Showing results by narrator "Bruce" in All Categories

Recent political events around the world have raised the specter of an impending collapse of democratic institutions. Contemporary concerns about the decline of liberal democracy are reminiscent to the tumult of the 1930s and 1940s in Europe. Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived in Germany during the rise of National Socialism, and each reflected on what the rise of totalitarianism meant for the aspirations of modern politics.

The story of the short life and tragic death of Bowland Beth - an English hen harrier. 'The sun was blood red as it broke the horizon and lit the communal roost where the female hen harrier had spent the night. She watched the other harriers as they left to go foraging for food out on the moor. She didn't join them, for she had felt a quickening in her body, an urge to move to Mallowdale Pike, a rocky crag from where she had fledged nine months ago. After preening, she lifted off from the roost and soared up over the fell.'

In this audiobook, Tim Chester makes a compelling case that God has given us truth we can touch for a reason: the sacraments embody the promises, grace, and presence of Christ. He looks throughout the Bible to explain how the sacraments are intended to actually shape Christians' lives by giving us physical bread, wine, and water we can point to as an expression of our union with Christ. The aim is to help listeners treasure baptism and Communion and approach them rightly so churches can receive the full benefit God intends them to physically bring us.

Following the execution of the king in 1649, the new Commonwealth and then Oliver Cromwell set out to drive forward a puritan reformation of manners. They wanted to reform the church and its services, enforce the Sabbath, suppress Christmas, and spread the gospel. They sought to impose a stern moral discipline to regulate and reform sexual behaviour, drinking practices, language, dress, and leisure activities ranging from music and plays to football.

Based on their experiences during the First World War, the Reichswehr decided that the infantry support gun of the future should be an armored, motorized vehicle: the Sturmgeschütz III. The weapon was used in the 'fire brigade role' at hotspots along the Front, where it was much feared by enemy forces. This book tells the tale of Brigade 191, aka the 'Buffalo Brigade', who used the Sturmgeschütz III as they took part in Operation Barbarossa in the Ukraine, saw action during the fight for Greece and were deployed to the areas of heaviest fighting in the campaign against the Soviet Union.

In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, Richard Earl gives a sense of the more visual elements of topology (looking at surfaces) as well as covering the formal definition of continuity. Considering some of the eye-opening examples that led mathematicians to recognize a need for studying topology, he pays homage to the historical people, problems, and surprises that have propelled the growth of this field.

In The Scientific Sherlock Holmes, James O'Brien provides an in-depth look at Sherlock Holmes's use of science in his investigations. Indeed, one reason for Holmes's appeal is his frequent use of the scientific method and the vast scientific knowledge which he drew upon to solve mysteries. For instance, in heart of the audiobook, the author reveals that Holmes was a pioneer of forensic science, making use of fingerprinting well before Scotland Yard itself had adopted the method.

Young Matt Bodine and Sam Two Wolves became blood brothers on the day the rancher's son saved the half breed's life, forging a bond no one could ever break. Beneath the Montana big sky, Matt learned the ways of the Cheyenne from his friend. And as years passed, a legend grew of the breed and the white man who rode together — and who could jerk killing iron with the best of them....

In the summer of 1627, Barbary corsairs raided Iceland, killing dozens of people and abducting close to 400 to sell into slavery in Algiers. Among those taken was the Lutheran minister Reverend Olafur Egilsson. Reverend Olafur wrote The Travels to chronicle his experiences both as a captive and as a traveler across Europe (he journeyed alone from Algiers to Copenhagen in an attempt to raise funds to ransom the Icelandic captives who remained behind).

All is fair in love and war. At least, the Nazis thought so. They deployed sex like any other weapon in the service of the Third Reich. Al Camino examines many shocking cases, where brothels were hotbeds of bugging and blackmail, and pillow talk could topple nations.

Why Shakespeare? What explains our continued fascination with his poems and plays? In Living with Shakespeare, Susannah Carson invites 40 actors, directors, scholars, and writers to reflect on why his work is still such a vital part of our culture.

When the foreigners confronted Sterren in Ethshar of the Spices, he was uneasy. When they all but abducted him, taking him to an obscure kingdom in the south, he knew he was in a terrible predicament. A predicament some might actually find appealing - he was by heredity the Ninth Warlord of Semma, least of the small kingdoms; he was a noble, and his rank afforded him material privileges, even in a place as insignificant and obscure as Semma. But the office also carried certain terrible responsibilities: He was to win the war the stupid king had stirred up by his arrogance.

People faced with cancer take life seriously--very seriously. They want answers; they need to know what works. I know the feeling. For more than twenty years now, I have sat in groups with thousands of others going through cancer. Between us we have tried many things. We have worked out what works. My job has been to collect these experiences.

When Cain retired from the CIA, he moved to Florence, Italy to get away from his past. He's had nine years to enjoy fine wine, good food, and the Tuscan countryside. But now his old boss has tracked him down, and he needs Cain to do one last job. What starts as a simple trade entangles Cain in a web of secrets involving the mafia, an NSA whistleblower, and his own past. With the Italian police and international assassins on his trail, he'll have to survive the night to solve the mystery of who wants him dead.

It’s difficult to totally disconnect from our jobs outside of work hours. But not doing so can cause long-term stress, burnout, and loss of the joy we find in work. As a top tech leader, Bruce Daisley has seen up close how an around-the-clock work culture can lead employees to feel perpetually stressed-out, disengaged, and unhappy. In this workshop, Daisley lays out specific strategies to help us break free from the unhealthy work habits that lead to burnout and shows us that protecting our personal time can lead to more inspiration and more joy on the job.

If there's anything the recession of 2009 taught us, it was the importance of investing in our customers, but when was this any different? So says Joseph Jaffe, best-selling author of Life After the 30-Second Spot and Join the Conversation, and a leading expert and thought leader on new media and social media. In most businesses, it costs roughly five-to-10 times more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing one, and yet companies continue to disproportionately spend their budgets into the "wrong" end of the funnel the mass media or awareness side.

Arnold Bennett’s classic book, How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, has been changing the way people use and consider their time since it was first published in 1910. In the intervening century surprisingly little has changed - we still struggle to make use of our time and are often plagued by the persistent worry that we are not making the most of our lives. Bennett encourages listeners to stop merely following the rote patterns of their lives and leverage their free hours by viewing time as a commodity like money - each of us is allotted exactly 24 hours every day to spend as we see fit.

The fossil record confirms that humanity originated in Africa. Yet somehow we have overlooked that Africa is also at the root of all that makes us human - our spirituality, civilization, arts, sciences, philosophy, and our conscious and unconscious minds.

A family which rules the world. A group of women no one would suspect. A diabetic girl on the run. DI Mike Yorke never mixes work and play - but his latest case on Holy Island has come a little too close to home. Aunt May is in a coma. Street kid Smiler is seeing doom at every turn. Childhood friend Dave is obsessively praying. The Drugs factory has been broken up, the enslaved children rescued and the monastery restored to the monks.

Thanos Agapiou has always been a charmer. For over two millennia, the vampire had no problem acquiring whom and what he wanted with a flash of his handsome smile. He took for granted the boyish good looks he presumed he'd possess for the rest of eternity. How very wrong he was. A nearly fatal attack distorted his entire existence. With his appearance now matching the title many have bestowed on his kind - monster - he hides away from the world and all of those who know him, including his Ancient, Eton.