John Woodhouse Audubon , son of the famous painter John James Audubon and an artist in his own right, joined Col. Henry Webb's California Company expedition in 1849. From New Orleans the expedition sailed to the Rio Grande; it headed west overland through northern Mexico and through Arizona to San Diego, California. Cholera and outlaws decimated the group. Many of them turned back, including the leader. Audubon assumed command of those remaining and they pushed on to California, although he was forced to abandon his paints and canvases in the desert…...

This history begins when Pizarro and Almagro, Valdivia and Benalcazar, led their desperadoes across the Isthmus to the conquest, massacre, and enslavement of the prosperous and civilised millions who inhabited the Pacific coast of South America. It ends with the United States opening a way through that same Isthmus for the ships, the trade, the capital of all the world; with American engineers laying railroad iron on the imperial highway of the Incas; with British bondholders forgiving stricken Peru's national debt; with their debtor bravely facing the fact of bankruptcy, and turning over to them all its railways.

The Wars of the Roses, 1377-1471, were a series of English civil wars fought for the control of the throne of England between two rival cadet branches of the House of Plantagenet, Lancaster and York. The Scottish historian, Robert Balmain Mowat writes that these wars saw "the death of the old England and the beginning of the new." But they also saw the emergence of great personalities: the noble Richard of York, Warwick the Kingmaker, King Edward IV, indolent and energetic by turns, and his relentless opponent, Margaret of Anjou, a true she-wolf of France.

Robert James Manion was a Canadian doctor who volunteered in the Canadian medical corps during World War I. This book is his memoir of the war. After the war he entered politics and served in several Canadian governments. The listener may note a lack of mention of the United States soldier; this is because the memoir was written before the entry of that country into the war. - Summary by David Wales

In a nineteenth century Sicilian fishing village, the Malavoglia family gambles everything on being able to profit from a cargo of lupin nuts. The cargo is lost at sea and a succession of misfortunes and tragedies assails the family. A masterpiece of social commentary hailed within Italy but neglected by the wider world, The House by the Medlar Tree ranks alongside the works of Zola, Dickens or Balzac among the great books of European literature. The book is the inspiration behind the 1948 film 'La Terra Trema' , one of the earliest works of the great Italian director Luchino Visconti. - Summary by Tom Denholm

This is the eighth volume of the 15-volume series of The World’s Story: a history of the World in story, song and art, edited by Eva March Tappan. Each book is a compilation of selections from prose literature, poetry and pictures and offers a comprehensive presentation of the world's history, art and culture, from the early times till the beginning of the 20th century. Topics in Part VIII include excerpts from the Eddas, the life of the Vikings, the Scandinavian kings' fight for supremacy and the race towards the North and South Pole...

Volume III of this history of Victorian Britain begins in 1856 with the gunboat diplomacy of the Second Opium War and then moves to the harrowing days of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. In June 1858, Benjamin Disraeli secures passage of the Jews Relief Act and Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild takes his seat in Parliament. Prince Albert dies after a short illness in December 1861, leaving a distraught and cloistered Queen. Lord Palmerston's diplomacy increases Britain's influence on the Continent, while the Civil War in America divides the country in surprising ways. Bismarck emerges and Prussia begins her ascent to power.

Morel explains the history and formation of the Congo Free State, owned by King Leopold II. However, Morel, a humanitarian, focuses on the atrocities commited in the Congo through the enslavement of the native population, leading to the deaths of as much as 50 percent of the population. Writing in the early 20th century, he argues Britain can and should stop these horrific human rights violations. - Summary by Elsie Selwyn

Dr. Woodson describes the internal migration of African Americans within the United States, including the Northern Migration and the draw of California. Cultural and sociological observations are made as well as a study of principal economic factors in this migration. Summary by KevinS.

