Daniel Houle has narrated 62 audiobooks on Listento.it by 9 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.3★ across 17 ratings. The most-rated is Celle qui ne pleurait jamais.
Papa Doc and Baby Doc Duvalier
Summary
“Bullets and machine guns capable of daunting Duvalier do not exist. They cannot touch me.... I am already an immaterial being. No foreigner is going to tell me what to do!” (Papa Doc Duvalier) The island of Hispaniola is the second largest island in the Antilles chain behind Cuba, and host to the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Haiti covering the western third of the island, is a French-speaking territory, while the Dominican Republic, which occupies the other two thirds, is a Spanish-speaking territory. The Dominican Republic, although classified as a developing nation, has never been struck to the same degree by the malaise of poverty, corruption of its neighbor, languishing in the lower 10 percent of nations ahead only of some of the most conspicuous failed states in Africa. Many historians and analysts have posed the question of why, and the answer seems to lie in Haiti’s uniquely tortured history. The improbable Haitian Revolution, and in particular the 1804 massacres, lived on to bedevil the West and the process of emancipation in every corner of the slave-owning world, hobbling the progress of the republic and lending substance to calls for a continuation of slavery. During the American Civil War, as the Union closed in on the Confederacy, the specter of the 1804 massacres was regurgitated time and again to rally Southerners to defend their territory and their policies. Southerners insisted that if the door was opened even slightly to admitting blacks into the population of free America, no white man, woman, or child would be safe. As for Haiti, the potent symbolism of its success in self-emancipation and the establishment of a black republic was not reflected in the forward march of the nation itself. To date, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, and one of the poorest in the world. Numerous government coups have taken place over the years, and insecurity and periodic unrest have been a perpetual blight. Poverty and crime are widespread, and corruption endemic. Besides that, as a weak and impoverished nation, Haiti has been subject to outside interference, both direct and indirect, mainly on the part of the United States, which frequently introduced efforts to destabilize an already unstable political environment, and in the age of the Cold War, to sustain and justify dictatorship in exchange for the nominal loyalty of Haiti in the face of Soviet activities in Cuba. The 30-year regime of Papa and Baby Doc Duvalier, who ruled between 1957 and 1986, was arguably the most repressive in the Western hemisphere. During this period a substantial portion of the Haitian budget was made up of foreign aid, in particular from the United States ($15 million annually), with whom, during the term of President John F. Kennedy, Duvalier had a difficult and often fractious relationship. Millions of dollars of foreign aid was openly appropriated by the Duvalier family, and in the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination (which Duvalier claimed was as a result of a curse placed on the president by him), the government of the United States took a pragmatic view of the Duvalier regime as pro-West in the context of the Cold War. Papa Doc and Baby Doc Duvalier: The Lives and Legacies of Haiti’s Most Notorious Rulers looks at how the father and son duo rose to power, and the results of their tight grip over Haiti.
©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors
Woolly Mammoths
Summary
It was a frosty, wintry September morning in 2012 when 11-year-old Yevgeny “Zhenya” Salinder donned his warmest quilted jacket, a knitted woolen cap, and matching mittens and headed out the door with his faithful, tail-wagging dogs in tow. Like most mornings, the kid ambled about near the Sopkarga polar weather station, an isolated region in the northern Russian Taymyr Peninsula where he resided, but this particular morning, his pace was slowed by a foul, almost eye-watering stench. Intrigued, Salinder and the dogs sniffed out the source of the strange miasma, and in the process, they stumbled upon a defrosted pair of heels from an unknown creature protruding from the cold earth. When young Salinder relayed what he had found to his parents, they alerted the authorities, but initially, nobody had the slightest notion how profound the discovery was. The heels, as it turned out, were attached to the carcass of a 16-year-old woolly mammoth that perished some 30,000 years ago, almost completely intact. The mammoth, initially nicknamed “Zhenya” after its discoverer, was said to be the most significant discovery of a mammoth since 1901, and it is the second-best preserved of its kind that has ever been uncovered. Not only was its skeleton in near-pristine condition, it also bore one of its tusks, a mass of skin, fat, meat, an eye, an ear, and many of its organs. It was this stunning find that allowed scientists to confirm the purpose of the “humps” found on the backs of these creatures, which were extra compartments of insulatory fat. By the time Zhenya made the discovery, people had been quite familiar with the extinct giants for many years, and people across the world have seen models and depictions of them to go along with the fossils. Since Georges Cuvier recognized the specimens as an extinct elephant species near the end of the 18th century, various finds of mammoth fossils, particularly in places where they were well preserved in the cold, have made the woolly mammoth perhaps the most popular extinct animal outside of the dinosaurs. Standing around 10 feet tall and weighing several tons, woolly mammoths seem like the stuff of legend, but ancient cave art indicated that unlike dinosaurs, woolly mammoths were contemporaries of early humans, with the last ones going extinct only about 4,000 years ago. All of that explains why people have long been fascinated by woolly mammoths and have even envisioned bringing them back to life via genetics sometime in the future. Woolly Mammoths: The History and Legacy of the Most Famous Extinct Elephant Species looks at the geological origins of the area and analyzes the fossil finds from the tar.
