The World category has 419 audiobooks on Listento.it, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 2,940 ratings. The most-rated is A Short History of Nearly Everything.
The English Bulldog and French Poodle in Africa
Summary
Napoleon could not have known it, but his campaign was the start of 150 years of imperialism along the Nile River, as Europeans endeavored to explore, control, and colonize the Nile River. This would bring them into all kinds of conflicts, not just with the indigenous natives residing there but also with each other, as each empire sought to get a leg up on the competition. Napoleon’s Egyptian Campaign failed in all of its objectives other than in the acquisition of knowledge. Far from frustrating British ambitions in the Orient, the British triumphed in the minor war that Napoleon triggered, and it was the British who would dominate Egypt for the next 150 years. Even after the British took control of Egypt, knowledge about the Nile remained sparse, most importantly the source of the river, and exploration all over the continent took place among adventurers of various nationalities. Other countries also sought to get a foothold on the continent, to the extent that near the end of the 19th century, Otto von Bismarck, the German chancellor, brought the plenipotentiaries of all major powers of Europe together to deal with Africa's colonization in such a manner as to avoid provocation of war. This event, known as the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, galvanized a phenomenon that came to be known as the Scramble for Africa. The conference established two fundamental rules for European seizure of Africa. The first of these was that no recognition of annexation would be granted without evidence of a practical occupation, and the second, that a practical occupation would be deemed unlawful without a formal appeal for protection made on behalf of a territory by its leader, a plea that must be committed to paper in the form of a legal treaty.
©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors
Without a Trace: 1881-2016
Summary
For many, aviation still brings with it an air of mystery...a century-long magic trick. Though most of us will board an aircraft at some point in our lives, we know little about how they work and the procedures surrounding their operation. It is that mystery that makes these losses, such as the vanishing of Malaysia Airlines flight 370, so terrifying. Without a Trace: 1881-2016 explores the most interesting of these disappearances: mysteries that have baffled investigators for years. Occasionally tragic and frequently amusing, Without a Trace: 1881-2016 is unerringly accurate and informative. Sylvia Wrigley introduces the crews, innocent bystanders, and rescuers in this collection of true stories. Documenting the popular theories from each case, she uses her knowledge and experience as a pilot and an aviation journalist to demystify aviation jargon and narrow down each disappearance to the most likely explanations. This collection spans 150 years and explores the human failings of great aviators, explorers, and celebrities who have pushed the limits of flight and ended up at the heart of a mystery. The stories encompass airships, military jets, and commercial airlines - all of which have vanished without a trace.
©2019 Sylvia Wrigley (P)2019 Sylvia Wrigley
C'era una volta la DDR
Summary
Fonti ufficiose affermano che nella Germania dell'Est gli informatori al servizio della Stasi, la potente polizia segreta, fossero una persona ogni sei abitanti e nel dopo-1989, all'apertura degli archivi, con grande sorpresa si è scoperto quante famiglie allevassero al proprio interno informatori incaricati di riferire allo stato i pensieri e le aspirazioni dei propri familiari. In un libro scritto con una suggestiva tonalità narrativa, Anna Funder ci riconduce in quell'esperienza, ascoltando sia ex funzionari governativi e informatori, sia persone che hanno avuto la vita spezzata da una repressione immotivata. >> Questo audiobook in edizione integrale vi è offerto in esclusiva per Audible ed è disponibile solamente in formato audio digitale.
©2010 Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore S.r.l. Tradotto da Bruno Amato (P)2016 Audible Studios
Elixir
Summary
Elixir spans five thousand years, from the beginnings of civilization to the parched American Sun Belt of today. It is a story of human endeavor: our present-day interaction with this most essential resource has deep roots in the remote past, and every human culture has been shaped by its relationship to water. For the earliest hunter-gatherers, knowing where to find water was a matter of life and death; the "songlines" of Australia's Aborigines define the whole landscape as a map of sacred water sources. In many agricultural societies, from Africa to the rice fields of Bali, a communal "water philosophy" surrounds the precious resource with social traditions that preserve fair access for people upstream and down. The sweeping narrative moves from the Greeks and Romans, whose mighty acqueducts still water modern cities, to China, where emperors marshaled armies of laborers in a centuries-long struggle, still ongoing today, to tame the country's powerful rivers. Medieval Europe and then the Industrial Revolution brought ingenious new solutions to water management---but, for the first time, turned water into a commodity to be bought, sold, and exploited rather than a natural force to be worshiped and husbanded. By the twentieth century, technology allowed the American desert to sparkle with swimming pools and lush golf courses---with little regard for sustainability. With his customary elegance and peerless scholarship, Brian Fagan illustrates that the past teaches us that technologies for solving one or another water problem are not enough. From a practical standpoint, we still live at the mercy of the natural world. To solve the water crises of the future we may need to adapt the water ethos of our ancestors.