Personal correspondence of Bohemian religious reformer John Huss from 1411 when he was exiled from Prague through his death by burning as heretic in 1415 by order of the Council of Constance. These were first published in 1536 by the German Protestant reformer Martin Luther and his introduction is included here. - Summary by Rom Maczka

Though sometimes called the "Dark Ages", the period of Middle Ages is far from dull or uninteresting. In this book I. L. Plunket masterfully shows the colorfullness and diversity of the Middle Ages. Heroes like Charlemagne, Richard the Lion Hearted, Joan of Arc and many others come to life in these pages. The rich religious life of the Middle Ages, controversies between different secular and religious authorities and general rising of nations in Europe are disclosed to the reader. - Summary by Kikisaulite

Reading this book, I had a vision of a land, heretofore sunk in the mists of muteness, suddenly rising up into the eminence of song. Innumerable books have been written about the South; some good books have been written in the South. This book is the South. . . . . Part One is the primitive and evanescent world of Georgia. Part Two is the threshing and suffering brown world of Washington. . . . Part Three is Georgia again . . . this black womb of the ferment seed: the neurotic, educated, spiritually stirring Negro. From the Forward by Waldo Frank

A simple history of England written principally with words of one syllable. Books of these kind, I understand, are helpful for both beginning and remedial reading students. - Summary by KevinS

The charming story of “Gudrun” is a romance of the old heroic period, written by some unknown poet of Austria or Bavaria in the thirteenth century. Next to the "Nibelungen Lied," it is the most important of the German epic poems...The same elemental passions are depicted. The men are brave, vigorous heroes, rejoicing in battle and feats of prowess; the women are beautiful, constant, and courageous. There are many fine delineations of character in the original, as well as vigorous sketches of northern scenery...

“These tales are memories of several months spent as a special correspondent attached to the forces of the American Navy on foreign service…. [I have] been content to chronicle the interesting incidents of the daily life as well as the achievements and heroisms of the friends who keep the highways of the sea…. I would not end without a word of thanks to the enlisted men for their unfailing good will and ever courteous behaviour.” Henry Beston was an American author. In 1918, Beston became a press representative for the U...

Hamlet is Jeremy’s dog. This 1923 book is Hugh Walpole’s second volume in his Jeremy semi-autobiographical trilogy , Jeremy at Crale ), about a ten-year-old English boy. One commentator wrote this of the first book: “With affectionate humor, Mr. Walpole tells the story of Jeremy and his two sisters, Helen and Mary Cole, who grow up in Polchester, a quiet English Cathedral town…. Mr. Walpole has given his narrative a rare double appeal, for it not only recreates for the adult the illusion of his own happiest youth, but it unfolds for the child-reader a genuine and moving experience with real people and pleasant things...

This volume does not pretend to be a history of Artic exploration. My aim has been to narrate some of the most thrilling incidents of Polar adventure in such a manner that the reader may feel something of the fascination which induces explorers, in spite of reverses and disasters, to attempt again and again to penetrate the vast region of snow and silence and solitude around the North Pole. Great care has been taken to ensure accuracy; and, wherever possible, the actual journals of the various expeditions have been consulted, besides a host of minor publications...

William Elliot Griffis born in Philadelphia in 1843, was an educator, author and Congregational minister. In 1870 he was invited to go to Japan in order to modernize the school system and became the Superintendent of Education in the Province of Echizen. Whilst there he became interested in the folk lore, legends and stories of the East and began to collect tales from the story tellers that he met with and the literature that he found there. The thirty four wonderful stories in this collection are some of the ones that he found and fortunately decided to share with us...

This is the ninth volume of the 15-volume series of The World’s Story: a history of the World in story, song and art, edited by Eva March Tappan. Each book is a compilation of selections from prose literature, poetry and pictures and offers a comprehensive presentation of the world's history, art and culture, from the early times till the beginning of the 20th century. Part IX deals with the first part of the history of England, from the early times till the reign of the Tudor kings and queens...

This complete collection of Oscar Wilde’s English language interviews gives listeners the opportunity to hear one of history’s greatest conversationalists in full flow. Newspaper interviewers repeatedly sought Wilde out for his “Oscarisms” – his trademark witty phrases – as well as his views on topics ranging from poetry to politics, and acting to architecture. The ordering of the interviews is chronological according to when they were given rather than publication date. Wilde’s few interviews in French and Italian are excluded...

