Showing titles in History

The spirit of Christmas was strong between the soldiers fighting in 1914. They voluntarily stopped fighting to celebrate Christmas. They shared a good laugh and a cigarette or two, too! How we wish that agreement lasted until war was resolved! Are you interested to find out more about The Unofficial Christmas Truce of 1914? Then listen to this book today!

Though much of his early life remains a mystery, Blackbeard most likely began his life as Edward Teach in the sailing port of Bristol, England. He began his career as a hired British sailor during Queen Anne's War. He eventually settled in the Bahamas under Captain Benjamin Hornigold who taught the young sailor to go "a-pirating." Soon enough, Blackbeard was commanding his own fleet and stealing ships around the Caribbean and up and down the Eastern seaboard. The legend of Blackbeard has influenced pirate legend and lore for more than 300 years.

Whaling in the Arctic waters off Alaska’s coast was as dangerous as it was lucrative in 1897. In that particular year, winter came early, bringing with it storms and ice packs that caught eight American whale ships and about three hundred sailors off guard. The ships were imprisoned in ice with no hope of escape. With limited provisions on board the ships that hadn’t been crushed by the ice, there was little hope that these men could survive until warmer temperatures arrived at least 10 months later. Martin Sandler tells the incredible true adventure story of three men who were ordered by President McKinley to carry out an overland rescue in the dead of winter.

Do you know in which castle the world's oldest football was found? What is the correct term for the person in charge of a buttery? How do you tell the difference between a trebuchet and a mangonel? And what on earth is an oubliette? In this fascinating audiobook, narrator Charles King answers all these questions and more as he introduces us to over 100 facts about castles. So if you want to know the history of castles from the early beginnings through to their golden age and final decline, this is the perfect audiobook for you!

For 10 years, the battle raged. Thousands of ancient Greece's best warriors battled their enemies, the Trojans, in a desperate attempt to win back King Meneleus' beautiful wife, Helen. After a decade of fighting and thousands dead, the Greek forces suddenly fell back. Cautiously the Trojans ventured out of the city walls, where they discovered a giant wooden horse and a messenger. Should they accept this peace offering? Or is the gift horse too good to be true?

Most students know the basic facts about the voyages of Christopher Columbus, but this biography of his life isolates his lesser-known characteristics, such as his boastful nature and obsessive drive to reach the West Indies. It also chronicles the events leading to his eventual fall from grace in the court of Spain.

Revealed are detailed facts about the explorer, his thoughts, and his first impressions of the New World. This is an illuminating audiobook that enlivens a familiar history.

To a rock climber, a boulder is called a "problem," and you solve it by climbing to the top. There are twists and turns, falls and scrapes, and obstacles that seem insurmountable until you learn to see the possibilities within them. And then there is the moment of triumph, when there's nothing above you but sky and nothing below but a goal achieved. Ashima Shiraishi draws on her experience as a world-class climber in this story that challenges listeners to tackle the problems in their own lives and rise to greater heights than they would have ever thought possible.

Sala Lewis, who at age 10 was left alone to wander the streets of Poland after her family was taken away by the Nazis. She had been out with her friends and came home to find her family gone and the apartment where she lived closed off and she was not allowed in. Everything she possessed was no longer hers. She had no family, no clothes, no food, and at that moment in time, no future. It was because she was strong willed and confident that she made her way to find her sister who had been taken to a concentration camp.

What was life really like on a pirate ship? Captain Rumbeard, the famous pirate (in his mind anyway) will take you through the truth and the lies about being a pirate and was life was like on a pirate ship. In this audiobook, we will aim to find out the real truth about pirates and their lives on their ships on the high seas.

This is no stuffy music appreciation lesson. Author Kathleen Krull makes these great artists come alive. From Bach to Mozart, George Gershwin to Woody Guthrie, Beethoven to Gilbert and Sullivan, you'll learn all about their lives and music, what they were really like and what inspired these geniuses of musical expression. Filled with interesting trivia and gossip, Lives of the Musicians is the ultimate guide to the great composers.

