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Famous People in History
- Narrated by: Trevor Nichols, Katinka Wolf
- Length: 2 hrs and 31 mins
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Famous People in History
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Editorial reviews
The stories of nine men and women whose lives changed the course of history are told in this beautifully written and produced program for young people. Trevor Nichols reads the stories of Columbus, Shakespeare, Lord Nelson, Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln. Katinka Wolf, herself a fluent Dutch speaker and Anne Frank expert, tells the story of Anne Frank, as well as those of Elizabeth I, Mozart and Florence Nightingale. The script includes Briticisms that might be alien to American listeners, and the Mozart segment contains language that some parents may find objectionable, but the quality and the educational value of this production outweigh any negatives.
Publisher's summary
Here are the stories of nine people whose energy, imagination, courage, and determination changed the world. From Christopher Columbus who set off into unknown seas in a small ship in the 15th century, to a young girl, Anne Frank, caught in the turmoil of the 20th, who wrote a remarkable diary while in hiding in Amsterdam during the Second World War. Their personalities and their achievements make them heroes and heroines for our time also.
This program features short biographies of Christopher Columbus, Elizabeth I, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Lord Nelson, Charles Darwin, Florence Nightingale, Abraham Lincoln, and Anne Frank.
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- The Unauthorised History of Australia, Volume 1
- By: David Hunt
- Narrated by: David Hunt
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 245
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 217
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 217
Girt. No word could better capture the essence of Australia.... In this hilarious history, David Hunt reveals the truth of Australia's past, from megafauna to Macquarie - the cock-ups and curiosities, the forgotten eccentrics and Eureka moments that have made us who we are. Girt introduces forgotten heroes like Mary McLoghlin, transported for the crime of "felony of sock", and Trim the cat, who beat a French monkey to become the first animal to circumnavigate Australia.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Typically irreverent.
- By patricia heffernan on 12-27-15
By: David Hunt
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Empire of Blue Water
- Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe that Ended the Outlaws' Bloody Reign
- By: Stephan Talty
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,205
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 955
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 949
He challenged the greatest empire on earth with a ragtag bunch of renegades and brought it to its knees. This is the real story of the pirates of the Caribbean. Henry Morgan, a 20-year-old Welshman, crossed the Atlantic in 1655, hell-bent on making his fortune. Over the next three decades, his exploits in the Caribbean became legendary. His daring attacks on the mighty Spanish empire on land and at sea determined the fates of kings and queens, and his victories helped shape the destiny of the New World.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Morbid Terrorists?
- By Jack on 11-11-08
By: Stephan Talty
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King Leopold's Ghost
- A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa
- By: Adam Hochschild
- Narrated by: Geoffrey Howard
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,910
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,589
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,590
In the late 1890s, Edmund Dene Morel, a young British shipping company agent, noticed something strange about the cargoes of his company's ships as they arrived from and departed for the Congo. Incoming ships were crammed with valuable ivory and rubber. Outbound ships carried little more than soldiers and firearms. Correctly concluding that only slave labor could account for these cargoes, Morel almost singlehandedly made this slave-labor regime the premier human rights story in the world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating
- By Edith on 01-20-11
By: Adam Hochschild
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Bury the Chains
- Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves
- By: Adam Hochschild
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 102
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 84
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Story5 out of 5 stars 83
In early 1787, 12 men - a printer, a lawyer, a clergyman, and others united by their hatred of slavery - came together in a London printing shop and began a remarkable grass-roots movement, battling for the rights of people on another continent. Masterfully stoking public opinion, the movement's leaders pioneered a variety of techniques that have been adopted by citizens' movements ever since, from consumer boycotts to wall posters and lapel buttons to celebrity endorsements.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Eye-Opener
- By Carl Thompson on 01-06-19
By: Adam Hochschild
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The Great Shame
- And the Triumph of the Irish in the English-Speaking World
- By: Thomas Keneally
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 35 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 46
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 36
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
Thomas Keneally, the Booker Prize-winning author of Schindler’s List, is universally praised for crafting smooth narratives from authentic historical events. With The Great Shame, he turns his insightful eye toward the Irish struggle through the 19h century. In sharp contrast to much of Europe, Ireland was a terrible place to be during the 1800s. Many of the nation’s finest people set sail for America and Canada.
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4 out of 5 stars
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First read
- By WGrubb on 04-08-16
By: Thomas Keneally
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The Empire of Necessity
- Slavery, Freedom, and Deception in the New World
- By: Greg Grandin
- Narrated by: Luis Moreno
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 72
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
One morning in 1805, off a remote island in the South Pacific, Captain Amasa Delano, a New England seal hunter, climbed aboard a distressed Spanish ship carrying scores of West Africans he thought were slaves. They weren' t. Having earlier seized control of the vessel and slaughtered most of the crew, they were staging an elaborate ruse, acting as if they were humble servants. When Delano, an idealistic, anti-slavery republican, finally realized the deception, he responded with explosive violence. Drawing on research on four continents, The Empire of Necessity explores the multiple forces that culminated in this extraordinary event.
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4 out of 5 stars
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What is the "right thing to do"?
