Showing results by narrator "William Roberts" in All Categories

This is a story from the Classic American Short Stories collection.

Five great American short story writers, dating from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, are represented here. Different in atmosphere and writing style, they nevertheless caught the mood and concerns of the day in a way that was distinctly American.

Frank Dixon’s first novel, Plague Boy, is sinking into oblivion on Amazon and neither his nor anyone else’s literary agent will return his calls. Then Frank discovers online poker, and is soon addicted to the rush he feels as the successful, popular “Chip Zero”. But as he wins thousands of dollars, it soon becomes clear that his Internet success is not the solution to his problems. And when the virtual world comes crashing in on Frank’s real life, it can only mean trouble.

An American heiress newly arrived in Europe, Isabel Archer does not look to a man to furnish her with her destiny; instead she desires, with grace and courage, to find it herself. Two eligible suitors approach her and are refused. She then becomes utterly captivated by the languid charms of Gilbert Osmond. To him, she represents a superior prize worth at least seventy thousand pounds; through him, she faces a tragic choice.

Along with historical narrative, hear rare recordings of some of the most iconic people in history, including Robert Browning, Kenneth Landfrey, Florence Nightingale, Sir Henry Morton Stanley, PT Barnum, Sir Arthur Sullivan, Edwin Booth, General Nelson Miles, William Jennings Bryan and Garret A. Hobart. Recording obtained and published by Rick Sheridan.

For 83 blood-soaked days, the fighting on the island of Okinawa plumbed depths of savagery as bad as anything seen on the Eastern Front. When it was over, almost a quarter of a million people had lost their lives, making it by far the bloodiest US battle of the Pacific. In Okinawa, the death toll included thousands of civilians lost to mass suicide, convinced by Japanese propaganda that they would otherwise be raped and murdered by the enemy. On the US side, David argues that the horror of the battle ultimately determined President Truman’s choice to use atomic bombs in August 1945.

Come back to an age of goddesses, heroes, and men. Long ago on a beautiful island in the Eastern Mediterranean, a famous Bronze Age inventor named Daedalus created working wings. Naturally, inevitably, he had to test them. Since flight is something we all long for, deep down in our souls, he made two pair: one for himself and another for his son. It could have been his life's work, a masterpiece, but, Icarus had a different idea.

Honey Santana has a Plan. She's working on a scheme to help rid the world of irresponsibility, indifference and dinner-time telemarketers. She's also taking part-time telephonist Boyd Shreve and his less-than-enthusiastic mistress to Dismal Key for a gentle lesson in civility. What Honey doesn't know is that lurking in the island's undergrowth is Sammy Tigertail, half-blood Seminole Indian and wholly failed alligator wrestler, with death on his mind; and Honey's deranged co-worker, Louis Piejack, intent on revenge.

The truth weighs nothing… Klara Walldeen, orphaned as a child and brought up by her grandparents, is now a political aide in Brussels. And she has just seen something she shouldn't. On the other side of the world, an old spy hides. Once, he was a man so dedicated that he abandoned his daughter. Now the only thing he lives for is swimming. Then Klara is thrown into a terrifying chase through Europe. Only the Swimmer can save her. But time is running out.

Newspaper man Joe Henry finds himself the primary suspect when his friend, fellow reporter Wynton Gresham, is murdered. Both were veterans of French battles during WWI - the war that was supposed to end all wars.

Part four of a multi-part documentary series with distinguished actors, directors, writers, composers, and special effects mavens examining the history of the horror, fantasy, and science fiction films, from the groundbreaking silent 1920s through the Golden Age of Universal, the Silver Age of Hammer, and up through the 1980s and beyond. Enjoy never-before-seen interviews and fun-filled facts about the stars, the producers, and the movies that made America want to go to the theater!

Business English – schnell fit für den Job. Über 70 Minuten Hör- und Sprechtraining, um berufliche Verhandlungen zu meistern. Zehn hörspielartige Dialogszenen mit den wichtigsten Gesprächssituationen in Verhandlungen. Abwechslungsreiche Übungen zum Vertiefen der gebräuchlichen Wendungen und Ausdrücke. Alle Hörtexte mit deutscher Übersetzung und Business-Wortschatz im Begleitheft (PDF). Britisches und amerikanisches Englisch. Für Lerner:innen mit Vorkenntnissen (Niveau B1).

Great explorers have one thing in common - a desire to leap into the unknown, no matter how dangerous that might be. From Ferdinand Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world 500 years ago to Barbara Hillary's treks to the North and South poles while in her 70s, Explorers documents the trials and hardships of the men and women who rewrote our understanding of the world and showed us what humans are capable of.

Trace the process of cultural, political, and civic transformation which led to the creation of a monarchy and the acquisition of territory, via wars with Hannibal, the destruction of Carthage, Augustan Empire-building and Hadrian's famous wall, all of which contributed to the most successful multi-cultural state in the history of Europe.

The Little Soldier.

Is it true? Signs a girl doesn't like you.

From the number-one international best-selling author of The Revenant - the book that inspired the award-winning movie - comes the remarkable true story of the worst mining disaster in American history. In 1917, the lives of a company of miners changed forever when the underground labyrinth of tunnels in which they worked burst into flames. Within an hour, more than 400 men would be locked in a battle to survive. Within three days, 164 of them would be dead.

David was one of an elite corps of spies trained during the Cold War. But those days are gone and for nine years he has been an ordinary citizen... until a phone call in the middle of the night. The only other known survivor of that elite corps has gone rogue. They need David to stop him. What ensues is an existential cat-and-mouse game played out across the American landscape.

The Portrait of a Lady was first published in 1881 and is arguably Henry James' finest novel. It is set in England and Europe, but the main characters tend to be American, including one of fiction's great heroines, Isabel Archer, around whom the plot revolves. A young innocent abroad, Isabel visits her American relatives in England, the Touchetts, and soon befriends her cousin, Ralph.

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s novel The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) is one of the world’s most loved modern classics. A Leopard’s Kiss entwines the story of Tomasi di Lampedusa writing his famous novel with that of a young couple who say farewell to their Sicilian homeland to settle in far-off Australia. The novella moves from the mountains of an ancient Sicilian village to the ornate cafes and lounges of 1950s Palermo. And from the humid Queensland cane-fields in the north of Australia to a Catholic convent school in the south.