Showing results by narrator "Jimmy Kieffer"

Abraham Lincoln's determination to hold the North and South together would ultimately lead to the bloodiest war in American history, the abolition of slavery, and his own untimely death from an assassin’s bullet. But to see Lincoln solely as a tragic figure consumed with the strife of mid-19th century America is to miss meeting him as a man who never allowed himself to be defeated by adversity, grief, or turmoil.

Anthem is a dystopian fiction novella by Ayn Rand, written in 1937 and first published in 1938 in the United Kingdom. The story takes place at an unspecified future date when mankind has entered another Dark Age. Technological advancement is now carefully planned and the concept of individuality has been eliminated. A young man known as Equality 7-2521 rebels by doing secret scientific research. When his activity is discovered, he flees into the wilderness with the girl he loves. Together they plan to establish a new society based on rediscovered individualism.   

Theodore John Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, is an American domestic terrorist. A mathematics prodigy, he abandoned an academic career in 1969 to pursue a primitive lifestyle. Then, between 1978 and 1995, he killed three people and injured 23 others in an attempt to start a revolution by conducting a nationwide bombing campaign targeting people involved with modern technology. In conjunction, he issued a social critique opposing industrialization and advancing a nature-centered form of anarchism. 

The Crusades are the prototype and epitome of the Holy War. The fight to take control of the city of Jerusalem, believed to be the most sacred Holy City to two distinct religions of Christianity and Islam, has lasted far longer than the two centuries of the Crusades, and its reach has extended far further than Europe and the Middle East.  

Alexander the Great. A boy, groomed for greatness from the earliest age, who would put his stamp on the world for generations to come. A man who sought immortality and achieved it in just 10 years. A soldier whose genius for strategy and tactics is still studied in the modern world. A ruler who understood how to win the hearts and minds of his subjects. This is the story of a Titan of the ancient world, a man who rose but, though he died, never truly fell.

George Washington, the first president of the United States, is much more than a monument on Mount Rushmore. Who was Washington, the general, president, and husband? He was first and foremost a man of impeccable honor which, despite military adversity and political wrangling, never abandoned him. The Founding Fathers who squabbled and competed among themselves did agree on one thing: Only Washington could lead the country, first in the country’s military fight for freedom and then as the man charged with transforming 13 individual states into a united country.

According to history books, the Roman Empire ended in 476 CE with the fall of Rome. But if you asked most people alive at that time, they would have pointed you to what they considered the continuation of the Roman Empire - the civilization we now call the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines, however, were more than just a remnant of Roman glory. At its geographical peak, the Byzantine Empire stretched out across the Mediterranean world.

Okay, so what's Bitcoin? It's not an actual coin, it's "cryptocurrency", a digital form of payment that is produced ("mined") by lots of people worldwide. It allows for peer-to-peer transactions instantly worldwide, for free or at very low cost. How does Bitcoin work? Internet users transfer digital assets (bits) to each other on a network. There is no Online bank; rather, Bitcoin has been described as an Internet-wide distributed ledger.

Charlamagne tha God is an American radio presenter and television personality. He is a co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show, The Breakfast Club with DJ Envy and Angela Yee, and stars in Guy Code, Guy Court, and Girl Code. He is also a VJ for The Week in Jams with DJ Envy and Sofi Green. In 2015, Charlamagne began hosting the MTV2 show, Uncommon Sense. He was previously on The Wendy Williams Experience with Wendy Williams on VH1.

The French and Indian War is one of the most significant, yet least acknowledged and understood, periods of American history. Fought chiefly between the two imperial powers of England and France in the mid-18th century, the struggle would also draw in native Indian nations who sought to exert their own strength and sovereignty over the North American continent. From the first shots fired in the Ohio Valley wilderness in 1754 until the Treaty of Paris signed in 1763, the French and Indian War became a conflict that encircled the globe.

Thomas Edison passed on many decades ago, but his inventions still echo loudly through time. If you watch TV, listen to your favorite songs, or simply click on the lamp next to your bed, it was Thomas Edison who brought all of these innovations into the world. Inside you will hear about Edison's early life, the electric light, the war of the currents, other inventions and projects, his final years and death, Edison's legacy, and much more. 

Sir Richard Branson is an English business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He founded the Virgin Group, which controls more than 400 companies. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at a young age. His first business venture, at the age of 16, was a magazine called Student. In 1970, he set up a mail-order record business. He opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records-later known as Virgin Megastores-in 1972. Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s, as he set up Virgin Atlantic airline and expanded the Virgin Records music label. In March 2000, Branson was knighted at Buckingham Palace for "services to entrepreneurship". For his work in retail, music and transport (with interests in land, air, sea and space travel), his taste for adventure, and for his humanitarian work, he became a prominent figure. In 2002, he was named in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. In 2004, he founded spaceflight corporation Virgin Galactic, noted for the SpaceShipOne project. In November 2017, Forbes listed Branson's estimated net worth at $5.1 billion.

The Battle of Waterloo has become synonymous with the word defeat, but who lost, and why was it important? In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte left the island of Elba and, in a space of 100 days, took power and challenged the entire world to meet him on his terms. When that failed, he offered them a fight, one that would end at Waterloo, and left repercussions which can still be felt, even now, centuries later.

Gary Vaynerchuk is an American entrepreneur, four-time New York Times best-selling author, speaker, and Internet personality. First known as a leading wine critic who grew his family's wine business from $3 million to $60 million, Vaynerchuk is best known as a digital marketing and social-media pioneer at the helm of New York-based VaynerMedia and VaynerX. Vaynerchuk has made a number of personal investments as an angel investor including Facebook, Uber, Twitter, Venmo, and dozens of other startups.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a figure that is cemented in the annals of history as one of the greatest composers of all time. A fascinating and enigmatic character, Mozart was hailed in his own lifetime as a child prodigy and a musical genius. His travels throughout Europe exposed him to art, music, and education, offering plentiful opportunities for his gifts as a composer and musician to evolve and thrive. Despite his preternatural talents, the artist struggled significantly throughout his life, and he died in his prime.

Tim Ferriss is an American author, entrepreneur, self-proclaimed "human guinea pig", and public speaker. He has written a number of self-help books on the "4-hour" theme, some of which have appeared on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today best-seller lists, starting with The 4-Hour Workweek. Ferriss is also an angel investor and an advisor to Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Evernote, and Uber, among other companies. 

Sweeping across the known world with unchecked devastation, the Black Death claimed between 75 million and 200 million lives in four short years. In this engaging and well-researched audiobook, the trajectory of the plague’s march west across Eurasia and the cause of the great pandemic is thoroughly explored. Fascinating insights into the medieval mind’s perception of the disease and examinations of contemporary accounts give a complete picture of what the world’s most effective killer meant to medieval society.

The first American president born to immigrant parents, Jackson was the embodiment of the new blood which infused the American spirit in the early 19th century. Jacksonian democracy invigorated the national government and became a foundation of the modern political process. Controversial and complicated, Andrew Jackson's life is worthy of examination. To understand America, it’s vital to understand Andrew Jackson.  

Frederick Douglass was a prominent African American who lived in 19th-century America and fought for the abolition of the slave trade through his work as an orator, statesman, and writer. He constantly challenged the prevailing attitudes of the times regarding race and color, making him both a controversial as well as a heroic figure in American history.

Much has been written and much has been omitted when it comes to the Crusades, especially in modern parlance. Many talking heads in recent times have conjured up the specter of the Crusades, so many are wondering once again what the Crusades are all about. Inside you will hear about Byzantium, an all-out holy war, the Kingdom of Heaven, the King’s Crusade, the Self-Defeating Crusade, the Final Crusades, the Post-Crusade World, and more.