51 Results for : railed
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The Allied Invasion of Sicily: The History of the Largest Amphibious Campaign of World War II , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 77min
The rugged island of Sicily, dominated in the east by the snow-crowned eminence of the active volcano Mount Etna (which rises to a height of 11,000 feet), lies in the ocean just off the "toe" of the "boot" of Italy. This spectacular setting witnessed one of 1943's pivotal battles as the theater of Allied operations shifted from North Africa to Europe - Operation Husky, a mixed victory wresting control of Sicily from the Axis. The action also caused Benito Mussolini's downfall, his imprisonment, and subsequent dramatic rescue by the scar-faced Otto Skorzeny - removing significant portions of Italy from the fascist camp but nevertheless failing to prevent a long and costly Italian campaign. Germany's North African defeat opened up the possibility of taking the war in the west to the European continent for the first time since France's lightning conquest by the Wehrmacht in 1940. The British and Americans debated the merits of landing in France directly in 1943, but they ultimately opted against it. The Soviets railed at the Westerners as "bastards of allies" - conveniently forgetting that they aided and abetted Hitler's violent expansionism in eastern Europe for over a year, starting in 1939 - but a 1943 "D-Day" style landing in France might have proven a strategic and logistical impossibility. As it turned out, the lackluster Allied showing on Sicily and the escape of most of the island's garrison would encourage Hitler to alter his plans and defend Italy vigorously. With its rugged mountain ridges, deep valleys, and numerous rivers, Italy contained tens of thousands of natural defensive positions. ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: David Zarbock. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/084505/bk_acx0_084505_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.- Shop: Audible
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The Bay of Pigs Invasion: President Kennedy's Failed Attempt to Overthrow Fidel Castro , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 91min
Openly and unabashedly they are organizing training camps; openly and unabashedly they are building air bases and air strips. Everyone knows who is building the strips and buying planes, that mercenaries are recruiting troops. They even have the cynicism to publish photographs. (Fidel Castro, March 1961) Within just a month of becoming president, the issue of Communist Cuba became central to John F. Kennedy and his administration. On February 3, 1961, President Kennedy called for a plan to support Cuban refugees in the US. A month later he created the Peace Corps, a program that trained young American volunteers to help with economic and community development in poor countries. Both programs were integral pieces of the Cold War and were attempts to align disadvantaged groups abroad with the United State and the West against the Soviet Union and its Communist satellites. Meanwhile covert operations were laying the groundwork for overthrowing Cuban leader Fidel Castro, and he knew it. Castro railed against CIA involvement among Cubans trying to overthrow him and his still young revolution. Matters came to a head that April, when the Kennedy administration moved beyond soft measures to direct action. From April 17 to 20, 1,400 CIA-trained Cuban exiles landed on the beaches of Western Cuba in an attempt to overthrow Castro. This plan, known as the Bay of Pigs, had been originally drafted by the Eisenhower administration. The exiles landed in Cuba and were expected to be greeted by anti-Castro forces within the country, after which the US would provide air reinforcement to the rebels, and the Castro regime would slowly be overthrown. From the onset almost every phase of the operation went wrong. ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Cynthia O'Brien. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/037096/bk_acx0_037096_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.- Shop: Audible
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The Birth of the Italian Republic: The History and Legacy of the Allied Occupation of Italy After World War II , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 141min
On March 25, 1957, Italy signed the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community (EEC), a forerunner of the European Union (EU) that was promoted as a guarantor of future peace in Europe. For the soldiers on both sides of World War II fighting each other 13 years earlier in the mountains around Monte Cassino, south of Rome, this would have seemed a highly improbable outcome.Despite British diplomatic efforts, Italy had joined the Axis in 1940 with the intention of expanding its African empire and reliving the glories of Ancient Rome. That proved to be a major mistake, and by the spring of 1943 Italy had lost all its African possessions. The Axis’ North African defeat opened up the possibility of taking the war in the west to the European continent for the first time since France's lightning conquest by the Wehrmacht in 1940. The British and Americans debated the merits of landing in France directly in 1943, but they ultimately opted against it. The Soviets railed at the Westerners as “bastards of allies” - conveniently forgetting that they aided and abetted Hitler's violent expansionism in eastern Europe for over a year, starting in 1939 - but a 1943 “D-Day” style landing in France might have proven a strategic and logistical impossibility.Complex reasons lay behind England's successful insistence on the Mediterranean theater rather than the French theater as the scene of the next western Allied strike against Nazi Germany. Chief among these remained Britain's determination to keep a postwar empire, one that Churchill and his cabinet hoped would include Iraq and Iran, the source of oil needed to ensure that England continued to “rule the waves” with a powerful modern navy. This strategic imperative, indeed, formed the backbone of the British choice of Sicily as the target for military operations in the summer of 1943.Another major factor lay in Britain's deep (and, in the event, justified) distrust of the Soviets, and the ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Mandy Mitcheson. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/169731/bk_acx0_169731_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.- Shop: Audible
- Price: 9.95 EUR excl. shipping
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The Italian Liberation Corps: The History and Legacy of the Italian Soldiers Who Fought with the Allies During World War II , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 107min
Despite British diplomatic efforts, Italy had joined the Axis in 1940 with the intention of expanding its African empire and reliving the glories of ancient Rome. That proved to be a major mistake, and by the spring of 1943, Italy had lost all its African possessions. The Axis’ North African defeat opened up the possibility of taking the war in the west to the European continent for the first time since France's lightning conquest by the Wehrmacht in 1940. The British and Americans debated the merits of landing in France directly in 1943, but they ultimately opted against it. The Soviets railed at the Westerners as “bastards of allies” - conveniently forgetting that they aided and abetted Hitler's violent expansionism in Eastern Europe for over a year, starting in 1939 - but a 1943 “D-Day” style landing in France might have proven a strategic and logistical impossibility. Complex reasons lay behind England's successful insistence on the Mediterranean theater rather than the French theater as the scene of the next western Allied strike against Nazi Germany. Chief among these remained Britain's determination to keep a postwar empire, one that Churchill and his cabinet hoped would include Iraq and Iran, the source of oil needed to ensure that England continued to “rule the waves” with a powerful modern navy. This strategic imperative, indeed, formed the backbone of the British choice of Sicily as the target for military operations in the summer of 1943. The lackluster Allied showing on Sicily and the escape of most of the island's garrison encouraged Hitler to alter his plans and defend Italy vigorously. With its rugged mountain ridges, deep valleys, and numerous rivers, Italy contained tens of thousands of natural defensive positions. The Wehrmacht exploited these to the full during the ensuing campaign, bogging down the Anglo-American armies in an endless series of costly, time-consuming engagements. Even the rank and file German soldiers showed a cl ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Steven Groothuis. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/194182/bk_acx0_194182_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.- Shop: Audible
- Price: 9.95 EUR excl. shipping
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The Indispensable Composers: A Personal Guide , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 1224min
An exploration into the question of greatness from the chief classical music critic of the New York Times.When he began to listen to the great works of classical music as a child, Anthony Tommasini had many questions. Why did a particular piece move him? How did the music work? Over time, he realized his passion for this music was not enough. He needed to understand it. Take Bach, for starters. Who was he? How does one account for his music and its unshakable hold on us today? As a critic, Tommasini has devoted particular attention to living composers and overlooked repertory. But, like all classical music lovers, the canon has remained central for him. In 2011, in his role as the chief classical music critic for the New York Times, he wrote a popular series in which he somewhat cheekily set out to determine the all-time top 10 composers. Inviting input from readers, Tommasini wrestled with questions of greatness. Readers joined the exercise in droves. Some railed against classical music’s obsession with greatness but then raged when Mahler was left off the final list. This intellectual game reminded them why they loved music in the first place. Now, in The Indispensable Composers, Tommasini offers his own personal guide to the canon - and what greatness really means in classical music. What does it mean to be canonical now? Who gets to say? And do we have enough perspective on the 20th century to even begin assessing it? To make his case, Tommasini draws on elements of biography, the anxiety of influence, the composer's relationships with colleagues, and shifting attitudes toward a composer's work over time. Because he has spent his life contemplating these titans, Tommasini shares impressions from performances he has heard or given or moments when his own biography proves revealing. As he argues for his particular pantheon of indispensable composers, Anthony Tommasini provides a master ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Mark Bramhall. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/peng/004207/bk_peng_004207_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.- Shop: Audible
