Showing results by narrator "Charlton Griffin" in All Categories

Volume Four opens as the British abandoned Boston in March 1776. They moved their troops to Long Island and their fleet to New York Harbor. Washington, anticipating such a strategy, came out to face the Redcoats in Brooklyn, but was driven back to the city. More British troops arrived, forcing Washington to withdraw north. As the winter of 1777 approached with Redcoats occupying Philadelphia, Washington restricted the British army's supply line. But almost nobody believed the British could be defeated and few believed Washington's army could survive.

Mandell Creighton (1843-1901) was an English historian, bishop, and scholar, best known for his work on the history of the Papacy and the Renaissance. Born in Carlisle, England, he studied at Oxford, where he later became a fellow and tutor. Creighton was a meticulous historian who emphasized the importance of understanding historical figures in their context, avoiding anachronistic judgments. He was admired for his intellectual rigor and ability to balance academic and ecclesiastical duties. He was universally mourned at his death in 1901.

The 19th century witnessed some of the most far-reaching social and political changes in English history. In volume 4, we trace the arc of England's march to worldwide imperial dominance along with the nation's reckoning with her poorest citizens. It is a story of contrast and courage. The contrast is between those with titles, money, and power...and those lacking any or all of these.

As one of the supremely gifted poets of all time, one might expect great things from this collection of poetry by Horace. And these works do not disappoint. The 17 poems of the Epodes cover a variety of topics, including politics, magic, eroticism and food. A product of the turbulent final years of the Roman Republic, the collection is known for its striking depiction of Rome's sociopolitical ills in a time of great upheaval. In the Epistles, Horace reveals himself as a genuine moralist, a subtle observer of life, and a very good writer.

Livy's splendid adventure of Rome's rise to dominance comes to a close in this concluding volume of his magnificent history. Sadly, the work abruptly halts near the completion of book 45, which concerns events in Greece in the year 168 BC. The missing portions, numbering 107 books, have never been found. The original text of this monumental history, which came to 142 books when he completed it, carried the story to 9 BC.

Harold Lamb's superb story-telling and clear, sharp scholarship are focused on Peter the Great, his gigantic labors to raise Russia in one generation to cultural equality with Europe, and his efforts to mold and shape a sprawling empire. At the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648, the city of Moscow had extended its sway eastward through the Asiatic continent. People began to ask, "Will the city control the continent?" or "Will the continent control the city?" These were crucial questions...questions that continue to bedevil Russians to this day.

Mika Waltari sweeps you into the early 16th century in this tale of faith, love, and tragedy. Beginning in Finland, where our hero is born, we are introduced to young Michael Furfoot, a scholar with hopes of becoming a church prelate. His dream of ordination leads him to the famed University of Paris and its intrigues. Running short of money, he is forced to abandon his studies for the life of a mercenary soldier, a decision that will bring him into contact with some of the age's greatest leaders and intellects.

The Cassique of Kiawah is the romantic story of Harry Calvert, a privateer in service to King Charles II of England. Set in the year 1684, it is a colonial romance set in South Carolina. Because of a change of political winds in London, Calvert is hiding his crew and ship in the backwaters near Charleston. He sets out in disguise to see his friend, the governor of Carolina, in order to gauge the situation. But then he learns that his titled older brother, who has become the Cassique (or lord) of the beautiful island of Kiawah, is in the area and has married the woman Harry was previously in love with back in England....

Only four years after publishing his fable Animal Farm, a biting satire of Joseph Stalin’s horrific regime of terror, George Orwell turned his attention to the future. But his next book was to be no satire, no fable. What emerged from Orwell’s pen in 1949 was the most grimly dystopian novel ever written: 1984.

Acerbic wit and stinging satire are contrasted with delicate sensibility and passionate desire in the work of the Latin poet Catullus. Armed with an urbane sophistication and an aristocratic circle of friends, Catullus moved about easily in the upper ranks of Roman society and was acquainted with Cicero, Caesar, and Pompey among others.

Starting with a superbly concise explanation of the Industrial Revolution, authors Garrett and Godfrey explore the intricate series of events that followed on the heels of a conservative reaction to Napoleon's defeat. With varying degrees of success, the victorious Allied powers sought to reinstall monarchy and religious authority throughout Europe.

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.

Guy de Maupassant, (1850 - 1893), a native of Normandy, wrote in a bold and vigorous style that moves inexorably along clear plot lines. He had an astonishing capacity for creating believable characters, and he wasted little ink in putting his stories in motion. Maupassant was a master of "le mot juste," waiting until the perfect word came to him before setting his thoughts to paper. He was one of the first truly modern writers, and today his stories still resonate with enthusiasm and originality.

Chinese literature offers the most satisfying glimpse into the mysterious and beautiful civilization of China of any of the means at our disposal. But we discover in its pages the same human conditions which color our own cultures today. Love, revenge, betrayal, honor...they all bring our humanity into sharper focus, cutting through the confusion of nationality and time to draw us closer together with a celebration of our own similarities.

Nicolaus of Damascus was a Hellenized Jewish scholar who lived contemporaneously with Octavius and lived to see him become Caesar Augustus. The work itself takes us through young Octavius’ life and shows how he was carefully brought up and eventually adopted by his uncle, Julius Caesar. But what is remarkable about this short biography is the care and detail with which Nicolaus goes about in describing the plot and assassination of Caesar. The aftermath of Caesar’s murder is explained quite clearly as Octavian steps up to claim his uncle’s inheritance.

In Waking Up, Swami Yogeshananda takes on some of the most profound questions that mankind has ever thought to ask. Using Vedanta, a spiritual philosophy that harmonizes the basic tenets of all the world's religions, Yogeshananda seeks to broaden one's faith, whatever it may be, and exapnd the world's capacity for compassion. This is a far-reaching book with infinite spiritual possibilities.

Though often derided today for his cruelty, sensual pursuits, and despotism, Henry VIII was, in reality, much better in those respects than his contemporaries, and he compares well with the personal behavior of many historic leaders we now deem heroic. It was well that England in her hour of need had a man as king who counted the cost, who faced the risks, and successfully brought his country out of Europe's religious maelstrom.

Out of the mixture of Latin and Germanic paganism and the Christianity of the Early Middle Ages has sprung one of the world's supremely great pieces of literature. J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings, delivered a famous lecture to the British Academy in 1936 in which he maintained that Beowulf was a poem all of a piece, and not (as had been suggested) a jumble of fragments for pedantic scholars to paw over.

From morning till evening, the average Greek's life is described as he awakens, goes about his work, spends his leisure time, educates himself, exercises, and observes religious rites. The hardships of slaves, the narrow confines of female activities, and the constant drill of military routine are also minutely examined. If you have ever wanted to know what it was like to be an Athenian during the time of Pericles, listen to this riveting account of life in ancient Greece by one of the modern era's greatest historians.

Medieval feudalism is one of those subjects which most of us are familiar with, and yet have difficulty describing. Was is a political, military, economic, or social system? And how did it develop? All these questions are answered in this superb book. Carl Stephenson has done a magnificent job of paring away all extraneous subjects and focusing on just the key elements. This short book, a masterpiece of brevity, succinctly sums up medieval feudalism better than anything ever written.