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The Wonders
- Lifting the Curtain on the Freak Show, Circus and Victorian Age
- Narrated by: Gavin Osborn
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
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Publisher's summary
The Wonders is a radical new history of the Victorian age: meet the forgotten and extraordinary freak performers whose talents and disabilities helped define an era.
On 23 March, 1844, General Tom Thumb, at 25 inches tall, entered the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace and bowed low to Queen Victoria.
On both sides of the Atlantic, this meeting marked a tipping point in the 19th century - the age of the freak was born.
Bewitching all levels of society, it was a world of astonishing spectacle - of dwarfs, giants, bearded ladies, Siamese twins and swaggering showmen - and one that has since inspired countless novels, films and musicals.
But the real stories (human dramas that so often eclipsed the fantasy presented on the stage) of the performing men, women and children have been forgotten or marginalised in the histories of the very people who exploited them.
In this richly evocative account, Dr John Woolf uses a wealth of recently discovered material to bring to life the sometimes tragic, sometimes triumphant, always extraordinary stories of people who used their (dis)abilities and difference to become some of the first international celebrities.
And through their lives we discover afresh some of the great transformations of the age: the birth of show business, of celebrity, of advertising, of 'alternative facts'; while also exploring the tensions between the power of fame, the impact of exploitation and our fascination with 'otherness'.
Critic reviews
"A promising young historian with a taste for the exotic." (Stephen Fry)
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- Length: 18 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,549
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 7,563
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,522
Fingerprints of the Gods is the revolutionary rewrite of history that has persuaded millions of listeners throughout the world to change their preconceptions about the history behind modern society. An intellectual detective story, this unique history audiobook directs probing questions at orthodox history, presenting disturbing new evidence that historians have tried - but failed - to explain.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Classic in Historical Mysteries
- By Kelly on 09-05-19
By: Graham Hancock
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Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
- By: Jack Weatherford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Jack Weatherford
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 19,662
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 16,258
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 16,254
The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Golden Horde/Platinum Listen
- By Cynthia on 12-11-13
By: Jack Weatherford
-
Napoleon's Hemorrhoids…And Other Small Events That Changed History
- By: Phil Mason
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,093
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 969
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 965
Hilarious, fascinating, and a roller coaster of dizzying, historical what-ifs, Napoleon's Hemorrhoids is a potpourri for serious historians and casual history buffs. In one of Phil Mason's many revelations, you'll learn that Communist jets were two minutes away from opening fire on American planes during the Cuban missile crisis, when they had to turn back as they were running out of fuel. You'll discover that before the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's painful hemorrhoids prevented him from mounting his horse to survey the battlefield.
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3 out of 5 stars
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They just throw the facts too fast
- By Concerned_llama on 12-11-20
By: Phil Mason
-
The Run of His Life
- The People v. O.J. Simpson
- By: Jeffrey Toobin
- Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,198
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,974
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,967
The definitive account of the O. J. Simpson trial, The Run of His Life is a prodigious feat of reporting that could have been written only by the foremost legal journalist of our time. First published less than a year after the infamous verdict, Jeffrey Toobin's nonfiction masterpiece tells the whole story, from the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman to the ruthless gamesmanship behind the scenes of "the trial of the century".
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4 out of 5 stars
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Fear and Loathing in Los Angeles
- By Cynthia on 05-24-16
By: Jeffrey Toobin
-
The Pagan World
- Ancient Religions Before Christianity
- By: Hans-Friedrich Mueller, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Hans-Friedrich Mueller
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,347
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,167
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,157
In The Pagan World: Ancient Religions Before Christianity, you will meet the fascinating, ancient polytheistic peoples of the Mediterranean and beyond, their many gods and goddesses, and their public and private worship practices, as you come to appreciate the foundational role religion played in their lives. Professor Hans-Friedrich Mueller, of Union College in Schenectady, New York, makes this ancient world come alive in 24 lectures with captivating stories of intrigue, artifacts, illustrations, and detailed descriptions from primary sources of intriguing personalities.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Pagan World
- By arnold e andersen md Dr Andersen on 03-28-20
By: Hans-Friedrich Mueller, and others
-
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
- As Told to Alex Haley
- By: Malcolm X, Alex Haley
- Narrated by: Laurence Fishburne
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 12,055
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 10,718
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 10,658
Experience a bold take on this classic autobiography as it’s performed by Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne. In this searing classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and Black empowerment activist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Human Rights movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American dream and the inherent racism in a society that denies its non-White citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Audible Masterpiece
- By Phoenician on 09-10-20
By: Malcolm X, and others
-
The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean
- By: M. Doreal
- Narrated by: John Marino
- Length: 2 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,319
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,115
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,108
The history of the tablets translated in the following book is strange and beyond the belief of modern scientists. Their antiquity is stupendous, dating back some 36,000 years. The writer is Thoth, an Atlantean Priest-King, who founded a colony in ancient Egypt after the sinking of the mother country. He was the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, erroneously attributed to Cheops. In it he incorporated his knowledge of the ancient wisdom and also securely secreted records and instruments of ancient Atlantis.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellence...
