Showing results by narrator "James McSorley" in All Categories

Beginning in 1786, Captain John Meares of Great Britain bravely explored the North Pacific, but his attempt to dominate the fur trade between the Northwest Coast and Asia was frustrated when the Spanish navy seized his ships off Vancouver Island. Meares missed the opportunity to explore the Strait of Juan de Fuca or discover the Columbia River. Hence, he was almost a hero.

By mid-1942 the Allies were losing the Mediterranean war: Malta was isolated and its civilian population faced starvation. In June 1942 the British Royal Navy made a stupendous effort to break the Axis stranglehold. The British dispatched armed convoys from Gibraltar and Egypt toward Malta. In a complex battle lasting more than a week, Italian and German forces defeated Operation Vigorous, the larger eastern effort, and ravaged the western convoy, Operation Harpoon, in a series of air, submarine, and surface attacks culminating in the Battle of Pantelleria.

Exploring the successful Norman invasion of England in 1066, this concise and listenable book focuses especially on the often dramatic and enduring changes wrought by William the Conqueror and his followers. Hugh M. Thomas considers the conquest's wide-ranging impact by taking a fresh look at such traditional themes as the influence of battles and great men on history and by assessing how far the shift in ruling dynasty and noble elites affected broader aspects of English history.

Written in accessible prose that includes a synthesis of recent scholarship, this edition delves further into the life of an African American soldier in the 19th century. It also explores the experiences of soldiers' families at frontier posts. In a new epilogue, the authors summarize developments in the lives of buffalo soldiers after the Indian Wars and discuss contemporary efforts to memorialize them in film, art, and architecture.

In Best Places to Retire: The Top 15 Affordable Towns for Retirement on a Budget, you'll learn about the most ideal places to retire without having to worry about your retirement fund running out. When it comes to retiring in the US, there are tons of cities and towns to consider, but only a few that can truly meet the budgets of many seniors. Listen on to learn about 15 of the best destinations to retire in the United States. Some of the cities we'll review include Cape Coral, Charleston, and Lincoln City.

This audiobook is about those days, specifically about Oak Ridge, Tennessee and the war at home; about the thousands upon thousands of everyday Americans who joined hands as strangers in a near classless society and secretly pulled off the greatest scientific experiment in history - the making of the atomic bomb. We, the Oak Ridge High Class of 1952, were their children and we, too, joined hands as strangers. We have never let go.

For much of the 20th century, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's life and career remained mostly obscure outside of dedicated scholars of the Battle of Gettysburg and alumni and students of Bowdoin College. Colonel Chamberlain had led the 20th Maine regiment at Gettysburg, holding the extreme left of the Union line on Little Round Top, and he continued to rise up the ranks toward the end of the war until he was commanding a brigade and present at the surrender ceremony of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox.

It is late in the evening of 18th June, 1815. The scene is a coaching inn on the road between Charleroi and Brussels in what is now Belgium. For 100 yards either side of the road men are strewn, dead or dying. These are Napoleon's elite Imperial Guard, three battalions of which had retreated towards the inn at the end of the battle. With the rest of the Armee du Nord streaming past him, Napoleon had taken personal command. Yet before long even these grizzled veterans had joined the rout. Now he too has left the field, fated to head for Paris, captivity, exile and an early death.

The Battle of Trafalgar was one of the most important naval battles in history. Before the battle Napoleon still harbored dreams of sailing an invasive force across the English Channel and subduing England, but they were dashed on October 21, 1805, by a British fleet that was outnumbered and outgunned. By the time the Battle of Trafalgar was finished, Nelson had scored arguably one of the most decisive victories in the history of naval warfare.

The USS Maine is one of the most famous ships in American history but for all the wrong reasons. A symbol of naval strength in the late 19th century, the Maine's tragic fate is taught to students across the nation not just because it was a disaster but because it is associated with the most notorious examples of yellow journalism in the country's history and ultimately brought about a war, despite the fact it's still unclear what caused the ship's explosion.

Over the course of its history, England has engaged in an uncountable number of battles, but a select few have been celebrated like the Battle of Trafalgar, one of the most important naval battles in history. Before the battle, Napoleon still harbored dreams of sailing an invasion force across the English Channel and subduing England, but that would be dashed on October 21, 1805 by a British fleet that was outnumbered and outgunned.

Although it was only in operation for about 18 months, the Pony Express remains the most famous and romanticized mailing system in American history. Starting shortly before the Civil War erupted across the United States, the Pony Express connected the east and west by having riders deliver mail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California - a route set up by previous explorations and a system of relay stations and waypoints.

World War II submariners rarely experienced anything as exhilarating or horrifying as the surface gun attack. As the submarine shot through the surface of the water, confined sailors scrambled through the hatches armed with large-caliber guns and met the enemy face-to-face. Surface and Destroy: The Submarine Gun War in the Pacific reveals the nature of submarine warfare in the Pacific Ocean during World War II and investigates the challenges of facing the enemy on the surface.

This book is the last in this amazing series on these 40 days of an intimate and personal relationship with God. New and fresh insight into the scriptures and their practical application into our daily lives. It will cause you to reflect on where you are in your own spiritual walk. It will cause you to think seriously about the life to come after death, and whether you really want to take the chance and leave this world without knowing Jesus as Lord.

Students and enthusiasts of American history are familiar with the Revolutionary War spies Nathan Hale and Benedict Arnold, but few studies have closely examined the wider intelligence efforts that enabled the colonies to gain their independence. Spies, Patriots, and Traitors provides readers with a fascinating, well-documented, and highly readable account of American intelligence activities during the era of the Revolutionary War, from 1765 to 1783.

Adriana Barrows returns to Maine following a disastrous intelligence-gathering mission in Pakistan. Unlike the extremely competent and capable woman the listener met in the first book, in Book II the listener meets the entirely "human" Adriana, one who will need to deal with her own weaknesses and frailties. Once again, the narrator tells her story, believing that from his past experiences, he perhaps alone can help her to heal.

Granbury's Texas Brigade explores the motivations behind the unit's decision to continue to fight, even as it faced demoralizing defeats and Confederate collapse. Using a vast array of letters, diaries, and regimental documents, Lundberg offers provocative insight into the minds of the unit's men and commanders. The caliber of that leadership, he concludes, led to the group's overall high morale.

This is a mystery/thriller set on the coast of Maine. The principal character/narrator is a man entering his middle years. An army officer in Vietnam, upon returning from his first tour he learned his wife had died unexpectedly. His response was to go back to Vietnam where he tried to get dead for the next two years. Finally, he was sent home by a commanding officer who felt he had more worth alive than dying a mourning death.

From wood to coal to oil and gas, the sources of energy on which civilization depends have always changed as technology advances. Now renewables are overtaking fossil fuels, with wind and solar energy becoming cheaper and more competitive every year. Growth in renewable energy will further accelerate as electric vehicles become less expensive than traditional automobiles. Understanding the implications of the energy transition will prepare us for the many changes ahead.

Americans frequently criticize US foreign policy for being overly costly and excessively militaristic. With its rising defense budgets and open-ended "forever wars," US foreign policy often appears disconnected from public opinion, reflecting the views of elites and special interests rather than the attitudes of ordinary citizens. The Commander-in-Chief Test argues that this conventional wisdom underestimates the role public opinion plays in shaping foreign policy.