©2019 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors
The Scotch-Irish: The History and Legacy of the Ethnic Group in America
Summary
"It was no more sin to kill me then to kill a dogg, or any Scotch-Irish dogg." “Scotch-Irish” is an American term that became popular in the latter 1800s, referring to the largely Protestant immigrants to the United States originating in the northern Irish province of Ulster. The majority of Scotch-Irish were people intentionally settled in Ulster as a counter to the native Catholic Irish, who immigrated to Ulster from the lowlands of Scotland and the borderlands between England and Scotland. The Ulster settlers were a solution to depopulation caused by the wars in Ireland, and it was hoped that the Protestant settlers would counterbalance the habitually rebellious Catholic Irish. The regions they came from had a history of violence and poverty. The heritage of violence was thought to have prepared them for withstanding Irish disorder, and poverty made migration to Ulster an attractive proposition. They were deliberately selected by various proprietors, landowners, and King James (1601-1623). The large number of Ulster immigrants to British American colonies in the 1700s were usually simply called “Irish,” but modern historians prefer the term Scots-Irish, on the grounds that “Scotch” refers to whiskey. This is unnecessarily pedantic, not to mention that Scotch-Irish is deeply embedded in the history books and in American tradition. During the colonial era, it is estimated that some 200,000 Scotch-Irish migrated to the mainland colonies. How many may have migrated to Canada (British after 1763) or various Caribbean colonies is not well-known. The colonies, particularly Pennsylvania, attracted the Scotch-Irish for several reasons, the most important of which was the ready availability of farmable land, but also, there was no established church (the official and politically dominant religion in Ireland was the Church of England) that discriminated against dissenters such as the Presbyterians. The colonies were also more stable. In Ireland, wars between Irish and Protestants and Irish rebellions were periodic and sometimes extremely destructive when it came to life and property. Yet another reason was that the colonies had nothing much in the way of social hierarchy — there was no class of aristocrats and no class of gentleman property owners who saw themselves as the social betters over what was predominantly a population of renters. The stereotypes are based on the simplified view that the Scotch-Irish originated in Scotland, migrated to Ulster, and then to Pennsylvania. They are commonly supposed to have all been Presbyterian, but the Scotch-Irish were a quite mixed group. Not only did the British settle Lowland Scots in Ulster but English from the borderlands. There were also Quakers who settled in Ulster because of its relative religious tolerance, and some French Protestants who had fled repression in Catholic France. There was also a scattering of people from elsewhere, including Germans and Flemish Calvinists. The standard view is that the Scotch-Irish moved south from Pennsylvania to settle all of Appalachia and that they were tough Indian fighters. Their animosity to British rule has also been credited with helping provoke the American Revolution, but they also played vital roles in the Confederate armies, and their courage accounted for much of the offensive power of those armies during the Civil War. At the same time, there is a countercurrent that sees the Scotch-Irish in Appalachia as lost in time, a Celtic bubble of poverty, Elizabethan English, quilts, fiddle tunes, and old Irish songs. Obviously, these views create a mishmash of stereotypes, but what’s clear is that Scotch-Irish history in America is amazing enough, in and of itself.
©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors
Weird Rome
Summary
"Rome was a poem pressed into service as a city.” In that short line, Anatole Broyard, a 20th century American writer, compactly captures the timeless and enchanting beauty that resides within the Eternal City of Rome. This tourist destination is often one of the highest ranked on bucket lists, for how could one not want to experience its marvelous ruins, mirror-like rivers, and spectacular stretches of aqueducts, firsthand? As one sips on fine Italian wine on a terrace overlooking the grand remnants of the Colosseum, one can practically hear the roars of the battling gladiators and the raucous applause of the spectators. And as one strolls through the coarse yet quaint cobblestone streets, one can almost hear the galloping horses and screeching wheels of chariots in the distance, and even feel the brush of the breeze as they charge past. It is difficult not to fall in love with a city so effortlessly nostalgic, it verges on utopian. The ambitious and fearless emperors who built the legendary Roman Empire from scratch, the broad-shouldered and bronzed gladiators with their iconic plume helmets and glinting swords, and elaborate parties attended by toga-wearing Romans fueled by alcohol, violence, orgies, and other godless acts all paint a picture of Roman life. Indeed, many people are well-versed with these unique scenes of Roman history, but few are familiar with the equally riveting years preceding the dawn of the Roman Republic, and even less people are acquainted with the fabled Seven Hills sitting east of the Tiber River - the core geographical components of Rome and the very foundations that the Eternal City was built on. Ancient Rome is understandably an object of enduring fascination, and its legacy still survives today, especially in the West, where Roman architecture, law, and philosophy all influence modern societies. But the Romans were also startlingly different - a deeply superstitious society, they believed in all sorts of omens and magic spells, while their leaders were capable of cruelties that would make a modern war criminal blush. Regular Romans performed strange religious practices, and they engaged in even stranger sexual practices. Weird Rome: A Collection of Mysterious Stories, Odd Anecdotes, and Strange Superstitions from the Ancient Romans looks at the more bizarre sides of Roman civilization, helping people understand the true nature of Rome and examining aspects that documentaries and museum exhibitions tend to gloss over. Learn about the weirder parts of Rome like never before.
