Biography Work

In The Climb up to Hell, acclaimed journalist and Edgar award winning author Jack Olsen delivers a gripping account of one of the most dangerous mountain climbs in history, a perilous 1957 assault on the Eiger’s infamous North Face in the Swiss Alps, where courage, tragedy, and endurance collide.

Meticulously sourcing every sentence to the original texts, Jesus: The Complete Works offers a comprehensive and accessible account of Jesus’s life, philosophy, and social mission. This book brings new insight to one of history’s most influential figures, offering illumination for believers and nonbelievers alike.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, led the nation through one of its most challenging periods in history—the American Civil War. Born in a humble log cabin in Kentucky in 1809, Lincoln's journey from a self-educated lawyer to the leader of a divided nation is a testament to his determination, intellect, and moral compass. Lincoln's unwavering commitment to preserving the Union, abolishing slavery, and promoting equality left an enduring legacy that continues to shape the United States to this day.

David Hallberg, the first American to join the famed Bolshoi Ballet as a principal dancer and the dazzling artist the New York Times described as "the foremost classical stylist of our day", presents an intimate journey through his artistic life up to the moment he returns to the stage after a devastating injury almost cost him his career. Beginning with his real-life Billy Elliot childhood - an all-American story marred by intense bullying - and culminating in his hard-won comeback, Hallberg's brave memoir dives deep into life as an artist.

The AudioLearn version of the Theologico-Political Treatise is prefaced by a summary which briefly explores the work, offering the main thrust of each chapter in simple and accessible terms. Also included in the summary are a biography of the author and the background of the work itself. In addition, the summary contains an overview, synopsis, and analysis, as well as an exploration of the historical context, social impact, and criticism evoked by the piece.

Without a doubt, Schopenhauer is one of the giants of Western philosophy. He represents a turning point from the quest to define the external world as something apart from our experience to a recognition of our experience as the medium of our world. Philosophy is a discourse, a conversation spread out over centuries that explores and develops different lines of thought. Schopenhauer embodies the moment in Western philosophy where the snake begins to eat its own tail, where the unreasoning insistence upon an external world is finally examined with due criticism and care.

The work of Marcus Aurelius is one of the finest examples of stoic philosophy in history. His words are clear and practical, suited to the application of philosophy to the governance of one's own life and that of an empire. One of the great virtues of his work is that it came from a man who was forced by his station to apply his philosophical ideals in a practical setting. While he was undoubtedly a man of learning, his ideas have been tested upon the field of life.

Thomas Henry Huxley was a prominent member of the scientific community and an early advocate of evolutionism. His work and public debates served to explore this idea and to usher in widespread acceptance, forming the foundation of our current understanding of biology and the place of man in the cosmos. Evolution and Ethics is a work which highlights the ethical and theological implications of the theory of evolution.

Fantasia of the Unconscious sheds invaluable light on the work of one of the most acclaimed and infamous modernists in literary history. No message stands alone. It is a relationship between the author and the audience, a snapshot of a living interaction, and it is only from this perspective that any classical piece can be fully understood. With this in mind, both the author and the climate of his time have been taken into account in a summary that precedes the narration of the full text.

The Foundations of Personality by Abraham Myerson is one of the most comprehensive examinations of the neurological and psychological influences upon character of its era. Myerson is a medical professional and speaks from a background of years of practical experience in the field, yet he approaches the subject of psychology with a natural balance which allows him to remain on solid ground when so many of his contemporaries were chasing theoretical fancies.

Many of us have never really considered how subtly and profoundly our sense of national spirit has colored our view of the world and of ourselves. The Psychology of Nations by GE Partridge shines a light on the philosophy of nationalism and uses this to delve deeply into its shaping of both psychology and sociology.

The samurai are still remembered as some of the fiercest and most skilled warriors in human history. The name alone evokes an image of the grave and powerful swordsman, clad in lacquered armor and armed with a code of honor and clarity of mind that makes the soldiers of the modern era look like children new to the art. But what was it that allowed these men to hone their minds and bodies to such levels of skill and precision? They had no more and no less than any human alive today.

Sigmund Freud is known as the father of psychoanalysis and is perhaps the most significant figure in the history of psychology. He was the first to have recognized the influence of the unconscious and to have developed a theory of the structure of the mind that took it into account. Freud's ideas, including coping mechanisms, repression, denial, libido, and ego have become household terms, key elements of the modern understanding of the human experience.

Lennina Ofori is a force of nature. A teen mother, a supportive older sister, a PhD student, a support system, a working woman, a survivor, above all, she is an Advocate. She has spent her life working for those who do not have a voice, for those relegated to the margins, and in this audiobook, she lends her voice to them. Starting with her own life story, from her beautiful family, to her hardest struggles, Ofori opens the door to intersections that are familiar to many: race, class and gender, and uses her expertise to explain and embolden listeners to make active change in their own lives.

Cheryl and her siblings are the offspring of an eccentric professor father and unflappable mother. Mindful of their ever-expanding family’s need for cash, her parents begin acquiring tumbledown houses in the campus town to renovate and rent. Dad, who changes out of his suit and tie into a carpenter’s battered white overalls, like Clark Kent into Superman, is supremely confident his offspring can do anything, whether he’s there or not.

One cannot enter into a study of psychology without coming across the name of Sigmund Freud. Even in popular culture, his name stands in common with others like Albert Einstein and Karl Marx. There are downsides to this level of popularity. One often encounters the criticisms of Freud's work before ever reading his texts. The works of Sigmund Freud are the foundation of modern psychology.

Barbara Kreiger's intriguing narrative presents the account of Clorinda Minor, a charismatic American Christian woman whose belief in the second coming prompted her to leave a comfortable life in Philadelphia in 1851 and take up agriculture in Palestine.

Brunhilde Pomsel described herself as an 'apolitical girl' and a 'figure on the margins', but, employed as a stenographer during the Second World War, she worked closely with one of the worst criminals in world history: Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. She was one of the oldest surviving eyewitnesses to the internal workings of the Nazi power apparatus until her death in 2017.

An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals was published in 1751 by Scottish enlightenment philosopher David Hume, a man who revolutionized our understanding of philosophy. Hume uses this work to explore the foundations of morality, asserting that our ethical nature is based upon sentiment rather than reason. He delves deeply into the subject of morality, expanding upon the perspective expressed initially in his Treatise of Human Nature.

John Stuart Mill was the most influential British philosopher of the 19th century. His works spanned a startling variety of topics including logic, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, and social theory. All of Mill's writings were aimed at the support and expansion of philosophical radicalism, and he had a significant influence on social theory, political theory, and political economy.