- By Light Worker on 04-21-18
By: M. Doreal
-
Mythology: Mega Collection
- Classic Stories from the Greek, Celtic, Norse, Japanese, Hindu, Chinese, Mesopotamian and Egyptian Mythology
- By: Scott Lewis
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser, Oliver Hunt
- Length: 31 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 661
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 576
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 576
Do you know how many wives Zeus had? Or how the famous Trojan War was caused by one beautiful lady? Or how Thor got his hammer? Give your imagination a real treat. This Mega Mythology Collection of eight audiobooks is for you....
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4 out of 5 stars
-
An interesting set of introductions.
- By Kevin Potter on 05-30-19
By: Scott Lewis
-
The Hidden History of the Boston Tea Party
- By: Adam Jortner, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Adam Jortner
- Length: 2 hrs and 56 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 224
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 202
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 201
The history of the Boston Tea Party is a hidden one. Why? Since it was a clandestine operation, all sorts of rumors and legends grew up around the event—many collected decades after the American Revolution had ended. At its core, however, the night of December 16, 1773, when colonials dumped tea from British ships into Boston Harbor, was more than a fight over tea and taxes. It was a struggle over the very nature of democracy and self-governance.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
How nuanced this event actually was
- By Cody T. on 12-17-23
By: Adam Jortner, and others
-
Made in America
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: William Roberts
- Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,490
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,232
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,231
In Made in America, Bryson de-mythologizes his native land, explaining how a dusty hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn't won, why Americans say 'lootenant' and 'Toosday', how Americans were eating junk food long before the word itself was cooked up, as well as exposing the true origins of the G-string, the original $64,000 question, and Dr Kellogg of cornflakes fame.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Bryson Not Reading Makes For a Rare Fail
- By John on 02-28-14
By: Bill Bryson
-
Deputy Mayor Putin
- By: Maeve McQuillan
- Narrated by: Fiona Shaw, Gwilym Lee
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 196
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 188
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 188
How did a once faceless bureaucrat, a man whose own wife said he was born under the sign of the vampire, become the idealized face of Russian manhood and its authoritarian leader? Deputy Mayor Putin examines the man behind the myth. We will explore how Putin’s formative years shaped and drove him and how the supporting cast of characters he gathered along the way helped him get to the Kremlin’s inner sanctum.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting
- By T J on 03-02-24
By: Maeve McQuillan
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Why didn't the ancient Greeks or Romans wear pants? How did they shave? How likely were they to drink fine wine, use birth control, or survive surgery? In a series of short and humorous essays, Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants explores some of the questions about the Greeks and Romans that ancient historian Garrett Ryan has answered in the classroom and online. Unlike most books on the classical world, the focus is not on famous figures or events, but on the fascinating details of daily life.
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Battle for the Big Top
- P.T. Barnum, James Bailey, John Ringling, and the Death-Defying Saga of the American Circus
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Millions have sat under the “big top,” watching as trapeze artists glide and clowns entertain, but few know the captivating stories behind the men whose creativity, ingenuity, and determination created one of our country’s most beloved pastimes. In Battle for the Big Top, New York Times best-selling author Les Standiford brings to life a remarkable era when three circus kings - James Bailey, P. T. Barnum, and John Ringling - all vied for control of the vastly profitable and influential American Circus.
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Fantastic!
