Wolfpacker

This series (many read in print as not all were available unabridged on Audible when I read them a few years ago) made for a great summer of reading. There are over twenty books in the series. Somehow the books did not get too repetitive or formulaic. I remember that summer of reading fondly. These books kept me enthralled for months.

When I reached the end of this volume, I thought, "Is that it? I don't feel like I saw the empire actually arrive." It almost crept up on me. Sure, there were battles and conquests, but there didn't seem to be any grand advances of empire. Perhaps this was the point: the growth was organic, steady, and inexorable. Also, the fact that the book's end arrived before I could believe must mean that it was engaging. The short biographies of the individual empire builders were fantastic. (The footnotes were my favorite part.)
I also liked the emphasis on three themes throughout: 1) the effect of the abolished slave trade and slaveholdings, 2) the evangelical and humanitarian motives of empire, and 3) the reluctance through most of Victoria's reign by most Englishmen to even pursue empire.
You will enjoy this book if you want to learn about the growth of the British Empire under Victoria.

This book was entertaining. Somehow, it was not so good that I have gone on to read more in the series.

Manchester has been hailed as one of the all-time great biographers. His two-part trilogy (yes, the third part was never written.) of Churchill is fabulous. This biography of MacArthur is also excellent. You will learn many new aspects of the island-hopping strategy so brilliantly executed to conquer unfathomable expanses of the Pacific. (Caveat: get a good map to refer to as you listen.) The size of the Japanese conquests that the US had to liberate was immense. The flawed character of the capable General is also a fascinating study.

This is a wonderful book read by one of my favorite narrators. This story is so full of love, hatred, revenge, nobility, and friendship. It keeps you enthralled through its long hours and meandering twists and turns. Do not be put off by the time investment required to get through the many hours of listening. What a great way to spend 40+ hours, and what a bargain for that credit you are looking to spend!

This is a worthwhile listen. It does a relatively good job of filling in this often missed part of early US history. I like how it develops the political thinking of some of our less well known founders. The writing is good, but it could be more entertaining.

This book might be better in print. Some of the literary devices such as symbolism and foreshadowing, so rich in this book, might have been lost a bit in the audio version. Still, it is worth listening to.

This course was helpful to me in understanding the archaeology about Troy and its implications for the historicity of The Trojan War. If you don't care to hear about Troy level 9B and why it may be less important than level 9C, you might get bogged down a bit.

Professor Cline makes this course interesting. He does come into this work assuming that some parts of the Old Testament are not true. This is an understandable viewpoint, but it might concern some faithful Jewish and Christian believers.

Einstein is a fascinating man scientifically, politically, and personally. Isaacson does a good job of telling the story in a way that balances these three aspects of the famous man. Hermann's narration is masterful.