Museum Audiobooks cast has narrated 21 audiobooks on Listento.it by 61 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 3 ratings. The most-rated is The Ultimate W.E.B. Du Bois Collection.
The Ultimate W.E.B. Du Bois Collection
Summary
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963), was an author, scholar, sociologist, historian, Pan-Africanist, and civil rights activist. After completing graduate work at the University of Berlin and Harvard, he became a professor of history, sociology, and economics at Atlanta University. The Souls of Black Folk (1903) is a pioneering work of sociology and a landmark of African American literature, comprising various essays on race, some of which had previously appeared in The Atlantic Monthly. As an uncompromising advocate of civil rights, Du Bois stated that through work, culture, and liberty the dual heritage of African Americans could be melded into a force for positive social and cultural change. The Gift of Black Folk (1924) is an analysis of the role of African Americans in the development of American culture. The author provides examples of the ways in which the culture was shaped and enriched by Blacks on many levels, including their economic, religious, and cultural contributions. Also in his speeches and letters, Du Bois promoted the idea of a synthesis of racial and national consciousness dedicated to “the ideal of human brotherhood”. Some of the frequent subjects include African history and culture, Black history in the United States and the world, the need for Black higher education to remain culturally relevant and scientifically sound, and the opportunities associated with Black economic cooperation.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
Charles A. Eastman Box Set: Indian Boyhood & Old Indian Days
Summary
Charles Alexander Eastman (1858 -1939), also known as “Ohiyesa”, was an author, physician, and lecturer of Santee Sioux and Anglo-American heritage. As a passionate advocate for the rights of American Indians, he took an active role in national politics. Indian Boyhood is a memoir that chronicles the first 15 years of his life with fascinating portrayals of Sioux culture, including training as a hunter and warrior, religious beliefs and practices, and the role of the medicine man. The stories in Old Indian Days focus mainly on the life of the Sioux bands of the Upper Midwest before exposure to the White man's world. The narratives allude to historical figures like Little Crow and Tamahay and to the 1862 Sioux Uprising in Minnesota, an event that Eastman experienced as a small boy.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
Arrian Box Set: The Campaigns of Alexander & Eumenides
Summary
Arrian of Nicomedia (c. 86/89-c. after 146/160 AD), was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander, and philosopher of the Roman period. Although written more than 400 years after Alexander's death, Arrian's Campaigns of Alexander is the most reliable account of Alexander from antiquity. Arrian's personal experience as a commander gave him unique insights into the life of the world's greatest conqueror. He discusses Alexander's suppression of the Theban rebellion, his defeat of Persia, and his campaigns through Egypt, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. After 12 years of campaigning, Alexander the Great controlled an empire stretching from the Balkans and the Adriatic Sea in the west to modern-day Pakistan to the east. Arrian combines his personal experience of battle with material from Ptolemy’s memoirs and other ancient sources to present a singular portrait of Alexander.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
Cowboy Narratives of the American West Collection
Summary
The cowboy is an iconic figure in American culture. With his hat, boots, and trusty horse, the cowboy rides in at a moment of crisis to intervene against the forces of evil. In the 20th century, the cowboy of the Wild West took center stage in the realm of popular literature. Cowboy Narratives of the American West Collection includes: Book one: Life of Tom Horn. Tom Horn was a range detective, a gunman, and a government scout and interpreter for Generals Wilcox, Crook, and Miles in the Apache wars. In this account of his life, he tells of the shocking events that led to his imprisonment for the murder a teenaged boy. Book two: The Chisholm Trail: A History of the World's Greatest Cattle Trail. The Chisholm Trail was approximately 800 miles long, running from San Antonio, Texas, to the shipping pens at Abilene, Kansas. This trail was an important part of the old West and part of the lives of thousands of cowboys of the 19th and into the early 20th century. Millions of cattle and horses accompanied their drivers on the two- to three-month journey; its economic importance extended across the nation to the East as the livestock moved over this trail was headed to market to feed much of the United States. The author presents a history of the trail, telling the story of the drivers, who struggled with Indian ambushes, stampedes, and cattle rustlers. Some of the colorful characters associated with the trail include Charles Goodnight, Charles Siringo, and Joseph McCoy. Book three: Life and Adventures of Nat Love, Better Known in the Cattle Country as "Deadwood Dick". Nat Love, the son of enslaved parents, was born in 1854 on a plantation in Davidson County, Tennessee. In February 1869, Love left Tennessee and found work as a cowboy, first in the Texas panhandle, then in Arizona. Love's story was published in 1907 and is considered the only full-length autobiography by an African American cowhand. Book four: The Log of a Cowboy: A Narrative of the Old Trail Days. Andy Adams (1859-1935) was a writer of Western fiction born in Indiana. During the early 1880s he went to Texas, where he stayed for 10 years, spending most of that time driving cattle on the Western trails. The classic The Log of a Cowboy (1903) is an account of a five-month drive of 3,000 cattle from Brownsville, Texas, to Montana along the Great Western Cattle Trail. The book was Andy Adams' response to his irritation with the unrealistic cowboy fiction being published in the late 1800s. Widely considered to be the most authentic narrative of cowboy life, the book follows the 1882 moves of the young Tommy Moore, who is helping to drive the longhorns to Montana.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