The Historia Francorum is the most important contemporary source for the Merovingian age. It is written in ten books, of which one to four recount the world's history from the Creation and move on to the Christianization of Gaul, the life and times of Saint Martin of Tours, the conversion of the Franks, the conquest of Gaul under Clovis, and the history of the Frankish kings down to the death of Sigebert I in 575. From the fifth book on, Gregory starts the second part of the book, on his contemporary history, closing Book 6 with Chilperic I's death in 584...

Woolf wrote this novel based on his experience as a government agent for British imperialist-controlled Ceylon in the early part of the twentieth-century. He focuses his story on one poor family in a jungle village as they struggle to survive, not just faced with a very harsh environment but with their own human prejudices, superstitions, jealousies, violence, ignorance, and greed. In the background is the other enemy: the foreign government that controls them but does not really understand or care for these uncivilized, not really human beings. It was an important work because its point of view was sympathetically a native one. JL

Joseph Rogers was an English physician, medical officer, and health care reformer in London. The system of poor-law dispensaries and separate sick wards, with proper staffs of medical attendants and nurses, was due to the efforts of Rogers and his colleagues. His memoir, published in 1889, contains an informative biography written by his brother. His career was not without conflict as his zeal sometimes offended governing boards. - Summary by David Wales

This volume contains the principal hero-lays of the six great epic cycles of the Teutonic Middle Ages: The Langobardian Legends, the Amelung and Kindred Legends; Dietrich of Bern's Adventures; the Nibelung Legends; the Hegeling Legends; and Beowulf. To them, the author has added the great mythical Carolingian cycle, which centred round the persons of Charlemagne and his heroes, and the Breton ones of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, as well as the legend of the Holy Grail. Therefore, this one book tells all of the great epic and romances of the Middle Ages in accessible language for the general public.

A very brief introduction to postal stamps used and issued during times of war. The principal focus might be said to be placed upon the Great War which just erupted in Europe and across much of the globe. - Summary by KevinS

300 short maxims by Spanish Jesuit Baltasar Gracian . The advice is still useful and insightful for our modern world. Gracian was considered one of the most interesting philosophers by both Nietzsche und Schopenhauer, and the latter translated The Art of Worldly Wisdom into German. This English translation was done by the famous Australian fairy-tale collector Joseph Jacobs . - Summary by Sandra Schmit

This history of the Women's Suffrage agitation is written at a time when the question is in the very forefront of British politics. What the immediate future holds for those women who are most actively engaged in fighting for their political freedom no one can foretell, but one thing is certain: complete victory for their cause is not far distant. When the long struggle for the enfranchisement of women is over, those who read the history of the movement will wonder at the blindness that led the Government of the day to obstinately resist so simple and obvious a measure of justice...

Giovanna and Costantino Ledda are a happily married couple living with their young child in a Sardinian country village close to their extended family. Costantino is wrongly convicted of murdering his wicked uncle and with no way of supporting herself, Giovanna reluctantly divorces him and is driven to marry Brontu Dejas, a wealthy but brutish drunkard who has always lusted after her. As well as enduring a marriage amounting to slavery, Giovanna is derided by villagers for having two husbands...

The High Middle Ages in Italy, 1250-1409, were a time of incessant strife between rival city-states, some the Ghibelline allies of the Holy Roman Empire, others joining forces with the Guelph armies of the Papacy. Mercenary captains led hired bands of soldiers of fortune. These captains sometimes became great despots, ruling the very cities that had engaged them. Florence began her ascent. The terrible Visconti dominated Milan, and Genoa established a vast trading empire, only to suffer defeat and decline when her fleet was destroyed by Venice, the Queen of the Adriatic.

"In the year 1907, the Woman’s Home Companion commissioned me to go to Russia to write the story of the early days, courtship and marriage of her whom the world knows to-day as the 'Tsaritsa,' The following year, the same periodical sent me to Italy to write a similar account of the life of Queen Elena; and in 1910 I was once more sent abroad, this time to Spain, to learn all about Queen Victoria Eugenie....'Your task is difficult,'remarked a friend to whom I had just explained that I was writing the lives of the Empress of Russia, the Queen of Spain, and the Queen of Italy...

