Try free for 30 days
-
John Wesley Powell
- The Life and Legacy of One of 19th Century America’s Most Influential Explorers
- Narrated by: Steven Groothuis
- Length: 1 hr and 46 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $9.68
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also picked
-
The Siege of Masada
- A Historical Drama of the Famous Battle Between the Jews and Romans
- By: Kosta Kafarakis
- Narrated by: Scott Clem
- Length: 1 hr and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What made Masada qualitatively different from most of the battles Rome fought was not just the difficulty the Legions had in retaking control of it with incredibly disproportionate military equipment and numbers, but also the actions of the Judean defenders. In the final hours of the battle, just as the Romans were about to breach the walls of the city, the defenders gathered together and committed mass suicide, rather than being killed or taken captive by the Romans.
-
The New York City Blackout of 1977
- The History of the Power Failure that Led to Looting and Arson Across the Big Apple
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
- Length: 1 hr and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What happens when the awesome - and occasionally awful - power of nature snatches light away from those who depend on it to feel safe? This question was answered in a most dismaying way in July 1977 when New York City was plunged into darkness for over 24 hours following a thunderstorm. New Yorkers across the city quickly learned that without the light, they could fall prey to looting and violence of just about every kind imaginable.
-
The Battle of Fort Henry: The History of General Ulysses S. Grant’s Victory that Captured the Tennessee River for the Union
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Scott Clem
- Length: 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While the Lincoln Administration and most Northerners were preoccupied with trying to capture Richmond in the summer of 1861, it would be the little known Ulysses S. Grant who delivered the Union’s first major victories, over a thousand miles away from Washington. Grant’s new commission led to his command of the District of Southeast Missouri, headquartered at Cairo, after he was appointed by “The Pathfinder”, John C. Fremont, a national celebrity who had run for president in 1856.
-
When the World Goes Quiet
- A Novel
- By: Gian Sardar
- Narrated by: Jesse Vilinsky
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1918 in German-occupied Bruges, Belgium. With luck, Evelien will make it to the end of the war and be given what she was promised: a prized painting in exchange for safeguarding her employer’s possessions. Until then, Evelien knows to keep her head down and stay out of trouble. But life never goes to plan, especially in war. A member of the Resistance approaches Evelien: steal a list of names hidden in her employer’s home.
-
The Great Gatsby
- By: F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
- Length: 5 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Considered one of the all-time great American works of fiction, Fitzgerald’s glorious yet ultimately tragic social satire on the Jazz Age encapsulates the exuberance, energy and decadence of an era. After the Great War, the mysterious Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, pursues wealth, riches and the lady he lost to another man with stoic determination. He buys a mansion across from her house and throws lavish parties to entice her. When Gatsby finally does reunite with Daisy Buchanan, tragic events are set in motion.
-
-
Tragedy and loss
- By Pete Shields on 17-11-2019
-
The Rosicrucians
- The History of One of the World's Most Notorious Secret Societies
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Jim D Johnston
- Length: 1 hr and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To many, the quest to obtain the secrets and truths of the universe is one nearly impossible to complete. More importantly, this broad topic comes with an unending assortment of answers. For some, the secret to life is success. To others, it is conquering one's innermost fears. While there are those who simply do not care enough to venture an answer, there are also those who believe they, and they alone, knew the real meaning behind life.
-
The Siege of Masada
- A Historical Drama of the Famous Battle Between the Jews and Romans
- By: Kosta Kafarakis
- Narrated by: Scott Clem
- Length: 1 hr and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What made Masada qualitatively different from most of the battles Rome fought was not just the difficulty the Legions had in retaking control of it with incredibly disproportionate military equipment and numbers, but also the actions of the Judean defenders. In the final hours of the battle, just as the Romans were about to breach the walls of the city, the defenders gathered together and committed mass suicide, rather than being killed or taken captive by the Romans.
-
The New York City Blackout of 1977
- The History of the Power Failure that Led to Looting and Arson Across the Big Apple
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
- Length: 1 hr and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What happens when the awesome - and occasionally awful - power of nature snatches light away from those who depend on it to feel safe? This question was answered in a most dismaying way in July 1977 when New York City was plunged into darkness for over 24 hours following a thunderstorm. New Yorkers across the city quickly learned that without the light, they could fall prey to looting and violence of just about every kind imaginable.
