Modern World History

Accidents happen. Sometimes that’s a good thing. Did you realize cheese puffs, Coca-Cola, Bubble Wrap, and the Post-it note were all invented by accident? This audiobook covers fascinating origin stories of 60 everyday items that were invented by accident; that is, the inventor did not expect to make the product when the product was discovered. Not only will this audiobook share amazing stories about everyday products, but it will also inspire you. We all encounter things that go wrong, and this audiobook reminds us that when life gives lemons, we can make lemonade.

For centuries, electricity was seen as little more than a curious property of certain substances that sparked when rubbed. Then, in the 1790s, Alessandro Volta began the scientific investigation that ignited an explosion of knowledge and invention. The force that once seemed inconsequential was revealed to be responsible for everything from the structure of the atom to the functioning of our brains. In harnessing its power, we have created a world of wonders—complete with roller coasters and radar, computer networks and psychopharmaceuticals.

Considering herself unsuitable for any other contribution to the war effort, Monica Dickens opts for nursing, imagining herself gliding through the wards, serene in a pure white halo cap. On enrolment, however, she is promptly stripped of all illusions. Intelligent and headstrong, Monica struggles to submit to the iron rule of the Matron and toils over the mountains of menial work that are a trainee's lot. But there are friends among the staff and patients, night-time escapades to dances with dashing army men and her secret writing project to keep her going.

A series of engrossing sketches reveals an India that may be surprising to many Westerners. Instead of a single country, the listener will discover, India is a nation of several civilizations in different states of development. The author covers the country from its ancient cultures to her encounters with the film directors and poets and the complicated machination of the world's largest democracy.

Are you curious about how the world has evolved to where it is today? Do you wish you made a better understanding of how all of the world is connected to each other? The history of the world can fascinate even the least interested party. For thousands of years, every culture and civilization has looked to the past to learn from history. History can inspire, teach, and provide an explanation for how things and institutions have come to be.

In today’s modern world, every political regime - even the most authoritarian or repressive - describes itself as democracy or a democratic people’s republic. The concept of rule by the people and on behalf of the people has come to be accepted as the norm. Very few would overtly espouse the cause of dictatorship, absolute monarchy, or oligarchy as the most desirable political system upon which to base the government of any country.

What is virtue? What is moderation? What is justice? What is courage? What is good? What is piety? Socrates thought that understanding the perspectives of others on these six great questions would help him become a more excellent human being.

The Ottoman Empire lasted more than six centuries. Its soldiers fought, died, and conquered lands on three different continents, making it one of the few stable multi-ethnic empires in history - and likely one of the last. Thus, it's somewhat inevitable that the history of its dissolution is at the heart of complex geopolitical disputes, as well as sectarian tensions that are still key to understanding the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans.

This audiobook will trace Western civilization back to its roots. In this epic quest, we head all the way back to Greece when Greek philosophers like Socrates and Plato pondered the very meaning of life. Explore the depths of knowledge that were probed by Greek schools of thought, such as the Stoics and the Cynics.

Con este libro de historia totalmente nuevo, usted podrá explorar fácilmente los apasionantes acontecimientos que condujeron a la construcción de las siete maravillas del mundo moderno.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Last Witnesses, by Svetlana Alexievich, read by Julia Emelin, Yelena Shmulenson and Allen Lewis Rickman. What did it mean to grow up in the Soviet Union during the Second World War? In the late 1970s, Svetlana Alexievich started interviewing people who had experienced war as children, the generation that survived and had to live with the trauma that would forever change the course of the Russian nation.

Since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 by a United Nations mandate, the Middle East has been a flashpoint of conflict between the world's only Jewish state and the Palestinians, who lost their land because of the UN partition. This ready-reference volume explores the culture, geography, economy, and government of the state of Israel.

Africa may have given rise to the first human beings, and Egypt probably gave rise to the first great civilizations, which continue to fascinate modern societies across the globe nearly 5,000 years later.

Transcending Capitalism explains why many influential mid-century American social theorists came to believe it was no longer meaningful to describe modern Western society as "capitalist", but instead preferred alternatives such as "postcapitalist" society, "postindustrial" society, or the "technological" society.

In The Subversive Seventies, Michael Hardt sets out to show that popular understandings of the political movements of the seventies—often seen as fractious, violent, and largely unsuccessful—are not just inaccurate, but foreclose valuable lessons for the political struggles of today.

In this trailblazing work of revisionist history, Professor Clifton Crais argues that the growth of global capitalism between 1750 and the early 1900s should be seen not as the Anthropocene, but the Mortecene: the Age of Killing. Drawing on years of scholarship and a range of new sources, THE KILLING AGE turns our vision of past and present on its head, illuminating the Mortecene in all its horror: how it has shaped who we are, what we value, what we fear, and the precarious present we inhabit today.

Four-and-a-half billion years ago, Planet Earth was formed from a vast spinning nebula of cosmic dust, the detritus left over from the birth of the sun. Within the next 100 years, human life on swathes of the Earth's surface will end in a haze of heat, drought, and, again, dust. Dust is a legacy of 20th-century progress and a profound threat to life in the 21st century. And yet dust is something we hardly ever consider--it is so small and so mundane as to be beyond the threshold of thought. Jay Owen's Dust sparks curiosity and corrects that oversight.

Step into the captivating world of healthcare innovation and scientific breakthroughs with Medical Marvels: Amazing Discoveries in Health. This meticulously crafted journey takes you on a 30-day exploration of the most remarkable milestones in the field of medicine and healthcare. Each day unveils a new chapter in the story of humanity's quest for better health, offering a glimpse into the groundbreaking discoveries, cutting-edge technologies, and revolutionary advancements that have shaped the way we understand and approach healthcare.

Parce que la liberté n'est jamais un acquis, l'auteur de ces quelques pages restées célèbres nous rappelle avec justesse que si les démocraties modernes furent construites afin de promouvoir la liberté des individus citoyens, faut-il encore que ceux-ci ne se replient pas sur la défense de leurs intérêts particuliers et ne s'abstiennent pas de faire vivre cette citoyenneté au sein d'une démocratie à laquelle chacun doit s'efforcer de participer.

What connects Paleolithic bone flutes to the invention of computer software? Or the Murex sea snail to the death of the great American city? How does the bag of crisps you hold in your hand help tell the story of humanity itself? In his brilliant new work on the history of innovation, international best-seller Steven Johnson argues that the pursuit of novelty and wonder has always been a powerful driver of world-shaping technological change.