John Telfer

April 1814. Napoleon is deposed and exiled after defeat by a resurgent allied collation.

Captain Sir Thomas Kydd is one of the lucky officers not to be put on half pay. Instead, he is offered an admiral's flag, but the station is West Africa and with it comes anti-slavery operations set in fever-ridden swamps. Despite the obvious dangers and hardships, Kydd readies for sea with his beloved Thunderer as his flagship.

But before he can set sail comes the electrifying news - the tyrant has escaped from Elba and is marching on Paris, the citizens flocking to join him.

With frantic haste Admiral Sir Thomas Kydd is appointed temporary commander-in-chief to sail with all the men-o'-war that can be scraped together to stand athwart the French…

Berlin, 1940, is a city filled with fear. At 55 Jablonski Strasse, the various occupants try to live under Nazi rule in their different ways: nervous Frau Rosenthal; bullying Hitler loyalists the Persickes; retired Judge Fromm, and the unassuming working-class couple Otto and Anna Quangel.

London, 1786: John Holdsworth has nothing to lose. His wife and son are dead. His business is in ruins. Known to many for his sceptical views about ghosts, John is approached by a wealthy widow and offered a reward to cure her son of a terrible delusion.

Hugo Vickers has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the royal family, and has had a fascination with the story of the Duchess of Windsor since he was a young man. There have been a number of books about the duchess, but this book brings a new perspective on the story by focusing on the later years of exile.

When Rodrigo Borgia buys his way into the papacy, he is defined not just by his wealth or his love for his illegitimate children, but by his blood: he is a Spanish Pope in a city run by Italians. If the Borgias are to triumph, this charismatic politician with an appetite for life, women and power must use papacy and family to succeed.

The name Borgia is synonymous with the corruption, nepotism and greed that were rife in Renaissance Italy. Hibbert removes the layers of myth around the Borgia family and creates a portrait alive with his superb sense of character and place.

Following Tony Fitzjohn's journey from London bad boy to African wildlife warrior, the heart of the story is a series of love affairs with the world's most beautiful and endangered creatures.

Built as a temporary refuge in case of air raid attacks, Churchill's secret bunker was under the heart of central London and it became a second home to civil servants, military personnel and Churchill himself. This book includes first-hand accounts of people who lived there, revealing what life was like for them in the underground shelter.

This book tells the story of the conquest of South America and the subjugation of the Native Americans by Spanish explorers.

Harry Mount and John Davie unlock the wisdom of the past in this light-hearted and fascinating book, revealing how ancient Latin can help us to live better in the present.

On 6 June 1944, HMS Belfast supported troops in action on the beaches of Normandy in the campaign to liberate Europe from Nazi Germany.

This audiobook recounts this extraordinary story, focusing on the dramatic events of 6 June but setting the context of the ship's history in the Arctic Convoy Service and Battle of North Cape. It describes the build-up to D-Day as seen and experienced by Belfast's people, and explains her role in the longer Battle for Normandy.  Using first-hand accounts from IWM's rich collection of oral testimonies, diaries, and memoirs, HMS Belfast at D-Day brings to life her leading role in the largest invasion operation in history.

1796. John Pearce is stuck with a difficult mission, a crew of Quota Men forced to enlist in the Royal Navy, four new midshipmen as well as Samuel Oliphant, companion-cum-spy, whom he finds a constant irritant. In his favour he commands HMS Hazard, a speedy warship, a pair of competent officers and, of course, his trusty friends the Pelicans.

Their mission is to head for the Mediterranean Fleet and warn Admiral Sir John Jervis of impending danger he will face, fighting a combined French/Spanish fleet. But there is a serious distraction, the imminent arrival of a Spanish vessel from South America carrying silver, for which the Spaniards are waiting before declaring war.

Can John Pearce resist the lure of such a valuable capture and risk his ship in a dangerous battle to gain it, or will his duty come first?  Book 16 of series.

Brought up in a vicarage, Freddy Spencer Chapman acquired a love of nature and became 'fascinated by danger' during childhood. 30 years later, as an SOE-trained guerrilla soldier, the orphan boy would prove to be one of the British army's deadliest agents.

On the 9th of July 1864, Thomas Briggs walked through Fenchurch Station and entered carriage 69 on the 9.45 Hackney-bound train. Little did he know that he was about to travel into history. Kate Colquhoun unravels the mysteries of one of the most gripping murder investigations of the age.

When the San Angelo drifts into port in the Thames Estuary, telephones begin to ring across the capital and an intricate series of events is set in motion. Beset by dreadful storms in the Bay of Biscay, the ship, along with the 'mixed cargo' it carries, is late. Unaware of the machinations of avaricious importers, wayward captains and unscrupulous traders, Harry Reed and June Harvey are thrust together by a riverside accident, before being swept into the current of a dark plot developing on the dockside.

A moody classic set around London's historic docks published in 1938, Josephine Bell's unique and atmospheric writing shines in a mystery weaving together blackmail, bootleg lingerie and, of course, murder.

Part of the British Library Crime Classics series.

Set in mythical India. Every month at the full moon the Helati, slaves, are sent out to face the demon host, the lost Souls. When the demons get a new master, Darkwing, the dangers and the horrors increase. A young girl holds the key to ending the nightmare, but will she ever understand the secret of the Black Tower?

The Helat have broken the power of the demon lord and challenged the rule of their masters, the Sol-Ket. The Darkwing is merely biding his time, and the Sol-Ket will fight to their last breath to keep control of their golden cities.

John Pearce discovers that Madrid plans to desert the British-led coalition and join the enemy. In company with Lord Langholm, he has taken a Spanish treasure ship but is forced into a deep bay overlooked by Spaniards who have a cannon aimed at the entrance. Pearce must take the lead and find a way to get Langholm's frigate and the damaged Santa Leocadia through the bottleneck.

His orders take him via Gibraltar, then to Admiral Jervis to warn of Spanish duplicity. Jervis sends him to Bastia in Corsica, where the Viceroy is seeking to hold the island for Britannia in the face of Napoleon's successes in Italy. At night he must fight the Francophile Corsicans, who are arming themselves for an insurrection.

Will he succeed, or will John Pearce, HMS Hazard, and the Pelicans pay the ultimate price of failure?  Book 17 of series.

No other group of animals has had such a complex and lengthy relationship with humankind as birds. They have been kept in cages as pets, taught to speak and displayed as trophies. More practically, they have been used to tell the time, predict the weather, foretell marriages, provide unlikely cures for ailments, convey messages and warn of poisonous gases.

When There Were Birds is a social history of Britain that charts the complex connections between people and birds, set against a background of changes in the landscape and evolving tastes, beliefs and behaviours. It draws together many disparate, forgotten strands to present a story that is an intriguing and unexpectedly significant part of our heritage.

A fascinating behind-closed-doors history of Whitehall and the buildings and figures that shaped British history. Whitehall tells the story of our island race, its empire, its conquests and its decline, encapsulated in one small corner of the capital.

The Hot Topic goes beyond a statement of the problem of global warming to address in detail what can be done to answer the challenge on a personal, social, national and international level.