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The Battle of Monte Cassino: The History of the Battle for Rome During World War II , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 86min
Germany's North African defeat opened up the possibility of taking the war in the west to the European continent for the first time since France's lightning conquest by the Wehrmacht in 1940. The British and Americans debated the merits of landing in France directly in 1943, but they ultimately opted against it. The Soviets railed at the Westerners as "bastards of allies" - conveniently forgetting that they aided and abetted Hitler's violent expansionism in Eastern Europe for over a year starting in 1939 - but a 1943 "D-Day" style landing in France might have proven a strategic and logistical impossibility anyway. Thus, in 1943, the theater of Allied operations shifted from North Africa to Europe - Operation Husky, a mixed victory wresting control of Sicily from the Axis. The action also caused Benito Mussolini's downfall, his imprisonment, and subsequent dramatic rescue by the scar-faced Otto Skorzeny - removing significant portions of Italy from the fascist camp, but nevertheless failing to prevent a long Italian campaign. In fact, the lackluster Allied showing on Sicily and the escape of most of the island's garrison encouraged Hitler to alter his plans and defend Italy vigorously. With its rugged mountain ridges, deep valleys, and numerous rivers, Italy contained tens of thousands of natural defensive positions. The Wehrmacht exploited these during the ensuing campaign, bogging down the Anglo-American armies in an endless series of costly, time-consuming engagements. Indeed, it was a tough slog, and few places were tougher on the Allies than Monte Cassino, which witnessed a series of Allied attacks along the German line that aimed to create a breakthrough to Rome. Ultimately, the attacks would force the Germans into retreat, but not before they had inflicted over 50,000 casualties at a cost of about 20,000 of their own. The battle is perhaps best remembered today for the destruction of a historic abbey that dated back to the sixth ce ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: David Zarbock. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/070267/bk_acx0_070267_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.- Shop: Audible
- Price: 9.95 EUR excl. shipping
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The Faith of Christopher Hitchens: The Restless Soul of the World's Most Notorious Atheist , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 367min
If everyone in the United States had the same qualities of loyalty and care and concern for others that Larry Taunton had, we'd be living in a much better society than we do. (Christopher Hitchens) At the time of his death, Christopher Hitchens was the most notorious atheist in the world. And yet, all was not as it seemed. "Nobody is not a divided self, of course," he once told an interviewer, "but I think it's rather strong in my case." Hitchens was a man of many contradictions: a Marxist in youth who longed for acceptance among the social elites; a peacenik who revered the military; a champion of the Left who was nonetheless pro-life, pro-war-on-terror, and, after 9/11, something of a neocon; and while he railed against God onstage, he maintained meaningful - though largely hidden from public view - friendships with evangelical Christians like Francis Collins, Douglas Wilson, and the author Larry Alex Taunton. In The Faith of Christopher Hitchens, Taunton offers a very personal perspective of one of our most interesting and most misunderstood public figures. Writing with genuine compassion and without compromise, Taunton traces Hitchens' spiritual and intellectual development from his decision as a teenager to reject belief in God to his rise to prominence as one of the so-called "four horsemen" of the new atheism. While Hitchens was, in the minds of many Christians, public enemy number one, away from the lights and the cameras a warm friendship flourished between Hitchens and the author - a friendship that culminated in not one but two lengthy road trips where, after Hitchens' diagnosis of esophageal cancer, they studied the Bible together. The Faith of Christopher Hitchens gives us a candid glimpse into the inner life of this intriguing, sometimes maddening, and unexpectedly vulnerable man. ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Maurice England. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/tnwd/000549/bk_tnwd_000549_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.- Shop: Audible
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The First Populist: The Defiant Life of Andrew Jackson
A revelatory, timely, and masterful biography of President Andrew Jackson that offers a new perspective on this charismatic figure in the context of American populism—identifying the reasons for his unprecedented appeal as it shows us the man and politician in his full complexity. A number of bestselling and award-winning biographies have been written about the seventh president of the US, but none have positioned Andrew Jackson so firmly in the forefront of the country's populist tradition. Now, historian David S. Brown traces Jackson's unusual life and legacy and sheds new light on his place in our nation's history, focusing on his role as a popular leader. Andrew Jackson rose from rural poverty to become the dominant figure in American politics between Jefferson and Lincoln. His reputation, however, defies easy description. Some regard him as the symbol of a powerful democratic movement that saw early 19th century suffrage restrictions recede for white men. Others stress his prominent role in removing Native