Résultats de "Hourly History" dans Toutes les catégories

He was the first emperor of one of the greatest empires ever known to man. He commanded unmatched authority in the ancient world and was always one step ahead of his opponents. He had an intellect and a sharp wit that could cut down his foes just as easily as the steel of his sword. The life of Octavian - later known as Augustus - was rich and full. Although he lived and died over 2,000 years ago, this founder of the Roman Empire is as intriguing as ever.

The first American president born to immigrant parents, Jackson was the embodiment of the new blood which infused the American spirit in the early 19th century. Jacksonian democracy invigorated the national government and became a foundation of the modern political process. Controversial and complicated, Andrew Jackson's life is worthy of examination. To understand America, it’s vital to understand Andrew Jackson.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt described December 7, 1941, the date when the Japanese launched a surprise attack against the United States while the two countries were still officially at peace, as a day that would live in infamy. The action hurled the United States into the global conflict of World War II, a violent conflagration that the nation, fiercely isolationist, had intended to ignore. But the rising tide of militarism across the globe meant that American neutrality could not last. War was contagious, and sooner or later, no matter how a nation tried to quarantine itself, the infection would find it.

Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Clemens, a man whose adventures carried him from his boyhood home in Hannibal, Missouri - the memories of which inspired Tom Sawyer - to the American West, and eventually around the world. While his story is a fascinating one in itself, containing happiness and success as well as sorrow and bitterness, it also places the writings of Mark Twain in context, offering greater understanding of works that are still impacting the world today.

Grigori Rasputin began life as a peasant in the poorest reaches of Siberia and ended his life as the virtual second-in-command of Tsarist Russia. How did he achieve such a rapid change in fortunes? Was it through palace intrigue or magic and mind control? Or perhaps, the causes were a combination of hypnosis and hemophilia? The tsar’s son Nicholas had been born with the dreaded “royal disease” otherwise known as the blood clotting deficiency named hemophilia. The self-proclaimed healer managed to convince the royal family that he was the only way that their son would stay alive.

John Wycliffe was known as the “Morning Star” of the Reformation. His doctrines of strict adherence to the Bible and his attacks on the wealth and corruption of the Catholic Church would be the spark that would later ignite the fires of the Protestant Reformation.

Florence Nightingale is usually thought of for her work in the Crimean War, where, as the “Lady with the Lamp”, she tirelessly nursed wounded soldiers at all hours of the night and day. But while these two years were a significant part of her life, she was also much more.

One man has probably done more good and saved more lives than any single public official of the Victorian era. The man being described was an engineer, city planner, bridge builder, and landscape architect; his name was Sir Joseph Bazalgette. Probably best remembered as the man who designed the London sewer network, he almost single-handedly eliminated virulent epidemics and changed the River Thames from an open sewer into one of the cleanest urban rivers in the world. He also transformed the face of London forever.

Step into the world of Albert Einstein in this book and find out what was so extraordinary about him. Find out why Einstein valued creativity and freedom as the foundation stones of a good life, and how these two traits would inspire him and help to transform the world as it was known up until then.

The Korean War, which began in 1950 and ended in 1953, is not considered one of the major wars of the 20th century. However, in reality, it was profoundly impactful on global history. As an early crisis of the Cold War, it set important precedents for how conflicts would be handled during this era. It has also shaped Korea’s history for more than half a century.

Elvis Presley was much more than a cultural icon; he was a reliable barometer of the world in which he grew up. Long before the cultural revolutions of the '60s and '70s, Elvis was sparking a dynastic change of hands in American society. In this audiobook, you will learn about the life, the legend, and the unmistakable icon - Elvis Presley.

From working in a shoe-blacking factory as a 12-year-old to help his family while his father was in debtor’s prison, Charles Dickens rose to become one of the best-known novelists of all time. In this book, you’ll meet the author who not only wrote famous novels like Great Expectations and David Copperfield, but whose work also helped to develop and popularize the genre of the novel.

Charles Manson is instantly recognizable as the deranged cult leader who was responsible for the deaths of nine people in the late 1960s. Manson was a career criminal who got his education in the US prison system and learned at an early age that only those who have power over others will survive. In less than three years, Manson transformed his followers from a group of freedom-loving, LSD-dropping hippies into a pack of blood-thirsty murderers who carried out acts of astounding brutality at his request.

Pirates dominate movie box-office profits, they are theme park entertainment, and they occupy a place in popular culture that has outlasted the era when they originally ruled the seas. Contemporary audiences who are safe from the pistols and cutlasses of the men who sailed the Caribbean, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans to prey upon ships and claim their cargo may find it hard to reconcile the perceived glamour of Captain Jack Sparrow with the authentic bloodlust and greed of the real pirates who killed without conscience, and ravaged, bribed, and robbed their way into legend.

This audiobook explores the glories and misfortunes of the Maya civilization and provides a deeper look at their pre-Columbian battling dynasties and their highly structured approach to religion, science, and society.

When Fidel Castro died on November 25, 2016, it seemed as if much of the world didn’t quite know what to make of the revolutionary leader. The images of loyal Cubans in Havana openly crying in the streets stood in stark contrast to the Cuban exiles and their descendants just 90 miles away in Miami, Florida. While Cuban citizens were mourning, Cuban Americans were celebrating; they were laughing, dancing, and drinking to celebrate Castro’s demise. It seems Fidel Castro was just as polarizing in death as he was in life.

The Great Depression was one of the most trying eras in American history. All aspects of the US were affected. After the stock market crash of 1929, the nation was thrust into a decade of turmoil and change - in government, the economy, and culture. Many of the changes brought about by the Great Depression remain today.

From the humblest of beginnings as the third of seven sons born to a struggling Kansas couple, Dwight D. Eisenhower emerged as a military leader whose administrative acumen brought clashing personalities together. During his time in office, he was frequently dismissed as a man who would rather play golf than govern, but history has treated the 34th president with a respect that recognizes the strength of his leadership and the breadth of his accomplishments.

The British people had no sooner finished rescuing their trapped army from Dunkirk than they found themselves preparing for an attack from the Germans once again. But the heroism of the Royal Air Force and the fortitude of the British people turned Germany’s certain victory into defeat, forcing Hitler to abandon his plans to invade England. “We shall never surrender,” Churchill vowed, and his words rallied a nation, delivering a blow to the Nazi war machine that would, in the end, prove to be a turning point in World War II.

Andrew Jackson believed in the rights of the common man because he came from humble beginnings and distrusted the vested institutions of power. The first American president born to immigrant parents, Jackson was the embodiment of the new blood that infused the American spirit in the early 19th century. Like his country, he was both ruthless and chivalrous, hot-tempered and steadfast, an authoritarian and a believer in equality. Jackson cannot be described in one-dimensional terms because there were layers to the Tennessee frontier president.