- By Lake on 03-08-14
By: Greg Grandin
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Pirate Women
- The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas
- By: Laura Sook Duncombe
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 122
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 113
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Story4 out of 5 stars 113
In the first-ever history of the world's female buccaneers, Pirate Women: the Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas tells the story of women, both real and legendary, who through the ages sailed alongside - and sometimes in command of - their male counterparts. These women came from all walks of life but had one thing in common: a desire for freedom.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Don’t waste your time or credit
- By CJ on 08-06-18
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A Commonwealth of Thieves
- The Improbable Birth of Australia
- By: Thomas Keneally
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 112
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 72
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Story4 out of 5 stars 72
It was 1786 when Arthur Phillip, an ambitious captain in the Royal Navy, was assigned the formidable task of organizing an expedition to Australia in order to establish a penal colony. With the authority of a renowned historian and the narrative grace of a brilliant novelist, Thomas Keneally offers an insider's perspective into the dramatic saga of the birth of a vibrant society in an unfamiliar land.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Interesting tidbits, but slow overall
- By Dan on 08-23-07
By: Thomas Keneally
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Hannibal and Me
- What History’s Greatest Military Strategist Can Teach Us About Success and Failure
- By: Andreas Kluth
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 216
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 195
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 194
The lives of Hannibal and his Roman enemies are the stuff of legend. But these classic stories contain truths with relevance today: The seeds of our successes lie in our failures, and within our successes are the kernels of our failure. Knowing how to recognize these paradoxes will help us to be more effective at work, at school, at home, and with others. A big new idea book that springs from ancient history, Hannibal and Me explores these exciting ideas by analyzing the experiences of Hannibal and others who made their mark on history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wow
- By Berserk on 04-12-12
By: Andreas Kluth
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The Double Life of Pocahontas
- By: Jean Fritz
- Narrated by: Melissa Hughes
- Length: 2 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 112
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 94
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 93
Native American princess or British celebrity? Pocahontas played a pivotal role in the New World, but the powerful pull between her tribe and the new settlement on Virginia's shores took its toll.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Who is Pocahontas?
- By Kelbie on 10-25-20
By: Jean Fritz
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Explorers of the Nile
- The Triumph and Tragedy of a Great Victorian Adventure
- By: Tim Jeal
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 51
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
From award-winning author Tim Jeal comes a vivid examination of the six larger-than-life men and one extraordinary woman who set out to find the source of the White Nile in the 19th century.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great Story Flawed
- By The Mays-Dickens Family on 05-12-12
By: Tim Jeal
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Away Off Shore
- Nantucket Island and Its People, 1602-1890
- By: Nathaniel Philbrick
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 110
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 96
In his first book of history, Away Off Shore, New York Times best-selling author Nathaniel Philbrick reveals the people and the stories behind what was once the whaling capital of the world. Beyond its charm, quaint local traditions, and whaling yarns, Philbrick explores the origins of Nantucket in this comprehensive history. From the English settlers who thought they were purchasing a "Native American ghost town" but actually found a fully realized society, the story of Nantucket is a truly unique chapter of American history.
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3 out of 5 stars
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There once were some (wo)men in Nantucket...
- By Darwin8u on 02-03-19
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The Pioneers
- The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 4,978
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,298
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Story4 out of 5 stars 4,270
The number one New York Times best seller by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough rediscovers an important chapter in the American story that's "as resonant today as ever" (The Wall Street Journal) - the settling of the Northwest Territory by courageous pioneers who overcame incredible hardships to build a community based on ideals that would define our country.
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5 out of 5 stars
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i would prefer david reading it
- By hooterwah on 05-07-19
By: David McCullough
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When Hitler Took Cocaine and Lenin Lost His Brain
- History's Unknown Chapters
- By: Giles Milton
- Narrated by: Giles Milton
- Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 322
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 279
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Story4 out of 5 stars 277
The first installment in Giles Milton's outrageously entertaining series, History's Unknown Chapters: colorful and accessible, intelligent and illuminating, Milton shows his customary historical flair as he delves into the little-known stories from the past. There's the cook aboard the Titanic, who pickled himself with whiskey and survived in the icy seas where most everyone else died. There's the man who survived the atomic bomb in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And there's many, many more.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Quite entertaining
- By Gunther on 08-05-16
By: Giles Milton
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My Thoughts Be Bloody
- The Bitter Rivalry Between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth
- By: Nora Titone, Doris Kearns Goodwin - introduction/notes
- Narrated by: John B. Lloyd
- Length: 19 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 243
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 192
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 191
My Thoughts Be Bloody, a sweeping family saga, revives an extraordinary figure whose name has been missing, until now, from the story of President Lincoln's death. Edwin Booth, John Wilkes's older brother by four years, was in his day the biggest star of the American stage. Without an account of Edwin Booth, author Nora Titone argues, the real story of Lincoln's assassin has never been told.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful!
- By Tad Davis on 11-30-10
By: Nora Titone, and others
What listeners say about Famous People in History
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- RAC
- 10-25-04
Good subject, but way too much personal opinion
Being an enthusiastic history buff, I very much enjoyed the subject matter but was put off by the author's judgments and personal criticisms. This might not bother other readers, however, I prefer history to be shared as a factual matter rather than presented with the author's prejudice as to what is good, bad or indifferent. I will most likely not purchase the second volume on the subject from this author.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Karl
- 05-18-15
Brief synopsis
It's too short to be able to do justice. I liked it to a readers digest version. 2/5 rating
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