Showing results by author "Malcolm Archibald" in All Categories

Captain Jack Windrush and the the infamous 113th Foot are assigned to India, just before the Indian Mutiny breaks out. Returning from a five-day march with his company, Jack finds that the sepoys have rebelled and massacred their officers, and most of the other company of the 113th. Gathering together a number of survivors, Jack and his company fight their way out of the cantonment and escape. After Jack learns that the British are besieged by a large rebel army, he takes his men to Allahabad to relieve Cawnpore, and meet with General Havelock.

Tired of war, he has to obey orders when Colonel Hook orders him to hunt down a mysterious female warrior named Jayanti. Soon, Jack's company of the 113th Foot shares in the defeat at Fort Ruhya, where they encounter warriors wearing black turbans...and discover that they are women. With a Pathan prisoner, Jack and the remains of the 113th Foot leave the main army to search for Jayanti.

It's 1854, and the 113th Regiment of Foot is commissioned to Sevastopol during the Crimean War. As the great storm of November 1854 rages, Jack and his friend Ben - a naval officer - are rescuing survivors from a wrecked ship. Jack finds out that one of the survivors is Helen Maxwell, his former sweetheart.

Dundee, Scotland, 1862. After the mill of businessman Matthew Beaumont burns to the ground, Detective Sergeant George Watters is sent to investigate. Soon, George discovers that this is not the first property that has been targeted. When a man is found dead in the hold of a trade ship, George discovers a shocking connection between Beaumont and foreign powers threatening the very country.

Malta, 1854. Jack and his disreputable 113th Foot have to resort to ungentlemanly actions to get themselves posted to Crimea. A lieutenant in British Army's worst regiment, Jack hankers for recognition to regain his true station in life. Facing the formidable Russian army led by the savage Major Kutozov, Jack learns that life in the front line is tough, with only the wayward Helen to alleviate the horrors of war.

This thematic audiobook introduces the history of the Firth of Forth, the gateway to the east of Scotland and Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city. There are whaling ships and fishing boats, great tea clippers with a Forth connection and the Leith built Sirius that was the first ship to cross the Atlantic under steam power alone. The historical background to each of the Forth islands is covered, with tales of shipwreck and holy men, pirates and lighthouses, plague victims, grim prisons and a Jacobite fortress that held out against the Scottish Navy.

The Moray Firth of Scotland has a fine maritime history. This audiobook introduces the nearly forgotten sealing and whaling industry of the 19th century. It includes ships, masters, men, and anecdotes from Fraserburgh and Banff, with a year-by-year breakdown of the industry. A recognized expert on the Scottish whaling industry, Malcolm Archibald has authored a number of books on the subject, including Whalehunters (Mercat Press, 2004), Ancestors in the Arctic (Black and White, 2013), and The Dundee Whaling Fleet (Dundee University Press, 2013).

Dance If Ye Can is an introduction to the huge variety of battles fought in Scotland, or fought by the Scots in the nearly 900 years when they were an independent nation. The first part of the audiobook serves as an introduction to Scottish history, while the second section portrays the Scottish soldier throughout history. Part three gives an alphabetical guide and brief notes of the many hundred battles, skirmishes, and sieges that pepper the history of Scotland.

Melcorka thought she was an ordinary young woman from the Isles. But when her homeland of Alba is attacked by an invading horde, Melcorka abandons her life of luxury and chooses the path of a warrior. With a ragtag band of companions, she heads south to unite the clans and free the land from the Norsemen's scourge and claim her destiny.

Burmese War, 1852. Unable to join the famous Royal Malverns, Jack Windrush is commissioned into the despised 113th foot. Determined to rise in the ranks and make a name for himself, he is sent with the 113th to join the British expedition. But when they get involved in the attack of Rangoon, Jack realizes that war on the fringes of the empire is not as honorable and glorious as he expected. After a chance meeting with a renegade British soldier, Jack witnesses the true terrors of war, and begins to question the whole framework in which he has grown up.

Returning to the Dundee of 1860 after years in the army, Robert Douglas finds employment with George Gilbride, a whaling-ship owner known as the Wizard. Drugged by sinister gangster John Wylie, Douglas wakens on board the steam-whaler Redgauntlet bound for the Artic, and discovers that his companions believe the ship is haunted and do not expect to return. After an initial clash, Douglas befriends the ship's mate, "Bully Houston", and together thay begin to unravel a year-old mystery.

In Sergeant George Watters' next case, the Dundee policeman finds himself dealing with local susceptibilities and international intrigue.

The successful smuggler John Smith has become a highwayman to safeguard his inland trade. Riding the roads as the Yellowhammer, he makes both friends and enemies as he robs the rich and powerful.