It was Godwin, in his Enquiry concerning Political Justice , who was the first to formulate the political and economical conceptions of anarchism, even though he did not give that name to the ideas developed in his remarkable work. Laws, he wrote, are not a product of the wisdom of our ancestors: they are the product of their passions, their timidity, their jealousies and their ambition. The remedy they offer is worse than the evils they pretend to cure. - Summary by Peter Kropotkin

In this short work, Morris and Woodress present a selection of fascinating source materials to survey key events which occurred during the presidencies of Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and John Quincy Adams. As the authors state in their preface, "The early part of the last century was an exciting time to live in America. The signers of the Declaration of Independence and the framers of the Constitution, mostly old men by now, saw that their experiment in republican government had turned out to be a success...

This short work attempts to establish that Jesus had black ancestry dating back to Ham, the son of Noah, who had been made black-skinned as a punishment for having seen his father naked. Furthermore, Canaanites are here also identified as being black, and according to the author, several important Jewish figures and ancestors of Jesus had children by this group of people. - Summary by Jim Locke

Kellogg Durland spent a year in Russia as a journalist in 1906, during a seminal period in Russian history. This is a highly interesting read, knowing as we do what fell out for Russia in the next decade. The Russian Revolution did not appear from nowhere in 1917. Durland's account shows the rumblings that existed before the explosion.

The summer of 1967 again brought racial disorders to American cities, and with them shock, fear and bewilderment to the nation. The worst came during a two-week period in July, first in Newark and then in Detroit. Each set off a chain reaction in neighboring communities. On July 28, 1967, the President of the United States [Lyndon B. Johnson] established this Commission and directed us to answer three basic questions: What happened? Why did it happen? What can be done to prevent it from happening again? This is our basic conclusion: Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white--separate and unequal...

Ellen and William Craft were a married couple who escaped from slavery in 1848 when Ellen disguised herself as a white, literate man and William pretended to be an accompanying slave. This is their story of their escape to freedom.NB Listeners may find some scenes of abuse and vocabulary in this book distressing.

In the early 19th century, in the Hudson Valley of New York State, hundreds of square miles of land were still the feudal domains of large landowners known as patroons. Such families as the Van Rensselaers, Livingstons, and Schuylers owned the farms and towns in which hundreds of thousands of ordinary people lived and worked. Even the capitol city of New York State, Albany, was encompassed in the private fiefdom of a patroon. On July 4, 1839, in the mountain town of Berne, New York, a mass meeting...

Richmond, Virginia, was the capital of The Confederacy during the American Civil War, 1861-1865. It was the focus of two military campaigns by Northern armies, one in the summer of 1862 and the second in 1864-1865. When the city was conquered and destroyed in early April, 1865, , it was only a few days later that General Lee surrendered to General Grant and the Civil War was over. Published in 1961, this is National Park Service Historical Handbook 33. The text contains many informative maps and interesting photographs. - Summary by david wales

Six out of seven essays appearing here were reprinted from other publications; indeed, this 1910 collection went out of print, so that two of the essays occurring here were reprinted in Russell's 1917 "Mysticism and Logic, and Other Essays". Nonetheless, this essay records Russell's thinking at a critical juncture, just before the publication of Volume I of the co-authored "Principia Mathematica" and just after the passing of the American pragmatist, William James. These essays record Russell's reactions...

This is the tenth volume of the 15-volume series of The World’s Story: a history of the World in story, song and art, edited by Eva March Tappan. Each book is a compilation of selections from prose literature, poetry and pictures and offers a comprehensive presentation of the world's history, art and culture, from the early times till the beginning of the 20th century. Part X covers the second part of the history of England, from the Stuart Kings till the early 1900s. Also included are excerpts from the history of Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as well as Irish and Welsh legends and Scottish ballads...

