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Pan-Hellenic Games in Ancient Greece, The: The History of the Olympics and the Other Major Greek Com

The Pan-Hellenic Games is the collective term for the four major sports festivals held in ancient Greece. These include the Olympic Games, held in honor of Zeus at Olympia every four years; the Pythian Games in honor of Apollo, held at Delphi every four years; the Nemean Games, held to celebrate Zeus and Heracles at Nemea near Corinth every two years; and the Isthmian Games, honoring Poseidon at Isthmia every two years. The Olympiad, a period of four years, was one of the main ways the Greeks measured time. The Olympic Games were used as a starting point, effectively year one of the cycle. The Nemean and Isthmian Games were both held in different months in year two, followed by the Pythian Games in year three, and the Nemean and Isthmian Games again in year four. The cycle then repeated itself, with the Olympic Games starting the sequence again. Being structured in this way ensured that individual athletes could participate in all of the games. Competitors came from all over the Greek world, including the Greek colonies, as well as Asia Minor and Spain, and the only main issue seems to be the expense, competitors had to be relatively affluent to afford training, transportation, lodgings, and other costs associated with taking part. Women and non-Greeks were mostly prohibited from participation, except on extremely rare occasions when an exception was made as. Perhaps the most famous was when the Roman Emperor Nero was allowed to participate in the OlympicsThe main events at all of the games were chariot racing, wrestling, boxing, the pankration, the stadion, various other foot races, and the pentathlon. With the exception of the chariot race, all of the events were performed in the nude.

Charles River Editors (Author), Stephen Platt (Narrator)

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Panama Fever: The Epic Story of the Building of the Panama Canal

The building of the Panama Canal was one of the greatest engineering feats in human history. A tale of exploration, conquest, money, politics, and medicine, Panama Fever charts the challenges that marked the long, labyrinthine road to the building of the canal. Drawing on a wealth of new materials and sources, Matthew Parker brings to life the men who recognized the impact a canal would have on global politics and economics, and adds new depth to the familiar story of Teddy Roosevelt’s remarkable triumph in making the waterway a reality. As thousands of workers succumbed to dysentery, yellow fever, and malaria, scientists raced to stop the deadly epidemics so that work could continue. The treatments they developed changed the course of medical history. The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 spelled the end of the Victorian Age and the beginning of the “American Century.” Panama Fever brilliantly captures the innovative thinking and backbreaking labor, as well as the commercial and political interests, that helped make America a global power. “An absolutely gripping account of the canal’s conception and construction…Exemplary history, vigorously told with a respect for complexity that enriches rather than obscures the pleasure of a great story”--Los Angeles Times

Matthew Parker (Author), William Dufris (Narrator)

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Pancho Villa: The Life and Legacy of the Famous Mexican Revolutionary

“Pancho Villa,” people whispered at the beginning of the 20th century, "can march 100 miles without stopping, live 100 days without food, go 100 nights without sleep, and kill 100 men without remorse." The legend of Francisco Villa is full of heroism, tragedy and romance. It is the story of a poor farmer boy who became a bandit out of necessity, after avenging an injustice on his family; a military genius who flew from an oppressive government to lead the largest revolutionary army in his country's history, and defeated dictatorship to become Mexico´s liberator, only to fall again in disgrace when his troops abandoned him or were massacred by the enemy. Pancho Villa and his cavalry, Mexicans point out with a certain amount of pride, invaded the United States, and although they came and tried to capture him, they never found him. This is, at least, the version that most of them know, but it's certainly not the same as in their textbooks. The story of Francisco Villa bypassed official censorship from generation to generation, like leaves sailing at full speed on the surface of a stream. But the historical reconstruction is full of nuances. Was he a freedom fighter, or a bandit? Was he a Mexican Robin Hood, or a thief and a murderer? Was he present when his troops invaded U.S. territory? Was the advance of his famous "Dorados" (the “golden ones,” the name of his troops) the cause for joy, or terror among the people as they passed the countryside towards Mexico City? Pancho Villa´s personality has been controversial since the very beginning of his career as a General of the revolutionary army. Many biographies have been written about him, the first of which dates back to only a few years after his death. Counting the number books who take one of those two sides—butcher or freedom fighter—would be impossible, but they would probably form two piles of equal size. Through them, readers can learn divergent tales about one of the most widely known Mexicans, both in his country and abroad. For many Mexicans, he is a hero. In schools, teachers still speak cautiously about him to new generations of children, who are amazed by the tough guy with hat and pistols. And the old, those who had heard about his exploits from their parents, declare that Villa himself will ride again through the mountains of Mexico, on the day when the poor can no longer stand and a new revolution explodes. As Octavio Paz eloquently put it, “The brutality and uncouthness of many of the revolutionary leaders has not prevented them from becoming popular myths. Villa still gallops through the north, in songs and ballads; Zapata dies at every popular fair. … It is the Revolution, the magical word, the word that is going to change everything, that is going to bring us immense delight and a quick death.” Pancho Villa: The Life and Legacy of the Famous Mexican Revolutionary chronicles the controversial life of one of Mexico’s most legendary fighters.

