Frederick Davidson

This unique murder mystery is both a penetrating analysis of a decaying social class and a deeply moving personal story of two men: Peter Proctor, recently retired as a senior British cabinet minister, and Timothy Wycliffe, a young aristocrat who was bludgeoned to death more than thirty years ago. Once close friends, their relationship had gradually faded; even Wycliffe's shocking murder caused relatively little impact on his friends and the national...

“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...

When noted English writer W. Somerset Maugham set off for the South Seas to regain his health, his experiences would become the bedrock for the stories represented here. These are among Maugham's best work, as well as some of the best stories ever written about the exotic South Seas. "Mackintosh" is a taut psychological study of two officials on a remote tropic island. "The Fall of Edward Barnard" is a story about what is important in life, a precursor...

Here are six delightful tales featuring everyone's favorite barrister for the defense, Horace Rumpole. Eccentric characters such as his wife, Hilda, otherwise known as "She Who Must Be Obeyed," and his philandering colleague Claude Erskine-Brown are back as Rumpole visits a snooty restaurant where he engages in a battle of wills over his adored mashed spuds, takes the unaccustomed role of prosecutor, and ventures-unwillingly-onto a ship, where he...