Clarence Larkin Box Set: The Book of Daniel; The Book of Revelation; & The Spirit World
Summary
Clarence Larkin (1850-1924) was a pastor, author, and theologian. Published in 1918, The Book of Daniel examines the Biblical book of Daniel in detail. An entire chapter is devoted to the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel’s interpretation of it. Larkin also investigates and interprets the Book of Revelation, with reference to earlier books of the Bible. The author believed that the Book of Daniel holds the key to an understanding of Revelation, the final book of the New Testament. The Spirit World is a comprehensive study of Biblical references to the unseen realm with chapters titled "Powers of Good and Evil", "The Underworld", "Satan", "The Fallen Angels", "Demonism", "The Intermediate State", and "The Resurrection of the Body".
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
The Very Best of Rabindranath Tagore
Summary
Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, visual artist, playwright, novelist, and composer whose works renewed Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was Asia's first Nobel laureate when he won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature. Three of his most prominent works are included here: Gitanjali is a cycle of 103 poems about the bliss of living and dying in wonder of the creation, while Stray Birds is a collection of some 300 poems. The poems are short but profound and the imagery lingers. The novel, The Home and the World is set on an estate in 1908; it’s a blend of love story and political intrigue against the background of the conflict in India.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
Edith Nesbit Box Set: New Treasure Seekers; The Ice Dragon; Billy the King & Acting for the Best
Summary
Edith Nesbit (Edith Bland,1858-1924) was an English author and poet. She authored or collaborated on more than 60 books of fiction for children, many of which have been adapted for film and television. She wrote tales of fantasy, magic, and misadventure in which children in normal circumstances are faced with extraordinary characters or events. Her stories about the Bastable children, like The New Treasure Seekers, brought her fame and fortune. These tales, told by Oswald Bastable, were modern and gripping, in contrast to the mainstream of Victorian children’s literature. The Ice Dragon narrates a journey to the North Pile where an enormous dragon lives among wicked sealskin dwarfs, while Acting for the Best tells the story of two cousins, Jane and Mattie, who represent two vastly different character traits.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
The Ultimate Baptist Faith Collection: The Writings of Great Evangelists in the Baptist Church
Summary
As an English-speaking denomination, Baptists originated within 17th-century Puritanism as an offshoot of Congregationalism. English Baptists migrated to the American colonies during the 17th century. During the 18th century, the Great Awakening resulted in the expansion of the denomination, and the conversion of many slaves to Baptist churches. Baptist congregations formed their first national organization the Triennial Convention in the early 1800. The Ultimate Baptist Faith Collection: The Writings of Great Evangelists in the Baptist Church includes: Book one: Acres of Diamonds. Russell Herman Conwell (1843-1925) was a Baptist minister, orator, philanthropist, and lawyer. In Acres of Diamonds, Conwell shows that success is a spiritual idea - the result of adhering to spiritual principles. Based on a speech originally delivered as a lecture to raise money for what would become Temple University, this book is about raising awareness of potential riches that exists around one, an idea which helps to broaden the individual’s perspective. The speech refers to the story of a man who sells his farm to travel far and wide in search of diamonds, when a rich lode of diamonds was, in fact, on the land that he had sold. Acres of Diamonds states the author’s core belief, that each of us is placed here on earth for the primary purpose of serving others. Book two: Biblical Psychology by Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) is an in-depth examination of the individual’s personal relationship with God; the book explores various moral dilemmas and emotional complexities like fear, anger, shame, and selfishness. It shows the believer how to let redemption enter into the soul and to heal the wounds. The book serves as a theology of the soul is highly recommended for Christian counsellors, psychologists, pastors, parents, and teachers. Book three: The Way to God and How to Find It. Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899) was an American evangelist and publisher connected with the Holiness Movement, who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School, and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts. In The Way to God and How to Find it, he answers questions: Who is Christ? How can I know my sins have been forgiven? And what is repentance? Book four: How to Read the Bible. In this 1879 sermon, Charles Spurgeon explains the proper way of reading the holy scriptures. He talks about praying, meditating, and being willing to learn from others. Finally, he warns the faithful against the false teachers. Book five: For Whom Did Christ Die?. In this sermon based on Romans v. 6., Charles Spurgeon claims that humanity is sick, and that Christ died out of sheer pity for the ungodly. Book six: Christ Is Glorious: Let Us Make Him Known was delivered on Sunday morning, March 20th, 1864, by Charles Spurgeon. Based on Micah 5:4, it deals with the glory of God and with the role of the church. Spurgeon exhorts the believer to "go out personally and serve with your flaming torch of holy example, and with your trumpet tones of earnest declaration and testimony." Book seven: The Heart of the Gospel. The 13th-century Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon explains the importance of atonement. He writes that the core of the Gospel is redemption, and the essence of redemption is the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. Spurgeon states that those who preach this truth preach the Gospel in whatever else they may be mistaken, but these who do not preach atonement have missed the soul and substance of the divine message. Book eight: The Scriptural Doctrine of Hell. In this 1878 sermon, the Baptist-Calvinist preacher warns that God knows how to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. He laments the fact that "the threatenings of God are having all the thunder taken out of them", and that, "the fiercest onslaught has been made upon the doctrine of God's severity against sin". There is an awful doom awaiting those who die impenitent, having rejected the offer of the gospel of God, Archibald Brown admonishes in passionate language. Book nine: The Pioneer of Destruction!. Archibald G Brown asserts that pride is, as Chrysostom called it, "The mother of hell". He notes that most destruction has come when humans try to be, or play, God - determining that this desire is at it's core "pride".
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
Abolitionists Mega Collection: Thought Leaders in the Fight to End Slavery Before the Civil War
Summary
Abolitionism was the movement that strove to end slavery in the United States. The abolitionists saw slavery as a stain and an affliction on the United States and made it their goal to eradicate slave ownership. Abolitionists produced anti-slavery literature, sent petitions to Congress, and ran for political office. Abolitionists Mega Collection: Thought Leaders in the Fight to End Slavery Before the Civil War includes: Book 1: Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, which covers the life of the prominent abolitionist during and after the Civil War. Douglass provides a fuller account of his escape from slavery and the underground railway to freedom. Book 2: David Walker's Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World. Walker (1796-1830), the son of an enslaved man and a free Black woman, was an entrepreneur, abolitionist, author, and anti-slavery activist. In 1829, he published "An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World", a radical call for Black solidarity and resistance to slavery. It raised awareness of the abuses of slavery, encouraged pride in its Black readers, and offered hope that change would eventually come. Book 3: The Narrative of Sojourner Truth. An autobiographical narrative that chronicles Sojourner Truth’s life as a slave in upstate New York and her transformation into an abolitionist, women’s rights activist, orator, and preacher. Book 4: The Black Man, His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements. Born a slave, William Wells Brown (1814-1884) escaped to the North, where he became a prominent abolitionist, historian, novelist, and playwright. His 1863 book portrays the lives of individuals selected by Brown that had “by their own genius, capacity, and intellectual development, surmounted the many obstacles which slavery and prejudice have thrown in their way, and raised themselves to positions of honor and influence". Book 5: Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade. John Newton was the master of a slave ship, later becoming a beloved Anglican priest and an ardent abolitionist. Book 6: The Past and the Present Condition and the Destiny of the Colored Race. Henry Highland Garnet was an African American abolitionist whose "Call to Rebellion" speech in 1843 encouraged slaves to rise up against their owners. Book 7: The Church and Prejudice. Frederick Douglass would eventually become one of the most powerful orators of his day. In 1841, three years after he had escaped from slavery and settled in Massachusetts, Douglass delivered a brief oration on something he had not anticipated: racial prejudice in Northern churches. Book 8: Prejudice Against the Colored Man. Rev. Theodore S. Wright (1797-1847) was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in New York City and a conductor on the Underground Railroad. In this speech Wright described anti-Black prejudice as nefarious and wicked and something that should be reprobated and discountenanced. Book 9: "Why Sit Ye Here and Die?" In her 1832 lecture, "Why Sit Ye Here and Die?", Maria W. Stewart demanded equal rights for African American women while criticizing both the slavery of the South and the lack of opportunity and equality in the North. Book 10: The Experience of Rev. Thomas H. Jones. The author, who was born a slave on a plantation near Wilmington, North Carolina, discusses the religious meetings he conducted as a slave. Book 11: "What Are the Colored People Doing for Themselves?" In this speech of 1848, the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass makes an eloquent call for self-reliance.
©Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
The Gunmen of the American Wild West Collection
Summary
The Life of John Wesley Hardin, Jesse James: The Life Times and Treacherous Death of the Most Infamous Outlaw of All Time, A Cowboy Detective: A True Story of Twenty-Two Years with a World Famous Detective Agency, A Texas Ranger, Life and Adventures of Nat Love, Better Known in the Cattle Country as "Deadwood Dick", and Six Years with the Texas Rangers The Gunmen of the American Wild West Collection brings to life the history of the frontier west of the Mississippi in the latter parts of the 19th century. The gunmen ranged from lawmen to cowboys, ranchers, and outlaws. Most of the outlaws in the Old West preyed on banks, trains, and stagecoaches. Although spread thin, the law was present, usually on the level of deputy US marshal, county sheriff, and the town marshal or constable. Book one: The Life of John Wesley Hardin. Hardin was an average man - except for his above-average gunfighting. A Texan sympathizer to slavery writes about his deeds, some of which were commendable while others were downright deplorable. These memoirs of the outlaw and controversial folk icon was published the year after his death in 1896. Book two: Jesse James: The Life Times and Treacherous Death of the Most Infamous Outlaw of All Time. Jesse James was a guerrilla during the Civil War and afterward pursued a criminal career that lasted more than a decade. Frank Triplett’s biography discusses every one of the robberies and acts of violence that the legendary outlaw and his gang perpetrated. The book is riveting and provides comprehensive coverage of the James Gang’s infamous crime spree. Book three: A Texas Ranger. Napoleon Augustus Jennings was a prominent member of the Texas Rangers responsible for border patrol under the command of L.H. McNelly, when Southern Texas was being overrun by outlaws. Jennings' account includes many incidents of clashes with Mexican guerrillas and confrontations with John Wesley Hardin and others. Book four: A Cowboy Detective: A True Story of Twenty-Two Years with a World Famous Detective Agency by Charlie Siringo. Siringo was a Texas detective who posed as a cowboy, miner, man-on-the-run, hobo, or whatever identity was needed to get to the bottom of criminal enterprises. He infiltrated unions, criminal gangs, and businesses to expose criminal activity. Book five: Six Years with the Texas Rangers. James Gillett joined the rangers in 1875 and for the next six years he would be challenging criminals, fighting in the Mason County War, capturing vigilantes, and maintaining law and order in the towns. Gillett describes the kinds of action that established the Rangers' enduring reputation.
©Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
The Very Best of St. Augustine: The City of God and the Confessions
Summary
Confessions, St Augustine’s autobiographical work comprising 13 books, is not a complete autobiography as it was written during his early 40s. He states his regrets for having followed Manichaeism and believing in astrology, and tells of Saint Ambrose's role in his conversion to Christianity. Besides giving an account of the author’s sinful youth and his conversion, Confessions is also an important theological work, featuring spiritual meditations and insights. The City of God is a book of Christian philosophy. The narrative portrays history as a conflict between the “Earthly City” of worldly cares and pleasures, and the City of God, inhabited by those who are devoted to the eternal truths. A cornerstone of Western thought, The City of God examines profound questions of theology, such as the conflict between free will and divine omniscience, and the doctrine of original sin.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
Slave Narratives Mega Collection: 18 of the Most Moving & Telling Memoirs
Summary
This collection contains: Twelve Years a Slave, Up from Slavery, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave, The Life of an American Slave (Fifty Years in Chains), The Experience of Rev. Thomas H. Jones, Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley, a Native African and a Slave, From Log Cabin to the Pulpit, or, Fifteen Years in Slavery, Thirty Years a Slave, Behind the Scenes: or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House, The Life of Josiah Henson, The Kidnapped and the Ransomed: Being the Personal Recollections of Peter Still and His Wife "Vina" After Forty Years of Slavery, Memoir of Pierre Toussaint, The Life, History, and Unparalleled Sufferings of John Jea, the African Preacher, Africa for Christ: Twenty-Eight Years a Slave, and The Narrative of Bethany Veney, a Slave Woman. The slave narrative is a literary genre involving the autobiographical accounts of enslaved Africans. A slave narrative gives an account of the life, or a portion of the life, of a fugitive or former slave. It could be written or orally related by the slave personally. More than 6,000 such narratives are estimated to exist; the overwhelming majority of American slave narratives were authored by African Americans.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
John Locke Box Set
Summary
John Locke (1632 - 1704), the English philosopher and physician, is widely regarded as one of the Enlightenment's most influential thinkers. Commonly known as the "Father of Liberalism", Locke was one of the first British empiricists in the tradition of Sir Francis Bacon, and his work greatly affected the development of epistemology and political philosophy. "A Letter Concerning Toleration" (1689) addresses the problem of religion and government by proposing religious toleration as the answer. In the "Second Treatise", Locke claims that civil society was created for the protection of life, liberty, and estate. Locke stated his belief that nature on its own provides little of value to society, implying that the labour expended in the creation of goods creates their value. From this premise, he developed a labour theory of property, whereby ownership of property is created by the application of labour. In addition, he argues that property precedes government and that the state cannot dispose of the estates of its subjects arbitrarily.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
The Andrew Murray Collection: Humility, Absolute Surrender, With Christ in the School of Prayer, School of Obedience, Abide in Christ, Lord Teach Us to Pray, & The Master's Indwelling
Summary
Andrew Murray (1828-1917) was a South African writer, teacher, and Christian pastor. This Best Of collection comprises seven of his most trenchant books. In Humility, Murray calls on Christians to turn from pride and study the character of Christ to be filled with his grace. Absolute Surrender extols the need for absolute surrender to God, with concrete steps for bringing about such surrender in one's life. "School of Obedience" is a short essay on the nature of obedience and examines the living connection between Christ's obedience and our obedience. Murray’s inspiring words on prayer are found in Lord Teach Us to Pray and With Christ in the School of Prayer. The Master's Indwelling is an explanation on how the believer can overcome obstacles and live a life of peace and joy. Murray stresses the importance of Christ being given his rightful place in the individual’s life. Abide in Christ describes the joy of always being in God’s presence.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
Friedrich Engels Box Set: Revolution and Counter-Revolution; Manifesto of the Communist Party; The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State; & Engels' Speech at the Grave of Karl Marx
Summary
Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) was a German businessman, journalist philosopher, historian, political scientist, and revolutionary socialist. Engels developed Marxism together with Karl Marx. In 1848, Engels coauthored The Communist Manifesto (originally the Manifesto of the Communist Party) with Marx. The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884) is a historical materialist treatise partially based on notes by Karl Marx to Lewis H. Morgan's book Ancient Society (1877). Originally a series of articles in the New York Daily Tribune, Engels’ Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Germany was first published in book form under the editorship of Eleanor Marx Aveling in 1896. Engels supported Marx financially, enabling him to do research and write Das Kapital. After Marx's death, Engels edited the second and third volumes of the book.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
The Very Best of John Bunyan
Summary
