Showing results by narrator "Jonathan Todd Ross" in All Categories

From the New York Times bestselling author of Washington's Spies, "a page-turning thriller" (James M. Scott) about ​one of the greatest heists in history: the U.S. Navy’s clandestine capture of a Nazi U-boat at the climax of World War II. Shortly before noon on June 4, 1944, the sonar...

The first time Ty died he was five, the second time he was seven. He's always believed his third death will be the final one, and now he may find out. More than twenty years after his near-death experiences and the visions of terrifying gods that came with them, Ty leads a quiet life working as a locksmith. When a client persuades him to play in an ancient game of throwing bones, his peaceful existence is shattered and Ty quickly finds himself deeply in debt, his life hanging in the balance once more.

Uncover the true story of America's first plague epidemic in 1900 in this book is perfect to share with young listeners looking for a historical perspective of the Covid-19/Coronavirus pandemic that recently gripped the world. In March 1900, San Francisco's health department investigated a strange and horrible death in Chinatown. A man had died of bubonic plague, one of the world's deadliest diseases. But how could that be possible?

Despite the not-so-distant invocations of the "end of history," representative democracy is, today, under siege even from corners where one once might have expected strong sympathy and support. Indeed, confidence in representative democracy has, in recent years, been shaken by the economic and political performance of many such regimes.

What happens to the US Army after the battles are over, the citizen soldiers depart, and all that remains is the Regular Army? In this pathbreaking work, Brian Linn argues that in each decade following every major conflict since the War of 1812 the postwar army has undergone a long, painful, and remarkably consistent recovery process as it struggled to build a new model force to replace the "Old Army" that entered the conflict.

Famous founding father Benjamin Franklin was a proud subject of the British Empire—until he wasn’t. It took nearly seventy years and seven not-so-easy steps to turn Benjamin Franklin from a loyal British subject to a British traitor—and a fired-up American revolutionary. In this light, whimsical narrative, young listeners learn how Franklin came to be a rebel, beginning with his childhood lesson in street smarts when he buys a whistle at an inflated price

Plagues, pandemics, and infectious diseases have shaped the history of the Jewish people. Of course, there were the ten biblical plagues that famously smote the Egyptians—from the rain of frogs to the deaths of the firstborn—but that is just the start of the story. In The Eleventh Plague, Brown investigates the relation between Judaism and infectious diseases throughout the ages, from premodern and early-modern plagues, to rabbinic responses to smallpox and cholera, and to the curious practice of "Black Weddings" in which two orphans are married in a cemetery.

Melvil Dewey loved order (Organize mother’s jelly jars), efficiency (Why spell his name Melville when Melvil has fewer letters and sounds the same?), and keeping records (Height! Weight! Earnings!). Melvil also loved books and numbers and decimals. When he realized every library organized their books differently (Size! Title! Color!), he wondered if he could invent a system all libraries could use to ORGANIZE them EFFICIENTLY.

Joseph Pulitzer always loved the word liberty. It’s no surprise that when he first saw Lady Liberty’s head in Paris, Pulitzer shared sculptor Auguste Bartholdi’s dream of seeing France’s gift of friendship stand in New York’s harbor. Frustrated that Americans, especially wealthy New Yorkers, were not interested in paying for the statue’s pedestal, Pulitzer used his newspaper, the World, to call on all Americans to contribute. This is the inspiring story of how one immigrant brought together young and old, rich and poor, to raise funds for a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty.

Meet the Nordic god of thunder! Thor is a happy god—unless you make him angry. Then he might shake the earth and topple mountains. So stay on his good side as he takes you on a journey across the rainbow bridge to Middle Earth and beyond, to mysterious Nordic realms filled with frost giants, dark elves, and plundering Vikings. In this engaging and humorous work of nonfiction, Thor offers a wildly entertaining introduction to Norse mythology.

Book 4 of a new Military Science Fiction adventure from bestseller Joshua T. Calvert. Aliens, War, and a Captain who will stop at nothing to defend his people, this is Sci-Fi the way it's meant to be!

On any given day, at any given hour, across the various platforms constituting what we call social media, someone is angry. Facebook. Instagram. Twitter. Reddit. 4Chan. In The Rhetoric of Outrage: Why Social Media Is Making Us Angry, Jeff Rice addresses the critical question of why anger has become the dominant digital response on social media. He examines the theoretical and rhetorical explanations for the intense rage that prevails across platforms and sheds new light on how our anger is not merely a reaction against singular events but generated out of aggregated beliefs and ideas.

Everything is different than expected. The mystical home of mankind is anything but the warm bosom of their ancestors, and the power is no longer with himanity. Pascal and Jeremy quickly realize that they didn't reach Earth for no reason, and that they are mere pieces on a chessboard. The real players are moving them back into position. The mission? Dangerous. The chances of success? Slim. Will they once again succeed in pulling their heads out of the noose and reshuffling the cards?

Henry at Work invites listeners to rethink how we work today by exploring an aspect of Henry David Thoreau that has often been overlooked: Thoreau the worker. John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle overturn the popular misconception of Thoreau as a navel-gazing recluse who was scornful of work and other mundanities. In fact, Thoreau worked hard—surveying land, running his family's pencil-making business, writing, lecturing, and building his cabin at Walden Pond—and thought intensely about work in its many dimensions.

It's time. Alexander Moreau, supervisor of Bismarck and head of the Human Corporation, and the mysterious Neuromorph ask for the final game—a game Pascal Takahashi is only too happy to play. But this game no longer follows any rules, and the stakes are higher than ever. In the midst of a dying colony, Jeremy and his crew must join Pascal in finding a way to set the course for humanity's future themselves before others do. For beneath the darkness of the barrier, secrets are stirring, about to rise to the surface.

When a new case carries echoes of his sister’s cold case murder, Detective Sergeant Lance Warner is visited by another ghost from the past. Caroline Yashima isn’t only the CJD specialist assigned to work alongside him, she’s also the ex he regrets walking away from. He’s not sure if he can expect a second chance—or just a chance for closure. But when Caroline becomes a target, he knows that he doesn’t want to live without her.

The United States, through its local, state, and national contests, holds more elections, more often, than any democracy in the world. But in recent years, there have been troubling signs that our system of campaigns and elections has become much more fragile and vulnerable. This new edition of Campaigns, Elections, and the Threat to Democracy: What Everyone Needs to Know® offers the most up-to-date examination of campaigns, elections, and future threats to voting and democracy.

In the wake of Trump's presidency, Republican-led states have joined in an alarming assault on our democratic system. But the drift toward authoritarianism in red states has far deeper roots. In States of Neglect, journalist William Kleinknecht surveys the landscape of neglect in states including Texas, Florida, and Arizona through the experiences of a rich cast of characters.

A legendary diplomat, scholar, and civil rights leader, Ralph Bunche was one of the most prominent Black Americans of the twentieth century. The first African American to obtain a political science Ph.D. from Harvard and a celebrated diplomat at the United Nations, he was once so famous he handed out the Best Picture award at the Oscars. Yet today Ralph Bunche is largely forgotten. In The Absolutely Indispensable Man, Kal Raustiala restores Bunche to his rightful place in history.

Major Megan McClung is the first female United States Naval Academy graduate to be killed in action since the school’s 1845 founding and the highest-ranking female U.S. Marine Corps officer to die during the Iraq war. Be Bold is Megan’s inspirational story of defying steep odds, making the ultimate sacrifice and paving the way for a new era of women at war.