Showing results by narrator "Norman" in All Categories

After the Civil War ended, Edmund McIlhenny, an ambitious and tenacious Louisiana businessman, found himself with few prospects. The South's economy in ruins and his millions of dollars in Confederacy currency worthless, he had no choice but to return with his wife, Mary, to her family home in Avery Island, a former sugar plantation destroyed by Union soldiers. To McIlhenny's surprise, however, the hot peppers he had planted before being forced off the island had flourished.

Exploration of the early American West, beginning with Lewis and Clark's transcontinental trek at the behest of President Thomas Jefferson, was not accomplished by standing armies, the era's new steam train technology, or by way of land grabs. These came later, but not until pathways known only to a few of the land's indigenous people were discovered, carved out, and charted in an area stretching from the eastern Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and the present-day borders of Mexico and Canada.

In terms of geopolitics, perhaps the most seminal event of the Middle Ages was the successful Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1453. The city had been an imperial capital as far back as the fourth century, when Constantine the Great shifted the power center of the Roman Empire there, effectively establishing two almost equally powerful halves of antiquity’s greatest empire. Constantinople would continue to serve as the capital of the Byzantine Empire even after the Western half of the Roman Empire collapsed in the late fifth century.

The Icewall: Cold, forbidding, remote, it stands like a dim white cloud on the very edge of sight. There Kerrick, an elf from the golden woods of Silvanesti, has been sent, an exile in disgrace. There too, a band of barbarian villagers make their stand against the remnants of an ogre empire that is determined to once again rule the frozen wastes. In the first book of this thrilling trilogy, Douglas Niles takes his listeners to a land that most in Krynn have heard of only in legen - the legend of the Icewall.

While the Elven Exiles struggle for survival in the distant kingdom of Khur, the elves remaining in Qualinesti face persecution, enslavement, and extermination. Amid great suffering and unrelieved evil, a rebel leader - masked, anonymous, and with strange powers - appears, determined to cleanse the land of invaders.Meanwhile, Kerianseray, the Lioness, Kagonesti general and wife of Speaker Gilthas, finds herself magically transported from certain death in Khur to equally dire straits in her former homeland.

In 1832, 17-year-old Otto von Bismarck had just entered university and was already rejecting the republican indoctrination of his grade school years. Unlike so many of his day who had championed representative government, Bismarck longed for the glory of a nation he believed would only be found under a single, strong leader. Though his early university days showed him he would be isolated by this thinking, he strongly believed not only in the ideal of a national German state, but in its possibility.

I'm a vampire hunter, a legacy meant only to care about killing monsters. But all I've ever cared about is Sebastian. I'm enamored... obsessed. Stalking him and manipulating fate to keep us together. We were assigned to Visamar Academy, where a group of powerful vampires gorge on the rich. I failed him as a partner and he paid the ultimate pricethe worst thing that can happen to a hunter.

Transported back in time to the regal days of chivalry, the quick-witted, sharp-tongued Connecticut Yankee introduces the legendary King Arthur and his court to some "magic" even the wizard Merlin never dreamed of: the destructive power of gunpowder, and the ability to eclipse the sun itself!

Dr. Franz Hartmann was a notable Freemason and prolific writer of his day, as well as a member of several esoteric organizations, such as the Theosophical Society and a nonmasonic Templar Order. Here, he discusses the concept of the philosopher's stone, as studied by the Rosicrucians, and how it relates to alchemy. He talks about the incorruptible body, spiritual development, and the alchemical concept of base metal.

For most of us, traveling means visiting the most beautiful places on Earth - Paris, the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon. It’s rare to book a plane ticket to visit the lifeless moonscape of Canada’s oil sand strip mines, or to seek out the Chinese city of Linfen, legendary as the most polluted in the world. But in Visit Sunny Chernobyl, Andrew Blackwell embraces a different kind of travel, taking a jaunt through the most gruesomely polluted places on Earth.

When Guthrie leaves his job, his car, and his apartment behind and starts walking, he has no plan. But day by day, he finds direction, company, and a vision that gets clearer with each passing mile. Lawrence Block is widely known for his best-selling mysteries. Here, in an early work that is now reissued, the Edgar and Shamus Award-winning author offers a provocative fantasy that has changed the lives of many readers.

Arianne Capizola is living a lie. Angry. Abandoned. Afraid. She'd rather spend her days locked away on her father's estate than with the guy who stole her innocence: her fiancé. Niccolò Marchetti is living a nightmare. Broken. Banished. Betrayed. He'd do anything to save the girl he loves, even if it means paying the ultimate price.

The Apocrypha of the Bible examines the history of the books excluded from the Bible, the characters and events told by the books, and the discoveries that have influenced Biblical studies in the last few centuries.

In 1871, an entire fleet of whaling ships was caught in an arctic ice storm and destroyed. Though few lives were lost, the damage would forever shape one of America's most distinctive commodities: oil. New Bedford, Massachusetts, was fertile ground for this country's first multimillion-dollar industry. Founded by assiduous Quaker merchants seeking refuge for their austere religion, the town also lent unparalleled access to the high seas.

Project 9: The Birth of the Air Commandos in World War II is a thoroughly researched narrative of the Allied joint project to invade Burma by air. Beginning with its inception at the Quebec Conference of 1943 and continuing through Operation Thursday until the death of the brilliant British General Orde Wingate in March 1944, less than a month after the successful invasion of Burma, Project 9 details all aspects of this covert mission.

The dwarven realms of Krynn are slumbering, locked in mountain fastness, removed and aloof from the affairs of the world. But the world has a way of finding someone when it needs them. A wealthy aristocratic dwarf from Kayolin is forced to flee his home. A gully dwarf from Thorbardin is lucky to escape his own city with his life. And a brilliant and impetuous descendant of the once-mighty Hylar wonders what failures have steered her people onto a path of self-destruction.

There was a time in my life when I allowed myself too much. Too much booze, too much partying, just… too much. Four years ago I pulled myself away from it all, and have been living a life with very little indulgence since. But something about this gorgeous, sweet firefighter makes me want to give in to everything he has to offer. With the threat of a dangerous arsonist out there, it’s my job to stop them. When I discover he may be connected to it all, will we be able to survive? Or will our newly ignited relationship go up in flames?

Help your teen face the challenging years of adolescence with the faith, wisdom, and encouragement they can only find with God. Your teen probably has so much on her plate right now, that her relationship with God has taken a back seat. As a parent, you want to help, but teens often don’t want parents telling them what to do. The best way you can help is to give them the tools to figure things out for themselves. This devotional was created to do just that.

Perhaps the 19th century's best book on Wall Street, Fifty Years in Wall Street provides a fascinating look at the financial markets during a period of rapid economic expansion.

With more than 10 stories from exciting new voices and a few veterans of the universe, the second anthology highlights the lives and struggles of humanity's best and worst years after system advent.