Showing results by publisher "Beacon Audiobooks" in History

Nearly everything the American public has seen, read, and heard in the media for nearly 80 years about the so-called Amelia Earhart mystery is intentionally false or inadvertently misleading. The widely accepted myth that the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan during their ill-fated world-flight attempt in July 1937 is among the greatest aviation mysteries of the 20th century is an abject lie, the result of decades of government propaganda that continues unabated to this day.

In many ways, Judy Garland's rise to fame seems almost predestined. Not only was she a national sensation at a young age, but her parents and sisters were all vaudeville entertainers. On top of that, Garland's parents owned and operated a movie theater, making it all the easier to draw the conclusion that singing and acting were simply professions which she was born into by virtue of her pedigree.

The 15th century Romanian Prince Vlad III Dracula, also known as Vlad the Impaler, is one of the most fascinating personalities of medieval history. Already during his own lifetime, his true story became obscured by a veil of myths. As a result, he has been portrayed both as a bloody tyrant - who degenerated down throughout the centuries into the fictional vampire of the same name created by Bram Stoker at the end of the 19th century - and as a national and Christian hero who bravely fought to defend his native land and all of Europe against the invading Turkish infidels.

Throughout the history of Hollywood, perhaps no actor has a reputation as unique as Johnny Depp. Depp began his career in a very traditional manner by being a teen heartthrob on shows like 21 Jump Street, but as he once admitted, "As a teenager I was so insecure. I was the type of guy that never fitted in because he never dared to choose. I was convinced I had absolutely no talent at all. For nothing. And that thought took away all my ambition too."

The Diary of Anne Frank is a seminal piece of twentieth-century literature. It recounts the tragic and moving story of a young Jewish teenager faced with the horrors of Nazism. In it, Anne establishes a bond with her readers that transcends both time and space, making them her friends and confidants. Readers feel a connection with each dream she had, each fear she endured, and each struggle she confronted. Her diary ended, but her story did not.

In First Crossing, we follow the two Royal Air Force officers from their separate upbringings in Manchester, England through terrifying Great War aerial combat. Both would be shot down and become prisoners of war. While incarcerated, both independently dreamed and schemed of a way to win Lord Northcliffe’s £10,000 prize for the first non-stop Trans-Atlantic crossing.

In It Did Not Start with JFK, author and researcher Walter Herbst examines the decades before Kennedy’s presidency, and how understanding the “why” behind this right-wing group’s interest in removing Kennedy from power is the key to unraveling the assassination riddle. And once "why" is understood, who was responsible becomes clear.

Following the First World War, it was expected that the next war would be between Japan and the U.S. for control of the vast Pacific Ocean. Responsibility for conducting surveillance of the Pacific to detect attacks from Japan fell to the Navy. This was a problem for the Navy because surface ships were too slow and the Navy had too few of them, and airplanes lacked the range to conduct the needed reconnaissance.

When Bogart died in 1957, Bacall was still in her 30s, yet from 1957 onward her name scarcely surfaces in popular culture, as though Bacall was simply wiped away with her late husband.

The British Royal Family is held in awe across Britain, and they have captured the interest of people around the globe. Queen Elizabeth II is respected for her stately demeanor, Prince William and his new wife, Kate Middleton, are deemed trendsetters and attract attention from media starved for gossip, and nobody has held as unique a place in pop culture as the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

Some of the greatest names in naval history, Admiral Horatio Nelson, commodore Stephen Decatur, Admiral Erich Raeder, and many others fill War at Sea in a way that not only educates but entertains any listener interested in the story of naval warfare. From the Chesapeake Bay to Jutland, from the River Plate to Guadalcanal, from Hampton Roads to Leyte Gulf, here are the most compelling and memorable accounts of the days of sail and steam, of wood and iron, and of duels to the death on the waters.

Lew Wallace, a fascinating and multitalented historical figure, has consistently been overlooked and lost in academia, articles, and modern books. When he has been discussed, he has often been misrepresented and misunderstood. This is partly due to the sordid and profoundly controversial period in the United States during his lifetime. Yet, Lew wrote one of the most successful and influential novels of the 19th Century. The story he created, and the high-profile controversies he was intimately involved in, have lived on in numerous movies and television programs.

A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history’s most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' British Legends series, listeners can get caught up to speed on the lives of Great Britain’s most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.

"Fifty Years in a Foxhole" is an episodic account of the author's seven months in combat in Vietnam. He and his platoon were in several major engagements including the Battle of the Hills and Operation Utah. The main focus of these operations are the lives of the marines and attrition through action and "friendly fire" as they endure these pointless dangers.

In 1942, in its rush to assemble a force of seven million to take on the Axis powers, the Army discovered it had inducted some iffy patriots. Unsure of what to do with them, the Army put them all into a misfit company: the 620th Engineer General Service Company. Seething, they considered disobedience, desertion, and, ultimately, a plan to sabotage the war effort. That’s when Dale Maple and two German POWs deserted. Their plans: get to Germany and persuade the government to supply money and materials for guerilla war on US soil. That’s when their fates took an only-in-America turn.

Marine Fighter Squadron 422 was a group of 24 typical young Americans trained to fly the famous F4U Corsair into combat with the legendary Japanese Zero. When they arrived in the Pacific, they suddenly found that not all their enemies carried guns in savage Banzai charges. Their two most dangerous and merciless adversaries were the fury of a tropical typhoon and the cold heartless whims of a Marine Corps general. Together, these two foes seal the fate of VMF-422 and cause the greatest disaster ever to strike a Marine squadron.

On September 15, 1906, Arthur MacArthur, Jr. became the 12th man in the history of the United States Army to be awarded the rank of lieutenant general, the highest rank in the army up to that time. This great honor, which marked the culmination of MacArthur's brilliant military career, included him in the ranks of such outstanding American military leaders as George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, and William Tecumseh Sherman, all of whom had previously held this rank. This biography reveals the remarkable career of this great patriot and his contribution to American history.

In ancient Greece and across the Mediterranean, kingdoms strive for dominance. The great powers of Carthage and Egypt look on with avarice as the might of the Greeks is spent warring between themselves, oblivious to external dangers. Year in and year out, the people suffer at the hands of their rulers and the famine and pestilence that comes with conflict. The great rulers of the day are themselves helpless to end this cycle of destruction. While life on the battlefield is cheap, the slave trade flourishes through the years of interminable battle and death.

Why Political Democracy Must Go is an insightful analysis of the origins of the socialist movement in the United States, written by famed journalist John Reed, one of the most distinguished American writers on the subject. Although one of socialism’s fiercest proponents, Reed exposes the myth of "democratic socialism" by providing an overview of the development of socialist thought in America. His devastating critique of political democracy argues that socialism cannot be achieved through democratic means.

Are the 1932 Yankees the greatest team of all time? This is the story of their remarkable season, led by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, toward one of the most lopsided and talked-about World Series in baseball history. At the outset of the Great Depression, as FDR campaigned to replace Herbert Hoover, a baseball season was played across America.