John Bunyan (1628-1688) was an English author and Puritan preacher. Best known for his famous allegorical works, Pilgrim’s Progress and The Holy War, Bunyan published 42 works in his lifetime, while another 16 were published posthumously. This collection includes his spiritual autobiography Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, the allegorical novel The Life and Death of Mr. Badman, and sermons such as "Justification by an Imputed Righteousness". Bunyan’s gripping take on prophecy and religious history comes to the fore in the essay "Of Antichrist and His Ruin", while his 1682 novel, The Holy War, tells the story of the town "Mansoul" (Man's soul). Bunyans’ classic Pilgrim’s Progress is probably the most famous Christian allegory. The work has been cited as the first ever novel written in English, has been translated into more than 200 languages and has never been out of print.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
History and Religion in Ancient Egypt Collection
Summary
Three of the world’s great religions originated in the Middle East: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Before that, religion in ancient Babylonia and Egypt had a history of thousands of years. In Egypt, religious practice centered on the pharaohs who acted as intermediaries between their people and the gods. They were obligated to sustain the deities through rituals and offerings so that they could maintain Ma'at, the order of the cosmos. The state dedicated enormous resources to maintaining religious rituals and to the construction of temples. The History and Religion in Ancient Egypt Collection consists of: Book one: Legends of Ancient Egypt, by Margaret Alice Murray (1863-1963), an archaeologist, anthropologist, Egyptologist, and historian and the first woman to serve as a lecturer in archaeology in Britain. The book contains 11 stories based on ancient Egyptian legends. Each legend is stylistically adapted to English but in a way that sticks close to the original. They include "The Princess and the Demon", "The King's Dream", "The Coming of the Great Queen", "The Book of Thoth", "The Legend of Osiris", and "The Scorpions of Isis". Book two: The Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia (1903) consists of Egyptian religion in part one, including discussions of the sun god, the Ennead, Osiris, and the journey of the soul. Part two deals with animism and the beliefs of Sumeria, Babylonia, and Assyria. The book comprises the Gifford lectures on the ancient Egyptian and Babylonian conception of the divine. Book three: The Papyrus of Ani is a papyrus manuscript created c. 1250 BCE, in the 19th dynasty of the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt. The introduction by E.A. Wallis Budge is followed by reproductions of the Egyptian hieroglyphs, an interlinear transliteration of their sounds, a word-for-word translation, and a smooth translation. Book four: The Ancient History of the Near East. The author, Henry Reginald Holland Hall (1873-1930) was an English Egyptologist and historian. His in-depth study of the ancient Near East examines the region’s civilizations and history, starting with the early Bronze Age civilizations such as that of the Minoans on Crete. He explores the history of ancient Egypt in detail and the civilizations of Mesopotamia and Iran, like Babylonia, Assyria, and Persia. In addition, Hall compares the archaeological evidence from Syria, Palestine, and Israel with the writings of the Old Testament to provide a fascinating account of the ancient Phoenicians, Philistines, Hebrews, and Aramaeans.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
The Ultimate John Muir Collection: Our National Parks, Stickeen, My First Summer in the Sierra, The Yosemite, Travels in Alaska, & A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf
Summary
The pioneering advocate of wilderness preservation, John Muir (1838-1914) was influential in the creation of many national parks. The Ultimate John Muir Collection includes: Book one: Our National Parks, (1901), comprising 10 essays that previously appeared as articles in the Atlantic Monthly. The text is devoted to Yosemite in the heart of the Sierra Nevada. Book two: Stickeen (1880) is Muir's account of what happened on an Alaskan glacier with a dog named Stickeen. First published in Century Magazine (1897) this compelling story remains on of the author’s most popular works. Book three: My First Summer in the Sierra is based on a diary Muir kept while tending sheep in Yosemite country and is filled with the author’s awe for the divine and enduring wealth of the natural world. It remains a classic of environmental literature that continues to inspire people. Book four: The Yosemite, in which Muir chronicled his experiences of the beautiful wilderness in appealingly descriptive prose. It portrays the shifting phases of the year in Yosemite - flood-time with its waterfalls, Indian summer, the brooding fall, and the sublime darkness of storm nights. Book five: Travels in Alaska describes the beauty of the Alaskan wilderness and its inhabitants as observed during Muir’s travels between 1879 and 1890. In poetic prose he describes the area’s magnificent glaciers and its animals like bears, bald eagles, wolves, and whales. Book six: A Thousand-Mile Walk To The Gulf. In 1867, Muir left Indiana and walked 1,000 miles to the Gulf Coast, carrying only a compass, a map, a brush, and some soap. Taken from his earliest journals, the text chronicles his impressions of the South in the wake of the Civil War. Studying the flora and fauna along the way, Muir records his journey on foot across Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and his trip to California by boat.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
Dystopian Science Fiction Classics Collection: Brave New World, 1984, & Animal Farm
Summary
