Showing results by narrator "Jennifer Dixon" in All Categories

Zoologist Jo Wimpenny turns a critical eye to Aesop's fables to discover whether there is any scientific truth to their portrayal of the animal kingdom. She brings the tales into the twenty-first century, introducing the latest findings on the most fascinating branches of ethological research—the study of why animals do the things they do. In each chapter she interrogates a classic fable and a different topic—future planning, tool use, self-recognition, cooperation and deception—concluding with a verdict on the veracity of each fable's portrayal from a scientific perspective.

This momentous biography tells the story of the Huxleys: the Victorian natural historian T. H. Huxley ("Darwin's Bulldog") and his grandson, the scientist, conservationist, and zoologist Julian Huxley.

Child abuse casts a long shadow over the history of childhood. Across the centuries there are numerous accounts of children being beaten, neglected, sexually assaulted, or even killed by those closest to them. This book explores this darker side of childhood history, looking at what constituted cruelty towards children in the past and at the social responses towards it. Focusing primarily on England, it is a history of violence against children in their own homes, covering a large timeframe which extends from medieval times to the present.

Immerse yourself in the wit and wisdom of Alice von Hildebrand with this new collection of her classic essays, published shortly after her death in 2022. Beloved for her classic books such as The Privilege of Being a Woman, The Soul of a Lion, and By Love Refined, Alice von Hildebrand was perhaps even better known during her lifetime for her innumerable television and radio appearances. Her in-person brilliance lends itself most favorably to the essay format, where her sharp cultural critiques and reverence for timeless truths are conveyed with intimate care and sparkling clarity.

Mr. Jeremy Fisher goes fishing and encounters such dangers! Oh dear, will he ever go fishing again?

A Farmyard Tale-What a funny sight to see a brood of ducklings with a hen! The farmer will not allow Jemima Puddleduck to hatch her own eggs.What does she do???

Tess of the d'Urbervilles is the 19th century novel lately thought to be one of the inspirations of E .L.James' Fifty Shades of Grey. It depicts the life of an impressionable, naive, somewhat educated young woman who yearns to be free to live her own life, but finds herself constricted by the bonds of the sexual, religious and socially hypocritical customs that have surrounded her from birth.

Beaten and left for dead in the English countryside, clergyman and reformer Tom Cross is rescued and nursed back to health by Miranda and Simon Thorne, reclusive siblings who seem to have as many secrets as he does. Tom has spent years helping the downtrodden in London while lying to everyone he meets, but now he's forced to slow down and confront his unexamined life.

Alice George is a headstrong young British woman who finds herself living among the Tuareg, a tribe of nomadic warriors. While the outside world faces the catastrophe of World War I, the Tuareg continue to crisscross the Sahara as a matrilineal society in which the men are veiled, and the women hold property—a world in which anything can happen. It is a world well suited to eighteen-year-old Alice, who discovers a life she could never live in corseted England. In 1917, Alice returns home to a world completely alien to the one she left in the Sahara.

The Baby Boomers studied here, living in the UK and Canada, were the last generation to have been routinely baptized and taken regularly to mainstream, Anglican churches. So, what went wrong—or, perhaps, right? This study, based on in-depth interviews, is the first to offer a sociological account of the sudden transition from religious parents to non-religious children and grandchildren, focusing exclusively on this generation of ex-Anglican Boomers.

Suzanne Morse, a midwife in Watertown, moves to a remote frontier town with her husband and two children in 1666. A hands-on, practical woman who needs people, she bonds with the first two women she meets. The minister's new wife, Abigail Willard, wants to learn Suzanne's trade. At the same time, Dancing Light, a medicine woman across the river, calls her to heal her sister, dying of a white man's disease, with white medicine. In no time, Suzanne becomes known as an effective healer among Groton settlers. However, her friendship with Dancing Light arouses the town's approbation.

Common Sense by Thomas Paine (1737-1809), originally published anonymously (by "an Englishman") in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776. This revised edition was published on February 14, 1776. It had a great influence at the time, particularly with regard to the colonies becoming completely independent of Great Britain as well as bringing about the issuance of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress in July 1776.

Supernatural short story written especially for the young Anne (Nannie) Wynne. It was originally published as "The Ghost's Touch" in The Irish Fireside, 30 September-14 October 1885; Harper's Weekly, 23 October 1885; and in The Ghost's Touch and Other Stories (with "My Lady's Money" and "Percy and the Prophet", Harper's Handy Series, no. 30, 1885).

Considered the pioneer of modern inspirational thought and motivation, James Allen (1864 - 1912) published As a Man Thinketh in 1903. This is a powerful little self-help treatise, which essentially discusses how, by adjusting the way we think in response to external circumstances, we can shape our lives, personally, professionally, physically, and psychologically, towards the ultimate goal of inner peace and serenity.

Queen Elizabeth II's address in Philadelphia on July 6th, 1976, where she presented a new Liberty Bell inscribed with "Let Freedom Ring" in honor of the bicentennial of the USA.

Lyndon Orr published his story of Aaron Burr in 1912 within his Famous Affinities of History. Here he briefly and simply compares Burr's life with Alexander Hamilton's and attempts to dispel some of the negative opinions that surrounded him as the "villain" who shot and killed one of the Founding Fathers of the USA in a duel. Orr also describes Burr's strong relationships and the mysteries surrounding the women in his life, particularly his daughter.

Five excellent short stories all with an intriguing "twist" in their tails!

Emma is the delightful classic about a financially independent young woman with a "happy disposition" who does not consider marriage for herself. She does, however, find amusement in playing matchmaker with the lives of others in her own social class. Her meddling into the love lives of her young friends has surprising results.

One of the earliest creative approaches to feminist literature, this sinister horror story tells of a woman's mental anguish and unconscious struggle with conformity in a society that generally viewed women as weak and hysterical creatures unable to think for themselves. The author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935), a prominent American feminist, paved the way for other authors like Sylvia Plath and Alice Walker. She suffered mental illness during her life and ultimately committed suicide.

Poor Ginger and Pickles; they trust their customers too much! What will happen to them?