bryan

Action-Packed, Adventure, American

The Siege of Fort Boonesborough and the great imagery of the landscape and encounters with the Native Indians

This is a great account of a near mythical American character. Brown tells a fascinating story weaving together a much greater understanding of the native Indians, the frontier of the newly emerging American nation, and the Boone legacy.

Science is a messy process. That being said, this is not just the story of the populating of the Americas, this is the story of science itself. This is a story of new ideas challenging the old, new evidence, and the search for a better understanding of the facts. Many of the chapters can get bogged down with excessive detail about flintknapping but it definitely adds to the understanding and evidence for much bigger points. The way the Americas were populated is obviously complex with many subtleties. This book does not declare and defend one position only, it shows more complexity and brings more understanding to this most interesting subject.

Outlaw Platoon is a story of love, brotherhood, pain, suffering, tragedy, and loss. There is no 'upside', this is war. Before you vote to turn our American kids into American soldiers to send them to 'fight for our freedom' perhaps we should all read/listen to books like this.
It is a harrowing story at times, heart wrenchingly disgusting and tragic at others, but completely necessary to hear. I'm sure this is really just a glimpse into the life of a soldier in Afghanistan but one needs to begin somewhere. I would suggest right here. The only uplifting aspect of this story is the love these brothers in arms share and the sense of duty and honor these men and women posess. I walked away from this with a couple of haunting questions, "What the hell are we fighting for?" "What is winning and how do we do it?"

Science is an ongoing process, a tool, a method and Alexander Von Humboldt used it to understand our world during a time of explosive advance. He was unknown to me previously and my world is more complete now that he is known.
This is the story of a man who would go on to influence Charles Darwin and John Lyell with his scientific rigor and quest for answers. This quest for scientific knowledge lead him to Cuba, South America, Mexico, and to Washington, D.C. to meet perhaps, the embodiment of the Enlightenment, Thomas Jefferson. This is not only the story of one man but of science and this man and his team are literally the 'boots on the ground'. Adventurously traveling through the dark deep jungle of the Amazon to the peaks of the Andes and following in the footsteps of Hernan Cortes in Mexico, Von Humboldt measures all, classifies many, and turns many previous scientific theories on their heads. Of course, not everything goes as planned but Humboldt's vision is never deterred and he should be recognized for his achievements. This book will move us all a little closer to that recognition.

It is no wonder this received the National Book Award... This is, to put it as simply as possible, a MUST READ! You don't like history? No problem! You are not interested in whaling? No problem! This is a compelling relevant story of human nature, struggle, friendship, loss, pain, death, and whale oil. A true American story of EPIC proportions!

Excellent, well written, and well read history of the Mongols. This a great starting point for an overall view of the great Kahn and of the Mongols in general. I was only familiar with the vague story of the rise and rule of Ghengis Kahn and this was a fantastic exploration! The accounts of some of the battles, the tactics, weapons, and strategies were endlessly fascinating and descriptive; full of emotion and even tension.
The flexibility of the Mongols to learn and apply knowledge and technology is hardly less than impressive. This fact and the relentless determination and perseverance of the Mongol people nearly guaranteed them success until they strayed too far from their own humble beginnings.
The Mongols affected nearly the entire world; if you did not realize this, this book is for YOU!

What a great listen! This a a well written account not only of the Puritans that ventured across the Atlantic in 1620 but of their encounter and relationship with the Native Indian people of New England and how these first relationships set the course for future events.
I've read some reviews chastising Philbrick for a misleading title but I could not disagree more. As he notes in the introduction Philbrick compares two key figures of the ongoing Puritan experiment, William Bradford and Benjamin Church. There is another group that needs to be represented in this history and that is of course, the Native Indians. Philbrick not only gives insights to their prior way of life but to the myriad of upcoming changes for these native people. There is much insight to the world view of these parties involved, their motivations, the courage and loss, and struggle that all people persevere to not only survive but to flourish.
I would highly recommend this audiobook for anyone interested in early American history or the early encounters of Europeans and the native populations of the Americas.