Customer Reviews (2)

Accept no substitutes: Ian Carmichael is the ONLY person to read Lord Peter.
This is the unabridged audiobook of Lord Peter Wimsey's introduction, "Whose Body". Whatever you do, do NOT purchase any Lord Peter audiobooks unless they are read by Ian Carmichael. He is the perfect Lord Peter, and he reads all of the Lord Peter novels better than anyone else. It's a lot harder to find "Whose Body" than any of the others, especially if you're looking specifically for Ian Carmichael's version. But after listening to David Case and Roe Kendall, I've always returned to Ian Carmichael, no matter how hard it may be to find it.

The first Lord Peter story, well read.
The reader of this book does beautifully at distinguising the various voices of the characters, making it a joy to listen to.The story is a good puzzle - the first of many excellent Lord Peter mysteries! ... Read more

Product Description
Dante (1265-1321) is one of the greatest of Italian poets, and his "Divine Comedy" widely regarded as the finest of all Christian allegories. It is an epic poem recounting the poet's journey through nine circles of hell. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Insightful & Inspirational
James Brabazon's unprecedented look into the hidden life of Dorothy L. Sayers is an incredible glimpse of a woman who worked hard to keep her public and private lives separate. Written primarily as a response to other biographies, which drew conclusions from the apparent surface details of Sayers' life, Brabazon presents - with the blessing and support of Sayers' son, Anthony - evidence from unpublished manuscripts and other source material to which other authors have lacked access. What emerges is a compelling and well-supported history of one of England's, if not the world's, finest writing minds of the Twentieth Century.

Tracking Sayers' life from her early years at Oxford, to her formative years in rural England, then back to Oxford for University, Brabazon weaves the thread that these influences, good and bad, had on young Miss Sayers. Then the war came, and Brabazon demonstrates how that - and the subsequent loss of eligible bachelors - had a profound effect on the course of Sayers' life, the outcome of which seems to be that Sayers created her ideal man in the form of Lord Peter Wimsey. Sayers did, Brabazon reveals, have at least three great love affairs, two of which ended unsatisfactorily - the second resulting in the birth of her son - the third ending in marriage. Due to help from Sayers' letters, her family and friends, Brabazon is able to chart the course of Sayers' public copy- and novel-writing career and her private family life. This ability for Sayers to keep things separate - and for her biographer to recombine them - continues through her years as a theological writer and playwright, and up to the end of her life.

There are a few problems with the biography, however. Because the book was written as a defense against poorly researched biographies, the author seems to present the unknown side of Sayers at the expense of details that other biographers had written and gotten right. The consequent lack of context can be frustrating when detail is provided without first establishing its background. For instance, a great deal is made of Sayers work in establishing sound doctrinal texts for the Anglican church; however, Brabazon doesn't go into what was going on within the church to prompt Sayers to take such action. Also, Brabazon pays Sayers several compliments on the work she did on her translation of Dante's epic poetry, but fails to actual cite any of it. Finally, and this is a minor nit, the chapters are numbered, but not titled; an adequate index is provided - and the book is written chronologically - but having titled chapters ("Oxford Years," "The Great War," etc.) would make it easier to backtrack to significant moments in Sayers' life.

Despite some minor flaws, this really is an amazing look into Dorothy L. Sayers' life. The portrait that emerges of a woman succeeding on her own terms, while remaining faithful to what she felt was a higher calling, serves to inspire Brabazon's readers to pursue similar ambitions. If all you know of Sayers' work is her Wimsey novels (a deficiency I admit to), you're missing at least half what made her such an amazing writer. For me, this biography revealed not only details of Sayers' life that were unexpected,but also a body of work that I'm eagerly anticipating reading in the months and years to come. ... Read more

Product Description
The Emperor Constantine: A chronicle ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Lived up to Expectations
The book took a long time coming, owing to a change of address that was unknown to me when I placed my order. The seller is by no means responsible for the mixup, and the long delay in no way affects the book's rating.


I foundthe condition of the book to be quite satisfactory.

Ivy Plank ... Read more