Dystopian literature is a genre of fictional writing used to explore social and political structures in a nightmarish world. The term dystopia refers to a society characterized by misery, squalor, or oppression, and the theme is most commonly used in science-fiction and speculative-fiction genres. Dystopian Science Fiction Classics Collection: Book one: Brave New World. Set in 2540 CE, Brave New World is a dystopian novel by Aldous Huxley that was published in 1932. The novel takes place in a futuristic society called The World State, where life revolves around science and efficiency. Emotions and individuality are conditioned out of children, and citizens are socially engineered into an intelligence-based hierarchy. People are kept in a passive state through their consumption of a soothing drug called soma, and trouble-makers are exiled to various islands. The characters include Bernard Marx, a sleep-learning specialist, Helmholtz Watson, a lecturer, Lenina Crowne, a fetus technician, and John, also known as “Mr. Savage”. Brave New World was ranked at number five on the Modern Library’s 1999 list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Book two: 1984 is a novel by the British author George Orwell. Considered a classic of dystopian fiction, the book has contributed many terms to common usage, including "Big Brother", "doublethink", "newspeak", and "thoughtcrime", while the adjective "Orwellian" in the context of government deception, surveillance, and misleading terminology has entered the English language. The narrative unfolds in an imagined future when most of the world has fallen prey to omnipresent government surveillance, propaganda, and endless war. Great Britain has become a province of the super state Oceania, which is ruled by the Party, whose leader is called Big Brother. The Party employs the Thought Police to persecute individuality and independent thinking. Winston Smith, the protagonist, is an ordinary worker who secretly despises the Party and dreams of rebellion. Time Magazine included the novel on its 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005, and it is placed at number 13 on the editor’s list and at number six on the reader’s list of Modern Library's 100 Best Novels. Book three: Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell, first published in the UK in 1945. It is the tale of farm animals that rebel against the farmer, intending to establish a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. With stirring slogans, they set out to create utopia. However, the rebellion is betrayed, and the farm ends up in a state worse than it was before under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon. This is the setting for one of the most revealing satiric fables of all time - an acerbic tale for adults that records the process from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism which is even worse. When Animal Farm was first published, Stalinist Russia was its target. Today it is quite clear that wherever and whenever freedom is suppressed, the message of George Orwell’s masterpiece is still relevant. Time Magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. It also features at number 31 on the Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
Anarchy & the Philosophy of Anarchism Collection
Summary
Anarchism claims that there's no need for a state and that it would be better to have a society without central government. Anarchists dislike the authority of the state, but the dream of the stateless society is not a simple matter. The Anarchy & The Philosophy of Anarchism Collection includes: Book one: The 1902 essay collection Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution by the Russian naturalist and anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin explores the role of mutually beneficial cooperation and reciprocity in the animal kingdom and human societies. It is an argument against theories of social Darwinism that emphasize competition and survival of the fittest and against the romantic views of writers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau who thought that cooperation was motivated by universal love. Book two: The Conquest of Bread is an 1892 book by the Russian anarcho-communist Peter Kropotkin. It first appeared as a series of articles in the French anarchist journal Le Révolté. Kropotkin points out what he considers to be the defects of the economic systems of feudalism and capitalism and why he believes they thrive on and maintain poverty and scarcity. Book three: An Appeal to the Young is a passionate tract by Peter Kropotkin that was translated from Russian in 1884 by HM Hyndman. The next year it was published in San Francisco with the title To Young People by the International Workingman’s Association (IWMA) in a translation by Marie LeCompte. The pamphlet is imbued with a fierce morality and by times earnest, scathing, condemnatory, and passionate. Book four: Law and Authority, by Kropotkin, advocates a communist society free from central government. A classic statement of anarchist thought, it considers prisons as “schools of crime” and presents an anarchist critique of the law and the criminal justice system. The text is much easier to understand than for example the works of Bakunin, and the argument is clearly stated for easy digestion. Kropotkin's argument is hard to dispute despite it being so simple. Book five: Anarchism and Other Essays is a 1910 collection of essays outlining Emma Goldman's anarchist views on various topics, most notably the oppression of women and perceived shortcomings of first-wave feminism. It also sets out her views on prisons, political violence, sexuality, religion, nationalism, and art theory for a fascinating look into revolutionary issues at the turn of the century. Book six: My Further Disillusionment in Russia, in which Emma Goldman tells of her visit to Russia in 1919 where she witnessed the aftermath of the Revolution firsthand. Disgusted by the actions of the communist dictatorship, she left the country in 1921 and reported her eyewitness accounts in two books - My Disillusionment in Russia and My Further Disillusionment in Russia. She exposed the political harassment and forced labor inflicted on the people, the rampant opportunism in the Soviet government, the persecution of anarchists and others, and the government's use of deportation as a political weapon. She also describes the type of visitors who came to "study the Revolution". There were the naïve idealists, the journalists who were wined and dined by the communists and spread propaganda afterward, and a third type that became agents of the ruling party.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks