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Audiobooks Narrated by Norman Dietz
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Professor Pierre Aronnax is a fortunate though unwilling passenger on the amazing submersible, Nautilus. Its captain, Nemo, hounded by the "civilized" world above water, wages a solitary war against what he views as injustice and hatred. While Aronnax gazes out through the observation windows of the massive craft on the deepest trenches of the sea, the greater wonder may be the enigmatic commander at his side and the deadly quest he pursues.
From Massachusetts to Florida to Washington to California, 50 Great American Places takes you on a journey through our nation's history. Sharing the inside stories of sites as old as Mesa Verde (Colorado) and Cahokia (Illinois) and as recent as Silicon Valley (California) and the Mall of America (Minnesota), each essay provides the historical context for places that represent fundamental American themes: the compelling story of democracy and self-government; the dramatic impact of military conflict; the powerful role of innovation and enterprise; the inspiring achievements of diverse cultural traditions; and the defining influence of the land and its resources. Sites you would expect-in Boston, New York, and Washington, DC-are here, as well as plenty of surprises, such as the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe, or Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, or the Village Green in Hudson, Ohio; less obvious places that, together with the more well-known destinations, collectively tell the story of America. For families who want to take a trip that is both educational and entertaining, for history enthusiasts, or anyone curious about our country's greatest places, this book is the perfect guide.
When Hank Morgan is cracked on the head by a crowbar in 19th-century Connecticut, one of literature's most extraordinary fantasy tales begins to unfold. Humorous, devilishly insightful, and resoundingly contemporary, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court remains one of the most celebrated stories in the canon of American writing. Awakening to find himself in the England of King Arthur, Morgan discovers a world of fear, injustice, and ignorance hiding behind a Utopian mirage. The tough-minded Yankee-the embodiment of scientific knowledge-must overcome daunting obstacles, including Merlin the Magician, as he sets out to enlighten sixth-century England. Only Mark Twain's unparalleled gift for story-telling could produce this acrobatic tour de force that moves from broad comedy to biting social satire, and from the pure joy of wild high jinks to deeply probing insights into the nature of man. Norman Dietz's wry narration and wonderful comedic sense will enchant listeners for generations to come.
Charles Osgood, one of America's favorite news personalities, offers a rib-tickling compendium of anecdotes from the last seventy years of presidential campaigns.
Professor Von Hardwigg found the old Icelandic parchment in a bookstore, and his nephew Harry soon deciphered its secret Runic message: there was a path to the center of the earth, and an Icelandic explorer had found it 300 years earlier. The professor, Harry, and their guide Hans are soon plunged into an adventure that includes an underground ocean, prehistoric monsters, and a giant cave man.
This intimate, affectionate portrait of Pope John Paul II by his long-time secretary and confidant reveals fascinating new details about the opinions, hopes, fears, and dramatic life of this public man.
Easing poverty in Ireland by eating the children of the poor was the satirical "solution" suggested by Jonathan Swift in his essay "A Modest Proposal" (1729). Here Swift unleashes the full power of his ironic armory and corrosive wit, striking his targets-the ruling class and avaricious landlords-with deadly precision. This masterly essay is accompanied by a generous selection of prose works, among them humorous pamphlets critiquing British rule in his native Ireland, articles and correspondence, a loving eulogy to his beloved "Stella," the daughter of a house servant whom he mentored, and pieces on such diverse subjects as the nature of broomsticks, the joys of punning, and comical rules for servants.
On the morning of March 6, 1836, in an old abandoned mission called the Alamo, a small Texas garrison fought to the death rather than yield to an overwhelming army of Mexicans. Through the years the garrison's heroic stand has become so clothed in folklore and romance that the truth has nearly been lost. In A Time to Stand Walter Lord rediscovers and recreates the whole fascinating story. From contemporary documents, diaries, and letters, he has mined a wealth of fresh information that throws intriguing sidelights on the epic of the Alamo. What were the defenders like? Why did they take their stand? Did any escape? Did Davy Crockett surrender?
The cast of characters includes not only famous figures like Jim Bowie but unknown, unsung men: John Purdy Reynolds, the wandering Pennsylvania surgeon; George Kimball, the industrious New York hatter, Micajah Autry of Tennessee, who was a far better poet than a businessman. And then there are the Mexicans: the fabulous Santa Anna; the smooth Colonel Almonte; the forlorn private Juan Basquez, who only wanted to stay home and make shoes.
In 1968, nine sailors set off on the most daring race ever held: to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe nonstop. It was a feat that had never been accomplished and one that would forever change the face of sailing. Ten months later, only one of the nine men would cross the finish line and earn fame, wealth, and glory. For the others, the reward was madness, failure, and death. In this extraordinary book, Peter Nichols chronicles a contest of the individual against the sea, waged at a time before cell phones, satellite dishes, and electronic positioning systems. A Voyage for Madmen is a tale of sailors driven by their own dreams and demons, of horrific storms in the Southern Ocean, and of those riveting moments when a split-second decision means the difference between life and death.
All For the Union is the astonishing and eloquent diary of Elisha Hunt Rhodes, the Union soldier featured in Ken Burns' highly acclaimed PBS television documentary The Civil War. Enlisting as a private in the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, Rhodes fought in every major campaign waged by the Army of the Potomac, from Bull Run to Appomattox. Here, in his own powerfully moving words, Rhodes reveals why he was willing to die to preserve his beloved Union.
This prodigiously rich collection suggests that Raymond Carver was not only America's finest writer of short fiction, but also one of its most large-hearted and affecting poets. Like Carver's stories, the more than 300 poems in All of Us are marked by a keen attention to the physical world; an uncanny ability to compress vast feeling into discreet moments; a voice of conversational intimacy, and an unstinting sympathy. This complete edition brings together all the poems of Carver's five previous books, from Fires to the posthumously published No Heroics, Please. It also contains a moving introduction by Carver's widow, the poet Tess Gallagher.
Fergus M. Bordewich presents the riveting, dramatic story behind one of U.S. history's longest debates: the Compromise of 1850.
The Mexican War introduced vast new territories into the United States, among them California and the present-day Southwest. When gold was discovered in California in the great Gold Rush of 1849, the population swelled, and settlers petitioned for admission to the Union. But the U.S. Senate was precariously balanced with fifteen free states and fifteen slave states. Up to this point, states had been admitted in pairs, one free and one slave, to preserve that tenuous balance in the Senate. Would California be free or slave? So began a paralyzing crisis in American government, and the longest debate in Senate history.
Fergus Bordewich tells the epic story of the Compromise of 1850 with skill and vigor, bringing to life two generations of senators who dominated the great debate. Luminaries such as John Calhoun, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay-who tried unsuccessfully to cobble together a compromise that would allow for California's admission and simultaneously put an end to the nation's agony over slavery-were nearing the end of their long careers. Rising stars such as Jefferson Davis, William Seward, and Stephen Douglas-who ultimately succeeded where Clay failed-would shape the country's politics as slavery gradually fractured the nation.
The Compromise saved the Union from collapse, but it did so at a great cost. The gulf between North and South over slavery widened with the strengthened Fugitive Slave Law that was part of the complex Compromise. In America's Great Debate Fergus Bordewich takes us back to a time when compromise was imperative, when men swayed one another in Congress with the power of their ideas and their rhetoric, and when partisans on each side reached across the aisle to preserve the Union from tragedy.
