Showing results by narrator "Kerry Hutchinson" in All Categories

The Language Puzzle explains how the invention of words at 1.6 million years ago began the evolution of human language from the ape-like calls of our earliest ancestors to our capabilities of today, with over 6000 languages in the world and each of us knowing over 50,000 words. Drawing on the latest discoveries in archaeology, linguistics, psychology, and genetics, Steven Mithen reconstructs the steps by which language evolved; he explains how it transformed the nature of thought and culture, and how we talked our way out of the Stone Age into the world of farming and into today's Digital Age.

In The Language Puzzle, renowned archaeologist Steven Mithen puts forward a groundbreaking new account of the origins of language. Scientists have gained new insights into the first humans of 2.8 million years ago, and how numerous species flourished but only one, Homo sapiens, survives today. Drawing from this work and synthesizing research across archaeology, psychology, linguistics, genetics, and more, Mithen details a step-by-step explanation of how our human ancestors transitioned from apelike calls to words, and from words to language as we use it today.

In May 1982, Captain Roger Field, The Blues and Royals, attached to HQ 5th Infantry Brigade, sailed on the Queen Elizabeth 2 as part of the second wave to liberate the Falkland Islands. Surprised by what he saw at Brigade HQ, he started writing a diary.

How does a person organize a good life? The ancient Greeks divided time into five types: labour, work, leisure, play and aergia (contemplation). But labour was separated from work, as painful, onerous work undertaken for survival, whereas work could include caring for family members, study, or political activities. But now our jobs are supposed to provide all meaning in life and our time outside of work is thought of as simply 'time off'.

For Lieutenant Reim of the Stasi, life in East Berlin is a satisfying blend of days behind a desk and nights in front of a bottle. But, when a senior officer has a messy affair, it falls to Reim to do the clearing up. It should be a straightforward job; lean on a few people to get them to shut up, intimidate neighbors, bribe officials, and appeal to the socialist conscience of party members. But, when Reim starts his interrogations, he realizes his boss is hiding more than just a lover.

Afghanistan 2021. The Taliban takeover. Surrounded and outnumbered by their Taliban attackers, a small group of Afghan special forces fights their way out of their base and races toward Kabul and the last of the flights leaving the country. A team of seasoned SAS soldiers is deployed to Kabul to assist in extracting intelligence assets for the MI6 Station there. But as the Taliban tighten their deadly noose around the city, the simple locate and recovery task soon becomes a lot more complicated.

Samantha Holloway, a highly trained and effective Intelligence Corps and Special Forces captain, suffers a serious setback when an agent handling operation in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, goes drastically wrong, with life- and career-changing implications for Sam. People died, and Sam paid. She, therefore, finds herself a team leader on a Circuit mission. An American hostage has been snatched by ISIS, and she must now lead her team of military contractors in a daring rescue attempt that will push her abilities to the limit.

It’s London 2019, and the Islamic State has crumbled, and a team of British born jihadists are on their way back home with revenge and mass murder in mind. When a British agent within the Daesh reveals a suicide bomb plot, Samantha Holloway, an ex-British army intelligence corps operator, and her team of former Special Forces soldiers are contracted by the security services to help.