Mostrando resultados por narrador "Charlton Griffin" en Todas las categorías

The exemplary life of a noble soldier/statesman, a description of ancient Germany, and a discussion of oratory are the subjects of three short masterpieces by the brilliant Roman historian, Tacitus.

Volume Two opens in March, 1862 with Lee back in Richmond after a lengthy absence. He was shocked by the chaos and panic evident in the Confederate capital. McClellan had assembled a superbly equipped army of over 100,000 soldiers which Virginians feared might invade at any time. In May, McClellan began to move his huge Army of the Potomac up the peninsula and so close to Richmond that church steeples were within his view. The situation seemed hopeless.

Volume three opens in May 1863 as Lee assessed his situation after the great Confederate victory at Chancellorsville and the loss of General Jackson. Lee quickly reorganized his army and headed north, hoping to inflict a war-ending defeat on the Union. But absent Jackson, his army was not the same.

Ferdinand Lot (1866-1952) was one of the great historians of his generation, and the transition from Roman to Medieval civilization was a process that fascinated him most of his life. Rather than placing the emphasis for Rome’s fall on purely political or military reasons, Lot put forth multiple explanations for the birth of the Middle Ages which embrace not only politics and war, but linguistic, geographic, cultural, social and economic factors.

After more than 2,300 years, the Greek philosopher Aristotle still remains one of the most influential thinkers who has ever lived. There was hardly any field of human knowledge in existence during his day in which he did not make a major contribution. Additionally, he probed areas which were never before examined. Indeed, one could make the claim that no individual person has ever known as much about this world as Aristotle. His analyses of zoology and logic paved the way for modern forensic techniques, and for which every scientist down to this day owes him a debt of gratitude.

Volume Two of Dio Cassius brings to a close his sweeping historical work, Roman History. This volume begins with book 50 and the struggle between Octavian and Mark Antony. Octavian's victory is the beginning of the Principate and a new direction in Roman history. Dio takes a prolonged look at the reign of Augustus.

Barry Lyndon, first serialized in 1844, is a swashbuckling romp through the aristocratic Europe of the 18th century. The central character, a roguish Irishman, narrates most of the story in the first person, relating his adventures as a soldier in both the British and Prussian armies; as a gambler and confidence man under the guidance of his uncle, a practiced fraud; and as a fortune hunting gigolo in search of wealthy widows and heiresses.

Acerbic wit and stinging satire are contrasted with delicate sensibility and passionate desire in the work of the Latin poet Catullus. Armed with an urbane sophistication and an aristocratic circle of friends, Catullus moved about easily in the upper ranks of Roman society and was acquainted with Cicero, Caesar, and Pompey among others.

Quintus Horatius Flaccus was born on December 8, 65 BC in the southeastern region of Hellenized Italy. He died on November 27, 8 BC. Horace was the son of a freedman of modest means. In the civil war between Antony and Octavian, he threw in his lot with Antony and fled along with the rest upon their defeat at Phillipi in 42 BC. His subsequent discovery by Maecenas and eventual rehabilitation with the Augustan regime was one of history's most fortunate reconciliations.

Mandell Creighton (1843-1901) was an English historian, bishop, and scholar, best known for his work on the history of the Papacy and the Renaissance. Born in Carlisle, England, he studied at Oxford, where he later became a fellow and tutor. Creighton was a meticulous historian who emphasized the importance of understanding historical figures in their context, avoiding anachronistic judgments. He was admired for his intellectual rigor and ability to balance academic and ecclesiastical duties. He was universally mourned at his death in 1901.

The Persian Wars is part history, part geography, part anthropology...and completely entertaining. It possesses a charm that is legendary. However, over and above this, Herodotus has succeeded for all time in brilliantly expressing the conflict between the ideal of the free man defending his liberty within a state based on the rule of law, and that of the despot who bases his rule on brute force and whose subjects are considered slaves.

Count Luna is the story of Alexander Jessiersky, an Austrian aristocrat who presides over a Viennese transport company. As World War II opens, Jessiersky, who detests the Nazis, is asked by his board of directors to acquiesce in the confiscation of a neighboring parcel of land in order to accommodate expanded war business. Jessiersky refuses to go along, but because of inattention or laziness his board carries out the land seizure behind his back.

Martial was a Latin poet from Hispania best known for his 12 books of Epigrams, published in Rome between A.D. 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan. In these short, witty poems, he cheerfully satirises city life and the scandalous activities of his acquaintances, and romanticises his provincial upbringing.

In his Poetics, Aristotle puts forward that everything we create is a kind of imitation of life, merely using different types of media, objects and manners, whether painting, music, or language. We shape the images, sounds or words to make some particular point and tell a unique story. But if you want an audience to respond to what you have to say, whatever you create must be connected logically to the real world. The rules of doing this successfully are laid out in Poetics.

Nicolaus of Damascus was a Hellenized Jewish scholar who lived contemporaneously with Octavius and lived to see him become Caesar Augustus. The work itself takes us through young Octavius’ life and shows how he was carefully brought up and eventually adopted by his uncle, Julius Caesar. But what is remarkable about this short biography is the care and detail with which Nicolaus goes about in describing the plot and assassination of Caesar. The aftermath of Caesar’s murder is explained quite clearly as Octavian steps up to claim his uncle’s inheritance.

The story of the Roman Republic is the greatest epic in human history. Seen in the long perspective of time, it seems too fantastic to be real. From its modest beginnings as a convenient fording place on the Tiber to its eventual destiny as the mistress of the Mediterranean, Rome offers a strange tale of fate, sacrifice, and indomitable willpower. The stern realities of war shaped its policies from the very beginning.

Louis XIV, known as the Grand Monarch, or the Sun King, was a sovereign of the House of Bourbon who reigned as King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years is the longest recorded of any monarch in European history. In the age of absolutism, Louis XIV's France was the leader in the growing centralization of power.

This is the hauntingly romantic story of Marguerite Gautier, a Parisian courtesan who falls in love with a young man of modest means. Set in the glittering mid-19th century of the French Empire, it evokes scenes of sumptuous feasts and riotous entertainments amid the swirling milieu of sophisticated Parisian society. The story begins when the narrator, Armand Duval, tells how he met the beautiful young temptress at a theatrical performance.

Smedley D. Butler (1881–1940), the most decorated officer in U.S. military history, including two Medals of Honor, wrote a searing critique in War is a Racket. Drawing from his service in conflicts from the Spanish-American War to World War I, he exposed how wars enriched corporations, bankers, and industrialists while soldiers and civilians bore the devastating costs. With unflinching candor, Butler revealed the profiteering motives behind global conflicts, delivering a timeless call for peace.

From morning till evening, the average Greek's life is described as he awakens, goes about his work, spends his leisure time, educates himself, exercises, and observes religious rites. The hardships of slaves, the narrow confines of female activities, and the constant drill of military routine are also minutely examined. If you have ever wanted to know what it was like to be an Athenian during the time of Pericles, listen to this riveting account of life in ancient Greece by one of the modern era's greatest historians.