In 1957, when the USSR launched Sputnik I, the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth, America’s rival in the Cold War claimed victory on a new frontier. The Space Race had begun, and the United States was losing. Closer to home, a decade of turbulence would soon have Americans reeling, with the year 1968 alone seeing the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy as well as many violent clashes between police and protesters. Americans desperately needed something good to believe in.

Before Amelia Earhart (1897-1939) became a world-famous pilot, she was a little tomboy from Kansas with a taste for adventure. When she visited an airfield and took a short plane ride, she knew she had to be a pilot. She signed up for flying lessons and cropped her hair short so that the other pilots would take her seriously. She became the first woman to make a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

1776. The early days of the Revolutionary War. It supposedly began with Thomas Hickey, a private in the Continental Army, and New York governor William Tryon. In an astonishing power grab, they plotted to kill Hickey's boss: a man by the name of George Washington. In the end, Hickey was caught, brought to trial, and found guilty. It would seem he became the first person in the new nation to be executed for treason.

Six real-life stories of explorers who have ventured to the extremes of the earth. Hours of audio fun to keep children entertained while on the move! Introduce your children to six inspirational true stories about real life explorers and adventurers around the world, from Captain Scott of the Antarctic and Christopher Columbus to modern-day Mount Everest ice climbers.

These stories are narrated in a intentionally calming way that has been proven to get younger children to sleep, set to soft background instrumental music. These audiobooks are created with bedtime in mind, avoiding too much drama, which may prevent kids from relaxing. Topics covered include the stories of four children who changed the course of history: Iqbal Masih, who escaped slavery; Joseph of Canaan, who showed compassion; Nadia Comaneci, a brave gymnast; and Margaret Knight, an inventor.

Sojourner Truth was born into slavery but possessed a mind and a vision that knew no bounds. So Tall Within traces her life from her painful childhood through her remarkable emancipation to her incredible leadership in the movement for rights for both women and African Americans. Her story is told with lyricism and pathos by Gary D. Schmidt, one of the most celebrated writers for children in the 21st century. This audiobook is just right for introducing this legendary figure to a new generation of children.

During World War II, black Americans were fighting for their country and for freedom in Europe, yet they had to endure a totally segregated military in the United States, where they weren't considered smart enough to become military pilots. After acquiring government funding for aviation training, civil rights activists were able to kickstart the first African American military flight program in the US at Tuskegee University in Alabama. While this audiobook details thrilling flight missions and the grueling training sessions the Tuskegee Airmen underwent, it also shines a light on the lives of these brave men who helped pave the way for the integration of the US armed forces.

Born the eighth of 17 children in Philadelphia, Betsy Ross lived in a time when the American colonies were yearning for independence from British rule. Ross worked as a seamstress and was eager to contribute to the cause, making tents and repairing uniforms when the colonies declared war. By 1779 she was filling cartridges for the Continental Army. Did she sew the first flag? That's up for debate, but Who Was Betsy Ross? tells the story of a fierce patriot who certainly helped create the flag of a new nation.

After rising to national fame as the general who defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans, Jackson ran for president as a political outsider, championing the interest of common farmers and frontiersmen. Determined to take down the wealthy, well-educated East Coast elites, he pledged to destroy the national bank, which he believed was an engine of corruption serving the interest of bankers and industrialists. A staunch nationalist, he sought to secure and expand the nation's borders.

Even as a child, Davy Crockett "always delighted to be in the very thickest of danger." Better known to us as "King of the Wild Frontier," Davy Crockett was not only a frontiersman but also a politician who became a celebrity and a folk hero during his lifetime. Here, in his own inimitable style, he describes his earliest days in Tennessee, his two marriages, his career as an Indian fighter, his bear hunts, and his electioneering.