©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors
The Powder River Expedition of 1865
Summary
The Bozeman Trail ran through the Powder River country, which included the traditional hunting grounds of Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho peoples. Attempts by the natives to prevent encroachment and armed defense of settlers along the trail led to conflicts in short order. Due to the presence of the Sioux in the region, as early as 1864, travelers were advised not to traverse the Bozeman Trail except in very large wagon trains. The US Army also suffered - that year, when a party led by Captain Townshend and several soldiers set out along the Trail with a wagon train, the Sioux attacked his train, killing four soldiers in the assault. In response to Sioux raids along the Bozeman Trail, the United States Army closed the trail in 1865 to mount the Powder River Expedition against the Sioux alliance that kept ravaging settlers and the beleaguered Crows. With the Civil War nearing its end, spare men were hard to come by, but still, the Powder River Expedition was prepared under the leadership of Brigadier General Patrick Connor. Charged with keeping the roads and trails of the plains open, Connor’s expedition was war in all but name. Underequipped, and without enough men, the expedition turned out to be little more than a series of limited skirmishes, fortification construction, and requisitions for more men and materiel. Almost from the start, the expedition faced trouble. The various division commanders had a foggy notion of which parts of the Powder River Country they were to march through, with the varied surveys of the region not helping. The biggest problem, however, was the soldiers’ refusal to march. Occurring at the climax of the Civil War, the expedition’s soldiers expected to be discharged and allowed to return to their homes, not stuck in the middle of nowhere, fighting another battle. Dissuaded from mutiny with the helpful aid of artillery, the various divisions finally got underway in July. The expedition faced vast open country, and that, coupled with lack of supplies, logistics, and communication beyond runners and scouts, quickly took their toll. Men succumbed to scurvy, and the east and middle divisions failed to link up on schedule, thanks largely to the lack of proper surveys of the region and general lack of knowledge of the terrain. This lack of knowledge resulted in supply failures, further exacerbating the expedition’s plight. With the soldiers lacking food in a region sparse of forage for anything except oxen and birds, the natives pounced, attacking the separated divisions. The natives’ attacks were a rude awakening for the soldiers, as among the three divisions only the Native American scouts had knowledge of the area or experience fighting in the West. Expecting nearly nude savages flinging spears and arrows, the natives’ use of rifles and captured army uniforms took them completely by surprise. Despite the lack of supplies and the Native American raids, the middle and east divisions managed to link up in early September, but as the united divisions marched onward to join with General Connor’s division, 225 horses and mules died from heat exhaustion, starvation, or cold, thanks to a recent mountain storm. Both the natives’ view of the expedition and General Connor’s offer an idea of the end result. "The Indians, thinking that the commander had voluntarily retired from their front, again hastened to the road, passing General Connor's retiring column to the east of his line of march, and again commenced their devilish work of pillage, plunder, and massacre." General Connor himself is reported to have stated in regard to the expedition, "You have doubtless noticed the singular termination of the late campaign against the Indians. The truth is, rather harm than good was done, and our troops were, in one sense, driven out of their country by the Indians..."
©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors
The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
Summary
As the Civil War was finally coming to an end in early 1865, reconstructing the divided nation was now top priority for President Abraham Lincoln and Republicans in Congress, and they were already well underway in their work. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution were being discussed, and the 13th had already been passed by the House and sent on its way for ratification from the states. In Lincoln's mind, since the South had never legally seceded, forgiveness was to be his top priority. He wanted to allow states to be readmitted to the Union after only 10 percent of its citizens swore an oath of loyalty to the United States, an idea known as the 10 Percent Plan. However, Congress, now run by the so-called “Radical Republicans”, disagreed, and as early as the summer of 1864, Congress passed the Wade-Davis Bill, which required 50 percent of rebel states to swear an oath, not 10 percent. Lincoln vetoed the bill. Lincoln envisioned a relatively short-lived Reconstruction process in which the former Confederate states would draft constitutions and rejoin the Union, and he thought the country could effectively continue operating much as it had before the war. Lincoln's vision, however, would remain just a dream, because his life, and thus his role in Reconstruction, was cut short just days after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox in April 1865. During the presidential campaign in 1864, the outcome of the Civil War was still very much in doubt, and while the Republicans renominated Lincoln for the presidency, they made an unprecedented move by nominating a Democrat, Andrew Johnson, for vice president. Senator Johnson was notable for being the only senator to remain loyal to the Union even when his state, Tennessee, had seceded. At the time, nominating Johnson seemed to be a mere token of goodwill - little did Republicans know what would happen the following April. Today, Lincoln is almost universally regarded as one of the country’s greatest presidents, while his successor is remembered for being the first president impeached by Congress. Indeed, he came perilously close to losing his office. On the surface, the story is a simple one: Johnson intentionally violated several laws, including the recently passed Tenure of Office Act, which was designed to limit his involvement with Reconstruction. However, Johnson’s impeachment owed a great deal to his temperament, the unique situation Congress found itself in at the end of the Civil War, and the challenges facing the Republican Party now that slavery was abolished. For most of the republic’s history, the executive branch accrued power at the expense of the legislative branch, and impeaching Johnson over his failure to abide by the Tenure of Office Act (itself an encroachment on the president’s right to choose members of his cabinet) was a moment when that dynamic could have been reversed. Similarly, opposition to Johnson - and the ordeal of his trial in the Senate – helped forge the Republican Party into a cohesive political party that dominated the presidency for most of the next seven decades. The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson: The History and Legacy of the First Attempt to Impeach an American President analyzes Johnson’s rocky presidency, his ongoing friction with Republicans, and how he came so close to being removed from office. You will learn about the impeachment of President Johnson like never before.
©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors
The Domestication of Cats
Summary
Mankind's obsession with felines is an enigma in and of itself. Unlike dogs, famously known as man's most excitable, trustworthy, and loyal friend, cats are oftentimes indifferent, guarded, and yet finicky little furry creatures that only yearn for attention and affection when one is neck-deep in work or otherwise preoccupied. And still, people adore them all the same. In a recent poll that surveyed 600 American college students, 60 percent of the participants identified themselves as “dog lovers” whereas only 11 percent pledged their love for cats. The remaining 29 percent regarded themselves as fans of both critters or fans of neither. Be that as it may, there is said to be anywhere between a staggering 88 - 94 million pet cats in the United States alone, which eclipses the roughly 84 - 90 million pet dogs in the country. In the same breath, while more households around the world share a roof with a canine companion, as reflected in the results of this particular survey and most other similar polls, more cat owners have taken it upon themselves to look after more than one pet. This just goes to show that the passion that cat lovers have for their feline friends is evidently comparable with, if not arguably greater than that of dog lovers as a whole. The Domestication of Cats: The History of the Only Domesticated Felidae Species and Their Relationship with Humans examines the origins of this exceptional bond, including scientific and mythical theories, and explores how cats were domesticated.