- By EinsteinzVice on 09-30-22
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The Time Traveler's Guide to Regency Britain
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In the latest volume of his celebrated series of Time Traveler's Guides, Ian Mortimer turns to what is arguably the most-loved period in British history—the Regency, or Georgian England. A time of exuberance, thrills, frills, and unchecked bad behavior, it was perhaps the last age of true freedom before the arrival of the stifling world of Victorian morality. At the same time, it was a period of transition. Conveying the sights, sounds, and smells of the Regency period, this is history at its most exciting—the past not as something to be studied, but as lived experience.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Hell's Half Acre
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In 1873 the people of Labette County, Kansas made a grisly discovery. Buried by a trailside cabin beneath an orchard of young apple trees were the remains of countless bodies. Below the cabin itself was a cellar stained with blood. The Benders, the family of four who once resided on the property were nowhere to be found. The discovery sent the local community and national newspapers into a frenzy that continued for decades, sparking an epic manhunt for the Benders.
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In 1873 the people of Labette County, Kansas made a grisly discovery. Buried by a trailside cabin beneath an orchard of young apple trees were the remains of countless bodies. Below the cabin itself was a cellar stained with blood. The Benders, the family of four who once resided on the property were nowhere to be found. The discovery sent the local community and national newspapers into a frenzy that continued for decades, sparking an epic manhunt for the Benders.
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Until the mass hysteria of the seventeenth century, accusations of witchcraft in England were rare. However, four royal women, related in family and in court ties - Joan of Navarre, Eleanor Cobham, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, and Elizabeth Woodville - were accused of practicing witchcraft in order to kill or influence the king. In Royal Witches, Gemma Hollman explores the lives and the cases of these so-called witches, placing them in the historical context of 15th-century England, a setting rife with political upheaval and war.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Hard to listen to
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Weavers, Scribes, and Kings
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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In this sweeping history of the ancient Near East, Amanda Podany takes listeners on a gripping journey from the creation of the world's first cities to the conquests of Alexander the Great. The book is built around the life stories of many ancient men and women, from kings, priestesses, and merchants to brickmakers, musicians, and weavers. Their habits of daily life, beliefs, triumphs, and crises, and the changes that people faced over time are explored through their own written words and the buildings, cities, and empires in which they lived.
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Edward Rulloff was a brilliant yet utterly amoral murderer—some have called him a “Victorian-era Hannibal Lecter”—whose crimes spanned decades and whose victims were chosen out of revenge, out of envy, and sometimes out of necessity.
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3 out of 5 stars
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PLEASE STOP The Politicizing of Everything
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 72
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Murder in the 19th century was rare. But murder as sensation and entertainment became ubiquitous, with cold-blooded killings transformed into novels, broadsides, ballads, opera, and melodrama - even into puppet shows and performing-dog acts. Detective fiction and the new police force developed in parallel, each imitating the other - the founders of Scotland Yard gave rise to Dickens's Inspector Bucket, the first fictional police detective, who in turn influenced Sherlock Holmes and, ultimately, even P. D. James and Patricia Cornwell.
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Excellent, awesome and educational!
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Chaucer's People
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Chaucer wrote about everyday people outside the walls of the English court-men and women who spent days at the pedal of a loom, or maintaining the ledgers of an estate, or on the high seas. In Chaucer's People, Liza Picard transforms The Canterbury Tales into a masterful guide for a gloriously detailed tour of medieval England, from the mills and farms of a manor house to the lending houses and Inns of Court in London. In Chaucer's People, we meet, again, the motley crew of pilgrims on the road to Canterbury.
