Great Authors

The Victorians invented mass entertainment. As the 19th century's growing industrialized class acquired the funds and the free time to pursue leisure activities, their every whim was satisfied by entrepreneurs building new venues for popular amusement. Contrary to their reputation as dour, buttoned-up prudes, the Victorians reveled in these newly created "palaces of pleasure".

In September 1769, 3,000 people descended on Stratford-upon-Avon to celebrate the artistic legacy of the town's most famous son, William Shakespeare. Attendees included the rich and powerful, the fashionable and the curious, eligible ladies and fortune hunters, and a horde of journalists and profiteers. For three days, they paraded through garlanded streets, listened to songs and oratorios, and enjoyed masked balls. It was a unique cultural moment - a coronation elevating Shakespeare to the throne of genius. Except it was a disaster....

Samuel Pepys's meticulous chronicles of life in 17th-century England are an exacting record of a unique historical era. Pepys lived through one of the most colorful periods of British history. He witnessed - and recorded detailed accounts of - the execution of Charles I, a civil war, the Restoration, a plague, and the Great Fire of London. His entries also record the minutiae of everyday life - scandals, intrigues, infidelities and vulgarities - presenting a comprehensive portrait of a fascinating era.

Samuel Pepys kept a diary in which he wrote with astonishing candour about the life he saw around him in London in the 1660s, and about his private desires and ambitions. The diary was kept for fewer than 10 years of his long life: Claire Tomalin tells the whole story of the Fleet Street tailor's son who made himself rich and powerful, an MP and adviser to royalty.

The ultimate collection of great short stories by the best Russian classic authors. 1. "Her Lover" by Maxim Gorky 2. "The Empty Drum" by Count Leo Tolstoy 3. "The Hoop" by Fedor Sologub 4. "The District Doctor" by Ivan Turgenev 5. "The White Dog" by Fedor Sologub 6. "The Cloak" by Nikolai Gogol 7. "A Soothing Dream" by Fedor Sologub 8. "The Christmas Tree and the Wedding" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky 9. "A Work of Art" by Anton Chekhov 10. "Children Wiser Than Their Fathers" by Count Leo Tolstoy

Don't Let the Devil Boil Your Frog will be your guide as you navigate the extraordinary times we are living in. Regardless of your faith or background, this short but powerful book will inspire you to question your reality and demand truth in your life over everything else.

In Petrograd, a fire is lit. The Tsar is packed off to Siberia. A rancorous Russian exile returns to proclaim a workers' revolution. In America, black soldiers who have served their country in Europe demand their rights at home. An Austrian war veteran trained by the German army to give rousing speeches against the Bolshevik peril begins to rail against the Jews. A solar eclipse turns a former patent clerk into a celebrity. An American reporter living the high life in Paris searches out a new literary style.

No matter how you view success, there are many different ways to turn your life into a more successful one and this audiobook will show you how. You will learn about the growth mindset that will help you achieve success in life.

The Magical Season 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers: And the Greatest Record in Pro Sports History profiles the Los Angeles Lakers’ first championship since moving to LA 15 years earlier, but also covers their record-setting 33-game winning streak that season. This record of 33 straight wins, covering over two months of play, still stands unbroken even after 50 years. This accomplishment is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest team records in pro sports history. No other team in any major pro sport has even come close to breaking that record since that achievement in 1972.

William Shakespeare, long hailed as history's greatest dramatic writer, has been lauded for his mastery of poetic expression, his insight into the human condition, and his deep exploration into the psyche and motivations of his characters.

This is a newly discovered novel by a newly recognized great author. It is an allegory of the American experience.

Walter Besant was a novelist and historian, and his topographical and historical writings were probably best known through the detailed 10-volume Survey of London published after his death. This earlier single volume covers, in less depth, the whole period from prehistory until the 19th century. The book appears originally to have been written for boys, and, indeed, the chapters are called "Lessons". However, it is a very listenable history and provides a fascinating insight into both London's past and the government of the city at the time the book was written in 1894.

Do you feel inadequate when it comes to communicating with others? Whether you want to (1) communicate clearly (2) master the art of persuasion, or (3) just be more liked and respected, this is the audiobook for you. You don’t have to be an extrovert to have charisma. There are specific steps you can take to boost your personal attractiveness. Learn how you can light up those around you, and do it in the best possible way, by being yourself!

Every great city has a soul. A human avatar that embodies their city's heart and wields its magic. New York? She's got six. But all is not well in the city that never sleeps. Though Brooklyn, Manny, Bronca, Venezia, Padmini and Neek have temporarily managed to stop the Woman in White from invading—and destroying the entire universe in the process—the mysterious capital 'E' Enemy has more subtle powers at her disposal.

Arabella’s life was boring until strange things began to happen to her. One day, she is out eating pizza and then suddenly she finds herself with her brother, Tom, in the middle of the Great Siege of Malta in 1565 when the Knights of St. John showed great courage and fortitude in fighting off an invasion from the Turkish Empire. Will they join Grandmaster Valette in battle?

In Simply Eliot, Joseph Maddrey plumbs the emotional and intellectual life of the man whom critic Edmund Wilson called "one of our only authentic poets". He chronicles Eliot's attempts to create a coherent worldview, and explores how his religious conversion in 1927 led to a spiritual rebirth that allowed him to produce his ultimate poetic statement.

The story of F. Scott Fitzgerald's creation of Jay Gatsby - war hero and Oxford man - at the beginning of the Jazz Age, when the City of Dreaming Spires attracted an astounding array of intellectuals, including the Inklings, W. B. Yeats, and T. S. Eliot.

Do you want to learn more about the Bronte Sisters, but don’t have time to rlisten to huge, long biographies? Then let The History Journals take you on an hourly history tour of their lives. The Brontes are one of the most famous literary families the world has ever known. Their magnificent novels such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights continue to be the epitome of English Literature and can still be found in our bookshops and on library shelves, as well as online.

Born to a father plagued by bouts of drinking and depression, and surrounded by siblings with similar ailments, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, grew up believing that he must be a victim of hereditary illness, to the point that he believed he must never marry or father children less he perpetuate the suffering on future generations. With these thoughts always in his head, he turned his mind towards a near worship of romantic love, while at the same time repeatedly painting a tragic ending for his most cherished characters, many of whom seemed to die of a broken heart.

Max and Jenna are forced to test their relationship. Will they be able to embrace the challenges life throws their way? Secrets can ruin the foundation of a relationship. Will Matthew choose to withhold vital information from Becky that could consume her with doubt about their future?