©2011 Brian Fagan (P)2011 Tantor
Chasing the Moon
Summary
JFK issued the historic moon landing challenge. These are the stories of the visionaries who helped America complete his vision with the first lunar landing 50 years ago. A Companion Book to the AMERICAN EXPERIENCE® Film on PBS® Going in depth to explore their stories beyond the PBS series, writer/producer Robert Stone - called “one of our most important documentary filmmakers” by Entertainment Weekly - brings these important figures to brilliant life. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy proposed the nation spend $20 billion to land a man on the moon before the end of the decade. Based on eyewitness accounts and newly discovered archival material, Chasing the Moon reveals for the first time the unknown stories of the fascinating individuals whose imaginative work across several decades culminated in America’s momentous achievement. More than a story of engineers and astronauts, the moon landing - now celebrating its 50th anniversary - grew out of the dreams of science fiction writers, filmmakers, military geniuses, and rule-breaking scientists. They include: Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, whose writing inspired some of the key players in the moon race. A scientific paper he wrote in his 20s led to the US beating Russia in one area of space: communications satellites. Wernher von Braun, the former Nazi military genius who oversaw Hitler's rocket weapons program. After working on ballistic missiles for the US Army, he was recruited by NASA to manage the creation of the Saturn V moon rocket. Astronaut Frank Borman, commander of the first mission to circumnavigate the moon, whose powerful testimony before Congress in 1967 decisively saved the US lunar program from being cancelled. Poppy Northcutt, a young mathematician who was the first woman to work in Mission Control. Her media exposure as a unique presence in this all-male world allowed her the freedom to stand up for equal rights for women and minorities. Edward Dwight, an African American astronaut candidate, recruited at the urging of the Kennedy White House to further the administration’s civil rights agenda - but not everyone welcomed his inclusion. Setting these key players in the political, social, and cultural climate of the time, Chasing the Moon focuses on the science and the history but, most important, the extraordinary individuals behind what was undoubtedly the greatest human achievement of the 20th century.
©2019 Robert L. Stone (P)2019 Random House Audio
Pirates and Pickled Heads
Summary
A collection of valiant vessels and storied sea captains from years past, Pirates and Pickled Heads is an eclectic look at some of Scotland’s most unusual maritime stories. Within four sections spanning the personalities, ships, places, and pirates of Scotland, you’ll discover an intriguing nautical history nestled among sweeping sea views and lush coastal landscapes. From tales of warrior lords and privateers to the mystery of the Maggie Smith, and the strange legend of the remote island of Rona, you’ll explore the unique seafaring history of Scotland.
©2019 Helen Susan Swift (P)2019 Helen Susan Swift
Amazing Black History Facts
Summary
Do you like Trivia? Black history? Learning? Then this book has the information you need regarding black history through the years. A few of the stories are well known, others might be new to you.
©2019 Naomi Flowers (P)2019 Naomi Flowers
The Year Without Summer
Summary
1816 was a remarkable year - mostly for the fact that there was no summer. As a result of a volcanic eruption at Mount Tambora in Indonesia, weather patterns were disrupted worldwide for months, allowing for excessive rain, frost, and snowfall through much of the Northeastern US and Europe in the summer of 1816. In the US, the extraordinary weather produced food shortages, religious revivals, and extensive migration from New England to the Midwest. In Europe, the cold and wet summer led to famine, food riots, the transformation of stable communities into wandering beggars, and one of the worst typhus epidemics in history. 1816 was the year Frankenstein was written. It was also the year Turner painted his fiery sunsets. All of these things are linked to global climate change - something we are quite aware of now, but that was utterly mysterious to people in the 19th century, who concocted all sorts of reasons for such an ungenial season. Making use of a wealth of source material and employing a compelling narrative approach featuring peasants and royalty, politicians, writers, and scientists, The Year Without Summer by William K. Klingaman and Nicholas P. Klingaman examines not only the climate change engendered by the volcano, but also its effects on politics, the economy, the arts, and social structures.
©2013 William K. Klingaman and nicholas P. Klingaman (P)2019 Tantor
History of Internet
Summary
The Internet is perhaps one of the most indispensable tools of modern times where people simply cannot imagine a life without it, or even the world without it. It is one of the primary tools of technological evolution. Every era has had its own indispensable tool - for us in these modern times, it is none other than the Internet. Having such humble beginnings in the university campuses in the 1960s, the Internet would soon become a global phenomenon, a concept and a medium on its own. Universities now teach the origins of the Internet and how it has shaped culture over the last 50 years. It is indeed a field of study which involves continuous scrutiny and observation if one needs to understand how this global phenomenon really became global and how it governs almost everything we see around us. In this book, a brief understanding of the origins and evolution of the Internet will be discussed, and also how it has grown to become one of the foremost tools for technological innovation. In short, a brief, interesting history of the Internet, and its evolution.
©2016 Can Akdeniz (P)2016 Can Akdeniz
Romance of the Grail
Summary
The first collection of Joseph Campbell’s writings and lectures on the Arthurian romances of the Middle Ages, a central focus of his celebrated scholarship, edited and introduced by Arthurian scholar Evans Lansing Smith, PhD, the chair of Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Throughout his life, Joseph Campbell was deeply engaged in the study of the Grail Quests and Arthurian legends of the European Middle Ages. In this new volume of the Collected Works of Joseph Campbell, editor Evans Lansing Smith collects Campbell’s writings and lectures on Arthurian legends, including his never-before-published master’s thesis on Arthurian myth, “A Study of the Dolorous Stroke.” Campbell’s writing captures the incredible stories of such figures as Merlin, Gawain, and Guinevere as well as the larger patterns and meanings revealed in these myths. Merlin’s death and Arthur receiving Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake, for example, are not just vibrant stories but also central to the mythologist’s thinking. The Arthurian myths opened the world of comparative mythology to Campbell, turning his attention to the Near and Far Eastern roots of myth. Calling the Arthurian romances the world’s first “secular mythology,” Campbell found metaphors in them for human stages of growth, development, and psychology. The myths exemplify the kind of love Campbell called amor, in which individuals become more fully themselves through connection. Campbell’s infectious delight in his discoveries makes this volume essential for anyone intrigued by the stories we tell - and the stories behind them.
©2017 Publishing Bloom LLC. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Mysteries of Ancient America: Uncovering the Forbidden
Summary
This is a compilation of historical accounts that contradict everything we have been taught about ancient America. The accounts are substantiated by the testimony of the Native Americans who lived in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley regions of North America. American Indians speak of a people who were skilled in arts and engaged in trade whose remains could be found in the burial mounds. These legends are validated by the hundreds of miles of canals extending into the Mississippi River and the extensive copper and lead mines. Early settlers in the Ohio Valley described ancient cities with well-defined evidence of streets laid out at regular intervals and intersected at right angles with other streets. Stone macadamized roads were also evidence of an industrious people engaged in commerce. New information from the British Isles places the Celtic peoples on the Island earlier than previously believed. The Celtic pagan religion is superimposed on ancient sites in the Ohio Valley with indistinguishable characteristics. Ancient ceremonial sites in the Ohio Valley are re-examined under the looking glass of the Celtic Gods and Goddesses. The ancient mound builders practiced a cult of the dead and buried their deceased in burial mounds to act as portals to connect the living with the dead. These portals remain open today and are the gateways for much of the paranormal activity found in the Great Lakes region. While not the focus of the stories presented, many of the skeletons discovered at the ancient sites were of gigantic size. The connection to the paranormal is elaborated in the Book of Enoch, “And now the Giants, who have been begotten from body and flesh, will be called evil spirits on earth, and their dwelling-places will be upon the earth.” New documentation is presented that solves the mystery of who were the Hopewell Mound Builders. The Dakota Sioux legends place them in the Ohio Valley at the time when the great geometric earthworks were being constructed. They were called “The Snake People” by the Algonquins. Identical serpent effigies are found in the historic Dakota lands that overlap the Hopewell interaction sphere. Other Indians tribes concur in their legends that this was true along with age-old place names that corroborate the Dakota Sioux as the builders of the effigy mounds in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio, and Indiana.
©2017 Fritz Zimmerman (P)2017 Fritz Zimmerman
Histories of the Unexpected
Summary
Did you know that the history of the beard is connected to the Crimean War; that the history of paperclips is all about the Stasi; and that the history of bubbles is all about the French Revolution? And who knew that Heinrich Himmler, Tutankhamun and the history of needlework are linked to napalm and Victorian orphans? In Histories of the Unexpected, Sam Willis and James Daybell lead us on a journey of discovery that tackles some of the greatest historical themes but via entirely unexpected subjects. By taking this revolutionary approach, they not only present a new way of thinking about the past but also reveal the everyday world around us as never before.
©2018 Sam Willis & James Daybell (P)2019 Isis Publishing Ltd
Ambassadors from Earth: Pioneering Explorations with Unmanned Spacecraft
Summary
Ambassadors from Earth relates the story of the first unmanned space probes and planetary explorers - from the Sputnik and Explorer satellites launched in the late 1950's to the thrilling interstellar Voyager missions of the '70's - that yielded some of the most celebrated successes and spectacular failures of the space age. Keep in mind that our first mad scrambles to reach orbit, the moon, and the planets were littered with enough histrionics and cliffhanging turmoil to rival the most far-out sci-fi film. Utilizing original interviews with key players, journal excerpts, and primary source documents, Jay Gallentine delivers a quirky and unforgettable look at the lives and legacy of the Americans and Soviets who conceived, built, and guided those unmanned missions to the planets and beyond. Of special note is his in-depth interview with James Van Allen, the discoverer of the rings of planetary radiation that now bear his name. Ambassadors from Earth is an engaging bumper-car ride through a fog of head-banging uncertainty, bleeding-edge technology, personality clashes, organizational frustrations, brutal schedules, and the occasional bright spot. Confessed one participant, “We were making it up as we went along”. The book is published by University of Nebraska Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.
©2009 Jay Gallentine (P)2020 Redwood Audiobooks
The Etruscans
Summary
If you want to discover the captivating history of the Etruscans, then pay attention... The importance of the Etruscans can be traced back to Rome. The Roman Republic, and later the Roman Empire, was an unusual conqueror because it would absorb and assimilate elements of the cultures it dominated. A standing practice was to allow the defeated to continue practicing their culture and religion so long as they paid their taxes on time. Such a procedure was part of why Christianity would seep into the Roman Empire around the 1st century CE, for example. For the Etruscans, this meant they influenced aspects of Roman civilization, one of the most powerful cultures in the history of the Western world. Through the Etruscans, the Romans developed monarchy, walls, drainage systems, and the powerful forum. In The Etruscans: A Captivating Guide to the Etruscan Civilization of Ancient Italy That Preceded the Roman Republic, you will discover topics such as: Politics, government, and social structure How an individual lived The origin of the Etruscans The Etruscan orientation, c. 600-400 BCE The Roman conquest, c. 400-20 BCE Mythology and religion Art and music The Etruscan language and writing Architecture Surviving text and literature And much, much more! So if you want to learn more about the Etruscans, scroll up and click the "Buy Now" button!
©2019 Captivating History (P)2020 Captivating History
The History of Peru
Summary
Uncover the fascinating history of Peru, one of South America’s most beautiful countries. Overlapping with the Amazon and the Andes, Peru is a rich and incredible country with a long history. Now, this audiobook examines Peru’s story, covering the early Inca Empire, one of the most advanced pre-American societies, to colonization and Peru’s journey to its place in the modern world. With reference to the pre- and post-Inca Empire, as well as the first arrival of the Spanish and the formation of the Republic of Peru, this detailed guide explores their history and the many events which shaped them. Including their resources, political leaders, and many struggles, this book is a must-listen for anyone interested in world history. Buy now to discover Peru’s incredible story today!
©2019 David Robbins (P)2019 David Robbins
The Vikings
Summary
At the height of their power in the ninth and tenth centuries, the Vikings seemed invincible - conquering well-armed warriors whose ships were the ultimate in seafaring technology. From island bases near the deltas of major rivers, they used the waterways to scour the countryside, looting and burning towns, plundering merchant shipments, and stripping churches and monasteries of their gold, silver, and jeweled treasures. The Norsemen eventually penetrated all of England and Scotland, founded cities in Ireland, gained a powerful province in France, controlled Frisia and the modern Netherlands, and raided lands around Spain, passing into the Mediterranean to attack Italy and North Africa. They established the first Russian kingdom, challenged Constantinople, and provided a personal guard for the Byzantine emperor. They settled Iceland, where they developed Europe's first republic; founded two colonies on Greenland; and explored parts of North America five centuries before Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas. Then, like the abrupt end of a summer thunderstorm, their adventures ceased.
©2015 American Heritage (P)2017 HighBridge, a Division of Recorded Books
The Promise of the Grand Canyon
Summary
“A convincing case for Powell’s legacy as a pioneering conservationist.” (The Wall Street Journal) "A bold study of an eco-visionary at a watershed moment in US history." (Nature) A timely, thrilling account of the explorer who dared to lead the first successful expedition down the Colorado through the Grand Canyon - and waged a bitterly contested campaign for sustainability in the West. John Wesley Powell’s first descent of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in 1869 counts among the most dramatic chapters in American exploration history. When the Canyon spit out the surviving members of the expedition - starving, battered, and nearly naked - they had accomplished what others thought impossible and finished the exploration of continental America that Lewis and Clark had begun almost 70 years before. With The Promise of the Grand Canyon, John F. Ross tells how that perilous expedition launched the one-armed Civil War hero on the path to becoming the nation’s foremost proponent of environmental sustainability and a powerful, if controversial, visionary for the development of the American West. So much of what he preached - most broadly about land and water stewardship - remains prophetically to the point today.
©2018 John F. Ross (P)2018 Penguin Audio
History's Greatest Speeches, Volume II
Summary
This is a SoundCraft Audiobooks production featuring digitally enhanced performances of some of history's greatest speeches - all presented as they might have originally been heard. The immersive audio experience presented here - complete with sound effects, music, and atmospherics - allows the listener to feel as if they were in attendance when these speeches were first delivered. The orations are performed by a select group of amazing actors who uniquely capture the essence, power, and complexity of these magnificent addresses, universally acknowledged as some of the greatest speeches in world history. Volume II features such disparate historical characters as Alexander the Great, the Prophet Muhammad, Abraham Lincoln, and Susan B. Anthony, among others. This collection is part one of a series. Search for "History's Greatest Speeches" to discover more from SoundCraft and Fort Raphael Publishing.
©2020 Fort Raphael Publishing Company (P)2020 SoundCraft Audiobooks
Clio's Battles
Summary
To write history is to consider how to explicate the past, to weigh the myriad possible approaches to the past, and to come to terms with how the past can be and has been used. In this book, prize-winning historian, Jeremy Black, considers both popular and academic approaches to the past. His focus is on the interaction between the presentation of the past and current circumstances, on how history is used to validate one view of the present or to discredit another, and on readings of the past that unite and those that divide. Black opens with an account that underscores the differences and developments in traditions of writing history from the ancient world to the present. Subsequent chapters take up more recent decades, notably the post-Cold War period, discussing how different perspectives can fuel discussions of the past by individuals interested in shaping public opinion or public perceptions of the past. Black then turns to the possible future uses of the then past as a way to gain perspective on how we use the past today. Clio's Battles is an ambitious account of the engagement with the past across world history and of the clash over the content and interpretation of history and its implications for the present and future. The book is published by Indiana University Press.
©2015 Jeremy Black (P)2016 Redwood Audiobooks
Queen of the Lakes (Great Lakes Books Series)
Summary
This book is an account of ships that have borne the name Queen of the Lakes, an honorary title indicating that, at the time of its launching, a ship is the longest on the Great Lakes. In one of the most comprehensive books ever written on the maritime history of the lakes, Mark Thompson presents a vignette of each of the dozens of ships that have held the title, chronicling the dates the ship sailed, its dimensions, the derivation of its name, its role in the economic development of the region, and its sailing history. Through the stories of the individual ships, Thompson also describes the growth of ship design on the Great Lakes and the changing nature of the shipping industry on the lakes. The launching of the fist ship on Lake Ontario in 1678 - the diminutive Frontenac, a small, two-masted vessel of only about 10 tons and no more than 40 or 45 feet long - set in motion an evolutionary process that has continued for more than 300 years. That ship is the direct ancestor of all the ships that ever have operated on the Great Lakes, from the Str. Onoko, launched in February 1882 and the first ship to bear the name Queen of the Lakes, to the Str. W. D. Rees, which held its title only for a few weeks, to the Tregurtha, the longest ship on the lakes in 1981. Although the ships on the Great Lakes may be surpassed in size and efficiency by many of the modern ocean freighters, Thompson notes that the ships now sailing on the great freshwater seas of North America have achieved a level of operating mastery that is unrivaled anywhere in the world, considering the inherent limitations of the Great Lakes system. This audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.
©1994 Wayne State University Press (P)2018 Redwood Audiobooks