History Audiobooks | TV & Radio

William Walker's Wars: How One Man's Private American Army Tried to Conquer Mexico, Nicaragua, and H

In the decade before the onset of the Civil War, groups of Americans engaged in a series of longshot-and illegal-forays into Mexico, Cuba, and other Central American countries in hopes of taking them over. These efforts became known as filibustering, and their goal was to seize territory to create new independent fiefdoms, which would ultimately be annexed by the still-growing United States. Most failed miserably. William Walker was the outlier. Short, slender, and soft-spoken with no military background-he trained as a doctor before becoming a lawyer and then a newspaper editor-Walker was an unlikely leader of rough-hewn men and adventurers. But in 1856 he managed to install himself as president of Nicaragua. Neighboring governments saw Walker as a risk to the region and worked together to drive him out-efforts aided, incongruously, by the United States' original tycoon, Cornelius Vanderbilt. William Walker's Wars is a story of greedy dreams and ambitions, the fate of nations and personal fortunes, and the dark side of Manifest Destiny, for among Walker's many goals was to build his own empire based on slavery. This little-remembered story from U.S. history is a cautionary tale for all who dream of empire.

Scott Martelle (Author), David Colacci (Narrator)

Audiobook

Wie sich Menschen organisieren, wenn ihnen keiner sagt, was sie tun sollen

Ein motivierendes und höchst wirkungsvolles Hörbuch für alle, die Strukturen und Methoden aus dem Industriezeitalter überwinden wollen und sich mehr Erfolg und Agilität in Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft wünschen. Verantwortung und Freiheit wecken Kreativität Der Reflex, der in jedem Unternehmen, jeder Organisation, jeder Gruppe wach wird, sobald Menschen zusammen arbeiten und etwas erreichen wollen, ist: Wer ist zuständig und wer verteilt weitere Zuständigkeiten? Und wie selbstverständlich bilden sich daraus Hierarchien und Abteilungen. Statt sich diesen starren Strukturen unterzuordnen, inspiriert Lars Vollmer zu mehr Initiative, Verantwortung und der Überlegung, wie es gelingen kann, Organisationen voller Agilität und Freiheit zu gestalten, Denn der Unternehmer und Honorarprofessor der Leibniz Universität Hannover weiß: Wenn Menschen freiheitlich leben und arbeiten, entsteht echter Nutzen für Kunden und Gesellschaft auf den Märkten des 21. Jahrhunderts. Und dies bewirkt Freude an der Arbeit und wahre Wirksamkeit. Vom Business-Theater zur Selbstorganisation Dass Menschen in Unternehmen mehr Theater spielen, dafür aber aufgrund starrer Pläne, Meetings und Vorgaben nicht die Möglichkeit erhalten, echte Arbeit zu leisten, hat der Vordenker Lars Vollmer in seinem Spiegel-Bestseller 'Zurück an die Arbeit. Wie aus Business-Theatern wieder echte Unternehmen werden' bereits deutlich gemacht. Dass dieses Business-Theater und die dafür verantwortlichen tayloristischen Strukturen abgeschafft gehören, ebenso. Es blieb die Frage: Wie organisieren sich Menschen eigentlich, wenn starre Führungsrollen ausbleiben und ihnen niemand mehr sagt, was genau sie tun sollen? Freude an der Arbeit durch Eigenverantwortung Anhand überraschender Beispiele aus Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft macht sich Vollmer nun in seinem neuen Buch siebeneinhalb aufrüttelnde Gedanken über eben jene Entwicklung, die Menschen vollführen, wenn ihnen keine Führungskraft Zeit-, Ziel- oder sonstige Pläne vor die Nase setzt. In Zeiten von Modernisierung, Digitalisierung und New Work liefert Vollmer eine Ode auf die Selbstorganisation und agiles Arbeiten und vermittelt wertvolle Gestaltungsprinzipien, um Eigenverantwortung zu fördern und echte Freude an der Arbeit zu erlangen.

Lars Vollmer (Author), Lars Vollmer (Narrator)

Audiobook

Why the Nineties Matter

In Why the Nineties Matter, Terry Anderson provides a broad-ranging history of America in that decade. Not simply a chronological account, the book focuses on key trends that either began or gained steam then and which have had lasting effects until this day. Threading together politics, economic transformations, and sociocultural trends, he focuses on what mattered most in retrospect. Violent and extremist white nationalism intensified greatly in that decade, evidenced by the Oklahoma City bombing and the rise of the militia movement. The defection of the white working class from the Democratic Party began then as the Democrats expanded free trade and tried to cultivate professional-class Americans. Racial and gender politics transformed, birthing new movements that would grow in influence in the next century. Social media first emerged in the 1990s too, and its impact on all aspects of life cannot be underestimated. In foreign policy, America's long wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan have roots in US policies in the 1990s. And the current standoff between the US and Russia traces back to disagreements over NATO expansion a quarter century ago. A pithy interpretive history of a decade that matters more than most think, this book will be an essential guide to anyone trying to understand that era.