-
The Battle of Fort Henry: The History of General Ulysses S. Grant’s Victory that Captured the Tennessee River for the Union
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Scott Clem
- Length: 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While the Lincoln Administration and most Northerners were preoccupied with trying to capture Richmond in the summer of 1861, it would be the little known Ulysses S. Grant who delivered the Union’s first major victories, over a thousand miles away from Washington. Grant’s new commission led to his command of the District of Southeast Missouri, headquartered at Cairo, after he was appointed by “The Pathfinder”, John C. Fremont, a national celebrity who had run for president in 1856.
-
When the World Goes Quiet
- A Novel
- By: Gian Sardar
- Narrated by: Jesse Vilinsky
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1918 in German-occupied Bruges, Belgium. With luck, Evelien will make it to the end of the war and be given what she was promised: a prized painting in exchange for safeguarding her employer’s possessions. Until then, Evelien knows to keep her head down and stay out of trouble. But life never goes to plan, especially in war. A member of the Resistance approaches Evelien: steal a list of names hidden in her employer’s home.
-
The Great Gatsby
- By: F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
- Length: 5 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Considered one of the all-time great American works of fiction, Fitzgerald’s glorious yet ultimately tragic social satire on the Jazz Age encapsulates the exuberance, energy and decadence of an era. After the Great War, the mysterious Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, pursues wealth, riches and the lady he lost to another man with stoic determination. He buys a mansion across from her house and throws lavish parties to entice her. When Gatsby finally does reunite with Daisy Buchanan, tragic events are set in motion.
-
-
Tragedy and loss
- By Pete Shields on 17-11-2019
-
The Rosicrucians
- The History of One of the World's Most Notorious Secret Societies
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Jim D Johnston
- Length: 1 hr and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To many, the quest to obtain the secrets and truths of the universe is one nearly impossible to complete. More importantly, this broad topic comes with an unending assortment of answers. For some, the secret to life is success. To others, it is conquering one's innermost fears. While there are those who simply do not care enough to venture an answer, there are also those who believe they, and they alone, knew the real meaning behind life.
Publisher's Summary
“The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself. The resources of the graphic art are taxed beyond their powers in attempting to portray its features. Language and illustration combined must fail. You cannot see the Grand Canyon in one view as if it were a changeless spectacle from which a curtain might be lifted, but to see it, you have to toil from month to month through its labyrinths.” (John Wesley Powell)
Exploration of the early American West, beginning with Lewis and Clark’s transcontinental trek at the behest of President Thomas Jefferson, was not accomplished by standing armies, the era’s new steam train technology, or by way of land grabs. These came later, but not until pathways known only to a few of the land’s indigenous people were discovered, carved out, and charted in an area stretching from the eastern Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and the present-day borders of Mexico and Canada.
Even the great survey parties, such as Colonel William Powell’s exploration of the Colorado River, came decades later. The first views of the West’s enormity by white Americans were seen by individuals of an entirely different personality, in an era that could only exist apart from its home civilization. One of the men most responsible for the closing of the frontier was John Wesley Powell, arguably the best-known American explorer after Lewis and Clark. He was lionized for a long portion of his life and vilified for another.
Powell was a competent man, self-confident and able to instill confidence in his abilities to lead, and his expeditions helped Americans better understand the West, an impressive achievement for the son of English immigrants who wanted him to become a Methodist preacher. Instead, he became America’s most influential scientist, without the kind of academic training required to rise to that position today.
As if the achievements alone weren’t enough, he managed to accomplish them despite physical handicaps. He was a schoolteacher at the age of 18, and throughout his twenties, he conducted solo voyages up and down the Mississippi, from New Orleans to St. Paul. He did the same on the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to the Mississippi, in addition to exploring the Illinois and Des Moines Rivers.
During the Civil War, Powell was a Union officer who rose to the rank of major, and even after he lost an arm at the Battle of Shiloh, he performed critical engineering work in the Vicksburg Campaign and commanded artillery at the Battle of Nashville. After the war, he virtually created the United States Geologic Survey and the Bureau of Ethnology and brought serious scientific study to American landforms, geology, and the study of native peoples. He was also one of the founders of the influential National Geographic Society.
That said, Powell’s legacy is complex. His creation, the United States Geological Survey, continues to do important work, as it has for more than a century, and is one of the most respected scientific agencies in the world. He is seen as a forerunner by environmentalists due to his views on water use and development in the West. But Powell is also seen as something like the patron saint of the Bureau of Reclamation, which environmentalists consider an enemy.
John Wesley Powell: The Life and Legacy of One of 19th Century America’s Most Influential Explorers chronicles Powell’s dramatic life, his most important expeditions, and the impact he had on the West.