Latest podcast episodes

The Pirate is set in the island of Shetland in the late 1600s, and is a historical novel based on the life of John Gow, Captain Cleveland in the novel. - Summary by Deon Gines

The book starts with Annette Georges choosing between two fates: suicide and running away with a disreputable stranger. She is rescued by a kind woman who looks after her until she can go to live with her maiden aunts in

This recording of the 1931 (1947 second edition) book about Yosemite National Park comprises the narrative text about the Park from its discovery by non-natives in the Indian War of 1851 to the mid-twentieth century. The

John Bagnell Bury was Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University in the early twentieth century. In The Idea of Progress, he assesses the concepts of history found in the classical period and then traces

Nellie L. McClung (1873-1951) is a Canadian icon - feminist, social activist, author, and political leader. When she was a child, she moved to Manitoba with her pioneering family. As a teacher in rural Manitoba, she was

Subtitled, "A Cyclopaedia of the condition and earnings of those that will work, those that cannot work, and those that will not work." "The history of a people from the lips of the people themselves .. their labour, ear

In 1828, young Tad Hopkins takes an adventure-filled trip down the Mississippi River to meet his father in New Orleans. Along the way he befriends a remarkable young man who is destined for history. It is my privilege to

Red Shadows is the first of a series of stories featuring Howard's puritan avenger, Solomon Kane. Kane tracks his prey over land and sea, enters the jungles of Africa, and even faces dark gods and evil magic -- all to av

This book is one of the earliest studies of Philippine history by an American scholar. In preparation for this book, the author conducted ethnological studies of indigenous island tribes after the American war in the Phi

The book tells the story of "Doggie" Trevor, who, having been wrapped in cotton wool since babyhood, becomes a snobbish rich dilettante. All this changes as World War I begins and Doggie takes a commission in the Army –

World War I stories, as told through the eyes of someone who was there, but leavened with humour and an eye for the ridiculous side of human nature. This is a collection of McNeile's early short stories, drawing on his e

Few stories of shipwreck and survival can equal that of the 16th century Spaniard Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca who, cast ashore near present day (USA) Tampa Bay, Florida, in 1528, survived eight years of hand-to-mouth exis

John Richard Jefferies (1848-1887) wrote of country life, natural history, and agricultural practice at a time when the industrial revolution was bringing great change to long-settled patterns of English life. In this bo

James Green (1864-1948) was a Methodist minister who was a chaplain to Australian troops in the Boer War and in the Australian Imperial Force in World War I. This memoir was published 1917, while the war was on-going. “I

Here are tales of love and war, modesty and frivolity, laughter and tears. Louisa May Alcott wrote many, many short stories. This collection shares but 6/7 of them. (Summary by Carolyn Frances)

A group of upper class men and women gather together in an English country house to discuss their ideas for a utopia (their "New Republic"). The novel is a satire mocking most of the important figures at Oxford Universit

A Horse's Tale is a novel by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), written partially in the voice of Soldier Boy, who is Buffalo Bill's favorite horse, at a fictional frontier outpost with the U.S. 7th Cavalry. With a fanciful mi

Now that the prejudices and bitter partisan feeling of the past are subsiding, it seems a fitting time to record the facts and incidents connected with the first conflict of the Rebellion. Of the eleven officers who took

Chances are, you are reading this because you are aware that Jamestown, Virginia, celebrated its 400th birthday in 2007. It was the first "successful" English settlement in America. Although the colonists eventually move

This is the third of a four-volume history of the First World War, coming in along the Ypres Salient in February 1916 and stopping mid-November 1917. Buchan continues to give us a comprehensive war history that provides

A history of the Longest March of Military in History. The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body and having a religiou

The Lives of the Queens of England is a multi-volumed work attributed to Agnes Strickland, though it was mostly researched and written by her sister Elizabeth. These volumes give biographies of the queens of England from

The Lives of the Queens of England is a multi-volumed work attributed to Agnes Strickland, though it was mostly researched and written by her sister Elizabeth. These volumes give biographies of the queens of England from

Here is Millbank! The only fiction book that the Ingalls of Little House fame owned. It follows the story of Roger Irving, and what he does when he suddenly finds himself with an abandoned baby. - Summary by ShrimpPhish