Showing results by author "Mortimer" in All Categories

With half a million copies in print, How to Read a Book is the best and most successful guide to reading comprehension for the general reader, completely rewritten and updated with new material. A CNN Book of the Week: “Explains not just why we should read books, but how we should read them...

Benedict Cumberbatch plays the young, feisty, devastatingly acute Horace Rumpole in this collection of cracking cases, also starring Timothy West as the older Rumpole.

We tend to think of the Middle Ages as a dark, backward, and unchanging time characterized by violence, ignorance, and superstition. By contrast, we believe progress arose from science and technological innovation, and that inventions of recent centuries created the modern world. We couldn't be more wrong.

Imagine you could travel back to the 14th century. What would you see? What would you smell? More to the point, where are you going to stay? And what are you going to eat? Ian Mortimer shows us that the past is not just something to be studied; it is also something to be lived. He sets out to explain what life was like in the most immediate way, through taking you to the Middle Ages. The result is the most astonishing social history book you are ever likely to read: evolutionary in its concept, informative and entertaining in its detail.

The irrepressible, audacious defence barrister Horace Rumpole continues to juggle the vagaries of the law, the ambiguities of crime, and the contradictions of the human heart. The much loved stories were adapted from his scripts for the hugely popular TV series of the same name.

“Almost all of the philosophical truths that I have come to know and understand I have learned from Aristotle,” says Mortimer J. Adler. This easy-to-listen-to exposition of Aristotle’s thoughts about nature, human actions, and the conduct of life confirms convictions that most of us hold, though we may not be fully aware of them. This is because Aristotle’s philosophical insights are grounded in the common experience we all possess and because they illuminate the common sense we all rely on.

Mortimer Adler devoted a lifetime to studying the great ideas of Western culture and explaining even the most difficult concepts to the average citizen, earning Time magazine’s praise as a "philosopher for everyman". In We Hold These Truths, Dr. Adler caps his life’s work by illuminating the ideas and ideals that have made the United States of America a truly unique nation in the annals of history.

In this collection of six witty short stories, the courageous and corpulent barrister, Horace Rumpole, takes on both animal and human rights. And for the first time, Rumpole’s formidable wife, Hilda—better known as She Who Must Be Obeyed—tells a story of her own.

After a fight with his wife, Rumpole stays with Erskine-Browns and finds that Portia is prosecuting one of his clients.

The irrepressible, audacious defence barrister Horace Rumpole whose court scenes are proverbial, and whose home is ruled by Mrs Rumpole, is back in these short stories by John Mortimer. The much loved stories were adapted from his scripts for the hugely popular TV series of the same name.

Rumpole again defends a member of the Timson clan on a charge of possession of stolen goods - namely, he is caught with a garage full of expensive wine. Rumpole is concerned that Timson's explanation that he purchased the wine from some unknown individual he met in a pub will not go down well with Mr. Justice Graves, who has heard these stories many times before.

Creator of the mysteries starring the beloved English barrister, Horace Rumpole, John Mortimer paints a spirited portrait of his own colorful life in his quirky autobiography, Clinging to the Wreckage. With wit and style, he takes you from his austere childhood in a 1930s British boarding school to his successful dual career in law and writing during the 1980s. Raised on his barrister father’s sordid tales of divorce cases, young John Mortimer grew up to view the world with an acute sense for the absurd.

In this collection of Rumpole stories the comic, courageous, and corpulent 'great defender of muddled and sinful humanity' is joined by a winning cast of villains and victims in tales whose wry humour and sparkling wit deftly send up the legal system. In Rumpole and the Angel of Death our hero achieves resounding triumphs over the forces of prejudice and mean-mindedness. Rumpole and the Way through the Woods involves Rumpole in the world of hunters and the hunted, animal rights and human wrongs.

Rumpole isn't particularly fond of Christmas; he finds it has a horrible habit of dragging on as he and She Who Must Be Obeyed go through the usual rituals in Froxbury Mansions. After the exchange of presents (lavender water for her, a tie for him) they settle down to a supermarket turkey with all the trimmings, followed by a glass of port. The only excitement comes in deciding whether to stand for the national anthem after the Queen's Speech.

When Simeon Simcox, a socialist clergyman, leaves his entire fortune not to his family but to the ruthless, social-climbing Tory MP Leslie Titmuss, the Rector's two sons react in very different ways. Henry, novelist and former 'angry young man' turned grumpy old reactionary, decides to fight the will and prove their father was insane. Younger brother Fred, a mild-mannered country doctor, takes a different approach, quietly digging in Simeon's past, only to uncover an entirely unexpected explanation for the legacy.

The number one bestseller and Sunday Times Humour Book of the Year by national treasure Bob Mortimer. ‘The most life-affirming, joyful read of the year’ - Sunday Times ‘Winningly heartfelt’ – The Guardian ‘A triumph’ – Daily Mail Bob Mortimer’s life was trundling along happily...

Rumpole unenthusiastically accompanies Hilda and her cousin to a very fashionable restaurant. Rumpole hates the ostentatious ambiance and pretentious food with its scant portions. He requests steak and kidney pudding. Jean Pierre O'Higgins, the owner, is insulted that Rumpole would expect him to prepare such low-class dishes. Suddenly, pandemonium strikes when a live mouse jumps out from the serving dish at another table. Unfortunately, the diners are Erskine-Brown with an attractive colleague that he's romancing.

The NFL icon who first brought show business to sports shares his life lessons on fame, fatherhood, and football. Three days before the 1969 Super Bowl, Joe Namath promised the nation that he would lead the New York Jets to an 18-point underdog victory against the seemingly invincible Baltimore...