Showing results by narrator "Paul Heitsch" in All Categories

Understanding Adolf Hitler's ideology provides insights into the mental world of an extremist politics that, over the course of the Third Reich, developed explosive energies culminating in the Second World War and the Holocaust. Too often the theories underlying National Socialism or Nazism are dismissed as an irrational hodgepodge of ideas. Yet that ideology drove Hitler's quest for power in 1933, colored everything in the Third Reich, and transformed him, however briefly, into the most powerful leader in the world.

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.

Classical Music for Dummies is a friendly, funny, easy-to-understand guide to composers, instruments, orchestras, concerts, recordings, and more. Classical music is widely considered one of the pinnacles of human achievement, and this informative guide will shows you just how beautiful and rewarding it can be. You'll learn how Bach is different from Beethoven, how Mozart is different still, and why not all "classical" music is actually Classical if it's really Baroque or Romantic.

Without doubt the most unique U.S. unit to participate in the Vietnam War, the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group (MACVSOG) was a highly-classified, U.S. joint-service organization consisting of Army Special Forces, Navy SEALs, Marine Force Reconnaissance units, the Air Force, and the CIA. Committed to action in Southeast Asia even before the major U.S. build-up in 1965, it also fielded a division-sized element of South Vietnamese military personnel, indigenous Montagnards, ethnic Chinese Nungs, and Taiwanese pilots.

Identity Crisis takes listeners from the bruising primaries to an election night whose outcome defied the predictions of the pollsters and pundits. The book shows how fundamental characteristics of the nation and its politics - the state of the economy, the Obama presidency, and the demographics of the political parties - combined with the candidates' personalities and rhetoric to produce one of the most unexpected presidencies in history.

Twenty-one years have passed since the end of the wars against the Insectoids and the rogue AI Machineships. A new generation of Shilohs has joined the Space Force, much to the joy of the AIs that still revere the memory of The Cag, Victor Shiloh. And, once again, humanity is in mortal danger. The temporal backlash from multiple time jumps that the Friendlies had warned against is making itself felt with a vengeance. Can humans and their loyal AI allies find a way to undo their meddling with time? Changing the past without resorting to time travel will be but half the battle.

The galactic quadrant continues to tumble into chaos after to the collapse of the ConFed and new nations scramble for control in the power vacuum it left behind. It’s a dangerous and tumultuous time. Captain Jason Burke and his Omega Force crew are trying their best to stay clear of the trouble, but fate has other plans. What starts as mild curiosity about an incident involving a random stellar phenomena will quickly spiral out of control and puts them at odds with two competing superpowers, both after the same thing.

The changes on Enceladus are causing ripples throughout the solar system — and beyond. But the Artifact isn't done yet.

In August 1862, after decades of broken treaties, increasing hardship, and relentless encroachment on their lands, a group of Dakota warriors convened a council at the tepee of their leader, Little Crow. Knowing the strength and resilience of the young American nation, Little Crow counseled caution, but anger won the day. Forced to either lead his warriors in a war he knew they could not win or leave them to their fates, he declared, "[Little Crow] is not a coward: he will die with you."

The ConFed has ruled the galactic quadrant for nearly two thousand years. During that time a relative peace has been kept by threat of force from their mighty fleet. But as with all things, their dominance must come to an end. Now that the ConFed is crumbling and their fleet is withdrawing back to the Core Worlds, the strong are once again preying on the weak. In the border regions, trafficking rings have popped up alongside the refugee pipelines making the journey for new colonists a treacherous one.

A close look at the contest of 1880 reveals that Garfield's victory could have been the start of a period of greater civil rights legislation, a continuation of Lincoln's vision. This was the choice made by the American people - and, as The Last Lincoln Republican makes poignantly clear, the great opportunity forever lost when Garfield was assassinated just a few months into his term. 

A new killer is cutting a bloody swath through the frontier worlds. Rumors of its exploits are spreading and, like a ghost, nobody even knows what it looks like. Captain Jason Burke and his crew watch this growing menace with a mix of unease...and guilt. They know who this killer is. He used to be one of them.

Drawing on interviews, official records, private archives, and his own family history, Jason M. Colby tells the exhilarating and often heartbreaking story of how people came to love the ocean's greatest predator.

The Machine - a terrifying and relentless enemy - reigns supreme in the galaxy, and the real fight is just beginning. Omega Force keenly feels the weight of responsibility for the Machine's arrival in the quadrant, but even with the resources of the Blazing Sun organized crime syndicate backing them, there's only so much the small mercenary crew can do against the malevolent AI that has already usurped control of most of the government. The Machine is now firmly in control of the ConFed's military.

In The Scourge of War, preeminent military historian Brian Holden Reid offers a deeply researched life-and-times account of William Tecumseh Sherman. By examining his childhood and education, his business ventures in California, his antebellum leadership of a military college in Louisiana, and numerous career false starts, Holden Reid shows how unlikely his exceptional Civil War career would seem.

David Bell emphasizes the astonishing sense of human possibility that Napoleon represented. Bell emphasizes the importance of the French Revolution in understanding Napoleon's career. The revolution made possible the unprecedented concentration of political authority that Napoleon accrued. Without the political changes brought about by the revolution, Napoleon could not have fought his wars. Without the wars, he could not have seized and held onto power. Though his virtual dictatorship betrayed the ideals of liberty and equality, his life and career were revolutionary.

What turns a man into a killer? Can simple words drive a man to commit murder? Detective Jason Strong must find a killer whose signature is a wine glass. That's about all the police know, except that his victims all share certain similarities. The case gets personal when someone close to Jason is targeted, and time begins to run out. In the exciting follow-up to Where's My Son?, Jason is pushed to find a way to solve this case, before the unthinkable happens.

The trials for the US swimming team to the games in Paris are in full swing when a young swimmer is found dead in the pool. It looks like suicide, but as detectives investigate, Miami Jones is drawn into the defense of the team's star athlete. Miami learns of a bizarre death of another swimmer eight years ago that might be linked, and might put his almost client in the crosshairs.

Tempest, fired from his job and dumped by his girlfriend, opens a package from his former employer—only to be transported into a realm of magic, monsters, and cute goblin thieves who can’t keep their hands out of his pockets. He’s entered the world of Rathos as a "venturer": beings attuned to magic via enchanted glyphs in their palms.

Best-selling author and renowned Zen teacher Steve Hagen penetrates the most essential and enduring questions at the heart of the Buddha's teachings: How can we see the world in each moment, rather than merely as what we think, hope, or fear it is? How can we base our actions on reality, rather than on the longing and loathing of our hearts and minds? How can we live lives that are wise, compassionate, and in tune with reality? And how can we separate the wisdom of Buddhism from the cultural trappings and misconceptions that have come to be associated with it?