Showing results by narrator "Charlton Griffin" in All Categories

Of the surviving work of Cornelius Nepos, Lives of the Eminent Commanders is the only piece that has come down to us intact, and it was actually only one of a much larger set of volumes on foreign and Roman kings, generals, lawyers, orators, poets, historians, and philosophers. What makes the writing of Nepos highly original was his intent to endow his biographies with a moral purpose and to display the strengths and weaknesses of each great man. Modern listeners will enjoy the work of Nepos and gain new insights into classical Greek leaders, among others.

This amazing collection of poetry from the famous Greek Anthology spans over 1,500 years of ancient Greek and Byzantine history. The selections in this recording were chosen and translated by famed classicist J. W. Mackail.

Barry Lyndon, first serialized in 1844, is a swashbuckling romp through the aristocratic Europe of the 18th century. The central character, a roguish Irishman, narrates most of the story in the first person, relating his adventures as a soldier in both the British and Prussian armies; as a gambler and confidence man under the guidance of his uncle, a practiced fraud; and as a fortune hunting gigolo in search of wealthy widows and heiresses.

A History of Greece continues with the bitter struggle between Sparta and Athens for mastery of the Hellenic world. Though Sparta finally emerges victorious, her victory soon turns to ashes with the ascendancy of Thebes and the still greater power of Philip of Macedon. Philip unites an unwilling Greece with his iron policy. Athens gives up her independence, but maintains an aloof intellectual and artistic leadership in the Greek world.

China has been a wellspring of storytelling for over 2,000 years. Sadly, this fantastic literature is little known in the west outside the halls of academia, though a handful of recent 20th century authors have attained a respectable following. The stories in this volume date from the sixth century A.D. to the early part of the 20th century, and will give the listener a good feel for the subject. Astonishingly, the Chinese enjoyed from the earliest times many of the genres we take for granted today.

Widely considered the greatest of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, The Hound of the Baskervilles was originally serialized in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902. It is the third of only four short novels Doyle wrote about his super sleuth. Set largely on Dartmoor in Devon in England's West Country, it is the gloom-enshrouded story of murder inspired by the family legend of a gigantic, demonic hound of supernatural origin.

Martial was a Latin poet from Hispania best known for his 12 books of Epigrams, published in Rome between A.D. 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan. In these short, witty poems, he cheerfully satirises city life and the scandalous activities of his acquaintances, and romanticises his provincial upbringing.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, (1860-1904), was born in Russia at Taganrog on the Sea of Azov. His name has become synonymous with a certain literary style much admired and widely copied since his death. Typically, a Chekhov story is a "mood", a state of mind, usually with regard to relations between one person and another. Under the influence of the constant, infinitesimal, and unforeseen pinpricks of life, there occurs a gradual transformation of that state of mind.

That it required a horrible war to motivate Wilfred Owen to write some of the 20th century's best poetry is symbolic of that great calamity. In a vivid, languorous, mesmerizing style, Owen has left humanity the language of loss. When the Great War broke out in 1914, Owen, along with millions of his compatriots, were drawn into the maw of the world's first mechanized war.

The ominous forces of militarism, nationalism, and secret alliances were finally set loose by the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand. As the Central Powers of Austria-Hungary and Germany move to quickly bring the issue to a speedy climax, the wheels begin to come off. Instead of quick victory, a devastating stalemate ensued.

Roanoke Hundred is an historical novel about the very first attempt to found an English colony in North America in 1585. Although it is a fictional account, the story is based on the letters, diaries, and archives of the period. Every character is based on a real person. The entire adventure centers around one of England’s greatest heroes, Sir Richard Grenville. Grenville was lord of the manors of Stowe, Kilkhampton in Cornwall, and of Bideford in Devon. He was also a soldier, an armed merchant fleet owner, privateer, colonizer, and explorer.

When Napoleon decided to invade Russia in 1812, it became the event that would lead to his downfall. Setting off on his invasion on June 24th with a force numbering about 600,000–the largest army ever gathered up to that time–the military operation ended six months later with the last French soldiers stumbling out of Russia in total defeat.

All the youthful vigor and exuberance of Charles Dickens is on display in his first two novels. The Pickwick Papers is a comic tour de force, its centerpiece being the Pickwickians who travel about London and the surrounding countryside investigating various peculiarities. Oliver Twist reflects much that is autobiographical in Dickens' life experience. The novel is notable for the authors' realistic portrayal of criminals and their brutal, sordid lives, as well as for exposing the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid-19th century.

This is the story of Margaret Hale, a young English woman who accompanies her family's move from rural southern England to the industrial north. It proves to be a difficult change, with all the attendant social conflicts and cultural misunderstandings consequent to such situations. It is a study in contrasts. Mrs. Gaskell created one of the Victorian era's greatest heroines in Margaret Hale, a young lady of passionate intensity.

Robert Louis Stevenson, (1850 - 1894), was born in Edinburgh. His life has always held a fascinating romantic attraction, especially for his contemporaries. His mercurial temperament, expressed so eloquently with his flashing pen, was best revealed when he took up a cause in defense of justice. Although known primarily for the novels Kidnapped and Treasure Island, his works are by no means reserved for the youth market.

Behind the glittering facade of 18th century European civilization lurked some of the most brutal and cynical power brokers ever to practice the art of diplomacy, and ironically it was their blueprint for conquest that the French Revolution was to utilize so well. Europe Under the Old Regime is actually the preface to Sorel's tremendous and magnificently elaborate work, Europe and the French Revolution.

Winner of the 2003 Audie Award for Classic Fiction, this is an unparalleled presentation of Maugham's stories, complete with sound effects and music.

From the death of Louis XIV in 1715 until the onset of the French Revolution in 1789, there occurred a profound evolution in the thinking of political philosophers, whose epoch is known as The Enlightenment. There were three men whose writings were to be most responsible for this intellectual whirlwind: Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau.

The seventeenth century was one of the most fascinating and seminal periods in European history, particularly with regard to France. For it was here in France that the fruits of the earlier Renaissance were to be most brilliantly realized. Although the path of "greatness" for Louis XIV was prepared for him by men like Richelieu, Mazarin, Colbert, Turenne, and Louvois, it was during his reign that French preeminence in all facets of civilization emerged.

The Irish have always had a knack for telling wonderful stories, and their fantastic ability has been recognized from early Gaelic times. For centuries, stories of all kinds have been offered to friends and strangers alike as a form of entertainment and communication. Today in Ireland, the short story is revered even above the novel. Hearing these magnificent stories, we become aware of more than just the humor and travail of a small island.