Showing results by narrator "Norman Dietz" in All Categories

Mosby's Men is John H. Alexander's eyewitness account of his days with Mosby's Confederate Raiders, a small band of about 400 rough riders who chased 40,000 Union soldiers during the height of the Civil War. Riding 50 miles a day with very little rest, Mosby's Men perfected the "skedaddle", a baffling, highly effective guerrilla tactic that enabled them to make sneak attacks, evade capture, and constantly traverse enemy territory.

This is the story of an Abraham Lincoln many Americans aren't at all familiar with: Lincoln as a reluctant husband in an abusive relationship; Lincoln who came within moments of fighting a duel with a political adversary; the first and only president to patent an invention; and the first future president to argue before the Supreme Court.

Forgotten Patriots is the first-ever account of what took place in these hellholes. The result is a unique perspective on the Revolutionary War as well as a sobering commentary on how Americans have remembered our struggle for independence---and how much we have forgotten.

The unforgettable novelistic recreation of the night before Christmas when General Washington and a rag-tag army slipped across the Delaware to surprise the Hessians and forge a nation.

How often can you peek behind the curtains of one of the most secretive governments in the world? Prisoner of the State is the first book to give listeners a front row seat to the secret inner workings of China's government. It is the story of Premier Zhao Ziyang, the man who brought liberal change to that nation and who, at the height of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, tried to stop the massacre and was dethroned for his efforts.

Lemuel Gulliver, a surgeon and sea captain, journeys to different islands, where he meets some of the strangest creatures ever to appear in literature. His most famous visits are to Lilliput, where he towers over the six-inch, warlike people, and Brobdingnag, where the natives are gigantic, yet cannot understand abstract concepts. Gulliver also travels to the flying island of Laputa, Lagadu, a land of impractical philosophers, and Glubdubdrib, where sorcerers allow him to speak to great historical figures.

A young, smart, and beautiful American woman signs up for an escort service to prove to a man she barely knows that she will do just about anything.

When Guthrie leaves his job, his car, and his apartment behind and starts walking, he has no plan. But day by day, he finds direction, company, and a vision that gets clearer with each passing mile. Lawrence Block is widely known for his best-selling mysteries. Here, in an early work that is now reissued, the Edgar and Shamus Award-winning author offers a provocative fantasy that has changed the lives of many readers.

Timothy Snyder opens a new path in the understanding of modern nationalism and 20th-century socialism by presenting the often overlooked life of Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz, an important Polish thinker at the beginning of the 20th century. During his brief life in Poland, Paris, and Vienna, Kelles-Krauz influenced or infuriated most of the leaders of the various socialist movements of Central Europe and France. His central ideas ultimately were not accepted by the socialist mainstream at the time of his death.

When street urchin Tom Cantry trades places with Edward VI, Prince of Wales, he thinks everything's going to be easy. But young Tom finds himself caught in the trappings of a Prince, while possessing the heart of a beggar. The Prince and the Pauper is one of the more famous stories in children's literature, as well as one of the greatest "trading places" story of all time, showcasing Twain's satirical wit and acute sense of political irony.

In Spy Watching, Loch K. Johnson explores the United States' travails in its efforts to maintain effective accountability over its spy services.  

In October 1934, the Chinese Communist Army found itself facing annihilation, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of Nationalist soldiers. Rather than surrender, 86,000 Communists embarked on an epic flight to safety. Only 30 were women. Their trek would eventually cover 4,000 miles over 370 days. Under enemy fire they crossed highland swamps, climbed Tibetan peaks, scrambled over chain bridges, and trudged through the sands of the western deserts.

In one of Mark Twain's most biting social satires, the allegedly pious town of Hadleyburg has its moral character put to the test. When a sack purportedly loaded with gold is offered to one citizen in return for a good deed done long ago, the upright citizens of Hadleyburg learn a lesson in humility as, one by one, their greed bubbles to the surface.

More than 60 stories, poems, and essays are included in this wide-ranging collection by the extravagantly versatile Raymond Carver. Two of the stories - later revised for What We Talk About When We Talk About Love - are particularly notable in that between the first and the final versions, we see clearly the astounding process of Carver's literary development.

It's a classic story of the American Dream. George Mitchell grew up in a working class family in Maine, experiencing firsthand the demoralizing effects of unemployment when his father was laid off from a lifelong job. But education was always a household priority, and Mitchell embraced every opportunity that came his way, eventually becoming the ranking Democrat in the Senate during the administrations of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Soon after its debut at the time of the Civil War, the Gatling gun changed the nature of warfare and the course of world history. Discharging 200 shots per minute with alarming accuracy, the world's first machine gun became vitally important to protecting and expanding America's overseas interests.

Chip Chippendale met Ransom Barnes after the War Between the States, when the two cowboys drove a herd up from Texas together. But when Chip first laid eyes on Wyoming, he knew he was home, and the two friends split off on different trails. Each man went on to own his own ranch, but when Ransom's home is attacked and burned by a marauding band of Cheyenne warriors, he is faced with ruin - and makes matters worse by gunning down the Cheyenne leader's son.

Who invented supply-side economics - the idea that cutting tax rates can result in more growth, more prosperity at all income levels, and even more tax revenue flowing into the IRS? Most people would credit the economic team that advised Ronald Reagan in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But in fact supply-side economics came of age two decades earlier. And the first president who embraced it was one of the biggest icons of the Democratic Party - John F. Kennedy.

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.

Join veteran submariner and decorated veteran of the submarine service Andrew Karam and the crew of the USS Plunger (SSN 595) as it goes up against the best of the Soviet Navy on an extended "special operation" in the waning days of the Cold War and find out what life at sea is really like.