Charles River Editors, Gustavo Vázquez Lozano (Author), Dan Gallagher (Narrator)

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Pandemic 1918: The Story of the Deadliest Influenza in History

In the dying months of World War I, Spanish flu suddenly overwhelmed the world, killing between 50 and 100 million people. Nowhere escaped this common enemy: in Britain, 250,000 people died, in the United States it was 750,000, while European deaths reached over two million. The numbers are staggering. And yet at the time, news of the danger was suppressed for fear of impacting war-time morale. Behind the numbers are human lives, stories of those who suffered and fought it – in the hospitals and laboratories. Published 100 years after the most devastating pandemic in world history, Pandemic 1918 uses previously unpublished records, memoirs, diaries and government publications to uncover the human story of 1918.

Catharine Arnold (Author), Peter Wickham (Narrator)

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Pandora's Box: A History of the First World War

In this monumental history of the First World War, Germany's leading historian of the twentieth century's first great catastrophe explains the war's origins, course, and consequences. With an unrivaled combination of depth and global reach, Pandora's Box reveals how profoundly the war shaped the world to come. Jörn Leonhard treats the clash of arms with a sure feel for grand strategy, the everyday tactics of dynamic movement and slow attrition, the race for ever more destructive technologies, and the grim experiences of frontline soldiers. But the war was much more than a military conflict, or an exclusively European one. Leonhard renders the perspectives of leaders, intellectuals, artists, and ordinary men and women on diverse home fronts as they grappled with the urgency of the moment and the rise of unprecedented political and social pressures. And he shows how the entire world came out of the war utterly changed. Postwar treaties and economic turbulence transformed geopolitics. Old empires disappeared or confronted harsh new constraints, while emerging countries struggled to find their place in an age of instability. At the same time, sparked and fueled by the shock and suffering of war, radical ideologies in Europe and around the globe swept away orders that had seemed permanent, to establish new relationships among elites, masses, and the state. Heralded on its publication in Germany as a masterpiece of historical narrative and analysis, Pandora's Box makes clear just what dangers were released when the guns first fired in the summer of 1914.

Jorn Leonhard (Author), David De Vries (Narrator)

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Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths

'Funny, sharp explications of what these sometimes not-very-nice women were up to, and how they sometimes made idiots of . . . but read on!' – Margaret Atwood The Greek myths are among the world's most important cultural building blocks and they have been retold many times, but rarely do they focus on the remarkable women at the heart of these ancient stories. Stories of gods and monsters are the mainstay of epic poetry and Greek tragedy, from Homer to Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, from the Trojan War to Jason and the Argonauts. And still, today, a wealth of novels, plays and films draw their inspiration from stories first told almost three thousand years ago. But modern tellers of Greek myth have usually been men, and have routinely shown little interest in telling women’s stories. And when they do, those women are often painted as monstrous, vengeful or just plain evil. But Pandora – the first woman, who according to legend unloosed chaos upon the world – was not a villain, and even Medea and Phaedra have more nuanced stories than generations of retellings might indicate. Now, in Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths, Natalie Haynes – broadcaster, writer and passionate classicist – redresses this imbalance. Taking Pandora and her jar (the box came later) as the starting point, she puts the women of the Greek myths on equal footing with the menfolk. After millennia of stories telling of gods and men, be they Zeus or Agamemnon, Paris or Odysseus, Oedipus or Jason, the voices that sing from these pages are those of Hera, Athena and Artemis, and of Clytemnestra, Jocasta, Eurydice and Penelope.

Natalie Haynes (Author), Natalie Haynes (Narrator)

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Pandora's Lab

What happens when ideas presented as science lead us in the wrong direction? History is filled with brilliant ideas that gave rise to disaster, and this book explores the most fascinating-and significant-missteps. Pandora's Lab takes us from opium's heyday as the pain reliever of choice to recognition of opioids as a major cause of death in the United States; from the rise of trans fats as the golden ingredient for tastier, cheaper food to the heart disease epidemic that followed; and from the cries to ban DDT for the sake of the environment to an epidemic-level rise in world malaria. These are today's sins of science-as deplorable as mistaken ideas from the past such as advocating racial purity or using lobotomies as a cure for mental illness. These unwitting errors add up to seven lessons both cautionary and profound, explained by renowned author and speaker Paul A. Offit. Offit uses these lessons to investigate how we can separate good science from bad, using as case studies some of today's most controversial creations: e-cigarettes, GMOs, and drug treatments for ADHD. For every "Aha!" moment that should have been an "Oh no," this book is an engrossing account of how science has been misused disastrously-and how we can learn to use its power for good.