In this short book Edward Ellis Morris writes a vivid account of the reigns of the first two Georges. Scarcely had the fifty-four-year-old king assumed the throne when James Stuart roused the Highlanders in the "Fifteen." Five years later the collapse of the South Sea Company convulsed Britain and her first prime minister, Robert Walpole, emerged to stabilize the country's finances. George II succeeded his father in 1727 and Morris writes that "the new King was in person short, and like many short men, proud and touchy...

Simon Dubnow was born in 1860 to a poor Jewish family in Belarussian town of Mstsislaw and later became authority of Jewish history and an activist. Due to his Jewish origin, he had to move to St.Petersburg, Odessa, Vilna, St.Petersburg, Kaunas, Berlin and finally Riga. When Nazi troops occupied Latvia 1941, he was moved with thousands of other Jews to Riga ghetto and was eventually killed. His life is a symbol of Jewish suffering in Eastern Europe. In this book Jews have been migrating from Germany...

A series of biographies of the wives of the doges of the Venetian Republic. - Summary by Timothy

In this famous early work of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, he investigates the artistic characteristics of Apollonian and Dionysian characteristics in Greek art, specifically in Greek tragedy as it evolved. Then he applies his conclusions about Greek tragedy to the state of modern art, especially modern German art and specifically to the operas of Richard Wagner.

This work relates the history of the Medici family through three centuries and eleven generations, from its rise from obscurity, to its zenith of power and influence, to its eventual decay and ruin. It outlines their history in conjunction with the major events of Europe and dwells much on the artists and artworks patronized by the Medici - the impetus of the Renaissance. This first volume brings to life the Renaissance and how Florence, through the Medici, was the epicentre of the movement that spread new learning throughout Europe...

While most associate the "Great War" with trenches, barbed wire, machine guns, and poison gas, ships played roles in the military at the beginning of the 20th century. Stories of the Ships is a 1919 collection of accounts described in the first person by those who fought battles on the sea during World War I. It gives the listener a more complete account of the conflicts that defined the most costly war in history. Lewis Ransome Freeman was an American explorer, journalist and war correspondent who wrote over twenty books chronicling his many travels, as well as numerous articles...

Johanne Fichte published The Destination of Man in 1799. It was translated into English in 1846 by Jane Sinnett and then again in 1848 by William Smith. Fichte says his book is designed to "raise [the reader] from the sensuous world, to that which is above sense." Francis Bacon said, in The Advancement of Learning, "the two ways of contemplation are not unlike the two ways of action commonly spoken of by the ancients; the one plain and smooth in the beginning, and in the end impassable; the other rough and troublesome in the entrance, but after a while fair and even...

In 1904, Margaret Nevinson, a respectable lady and active suffragette, joined the board of guardians in Hampstead Heath. The guardians had responsibility over the parish workhouse. In the UK, before the 1930s, one could not receive welfare assistance unless he or she entered the workhouse. A house for which one had to work. The conditions were so poor, sometimes even poorer then conditions in prison. The workhouse inspired many novels, the most famous is Oliver Twist. This collection of short stories is about the horrors Margaret saw, chiefly about things women had to endure...

The fourth and concluding volume of this history of Victorian Britain opens with the brutal repression in 1865 of a rebellion by ex-slaves in Jamaica. Then in 1867, the Conservative Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, takes his celebrated "leap in the dark" with the passage of the most comprehensive expansion of manhood suffrage in British history. The Fenian movement agitates unsuccessfully for Irish independence. British trade unions win the right to organize. William Ewart Gladstone launches his great reform ministry by abolishing in Ireland the hated Anglican establishment and follows with a flood of bills reforming education, the British army, and poor relief...

Picture a tranquil English village, with an inn on the green. A lone patron enjoys his wine and teasing the landlord's pretty daughter, when suddenly they are rudely interrupted by a local aristocrat and his two henchmen. These same three reappear the following day to disrupt the May Day celebrations.Suddenly, a group of men in Lincoln green appear to save the day. But who are they? This is a different take on the tale of Robin Hood, placing him in the time of Henry III, rather than the more traditional reign of Richard I...

A preliminary report to the U. S. Congress on a portion of the subversive activities conducted by two specific Neo-Fascist organizations that espouse racial hatred and un-Democratic positions then at work in the United States. - Summary by KevinS

Mrs. Emily Beesly, the writer of this brilliant narrative, lived in an era of nothing but fairy tales and "the stories of nursery life" for her children. Yet, she believed that when historical stories of importance were reworded into narratives fit for her children's ears, they, too could learn the Stories from the History of Rome and grow in knowledge, fascination, and wonder with the past. This is the product of that idea and desire. Summary by Melissa Petermann

"I have called the present volume "Legends of Saints and Sinners," which to a certain extent it is; but I mean it for a book of Irish Christian folk-lore. My idea in compiling it has been to give for the first time a collection of genuine Irish folk-lore which might be called "Christian." By this I mean folk-stories and folk-poems which are either entirely founded upon Christian conceptions, or else are so far coloured by them, that they could never have been told—at least in their present shape—had not Christianity established itself in Ireland...

Published in 1917, this "little volume of 'Theta’s' letters to his home people" was assembled to provide useful information for young men who might like to become pilots for the Royal Flying Corps. A mixture of conversational letters, poems, and descriptions of flying, the book proves entertaining, even today, despite having been written in training and in active duty during World War I. - Summary by Lynette Caulkins

Italy from 1409 to 1530 is synonymous with the Renaissance, but this was also the age of the condottieri, Italian captains of mercenary companies and multinational armies who fought in the service of city states, monarchs, and the Pope. Some like Ludovico Sforza in Milan seized power and founded dynasties in their own right. The merchant princes of the Medici family reached their apogee in Lorenzo the Magnificent in Florence, but faltered in the Papacy; Leo X proved no match for Martin Luther and Clement VII was powerless to avert the sack of Rome in 1527...

Genji Monogatari, or The Tale of Genji, is a Japanese classic novel from the eleventh century. Supposedly commissioned by members of the Imperial Family, it tells the story of the son of the Emperor's favorite concubine and his role as a privileged boy and man, but not quite recognized as royal. He is placed in a loveless marriage, but continues a number of 'friendships' with the women of the court. This translation brings us the first seventeen chapters, and there is some dispute over the authorship of later chapters. The book gives us a fascinating insight into court life of the period. - Summary by Lynne Thompson

PREFACE This Booklet has been written and compiled for the use of any student or layman who seeks concise and clear information on the history of Influenza. Brief and salient facts are set forth relating to “Flu” epidemics and pandemics: other collateral features have also been discussed, connected with or bearing upon this subject. Honolulu, Hawaii, U. S. A., 1921. - A. Mouritz Notes: Much of the material in "The Flu" is still relevant today, like pandemic terminology, thoughts about causes and micro-organisms, the flu's relationship with pneumonia, the impact on society, and approaches to treatments "The Flu" is included in the Surgeon General's Library at the U...

In 1918 over 2,000 Roman Catholic nuns left their convents in the Philadelphia area to nurse the sick and dying of the influenza epidemic. Twenty-three of the sisters died because of their ministrations. This is an account of their heroic work published in the American Catholic Historical Society Of Philadelphia, 1919. “Gathered and arranged from reports of personal experiences of the sisters and contributed by request of the compiler.” The compiler/author was an academic/priest at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. Since there are no chapter headings, this recording uses the section headings of the book. - Summary by David Wales and book's subtitle

The United States Department of the Interior, Office of Education partnered with the Columbia Broadcasting System to present a series of 26 dramatic radio broadcast programs detailing the role of immigrants in the development of the USA. This small volume was printed as a supplement to the programs. It contains a great deal of the data concerning the contributions of immigrants to the country, often in condensed or tabular form, which were highlighted in the broadcasts. - Summary by Mark Smith

Justus Friedrich Carl Hecker was a German physician and medical writer, whose research focused on the history of epidemics, in a broad sense of the term that included pandemics like the Black Death as well as the group of social phenomena known as dancing mania. The Epidemics of the Middle Ages comprises three of his works -- The Black Death, The Dancing Mania, and The Sweating Sickness -- translated by the English epidemiologist Benjamin Guy Babington. Despite what the name of the book may suggest, the events it describes are not limited to the Middle Ages...