in murder. His next target is a British microbiologist suspected of creating devastating chemical weapons. Breaking into her house, he discovers someone has beaten him to it - she’s already dead. In a moment of weakness, he saves the life of her son. A single mistake that destroys everything he’s worked for and puts him and the boy in immediate danger. When Josh embarks on an international quest to find the real killer, he uncovers a criminal conspiracy with truly terrifying consequences.

A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘For all those who believe in the politics of principle and hope this a wonderful reminder that they do not always lose. For all those who despair that politics can ever be inspiring again this is a must-read to shake you out of your misery’ Paddy Ashdown ‘There is...

Bloomsbury presents Leonard Cohen by Harry Freedman, read by Ben Onwukwe. Leonard Cohen taught us that even in the midst of darkness there is light, in the midst of hatred there is love, with our dying breath we can still sing Hallelujah.' – The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks 'Among the finest...

Who is a roadman really? What's wrong with calling someone a 'lighty'? Why do people think black guys are cool? These are just some of the questions being wrestled with in Black, Listed, an exploration of 21st-century black Identity told through a list of insults, insights and everything in between. Taking a panoramic look at global black history, interrogating both contemporary and historical culture, Black, Listed investigates the ways in which black communities (and individuals) have been represented, oppressed, mimicked, celebrated and othered.

Secrets can be buried, but bones can speak.... After standing witness to a murder on the streets of the Caribbean island of Camaho, young Michael 'Digger' Digson is recruited into a unique plainclothes homicide squad, an eclectic group of semi-official police officers, led by the enigmatic DS Chilman. Digger becomes enmeshed in Chilman's obsession with a cold case, the disappearance of a young man. But Digger has a murder to pursue, too: that of his mother, killed by a renegade police squad when he was a boy.

It is 1948, and post-war Britain is on her knees. The call has gone out to the British Empire for volunteers to help rebuild the Mother Country, and young men and women from across the Caribbean have been quick to respond, paying the considerable sum of £28.10s to board HMT Empire Windrush. As five hundred disparate passengers begin the two-week voyage, it becomes clear that their lives will never be the same again.

In this second title in the London-based Crane and Drake mystery series, Cal Drake has left the police force and is now working as a private detective, having teamed up with the motorcycle-riding Dr Rayhana Crane. The chilling discovery of a severed head on the Tube draws Calil Drake back to the case he failed to solve four years ago which left his police career in tatters. Crane and Drake investigate while also searching for Howeida Almanara - a young international student from the Gulf and the missing girlfriend of a Crane family friend.

The Brutish Museums sits at the heart of a heated debate about cultural restitution, repatriation and the decolonisation of museums. Since its first publication, museums across the western world have begun to return their Bronzes to Nigeria, heralding a new era in the way we understand the collections of empire we once took for granted.

During her lifetime Violet Paget, who wrote as Vernon Lee, was referred to as 'the greatest of modern exponents of the supernatural in fiction', and yet today she remains on the periphery of the genre. This collection of her uniquely weird short stories and dark fantasies proves why she was once considered among the best of the genre, and why she deserves to return to those ranks today.

Norwell Roberts, the Met's first Black police officer in 1967, found out he had a new job the same way the rest of the country did—from a Daily Telegraph headline that read 'Met to Have First Coloured Policeman'. From that day forward his face became a symbol—of acceptance, of a diverse police force, of a changing Britain. He was turned into the poster boy for progressive policing—but his day-to-day reality was anything but. Greeted with prejudice, ridicule and rejection, he refused to quit.