Terry H. Anderson (Author), David Marantz (Narrator)

Audiobook

Why Politics Fails: The Five Traps of the Modern World & How to Escape Them

Brought to you by Penguin. Why do the revolving doors of power always leave us disappointed? In Why Politics Fails, award-winning Oxford professor Ben Ansell shows that it's not the politicians that are the problem, it's that our collective goals result in five political 'traps'. Democracy: we all want a say in how we're governed, but it's impossible to have any true 'will of the people'. Equality: we want to be treated equally, but equal rights and equal outcomes undermine each other. Solidarity: we want a safety net when times are tough, but often we care about solidarity only when we need it ourselves. Security: we want protecting from harm, but not if it undermines our freedoms. Prosperity: we want to be richer tomorrow, but what makes us richer in the short run makes us poorer over the long haul. You've probably noticed a pattern here, which is that our self-interest undermines our ability to deliver on our collective goals. And these traps reinforce one another, so a polarized democracy can worsen inequality; a threadbare social safety net can worsen crime; runaway climate change will threaten global peace. Drawing on examples from Ancient Greece through Brexit and using his own counterintuitive and pathbreaking research - on why democracy thrives under high inequality, and how increased political and social equality can lead to greater class inequality - Ansell vividly illustrates how we can escape the political traps of our imperfect world. He shows that politics won't end, but that it doesn't have to fail.

Ben Ansell (Author), Ben Ansell (Narrator)

Audiobook

Why Nationalism

Why nationalism is a permanent political force-and how it can be harnessed once again for liberal ends Around the world today, nationalism is back-and it's often deeply troubling. Populist politicians exploit nationalism for authoritarian, chauvinistic, racist, and xenophobic purposes, reinforcing the view that it is fundamentally reactionary and antidemocratic. But Yael (Yuli) Tamir makes a passionate argument for a very different kind of nationalism-one that revives its participatory, creative, and egalitarian virtues, answers many of the problems caused by neoliberalism and hyperglobalism, and is essential to democracy at its best. In Why Nationalism, she explains why it is more important than ever for the Left to recognize these qualities of nationalism, to reclaim it from right-wing extremists, and to redirect its power to progressive ends. Far from being an evil force, nationalism's power lies in its ability to empower individuals and answer basic human needs. Using it to reproduce cross-class coalitions will ensure that all citizens share essential cultural, political, and economic goods. Shifting emphasis from the global to the national and putting one's nation first is not a way of advocating national supremacy but of redistributing responsibilities and sharing benefits in a more democratic and just way. In making the case for a liberal and democratic nationalism, Tamir also provides a compelling original account of the ways in which neoliberalism and hyperglobalism have allowed today's Right to co-opt nationalism for its own purposes. Provocative and hopeful, Why Nationalism is a timely and essential rethinking of a defining feature of our politics.

Yael Tamir (Author), Juliet Stevenson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Why America Loses Wars: Limited War and US Strategy from the Korean War to the Present

How can you achieve victory in war if you don't have a clear idea of your political objectives and a vision of what victory means? In this provocative challenge to US policy and strategy, Donald Stoker argues that America endures endless wars because its leaders no longer know how to think about war, particularly limited wars. He reveals how ideas on limited war and war in general evolved against the backdrop of American conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq. These ideas, he shows, were flawed and have undermined America's ability to understand, wage, and win its wars, and to secure peace afterwards. America's leaders have too often taken the nation to war without understanding what they want or valuing victory, leading to the 'forever wars' of today. Why America Loses Wars dismantles seventy years of misguided thinking and lays the foundations for a new approach to the wars of tomorrow.

Donald Stoker (Author), Paul Heitsch (Narrator)

Audiobook

Who Shot JFK?

"After nearly 1000 books, half a dozen journals, two official inquiries, several million pages of declassified documents, dozens of TV documentaries and hundreds of Websites, is there anything left to say about the assassination of President John F Kennedy? Hell, yes. The Kennedy assassination remains both the greatest whodunit of the post-World War Two era and the best route into recent American history. In this short book, taking it as proved that Lee Harvey Oswald was indeed the patsy he claimed to be before he was murdered, Robin Ramsay looks at the assassination through the work of the researchers who refused to buy the official cover-up story that Lee Harvey Oswald was the assassin. He explores: * The major alternative theories produced by the critics of the official version. * The major landmarks in the Kennedy assassination research. * The disinformation produced on the subject since the event. Robin Ramsay also discusses some startling recent work, which seems - finally - to lead to an answer to the question ""WHO KILLED JFK?