Paul A. Offit, Paul A. Offit, MD (Author), Greg Tremblay (Narrator)

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Panic of 1792, The: The History and Legacy of America’s First Financial Crisis

In 1783, the last British troops left the American East Coast port cities of Savannah, Charleston, and New York. The War of Independence was over, and the United States of America finally emerged as an independent nation free from British rule. It was a stunning defeat for the British, but it was no less surprising to the victors – in fact, the man who would become the first president of the new nation, George Washington, described the outcome of the war as 'little short of a standing miracle.' In many ways, America was unready for self-rule, as many institutions characterizing other nations were either entirely absent or existed only in their infancy. A part of the issue was the way in which the new nation had been created, not as a single entity but as a collection of 13 independent “United Colonies,” each with its own government, laws, and customs. It would not be until almost 100 years later that the people of America would refer to themselves as belonging to a single nation rather than a particular state within a larger union. It was clear that the “hands-off” policy Congress initially tried to implement simply would not work in terms of the new nation’s finances. Some means had to be found to limit imports, encourage exports, deal with the country’s massive debt, and establish a national bank and sound fiscal policies that would apply to every part of the new union, not just to individual states. Much of that would fall on Alexander Hamilton and Robert Morris, who helped create the financial institutions that would become the heart of the United States' economy, but the story would also be incomplete without a former Continental Congressman named William Duer, who almost destroyed these same institutions through the Panic of 1792.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

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Pańszczyzna. Prawdziwa historia polskiego niewolnictwa

Czy polscy chłopi byli niewolnikami? Odpowiedź jest więcej niż oczywista. O niewolnictwie wspominali nie tylko obrońcy ludności wiejskiej, ale i obcokrajowcy oburzeni polskimi stosunkami. Tak zresztą określał kmieci każdy, kto mówił o nich: chłopi pańszczyźniani, a w domyśle: niewolnicy pańszczyźniani. Dlatego pojawia się też inne pytanie. Czy w oczach polskiej elity chłopi byli w ogóle ludźmi? O tej najliczniejszej i najważniejszej części społeczeństwa pisano: bydło, psy, chodzące rzeczy. Dziś nadal mówi się o rzekomym przywiązaniu chłopów do ziemi, ich poddaństwie i dalece wyolbrzymionej krzywdzie. Kamil Janicki sprawnie rozprawia się z wizją sielankowej, dawnej polskiej wsi. Według niego radości prowincjonalnego życia były zarezerwowane tylko dla dziedzica i zarządcy jego majątku. Dla chłopów zostawała marna egzystencja bez perspektyw na przyszłość, a jedyną rzeczą jaką mogli uczynić w takiej sytuacji to po prostu zbiec.

Kamil Janicki (Author), Bartosz Głogowski (Narrator)

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Panzer Ace: The Memoirs of an Iron Cross Panzer Commander from Barbarossa to Normandy

Richard Freiherr von Rosen was a highly decorated Wehrmacht soldier and outstanding panzer commander. After serving as a gunlayer on a Pz.Mk.III during Barbarossa, he led a Company of Tigers at Kursk. Later he led a company of King Tiger panzers at Normandy and in late 1944 commanded a battle group (12 King Tigers and a flak Company) against the Russians in Hungary in the rank of junior, later senior lieutenant (from November 1944, his final rank). Only 489 of these King Tiger tanks were ever built. They were the most powerful heavy tanks to see service, and only one kind of shell could penetrate their armor at a reasonable distance. Every effort had to be made to retrieve any of them bogged down or otherwise immobilized, which led to many towing adventures. The author has a fine memory and eye for detail. His account is easy to listen to and not technical, and adds substantially to the knowledge of how the German Panzer Arm operated in the Second World War.

Richard Freiherr Von Rosen (Author), Nigel Patterson (Narrator)

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Panzer General: Heinz Guderian and the Blitzkrieg Victories of WWII

Kenneth Macksey's highly regarded biography of Generaloberst Heinz Guderian gives clear insight into the mind and motives of the father of modern tank warfare. Panzer General shows Guderian as a man of ideas equipped with the ability to turn inspiration into reality. A master of strategy and tactics, he was the officer most responsible for creating blitzkrieg in World War II.BR> Guderian built the Panzerwaffe in the face of opposition from the German General Staff and personally led the lightning campaigns by tanks and aircraft that put a large part of Europe under domination by the Third Reich. Kenneth Macksey, a tank man himself for more than twenty years, reveals the man as a brilliant rebel in search of ideals and a general whose personality, genius, and achievements far transcended those of Rommel.BR> As well as throwing light on the crucial campaigns in Poland, France, and Russia, this biography illuminates the struggles within the German hierarchy, both in the military and in the Nazi Party, for control of the Panzer forces. Based on information from the extensive family archives, Panzer General demonstrates why Guderian was so admired by some while denigrated by others.

Kenneth Macksey (Author), Jonathan Cowley (Narrator)

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Panzer Gunner: From My Native Canada to the German Ostfront and Back. In Action with 25th Panzer Reg

Panzer Gunner is a unique memoir of a Canadian serving in a German armored division. Bruno Friesen explains what it was like to fight in a tank on the Eastern Front and provides details on the battlefield performance of the Panzer IV tank. Six months before World War II erupted in 1939, Bruno Friesen was sent to Germany by his father in hopes of a better life. Friesen was drafted into the Wehrmacht three years later and ended up in the 7th Panzer Division. Serving as a gunner in a Panzer IV tank and then a Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyer, Friesen experienced intense combat against the Soviets in Romania, Lithuania, and West Prussia.

Bruno Friesen (Author), David De Vries (Narrator)

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