American peoples from their ancestral lands, which were then opened to create a southern cotton kingdom, home to more than a million enslaved people. A self-defined champion of "farmers, mechanics, and laborers," Jackson railed against the established ruling order, fostering a brand of democracy that struck a chord with the common man and helped catapult him into the presidency—he was the first westerner, first orphan, and thus far the only prisoner of war to occupy the office. Drawing on a wide range of research material, The First Populist takes a fresh look at Jackson's public career, including the momentous Battle of New Orleans and the far-reaching Bank War; it reveals his marriage to an already married woman, a deadly duel with a Nashville dandy, and analyzes his magnetic hold on much of the country at the time. Presenting a full portrait of a controversial American life, The First Populist offers a new way to interpret Jackson's legacy, connecting "Old Hickory" to a longer history of division, dissent, and partisanship that has come to define our current times.- Shop: buecher
- Price: 26.99 EUR excl. shipping
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The First Populist (eBook, ePUB)
A revelatory, timely, and masterful biography of President Andrew Jackson that offers a new perspective on this charismatic figure in the context of American populismidentifying the reasons for his unprecedented appeal as it shows us the man and politician in his full complexity. A number of bestselling and award-winning biographies have been written about the seventh president of the US, but none have positioned Andrew Jackson so firmly in the forefront of the country's populist tradition. Now, historian David S. Brown traces Jackson's unusual life and legacy and sheds new light on his place in our nation's history, focusing on his role as a popular leader. Andrew Jackson rose from rural poverty to become the dominant figure in American politics between Jefferson and Lincoln. His reputation, however, defies easy description. Some regard him as the symbol of a powerful democratic movement that saw early 19th century suffrage restrictions recede for white men. Others stress his prominent role in removing Native American peoples from their ancestral lands, which were then opened to create a southern cotton kingdom, home to more than a million enslaved people. A self-defined champion of "farmers, mechanics, and laborers," Jackson railed against the established ruling order, fostering a brand of democracy that struck a chord with the common man and helped catapult him into the presidencyhe was the first westerner, first orphan, and thus far the only prisoner of war to occupy the office. Drawing on a wide range of research material, The First Populist takes a fresh look at Jackson's public career, including the momentous Battle of New Orleans and the far-reaching Bank War; it reveals his marriage to an already married woman, a deadly duel with a Nashville dandy, and analyzes his magnetic hold on much of the country at the time. Presenting a full portrait of a controversial American life, The First Populist offers a new way to interpret Jackson's legacy, connecting "Old Hickory" to a longer history of division, dissent, and partisanship that has come to define our current times.- Shop: buecher
- Price: 14.45 EUR excl. shipping
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The Straight-Laced Duke Selbourne , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 553min
Sophie Winstead is utterly perfect, from the top of her tousled honey-brown ringlets to the tips of her dainty pink toes. Indeed, any man in London Society would want her. The problem for Sophie lay in what they wanted from her. For Sophie is the orphaned daughter of one Constance Winstead, the Widow Winstead, mistress of many men during her abbreviated lifetime. Woo her, win her, yes. Marry her? Don’t be ridiculous! When the Duke of Selbourne and his lovely Connie met an extremely public and indiscreet end at a country party, Sophie was crushed by her double loss, for she had grown to love “Uncle Cesse” very much. She cried for days before her only companion (a French courtesan turned lady’s maid) slowly and carefully brought her back to her usual sunny, perfect self. The Duke’s son took refuge in anger, railed at the mess his father had left behind, and swore that he would never, never ever, follow in his father’s irresponsible footsteps. For three long years Bramwell Seaton, the new Duke, toed every line, broke no rules; why, he’d even become engaged to the perfect, staid, beauty who would make him a suitable wife. He might not have been precisely a happy man, but he had managed to rub the tarnish from the family escutcheon. You know what’s coming, right? Bramwell’s father had left behind a mess he could not ignore, and he suddenly found himself reluctantly chaperoning Sophie for the Spring Season. Sophie - accompanied by her maid, her parrot (a bird with the memory of an elephant), and a larcenous monkey - dazzled everyone in the Duke’s household, from his aunt to the lowliest scullery maid. Why, she even gained the approval of Bramwell’s fiancée, who offered to help steer Sophie in avoiding the many pitfalls of polite Society. You know who didn’t have any intention of succumbing to Sophie’s charms. Sophie being who she so naturally was, and Bram being a recent reinvention of the bright, charming man he’d been before ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Richard Turner. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/158830/bk_acx0_158830_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.- Shop: Audible
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