Robin Ramsay (Author), Bob Sinfield (Narrator)

Audiobook

When They Go Low, We Go High

In his work as a speechwriter to senior politicians and business leaders around the world, Philip Collins has become well versed in understanding what it is that makes a speech great. explores the ways in which the most notable speeches in history have worked, analysing the rhetorical tricks to uncover how the right speech at the right time can profoundly shape the world.Travelling across continents and centuries, Collins reveals what Thomas Jefferson owes to Cicero and Pericles, who really gave the Gettysburg Address and what Elizabeth I shares with Winston Churchill.And in telling the story of the great speeches he tells the story of democracy. For it is in the finest public speeches that progress unfolds, and we need those speeches now more than ever.While we are bombarded by sound bites and social media, fake news and sloganeering, and while populists are winning support, democratic politicians need to find words that inspire and give us hope. Because disenchantment with politics fosters the dangerous illusion that there is an alternative.Informed by Collins's own experiences as a speech writer, is a passionate defence of the power of good public speaking to propagate and protect democracy and an urgent reminder of how words can change the world.

Helen Keeley, Philip Collins (Author), Ben Onwukwe, Eric Meyers, Helen Keeley (Narrator)

Audiobook

When the New Deal Came to Town: A Snapshot of a Place and Time with Lessons for Today

When the New Deal Came to Town is a snapshot of a time and place: Whiteland, Indiana during the Great Depression, one of the most fraught eras in American history. Imagine yourself transported back in time to April of 1933 and deposited in a small American town, when a young boy named George Melloan moved with his family to this quiet hamlet during the middle of the worst economic period in American history. Part social history, part personal observations, When the New Deal Came to Town provides a keen eyewitness account of how the Depression affected everyday lives and applies those experiences to the larger arena of American politics. Told with Melloan's signature "clarity and polemical skill" (The Washington Times), this is a fascinating narrative history that provides new insight into the Great Depression for a new generation.

George Melloan (Author), Bob Souer (Narrator)

Audiobook

When Montezuma Met Cortés: The True Story of the Meeting that Changed History

A dramatic rethinking of the encounter between Montezuma and Hernando Cortés that completely overturns what we know about the Spanish conquest of the Americas On November 8, 1519, the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortés first met Montezuma, the Aztec emperor, at the entrance to the capital city of Tenochtitlan. This introduction-the prelude to the Spanish seizure of Mexico City and to European colonization of the mainland of the Americas-has long been the symbol of Cortés's bold and brilliant military genius. Montezuma, on the other hand, is remembered as a coward who gave away a vast empire and touched off a wave of colonial invasions across the hemisphere. But is this really what happened? In a departure from traditional tellings, When Montezuma Met Cortés uses "the Meeting"-as Restall dubs their first encounter-as the entry point into a comprehensive reevaluation of both Cortés and Montezuma. Drawing on rare primary sources and overlooked accounts by conquistadors and Aztecs alike, Restall explores Cortés's and Montezuma's posthumous reputations, their achievements and failures, and the worlds in which they lived-leading, step by step, to a dramatic inversion of the old story. As Restall takes us through this sweeping, revisionist account of a pivotal moment in modern civilization, he calls into question our view of the history of the Americas, and, indeed, of history itself.

Matthew Restall (Author), Steven Crossley (Narrator)

Audiobook

What’s Wrong with the World

In this important book, G.K. Chesterton offers a remarkably perceptive analysis of social and moral issues, even more relevant today than in his own time. With a light, humorous tone but a deadly serious philosophy, he comments on errors in education, on feminism vs. true womanhood, on the importance of the child, and other issues, using incisive arguments against the trendsetters’ assaults on the common man and the family. Chesterton possessed the genius to foresee the dangers of implementing modernist proposals. He knew that lax moral standards would lead to the dehumanization of man. In this book, he staunchly defends the family against those ideas and institutions that would subvert it and thereby deliver man into the hands of the servile state. In addressing what is wrong, he also shows clearly what is right, and how to change things in that direction.

G. K. Chesterton (Author), Bernard Mayes (Narrator)

Audiobook

What You Need to Know About Voting--and Why

A step-by-step guide to every American’s most fundamental right and civic duty —just in time for the 2020 presidential election. Nothing is more important to the health of a democracy than the right to vote. Yet less than half of eligible voters routinely show up to the polls. Part of the problem is that the basics of the process we use to choose our elected leaders remain shrouded in mystery for many Americans. In What You Need to Know About Voting—and Why, law professor and constitutional scholar Kimberly Wehle unravels that mystery, offering practical, useful advice on the mechanics of voting and an enlightening survey of its history and future. What is a primary? How does the electoral college work? Who gets to cast a ballot and why? Wehle answers these questions and more in a clear, engaging, and conversational tone. From where and how to register in the various states to how to change your registration when you move, this indispensable book outlines the necessary steps to take to become an active participant in the electoral process. For new voters, would-be voters, young people looking ahead to the next election, and those seeking citizenship, What You Need to Know About Voting—and Why is a timely and informative guide, providing the background you need in order to make informed choices that will shape our shared destiny for decades to come. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Kim Wehle (Author), Nicol Zanzarella (Narrator)

Audiobook

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