Showing results by narrator "Chris Abernathy" in All Categories

Edward Zane Carroll Judson aka Ned Buntline (1821-1886) was responsible for creating a highly romantic and often misleading image of the American West, albeit one that the masses found irresistible in the mid-to-late 19th century. Some scholars estimate that he wrote at least 400 dime novels over his lifetime and perhaps as many as 600. The Notorious Life of Ned Buntline is an open-eyed look at the man who sparked an American legend but whose own scandalous life somehow escaped history's limelight. 

Long before the United States had presidents from the world of movies and reality TV, we had scores of politicians with connections to country music. In I'd Fight the World, Peter La Chapelle traces the deep bonds between country music and politics. These performers and politicians both rode and resisted cultural waves: some advocated for the poor and dispossessed, and others voiced religious and racial anger, but they all walked the line between exploiting their celebrity and righteously taking on the world. 

Imagine how it would feel to greet each day enthusiastic about your work and your life, with renewed energy and optimism, at peace with yourself and those around you. What would it take to get there, rather than just "getting by"? In Quit Drifting, Lift the Fog, and Get Lucky, leadership authority David Cottrell tells the story of Jack Davis, a hard worker who had thrived early in his career but finds himself unmotivated, dissatisfied, and unfulfilled. He wants more for himself and his family - but he doesn't know how to get it. 

Barbecue: It's America in a mouthful. The story of barbecue touches almost every aspect of our history. It involves indigenous culture, the colonial era, slavery, the Civil War, the settling of the West, the coming of immigrants, the Great Migration, the rise of the automobile, the expansion of suburbia, the rejiggering of gender roles. It encompasses every region and demographic group. It is entwined with our politics and tangled up with our race relations. Jim Auchmutey follows the delicious and contentious history of barbecue in America....

Spanning Mary Kathleen's heroic struggles to save her husband and sons from Ireland's 19th century potato famine to young Delaney's own parents' lives in modern Alabama, the characters are vivid and extraordinarily familiar, resonating with listeners long after the final chapter ends. It's an intricate story told through a unique, intimate medium in which each family member becomes as real as your own, narrating in his or her own voice. At the heart of this book lies the truth: each of us tell our version of history a little bit differently.

This highly anticipated sequel to Delaney's People takes listeners on a turbulent, surprise-filled journey from Depression-era rural Alabama through 2011's devastating tornadoes and their impact on Delaney's family and friends. Family ties, love, loss, betrayal and a characteristic dead mule combine in a perfect book for devotees of Southern literature.

A new historical anthology from transatlantic slavery to the Reconstruction curated by the Schomburg Center, that makes the case for focusing on the histories of Black people as agents and architects of their own lives and ultimate liberation, with a foreword by Kevin Young This is the first...

The most important place in American nuclear history are the Marshall Islands - an idyllic Pacific paradise that served as the staging ground for more than 60 US nuclear tests. It was here, from 1946 to 1958, that America perfected the weapon that preserved the peace of the post-war years. It was here - with the 1954 Castle Bravo test over Bikini Atoll - that America executed its largest nuclear detonation, a thousand times more powerful than Hiroshima. 

Twenty years ago, his Chicago political column was syndicated in two hundred papers, but he had an affair—and a son—with his intern, and lost it all. Now he writes a local column and drives for Uber to pay his bills. Jake is playing out the string when his tranquil world is turned upside down. His biracial son—an ambitious entrepreneur—is marked for death by a street gangster, his alcoholic daughter is pregnant and wants an abortion.

For eight centuries, the Texas frontier has seen conquest, exploration, immigration, revolution, and innovation, leaving to history a cast of fascinating characters and captivating tales. Its historic period began in 1519 with Spanish exploration, but there was a prehistory long before, nearly...

Ghosts in the Glades treats the listener to a southern account of the life of Jett, a successful businessman who has had to overcome his dreadful sense of self-worth and carve a place for himself in this world while growing up with a debilitating health issue that placed him in the center of bullying nightmares growing up while at the same time, being made to feel responsible for his family losing everything in order to pay for his medical bills.

When lost animals start showing up at crime scenes, Officer Fred Mason decides to sniff out the culprit. He'll need some help from residents of the local animal rescue, including one exceptionally bright and determined cat. Along the way, people and animals find their way home. This novella is a complete standalone story and is the prequel to The Detective Whiskers Cozy Mystery Series. There are happy endings for all of the characters in this book, humans and animals, with the exception of one bad guy who ends up in jail. When you can’t find your way home, home will find you.

Ian and Jenny Bragg are contracted by the highest levels of the government. They can share none of the secrets they learn. They have to do the job alone. The contracted value is enough that they'll never have to work again, but that's not Ian's plan. Ian and Jenny are taking care of a small army of employees. From The Club to their independent operators.

River of Lakes weaves together the biological, cultural, anthropological, archaeological, and ecological aspects of the St. Johns, capturing the essence of its remarkable history and intrinsic value as a natural wonder.

Hamilton McWhorter III's service to family and country make him a standout among America's Greatest Generation. A Georgia native whose family roots date from that region's settlement during the 1700s, McWhorter was a naval aviation cadet undergoing training when Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941. After earning his Wings of Gold in early 1942, Ensign McWhorter was trained as a fighter pilot in the robust but technologically outmoded F4F Wildcat. Initially assigned to VF-9, he saw first combat in November 1942 against Vichy French forces in North Africa.

When all the species of birds, trees, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, wildflowers, dragonflies, tiger beetles, and ants are tallied, Alabama harbors more species than ninety percent of the other states in the US. The state's 4,533 species, with more being inventoried and discovered each year, are supported by no less than sixty-four distinct ecological systems—each a unique blend of soil, water, sunlight, heat, and natural disturbance regimes. Although Alabama is teeming with life, the state's prominence as a refuge for plants and animals is poorly appreciated. 

Texas Ranger Tom Bell is simply tracking a fugitive killer in 1931 when he rides into Kilgore, a hastily erected shanty town crawling with rough and desperate men―oil drillers who've come by the thousands in search of work. The sheriff of the boomtown is overwhelmed and offers no help, nor are any of the roughnecks inclined to assist the young Ranger in his search for the wanted man. 

A worldwide conspiracy dismantles civilization one city at a time. What could you do about it? Who would you leave behind? Even if you were the mayor… Cory Beringer returns in a new confrontation that leaves Fairbanks struggling, suffering, and unable to get back on its feet. Trials, tribulations, conflict, a newly hostile media, and wishful thinkers stand in Cory’s way. He never wanted to be mayor, but since he was, he would do the best job he could. The people had put their trust in him.

The story of college football in Alabama is the story of the South itself. This behind-the-scenes account of the Alabama vs. Auburn rivalry, one of the fiercest in American sports, details its rich history, celebrates the triumphs of both teams, and showcases the larger-than-life power of football to break down barriers and shape an entire culture.

Ian Bragg remembered his first hit when he had little experience. He didn’t wish that on others. It would expose them. It would put the Peace Archive at risk. In the outskirts of Atlanta, Ian and Jenny bring together a select group of operators, loyal and dedicated, to train on a live contract. Winner takes home the big prize – a million dollars, tax-free. The others get a payout based on the ingenuity of their engagement because the Peace Archive won’t tolerate losers. They drive everyone to be better than they were the day before. In the real world, every contract is a challenge.