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A delight
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 110
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Story5 out of 5 stars 110
In November 1987, a young couple on an overnight trip to Seattle vanished without a trace. A week later, the bodies of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and her boyfriend Jay Cook were found in rural Washington. It was a brutal crime, and it was the perfect crime: With few clues and no witnesses, an international manhunt turned up empty, and the sensational case that shocked the Pacific Northwest gradually slipped from the headlines.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Compelling
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By: Edward Humes
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The Circus Fire
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 161
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In 1944, the big top of Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus in Hartford caught fire during the middle of an afternoon performance. Nine thousand people were inside. In seconds, the big top was burning out of control. The toll of the fire, and its circumstances, haunt Hartford to the present day. But it is the intense, detailed narrative - before, after, and especially during the panic under the burning tent - that will remain with listeners long after they finish this book.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Harrowing and brilliantly detailed
- By P. M. Morris on 09-14-08
By: Stewart O'Nan
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How Magicians Think
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 194
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The door to magic is closed, but it’s not locked. And now Joshua Jay, one of the world’s most accomplished magicians, not only opens that door but brings us inside to reveal the artistry and obsessiveness, esoteric history, and long-whispered-about traditions of a subject shrouded in mystery. In 52 short, compulsively listenable essays, Jay describes how he does it, whether it’s through the making of illusions, the psychology behind them, or the way technology influences the world of magic.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Joshua Jay Delivers
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In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes listeners on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world, Newitz explores the rise and fall of four ancient cities, each the center of a sophisticated civilization: the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Central Turkey, the Roman vacation town of Pompeii in Italy, the medieval megacity of Angkor in Cambodia, and the indigenous metropolis Cahokia, which stood beside the Mississippi River where East St. Louis is today.
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5 out of 5 stars
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What really happened to four "lost" cities
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Insane Emperors, Sunken Cities, and Earthquake Machines
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Did the ancient Greeks and Romans have conspiracy theories? Did they come close to an industrial revolution? Did they drink beer? In a series of fast-paced essays, Insane Emperors, Sunken Cities, and Earthquake Machines answers 40 questions that ancient historian Garrett Ryan has been asked in the classroom and through his popular YouTube channel ToldinStone. As in Dr. Ryan's previous book—Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants—the emphasis is on the fascinating details of daily life in the classical world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it
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By: Garrett Ryan
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Every Drop of Blood
- Hatred and Healing at Lincoln's Second Inauguration
- By: Edward Achorn
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 225
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 186
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 185
By March 4, 1865, the Civil War had slaughtered more than 700,000 Americans. After a morning of rain-drenched fury, tens of thousands crowded Washington’s Capitol grounds that day to see Abraham Lincoln take the oath for a second term. As the sun emerged, Lincoln rose to give perhaps the greatest inaugural address in American history, stunning the nation by arguing, in a brief 701 words, that both sides had been wrong, and that the war’s unimaginable horrors - every drop of blood spilled - might well have been God’s just verdict on the national sin of slavery.
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5 out of 5 stars
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New and fascinating
- By Clark Booth on 07-19-20
By: Edward Achorn
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How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England
- A Guide for Knaves, Fools, Harlots, Cuckolds, Drunkards, Liars, Thieves, and Braggarts
- By: Ruth Goodman
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 760
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 654
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Story4 out of 5 stars 651
Every age and social strata has its bad eggs, rule-breakers, and nose-thumbers. As acclaimed popular historian and author of How to Be a Victorian Ruth Goodman reveals in her madcap chronicle, Elizabethan England was particularly rank with troublemakers, from snooty needlers who took aim with a cutting "thee" to lowbrow drunkards with revolting table manners. Goodman draws on advice manuals, court cases, and sermons to offer this colorfully crude portrait of offenses most foul.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I learned a lot about cultural norms..even today's
- By Alanna R on 03-18-19
By: Ruth Goodman
What listeners say about The Wonders
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Alex Palmer
- 02-10-20
Excellent
Brilliantly academic and so very readable. Loved it. Learned.
Highly recommend this to all interested in this subject
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- joey carbo
- 02-25-21
Perfectly done all the way through.
These are my favorite kinds of historical books. Concise and carefully executed. It’s a perfect book with just the right narration.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- CaL Lambert
- 04-19-20
Strikes the right chord
Not maudlin or voyeuristic or creepy or sad. Well rounded and well read. Loved it.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Islandgirl
- 12-21-19
Wonderful book - A real eye opener.
I loved this book, and the humanization all these performers are given.
It really opened my eyes to the horrible men and or women that took advantage of these wonderful souls.
I would love to see a book or movie focused only on P T Barnum, and the truth behind this monster.
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jennifer Wenke
- 12-21-21
Eye opening for the taboo
I've always had a mom fascination with the sideshows and the original circuses and this gave me a much better idea about their origin and how awful PT Barnum actually was.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Patricia
- 02-04-22
Very well done
I found this book to be well researched and informative on many levels sadly Eugenics included.
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2 people found this helpful