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The gripping true story of the bold and determined museum curators who saved the priceless treasures of China's Forbidden City in the years leading up to World War II and beyond.
Spring 1933: The silent courtyards and palaces of Peking's Forbidden City, for centuries the home of Chinese emperors, are tense with fear and expectation. Japan's aircrafts drone overhead, its troops and tanks are only hours away. All-out war between China and Japan is...
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The story of the Ham Lake fire, at the time the most destructive wildfire in modern Minnesota history-the blaze, the firefighters' battle, the human toll
Gunflint Burning is a comprehensive account of the dramatic events around the Ham Lake fire of 2007, one of the largest wildfires in Minnesota history. In sharp detail, Cary J. Griffith describes the key events of the fire as they unfold, transporting listeners to the front lines of an epic struggle...
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The death of a chief executive, regardless of the circumstances-sudden or expected, still in office or decades later-is always a moment of reckoning and reflection. Mourning the Presidents brings together renowned and emerging scholars to examine how different generations and communities of Americans have eulogized and remembered United States presidents since George Washington's death in 1799. Over twelve individually illuminating chapters, this...
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Piers has long been unashamedly vocal about the fundamental problems we face as a society, which only became clearer in the midst of the pandemic. Yet just as Coronavirus exposed our flaws, it also showcased our strengths. We saw selfless bravery in the heroic efforts of our health-care staff while thousands flocked to parks for picnics. As stockpilers revealed our extraordinary levels of self-interest, we also witnessed inspiring, noble acts from...
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In the turbulent world of Chicago politics, Boss dives deep into the captivating life and legacy of Richard J. Daley, the influential politician and mastermind behind the city's Democratic Party machine.
Mike Royko's scathing and meticulously researched account follows Richard J. Daley's rise to power, from his inauspicious youth on Chicago's South Side through his rapid climb to the seat of power as the city's mayor.
This engrossing biography brings...
6) The Race to the Future: 8000 Miles to Paris – The Adventure that Accelerated the Twentieth Century
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The racers battle over steep inclines, through narrow mountain passages, and across the arid Gobi Desert. Competitors endure torrential rain and choking dust. There are barely any roads, and petrol is almost impossible to find.
More than its many adventures, the Peking-to-Paris Motor Challenge took place on the precipice of a new world. As the twentieth century dawned, imperial regimes in China and Russia were crumbling, paving the way for the rise...
7) Sabotage!: An In-Depth Investigation of the 1943 Liberator Crash that Killed Polish General Sikorski
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On the night of July 4, 1943, transport aircraft Liberator AL523 took off from Gibraltar's North Front tarmac and within moments crashed into the sea with only one survivor, the pilot. The commander-in-chief of the Polish army and prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile, General Wladyslaw Sikorski, was dead.
Rumors as to the cause of the crash abounded. Was it pilot error? Was it, as officially classified, merely an accident, or was it,...
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Dickensian London is brought to real and vivid life in this innovative, accessible social history, revealing the true character of this place and time through the stories of its street denizens-shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2023
London, 1857: A pair of teenage girls holding a sign that says "Fugitive Slaves" ask for money on the corner of Blackman Street. After a constable accosts them and charges them with begging, they end up in court,...
9) I Can't Wait to Call You My Wife: African American Letters of Love and Family in the Civil War Era
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Against the backdrop of bloody battles and political maneuvering, thousands of African Americans spent the Civil War trying to hold their families together. Whether enslaved or free, they strove not only to survive but also to cultivate bonds of family, friendship, and community. This moving book illuminates that struggle through the letters exchanged by African Americans before, during, and just after the war. Despite harsh laws against literacy...
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Marcus Garvey (August 17, 1887 - June 10, 1940) was a charismatic Jamaican-born political leader, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He organized the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) and acted as its President-General. In 1916 he moved to New York City where his prominence grew. By 1919 he was considered to be the "Black Moses," and he claimed a following of over 2 million people. This...
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J.B. Rhine (1895 - 1980), widely considered to be the 'Father of Modern Parapsychology,' was the world's leading investigator of psychic phenomena, ESP and the paranormal. He founded the parapsychology research lab at Duke University and the Journal of Parapsychology. Dr. Rhine, who coined the term 'extrasensory perception' (ESP) to describe the apparent ability of some people to acquire information without the use of the known five senses), wrote...
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Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Though born with the ability to see and hear, at 19 months-old she contracted an acute illness that left her both deaf and blind. Eventually, 20-year-old Anne Sullivan, herself visually impaired, became Keller's speech instructor. It was the beginning of a 49-year-long relationship during which Sullivan evolved into Keller's governess and eventually her companion. In 1914, Sullivan's health...
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In these two rare recordings of Robert Baden-Powell, founder and first Chief Scout of The Boy Scouts Association and founder of the Girl Guides, he extols the virtues of the Scout movement and that Scout duties are working for God and the King, helping other people, and keeping Scout law.
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Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874 - 1922) was a polar explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. During the second expedition, from 1907 to 1909, he and three companions established a new record for the "farthest South latitude," which was 97 miles from the South Pole and the closest in pole exploration history. Members of his team also climbed Mount Erebus, the most active volcano on Antarctica. For these achievements, Shackleton...
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Created in 1942, the Navajo code talker units of the US Marine Corps relayed radio and phone messages in their native dialect during World War II combat operations. The method was fast and indecipherable to enemy eavesdroppers, as Navajo is an unwritten language of extreme complexity--with its syntax, tonal qualities and various dialects--making it unintelligible to anyone without extensive exposure and training. It has no alphabet or symbols, and...
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Pope John Paul I (born Albino Luciani). He lived from Oct. 17, 1912 to Sept 28, 1978. He reigned as Pope from August 26, 1978 to his unexpected death 33 days later. He was the first pope to have been born in the twentieth century. His reign is among the shortest in papal history. This speech is delivered in Latin.
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As the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud developed theories that made him one of the most influential psychologists of the last century. In this rare actual recording from 1938, Freud talks about his professional career and his escape from the Nazis at the age of 82. Recording obtained and published by Rick Sheridan.
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This is a rare live recording of Francesco Forgione, or Padre Pio, a Capuchin priest from Italy and one of the world's most popular saints. There are more than 3,000 "Padre Pio Prayer Groups" worldwide, with over three million members. Recording obtained and published by Rick Sheridan.
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JRR Tolkien was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor best known as the author of fantasy works like "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings." Listen as Tolkien reads "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil," "The Mewlips," "The Hoard," "Perry-The-Winkle," and "The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon." Also included is a reading of "A Elbereth Gilthoniel" in Elvish and "The Road Goes Ever On," sung by William Elvin with music by Donald...
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