Ray Grover has narrated 4 audiobooks on Listento.it by 5 authors, with an average listener rating of 3★ across 1 ratings. The most-rated is The Spartacus War.
The Spartacus War
Summary
The Spartacus War is the extraordinary story of the most famous slave rebellion in the ancient world, the fascinating true story behind a legend that has been the inspiration for novelists, filmmakers, and revolutionaries for 2,000 years. Starting with only 74 men, a gladiator named Spartacus incited a rebellion that threatened Rome itself. With his fellow gladiators, Spartacus built an army of 60,000 soldiers and controlled the southern Italian countryside. A charismatic leader, he used religion to win support. An ex-soldier in the Roman army, Spartacus excelled in combat. He defeated nine Roman armies and kept Rome at bay for two years before he was defeated. After his final battle, 6,000 of his followers were captured and crucified along Rome's main southern highway. The Spartacus War is the dramatic and factual account of one of history's great rebellions. Spartacus was beaten by a Roman general, Crassus, who had learned how to defeat an insurgency. But the rebels were partly to blame for their failure. Their army was large and often undisciplined; the many ethnic groups within it frequently quarreled over leadership. No single leader, not even Spartacus, could keep them all in line. And when faced with a choice between escaping to freedom and looting, the rebels chose wealth over liberty, risking an eventual confrontation with Rome's most powerful forces. The result of years of research, The Spartacus War is based not only on written documents but also on archaeological evidence, historical reconstruction, and the author's extensive travels in the Italian countryside that Spartacus once conquered.
©2009 Barry Strauss (P)2009 Audible, Inc.
Sowing Crisis
Summary
During the 45 years of the Cold War, policymakers from the US and the Soviet Union vied for primacy in the Middle East. Their motives, long held by historians to have had an ideological thrust, were, in fact, to gain control over access to oil and claim geographic and strategic advantage. In his new audiobook, Rashid Khalidi, considered the foremost US historian of the Middle East, makes the compelling case that the dynamics that played out during the Cold War continue to exert a profound influence even decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The pattern of superpower intervention during the Cold War deeply affected and exacerbated regional and civil wars throughout the Middle East, and the carefully calculated maneuvers fueled by the fierce competition between the US and the USSR actually provoked breakdowns in fragile democracies. To understand the momentous events that have occurred in the region over the last two decades - including two Gulf wars, the occupation of Iraq, and the rise of terrorism - we must, Khalidi argues, understand the crucial interplay of Cold War powers there from 1945 to 1990. Today, the legacy of the Cold War continues in American policies and approaches to the Middle East that have shifted from a deadly struggle against communism to a War on Terror and from opposing the Evil Empire to targeting the Axis of Evil. The current US deadlock with Iran and the upsurge of American-Russian tensions in the wake of the conflict in Georgia point to the continued centrality of the Middle East in American strategic attention. Today, with a new administration in Washington, understanding and managing the full impact of this dangerous legacy in order to move America toward a more constructive and peaceful engagement in this critical arena is of the utmost importance.
©2009 Rashid Khalidi (P)2018 Random House Audio
The Gulf Stream
Summary
Coursing through the Atlantic Ocean is a powerful current with a force 300 times that of the mighty Amazon. Ulanski explores the fascinating science and history of this sea highway known as the Gulf Stream, a watery wilderness that stretches from the Caribbean to the North Atlantic. Spanning both distance and time, Ulanski's investigation reveals how the Gulf Stream affects and is affected by every living thing that encounters it--from tiny planktonic organisms to giant bluefin tuna, from ancient mariners to big-game anglers. He examines the scientific discovery of ocean circulation, the role of ocean currents in the settlement of the New World, and the biological life teeming in the stream.
©2008 The University of North Carolina Press (P)2014 Audible Inc.
Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom
Summary
"If you want to understand why Wikipedia is changing the world, this book is a must read." (Jimmy Wales, Founder, Wikipedia) "This book is a must read for all - social activists, politicians or managers - who have an interest in understanding how our society is morphing." (Professor C.K. Prahalad, number one Management Guru and author of Competing for the Future) The rise of social networks like Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo is changing the way we see ourselves, how we interact with each other, how we work and how we do business on a daily basis. Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom explores the powerful forces driving the social networking revolution, the impact of these profound changes, and the far reaching consequences of social networking. Detailing the way social networks affects both individuals and societies as a whole, the book offers a detailed focus on the ways social networking affects the world of business and work. The generation entering the workforce today - and entering boardrooms everywhere - is fully engaged with social networking and its uses. Rather than feeling threatened and paranoid, today's business leaders need to understand this phenomenon, accept that it won't go away, and embrace its power in the world of business.
©2008 Matthew Fraser (P)2009 Tantor Media