©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors
Interview Preparation
Summary
Do you want to hone your interview skills and ensure you get through an interview positively? We are all aware that cracking an interview can be a tough ordeal. It requires a certain mental fortitude to keep calm and answer questions truthfully and confidently without seeming anxious. The solution lies in knowing how to prepare for each interview beforehand. Doing this is essential as it will provide you with all the necessary information about the company that can be asked in your interview. But, the question still remains: How do you go about preparing for an important interview? And that is exactly what you’ll learn in Interview Preparation. The audiobook aims to instill in you certain habits that will enable you to not only get through the interview, but also to flourish and be the prime candidate for the job. Through this audiobook, you will learn: How to get inside the mind of an interviewer The 10 most important interview questions and how to answer them Things you can say in order to convincingly answer questions about the job position Interview skills that will get you hired The secret of interview etiquette Common pitfalls And more! Interview Preparation will teach you all about how you can successfully prepare for an interview and form certain habits that can help you make a positive impact on the interviewer. Even if you have never actually gone through an interview or have never prepared for it, you can easily learn how to do so in a very short time. Through this audiobook, you will understand what the interviewer is essentially looking for so you can tap into those skills (or hone them further) and get the job about which you have always dreamed. All it takes is a little practice and understanding of a few key elements of an interview that will be thoroughly explained in Interview Preparation. After listening to this audiobook, giving an interview will seem like a breeze for you. Would you like to know more? Get the audiobook now and prepare like a warrior for the interview that you have always dreaded. The fact is, no matter how qualified you are, the answer you provide to this one question can slim down your chances of getting the company’s employee tag. Scroll up and click the "Buy Now" button on this page!
©2019 Jim Hunting (P)2020 Jim Hunting
The Dead Sea
Summary
If the world had a navel, it would be the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth where one can still stand on dry land. The photographs of this unique lake seem to be taken from a science fiction movie, or a land devastated after a nuclear holocaust. To others, the fluffy shores could remind them of Antarctica although it is in one of the warmest spots on the planet. Its white, creamy masses, scattered along golden beaches, are not ice floes or frozen water, but effervescent salt formations. The famous Jordan River, where the Hebrew people entered the Promised Land and Jesus was baptized, flows into the lake, but the basin is so deeply sunk into the face of the planet that the waters never leave, as if they had fallen into a small black hole where nothing can escape. If the level of the lake does not increase, despite having no drainage to the sea, it is as a result of intense evaporation. The Dead Sea is also an archaeological site loaded with history. Known among the first civilizations in the region as "Sea of Asphalt" and "Salt Sea", innumerable myths and legends lend it an air of mystery, as if it attracted sterility and misfortune while eradicating all life from its waters. It was perhaps the inhospitable feel of the place, the almost total desolation surrounding it, which led the writer of the Pentateuch to imagine that many years ago, a cataclysm sent to annihilate perverted people had taken place there. The Book of Genesis, possibly picking up the memory of a catastrophic event, placed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah near the Dead Sea, and they were left desolate after fire rained from the sky. An Arab explorer from the Middle Ages called it "the gate of hell" due to its desolate landscapes, extreme temperature, and stinking air. Nothing can live in the waters of the Dead Sea aside from some single-celled organisms and certain fungi due to its high salinity - the third part of the blue that fills the basin are minerals. If the waters contain no life, the desert shores, which in some places form fantastic salt statues, reflect this desolation. As a reminder of its scanty hospitality, the largest group of cemeteries in the ancient world, with tens of thousands of graves, are located in the area. The Dead Sea truly lives up to its name. Today the Dead Sea is of interest not only to historians, archaeologists, and geologists, but also for tourists, as it has become one of the preferred destinations in visits to the Middle East. The sight of naked bathers covered in dark mud, like black statues of asphalt floating without sinking on the silent waters may have inspired ancient travelers to say that some sorcerers lived there. However, in recent years, the growing demand for water for the development of Israel and Jordan, which has required more and more extraction from the Jordan River, is jeopardizing the viability of this wonder of nature. In the last 50 years, it is estimated that the lake area decreased to almost half of what it was a century ago. Reviving the Dead Sea is one of the priorities for the nations that share its waters, and to achieve this, pharaonic projects have been resurrected, such as carrying water from other oceans to prevent Lake Asphaltites, which has never been conducive to life, to end up dying itself. The Dead Sea: The History and Legacy of the Most Unique Lake in the World traces the tragedies and stories associated with one of the most fascinating sites on Earth. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Dead Sea like never before.
©2019 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors
Saber-Toothed Tigers
Summary
“Unrelenting angst through every fiber Forever hanging over the precipice of defeat It follows you: a rapacious saber-toothed tiger Implacable stare, neither attacks nor retreats...” (Tom Quigley, Savanna Mind (2016)) It is difficult to ignore the effortless cool of a saber-toothed tiger. The fanged feline was equipped with the savage strength of a lion, the lethal stealth of a puma, the intimidating gait of a black bear, and the strapping, muscular arms of a gorilla. Amazingly, however, those traits did not stand out as much as the long, dagger-like fangs that earned the Smilodon its famous nickname. The saber-toothed tiger, legend has it, was as ferocious as it was fearless, often tackling beasts twice its size. Saber-toothed tigers were arguably the most fabled of all the Ice Age creatures. The fearsome beast has earned itself quite the reputation, and it has been referenced to, appeared in, and inspired unique characters in endless books, films, comics, and other pop culture mediums. For example, Marvel's Victor Creed, otherwise known as “Sabretooth”, is most known as Wolverine's nemesis, and he’s depicted as a hulking, vigorously robust menace in a red and orange-gold jumpsuit with a hunched back, a shock of wild blond hair, tiger-like claws, and frightening fangs. As that indicates, the prehistoric creature is often portrayed as impossibly cunning, unfeeling villains. Even in films geared toward children, such as the first of the Ice Age animations, the saber-toothed tigers, excluding Diego, are depicted as vicious and vindictive, lawless fiends whose sights are set on a Neanderthal toddler. The name and reputation of the ruthless saber-toothed tiger, as enduring as it is chilling, overshadows those of its contemporaries, and the fanged feline remains a household name and one of the foremost symbols of the Ice Age to this very day. So, what is it about the Smilodon that has captured - and continues to capture - the fears, morbid curiosities, hearts, minds, and imaginations of Holocene humans after all this time? And exactly how accurate is the general public's perception and understanding of the saber-toothed tiger? Moreover, if these saber-toothed beasts were indeed as merciless and indomitable as they are often portrayed, what was it that snuffed them out of existence? Saber-Toothed Tigers: The History and Legacy of the Most Famous Extinct Cat Species looks at the origins of the famous cats, the fossil finds, and theories regarding their extinction.
©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors
The Moon Missions Before Apollo
Summary
Today, the Space Race is widely viewed poignantly and fondly as a race to the Moon that culminated with Apollo 11 “winning” the race for the United States. In fact, it encompassed a much broader range of competition between the Soviet Union and the United States that affected everything from military technology to successfully launching satellites that could land on Mars or orbit other planets in the Solar System. Moreover, the notion that America “won” the Space Race at the end of the 1960s overlooks just how competitive the Space Race actually was in launching people into orbit, as well as the major contributions the Space Race influenced in leading to today’s International Space Station and continued space exploration. The Apollo space program is the most famous and celebrated in American history, but the first successful landing of men on the Moon during Apollo 11 had complicated roots, dating back over a decade, and it also involved one of NASA’s most infamous tragedies. Landing on the Moon presented an ideal goal all on its own, but the government’s urgency in designing the Apollo program was actually brought about by the Soviet Union, which spent much of the 1950s leaving the United States in its dust (and rocket fuel). In 1957, at a time when people were concerned about communism and nuclear war, many Americans were dismayed by news that the Soviet Union was successfully launching satellites into orbit. At the same time, America would begin missions to the Moon as early as 1958. On March 27, 1958, Secretary of Defense Neil McElroy announced a lunar project for the International Geophysical Year, consisting of three Air Force launches followed by two Army launches of a JPL-designed lunar probe. ARPA directed the Air Force to launch its probes "as soon as possible consistent with the requirement that a minimal amount of useful data concerning the Moon be obtained". Throughout the 1960s, NASA would spend tens of billions on missions to the Moon - the most expensive peacetime program in American history to that point - and Apollo was only made possible by the tests conducted through earlier missions, including the historic Ranger Program. Conceived as an early part of the attempt to land a man on the Moon, Ranger was designed to photograph the lunar surface in preparation for future landings. Until Ranger, images of the Moon were only available through Earth-based telescopes, which lacked the detail necessary to determine safe sites for landing a spacecraft. Ranger aimed to fill in that gap of knowledge, and like many of NASA’s missions during the 1960s, the program exemplified both the successes and the failures of the agency’s early years. Nonetheless, the Ranger Program would set important precedents by taking the first close-up photos of the Moon and landing the first American spacecraft on the lunar surface. Subsequently, between May 1966 and January 1968, the Surveyor Program launched seven unmanned spacecraft to the lunar surface to gather data and test the feasibility of landing a manned vehicle on the Moon. Although largely forgotten now, without these missions, the later series of manned Moon landings would not have been possible. The Moon Missions Before Apollo: The History of NASA’s Pioneer, Ranger, and Surveyor Programs examines the origins behind the missions, the space probes involved, and the historic results.
©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors
History for Kids: The History of Saber-Toothed Tigers
Summary
Imagine a feline with the spirit of a lion, the sneakiness of a puma, the terrifying walk of a black bear, and the strong arms of a gorilla. Sounds cool? Now, add some huge dagger-like fangs. Even cooler, right? This amazing creature was best known as the saber-toothed tiger - an animal so fearless, it could beat beasts even twice their size! As cool as he sounds, this Ice Age feline earned quite a villainous reputation; you can even see them be the bad guys in movies! Ever watched the movie Ice Age? All saber-toothed tigers, except Diego, seemed to be dangerous; or do you remember Wolverine’s enemy Victor Creed, also called “Sabertooth”? Yes, he was scary. Beyond its reputation, this creature is an Ice Age celebrity. So, what is it about the Smilodon - that is their scientific name - that makes them so interesting to learn about? How did they live like? And if they were powerful, heartless beasts, why did they stop existing? This audiobook will teach you everything there is to know about these famous cats, from facts and their fossils to many cool theories.
©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors
The Imperial Scramble for the Nile
Summary
Includes a bibliography for further reading Includes a table of contents “Before this time tomorrow I shall have gained a peerage, or Westminster Abbey.” (Admiral Horatio Nelson before the Battle of the Nile) In 1798, an initial review of France’s naval forces had led Napoleon to conclude his navy could not hope to outfight the power of the Royal Navy, which had been the dominant naval power for centuries, so he was forced to look elsewhere. After months of planning, Napoleon crafted a scheme to attack and conquer Egypt, denying the British easy access to their colonies in India, with the ultimate goal of linking up with the Sultan Tipoo in India itself and defeating the British in the field there. Napoleon sailed with Admiral Brueys and 30,000 troops that June, heading for Egypt. Notionally part of the Ottoman Empire, Egypt was de facto a weak independent regime run by the breakaway Mamelukes. For France, it offered an overland route to India and a chance to beat Britain at her own game via economic strangulation. 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 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. This began a rush, spearheaded mainly by European commercial interests in the form of Chartered Companies, to penetrate the African interior and woo its leadership with guns, trinkets and alcohol, and having thus obtained their marks or seals upon spurious treaties, begin establishing boundaries of future European African colonies. The ease with which this was achieved was due to the fact that, at that point, traditional African leadership was disunited, and the people had just staggered back from centuries of concussion inflicted by the slave trade. Thus, to usurp authority, to intimidate an already broken society, and to play one leader against the other was a diplomatic task so childishly simple, the matter was wrapped up, for the most part, in less than a decade. Even at that stage, however, the countries would keep jostling for position in Africa against each other, attempting to snap up more land and consolidate it.
©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors
Project Gemini
Summary
Today, the Space Race is widely viewed poignantly and fondly as a race to the Moon that culminated with Apollo 11 “winning” the race for the United States. In fact, it encompassed a much broader range of competition between the Soviet Union and the United States that affected everything from military technology to successfully launching satellites that could land on Mars or orbit other planets in the Solar System. Moreover, the notion that America “won” the Space Race at the end of the 1960s overlooks just how competitive the Space Race actually was in launching people into orbit, as well as the major contributions the Space Race influenced in leading to today’s International Space Station and continued space exploration. In some ways, Project Gemini is a neglected part of the US space program. Sandwiched between the excitement of Project Mercury and the sending of the first American astronauts to space and the euphoria of the Apollo Moon landings, Gemini was a step forward rather than a dramatic leap. However, this project achieved many important firsts, including the first spacewalk, the first rendezvous and docking between two spacecraft, the first flights of more than one week’s duration, and many more. And all this was achieved in a staggeringly short space of time - in just 20 months, Project Gemini made 10 manned flights - a record that has yet to be broken by any other space program. Gemini also marked another important milestone as America finally surpassed the Soviet Union in space technology. Before Gemini, the US was playing a desperate game of catch-up as it attempted to match Soviet accomplishments. The last Project Mercury flight launched in May 1963, and before then, Russia had put the first satellite in Earth’s orbit and the first man in space and had followed these with longer flights than the tiny Mercury spacecraft. In terms of military significance, it was recognized that the ability to dominate space was very important, and to many people in America, it seemed that Russia was well on the way to doing this. No one could have guessed that it would be almost three years before the next American manned space flight occurred when Gemini 3 left the launch pad in March 1965. It seemed to many people that the Russian lead in space exploration had become unassailable and, in order to reestablish the credibility of the US space program, the Gemini flights simply had to succeed. For these reasons alone, Project Gemini is worth looking at in detail, but it is also a story about human endeavor and triumph against the hazards of space. Astronauts learned not only how to control and monitor flights, but how to deal with fatigue, stress, and equipment malfunction. And unlike their Russian counterparts, the men and women of Project Mercury did all these things in the full glare of intense press and media interest. This meant that their achievements were lauded, but it also meant that their mistakes and setbacks were endlessly discussed and criticized. It also meant that every cent they spent had to be justified and explained. Project Gemini: The History and Legacy of NASA’s Human Spaceflight Missions Before the Apollo Program examines the origins behind the missions, the people and spacecraft involved, and the historic results.
©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2021 Charles River Editors
How to Answer Interview Questions
Summary
If you really want to make impression in a job interview and still be yourself, then keep reading this. Most interviewers now look beyond a person’s technical knowledge when determining who is the right candidate for the job. There is a smart way of making interviewers stare at you with interest as soon as you start telling them about your background and work experience. However, most people fail to nail this. They quote verbatim what’s on their CV. The truth is, if you’re not creative in presenting who you are to your interviewers, you won’t stand the chance of making it as a shortlisted applicant. Interviewers, most of the time, get bored because they keep hearing the same answers from interviewees on why they should be chosen over other applicants. The fact is, no matter how qualified you are, the answer you provide to this one question can slim down your chances of getting the company’s employee tag. Everyone wants to be given the opportunity to showcase what’s so special about them that other candidates don’t have. And interviewers, being well-informed about this, open that window for you just before the interview ends. This is where you need to shine. How to Answer Interview Questions will tell you how to spot those "windows" in an interview and give you pointers to make maximum use of it to your advantage. There are simple tips that have helped numerous successful job applicants to answer every question excellently by showcasing high emotional intelligence. Fortunately, these amazing tips are embedded in this book. What you’ll learn with this audiobook: The relevant things you should focus on when preparing for an interview Craft past examples into case studies to make you stand out What to say when answering certain questions to show how different you are from your competitors Give attention to a question itself other than focusing on the response you’re about to give to the question Naturally form a connection between you and the interviewer The key tip that gives credibility and makes you come across as a team player Show emotion through your body language How to use your emotional intelligence to overcome any difficult situation during the interview Do you doubt yourself if you can pull this off successfully in an interview? No need to worry if you’re someone who is always under pressure when you have an impending job interview. What you’ll learn in How to Answer Interview Questions will prepare you more than enough to make an exceptionally positive impression in any job interview. It’s going to take some practice to master every important tip and skill you’ll need to successfully pass an interview. Why not start learning it today? Scroll up and click the "buy now" button on this page!
©2019 Jim Hunting (P)2020 Jim Hunting
The Muscovite-Lithuanian Wars
Summary
Though history is usually written by the victors, the lack of a particularly strong writing tradition from the Mongols ensured that history was largely written by those who they vanquished. Because of this, their portrayal in the West and the Middle East has been extraordinarily (and in many ways unfairly) negative for centuries, at least until recent revisions to the historical record. The Mongols have long been depicted as wild horse-archers galloping out of the dawn to rape, pillage, murder and enslave, but the Mongol army was a highly sophisticated, minutely organized and incredibly adaptive and innovative institution, as witnessed by the fact that it was successful in conquering enemies who employed completely different weaponry and different styles of fighting. The Mongols were pushed out of the region by the Poles and Lithuanians, who then occupied state territories in the 14th century. Poland seized areas in the west, known as Galicia, while Lithuania occupied a northern area called Volynia. The Mongol-Tatars, however, retained control of the Crimean Peninsula, using it as a base for trade, including that of slaves, with the Ottoman Empire. The Tatars would actually strengthen their grip on the Crimea after the Golden Horde’s demise and continue terrifying other European powers. By allying themselves with the Ottomans, the Tatars seemingly lost the potent position they had when they were a part of the Mongol Empire, they were still close to being a superpower from Southeast Europe and the Middle East. Meanwhile, the Ottomans would continue to expand their territory and threaten other European nations for centuries to come. Meanwhile, Russia also began expanding its influence by playing a role in defeating the Mongol hordes. The Russian ruler, Grand Prince of Moscow Ivan III, married the final heir to the Byzantine throne, Sophia (born Zoe) Palaiologina, the daughter of the last emperor of Byzantium, in 1480. Sophia would go on to be the grandmother of Ivan the Terrible, the first tsar of Imperial Russia from 1547-84. As a result of this lineage, the Romanov tsars would claim they were the torchbearers of Orthodox Christianity, descending directly from Byzantium. All of this political maneuvering would bring about one of the most famous battles in the history of Eastern Europe as the various parties sought to fill the power vacuum. The battle would be fought around Orsha, which is today a city of about 118,000 inhabitants on the fork of the Dnieper and Arshytsa Rivers in northern Belarus. One of the oldest settlements in that nation, Orsha has historically been an important center of communication and trade, situated as it is on a major river that flows down into the Black Sea. In 1514, Orsha was a much smaller town, home to a population of no more than 5,000 as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but on September 8 of that year, the normally quiet and unpretentious town was thrust into the world’s gaze when over 100,000 troops engaged in one of the 16th century’s biggest battles outside the town walls. The battle pitted the forces of the King of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania against the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and it was part of a conflict known to history as the Fourth Muscovite-Lithuanian War. That war was part of a series of conflicts that began in the 15th century, and the fighting would not end until Poland and the lands of Grand Duchy of Lithuania were completely annexed by the Russian Empire in 1795. The Muscovite-Lithuanian Wars: The History of the Russian Conflicts Against the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania examines the turbulent history of the region and the series of conflicts between the various powers.
©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors
Operation Pastorius
Summary
World War II stood apart in many ways from every earlier war, not least in the way that it reached to every corner of the planet and involved a noticeable segment of humanity's collective resources. Battles erupted not only on land and the sea's surface as they had for centuries, but also in the ocean depths and the windswept heights of the sky. One of the war's most crucial struggles happened in the realm of the unseen, inside the human mind, and amid the invisible flow of radio waves. Every war is a battle of wits as intelligence-gathering, tactics, and strategies clash, from the level of individual action up to the grand, overarching schemes of generals and statesmen. Intelligence took on a freshly urgent aspect in World War II, however, as the fate of offensives, armies, and nations came to hang on the struggle to decrypt vital enemy radio traffic and military communications. By the end of 1941, it seemed as if nothing could stop Germany. German forces had swept deep into Russia, killing or capturing hundreds of thousands of prisoners and were closing in on Moscow. In North Africa, German and Italian forces under the command of General Erwin Rommel were poised to take British-controlled Egypt. In the Atlantic, German U-boats were sinking such large numbers of British merchant ships that it seemed as if Britain might be starved into submission. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor presented President Franklin D. Roosevelt with a strategic problem that went beyond how to deal with Japanese aggression. Although the war in Europe had been raging for more than two years, many Americans felt it was not their concern, especially with the ultimate defeat of the British seeming all but certain. Four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hitler declared war on America, almost casually and without seeming to consider the consequences. There was no diplomatic necessity for him to have done this and no obvious strategic reason. Germany’s military successes were so complete at that point that Hitler seemed to believe declaring war on one more country was a trifling matter. In some ways, he was right, because in December 1941, the US Army was tiny and poorly equipped. In September 1939, the German army invading Poland comprised 100 infantry divisions and six panzer divisions. At that time, the whole US Army was comprised of just five divisions. Even two years later, the US Army was relatively small and ill-equipped. It was clear that, in strictly military terms, the United States was no threat to Nazi Germany when Hitler declared war in late 1941. However, American industry had the capacity and power ahead of virtually any other country in the world, so if America posed a threat to Germany, it would be through its capacity to produce weapons, tanks, aircraft, and ships in vast numbers. At the same time, America was simply too far from any German-controlled airbases to make strategic bombing a possibility. Thus, if a direct attack on American industry was not feasible, the best alternative was to mount a campaign of subterfuge and sabotage. The responsibility for mounting an attack on American industry was given to the German military secret intelligence service, the Abwehr, which devised a plan to land saboteurs in America to attack factories, railroads, and perhaps conduct a random bombing campaign against American civilians. The Nazi plan was given the codename of Operation Pastorius, and it was launched in June 1942, just six months after Germany had declared war on America. What followed was one of World War II’s most bizarre spy stories.
©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors
Job Interview Questions and Answers
Summary
Wondering how to ace your job interview and make the employer eager to start working with you immediately? Just like a toddler learns to walk, every prospective employee must learn what it takes to smoothly sail through the interview process and get the appointment letter of that dream job. But there is a hurdle (nerve-racking phase) to jump in order to cross over successfully to the greener side of the grass. That phase has denied an uncountable number of qualified people their dream jobs, simply because they failed to master the most exceptional craft that’s needed. Imagine putting your panel of interviewers in awe just because you answer questions with practical examples that confirm your experience? The harsh reality is, if you don’t have an "outstanding" level of confidence, it would definitely be challenging to convince any panel that you’re that extremely qualified person your documents say you are. Knowing what you’re capable of doing is different from convincing interviewers that you’re that star the company needs to shine. At the end of listening to Job Interview Questions and Answers, you will be equipped with practical interview tips that have successfully secured jobs for people. In this audiobook, you will learn: The one-word description of yourself to strike an interest in you over other candidates How to turn a previous failure into strength Ways to convince your interviewer that the company needs your skills and unique personality The one phrase to get you hired, even if the position’s responsibilities are beyond your capabilities The unique reason you’re able to cope with other workers no matter their personality Why your workload doesn’t negatively affect your productivity Those words that make you appear as a professional Imagine answering every question as if you were reading from an answering script prepared by the interviewers themselves? To increase your chances of getting hired, every statement you make during the interview should have a snowball effect that would put your name above the shortlisted candidates even before you leave the room. Job Interview Questions and Answers doesn’t make big and empty promises that would make you wonder, “How am I going to master this?” No matter your qualification or experience level, you can easily learn everything within the shortest possible time before the interview. Would you like to start today? Don’t hesitate. Your ticket to pass any job interview is just a click away. Scroll up and click the "buy now" button.
©2019 Jim Hunting (P)2020 Jim Hunting
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
Fighting the Plague in Antiquity and the Middle Ages
Summary
Plague and pestilence have both fascinated and terrified humanity from the very beginning. Societies and individuals have struggled to make sense of them, and more importantly they’ve often struggled to avoid them. Before the scientific age, people had no knowledge of the microbiological agents - unseen bacteria and viruses - which afflicted them, and thus the maladies were often ascribed to wrathful supernatural forces. Even when advances in knowledge posited natural causes for epidemics and pandemics, medicine struggled to deal with them, and for hundreds of years religion continued to work hand-in-hand with medicine. Inevitably, that meant physicians tried a variety of practices to cure the sick, and many of them seem quite odd by modern standards. By the time Rome was on the rise, physicians understood that contagions arose and spread, but according to Galen, Hippocrates, and other Greco-Roman authorities, pestilence was caused by miasma, foul air produced by the decomposition of organic matter. Though modern scientists have since been able to disprove this, on the face of it there was some logic to the idea. Physicians and philosophers (they were very often the same, Galen being an example) noticed that disease arose in areas of poor sanitation, where filth and rotting matter was prevalent and not disposed of, and the basic measures to prevent disease - waste removal, provision of clean food and water, and quarantining - would have been obvious to them. The scenting of miasmic air with incense and other unguents to expel the foulness would also have thus made sense, though people now know that can’t stop the spread of a disease. Ancient physicians at the time believed that miasma was not the direct cause of disease but rather a catalyst. Maladies were caused by an imbalance of what Galen called the four humors. According to him (and Hippocrates before him), the body contained four kinds of fluids: Black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm. These corresponded to the four elements of which the entire universe was composed: Earth, fire, water, and air. Black bile was tied to earth, yellow bile to fire, blood to air, and phlegm to water. It was believed that the balance of the humors in the body not only determined an individual’s health, but their behavior and temperament as well. A melancholic (from melanos, the word for “black”) disposition was caused by an excess of black bile. Yellow bile made a person fiery or choleric (from khole, the word for bile), while a phlegmatic (from phlegma, body moisture) temperament denoted a surplus of phlegm. The most desirable temperament was the sanguine (sanguis, blood), which exhibited happiness, calm and enthusiasm. The ancient Romans thought miasma caused an imbalance in these fluids, and disease resulted. For the ancient physician, as indeed for all physicians for the next 1,500 years or so, illness was not the direct result of external agents. The High Middle Ages had seen a rise in Western Europe’s population in previous centuries, but these gains were almost entirely erased as the plague spread rapidly across all of Europe from 1346-1353. With a medieval understanding of medicine, diagnosis, and illness, nobody understood what caused Black Death or how to truly treat it. As a result, many religious people assumed it was divine retribution, while superstitious and suspicious citizens saw a nefarious human plot involved. Fighting the Plague in Antiquity and the Middle Ages: The History of Ancient and Medieval Efforts to Prevent the Spread of Diseases looks at the ways past societies have striven to cope with epidemics and the various remedies – some bizarre, some desperate, others logical but nonetheless misguided - they employed. The approaches include an eclectic mix of medicine, supernatural rituals, religion, and philosophy.
©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors