In 1942 the young soldier Arthur Dodd was taken prisoner by the German Army and transported to Oswiecim in Polish Upper Silesia. The Germans gave it another name, now synonymous with mankind's darkest hours. They called it Auschwitz. Forced to do hard labour, starved and savagely beaten, Arthur thought his life would end in Auschwitz. Determined to go down fighting, he sabotaged Nazi industrial work, risked his life to alleviate the suffering of the Jewish prisoners, and aided a partisan group planning a mass breakout.
In 1942, the young soldier Arthur Dodd was taken prisoner by the German Army and transported to Oswiecim in Polish Upper Silesia, better known as Auschwitz. Forced to do hard labour, starved and savagely beaten, Arthur thought his life would end there. But he was determined to go down fighting. This shocking story sheds new light on the camp operations, exposes a hierarchy of prisoner treatment by the SS and presents the largely unknown story of military POWs held there.
Alexandra had high hopes: the arse of an athlete, the waist of a supermodel, the speed of a gazelle. Defeated by gyms and bored of yoga, she decided to run. Her first attempt did not end well. Six years later, she has run five marathons in two continents. But, as her dad says, you run with your head as much as with your legs.
Suzanne says:
"Just loved it!"
Alexandra Heminsley had high hopes: the arse of an athlete, the waist of a supermodel, the speed of a gazelle. Bored of the gym and yoga, she decided to run. Her first attempt did not end well. Six years later, she has run five marathons. Funny, honest and emotional, whether you're in training or just might run for the bus, this book will make you want to put on your trainers. 'If you've ever wept 'Why do I want to run?', your answer is here.' -- Caitlin Moran
A Short History of Nearly Everything is Bill Bryson's fascinating and humorous quest to understand everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization. He takes subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us, like geology, chemistry, and particle physics, and aims to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science. In the company of some extraordinary scientists, Bill Bryson reveals the world in a way most of us have never seen it before.
Jon Ronson is fascinated by madness, extraordinary behaviour and the human mind. He has spent his life investigating crazy events, following fascinating people and unearthing unusual stories. Collected here from various sources (including the Guardian and GQ America) are the best of his adventures.
A Concise History of the Middle East, Ninth Edition
UNABRIDGED (18 hrs and 9 mins)
By Arthur Goldschmidt, Lawrence Davidson
Narrated By Tom Weiner
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The ninth edition of this widely acclaimed text has been extensively revised to reflect the latest scholarship and the most recent events in the Middle East. As an introduction to the history of this turbulent region from the beginnings of Islam to the present day, the book is distinguished by its clear style, broad scope, and balanced treatment.
Margaret says:
"clear, comprehensive and informative"
Daniel Kahneman, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his seminal work in psychology challenging the rational model of judgment and decision making, is one of the world's most important thinkers. His ideas have had a profound impact on many fields - including business, medicine, and politics - but until now, he has never brought together his many years of research in one book.
clive says:
"Fascinating, but be prepared to concentrate"
1913 - Suffragette throws herself under the King's horse. 1969 - Feminists storm Miss World. Now - Caitlin Moran rewrites "The Female Eunuch" from a bar stool and demands to know why pants are getting smaller. There's never been a better time to be a woman: we have the vote and the Pill, and we haven't been burnt as witches since 1727. However, a few nagging questions do remain.... Why are we supposed to get Brazilians? Should you get Botox? Do men secretly hate us? What should you call your vagina?
Bill Bryson was struck one day by the thought that we devote more time to studying the battles and wars of history than to considering what history really consists of: centuries of people quietly going about their daily business. This inspired him to start a journey around his own house, an old rectory in Norfolk, considering how the ordinary things in life came to be.
What did Charles Darwin, middling schoolboy and underachieving second son, do to become one of the earliest and greatest naturalists the world has known? What were the similar choices made by Mozart and by Caesar Rodriguez, the U.S. Air Force's last ace fighter pilot? In Mastery, Robert Greene's fifth book, he mines the biographies of great historical figures for clues about gaining control over our own lives and destinies. Picking up where The 48 Laws of Power left off, Greene culls years of research and original interviews to blend historical anecdote and psychological insight, distilling the universal ingredients of the world's masters.
The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking
UNABRIDGED (6 hrs and 17 mins)
By Oliver Burkeman
Narrated By Oliver Burkeman
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In this fascinating new book which he narrates himself, Oliver Burkeman argues that "positive thinking" and relentless optimism aren't the solution to the happiness dilemma, but part of the problem. And that there is, in fact, an alternative path to contentment and success that involves embracing the things we spend our lives trying to avoid - uncertainty, insecurity, pessimism, and failure. Thought-provoking, counterintuitive, and ultimately uplifting, The Antidote is a celebration of the power of negative thinking.
Mark says:
"No Antidote just another path to the truth"
Frank W. Abagnale was one of the most daring conmen, forgers, imposters, and escape artists in history. In his brief but notorious criminal career, Abagnale donned a pilot's uniform and copiloted a Pan Am jet, masqueraded as the supervising resident of a hospital, practiced law without a license, passed himself off as a college sociology professor, and cashed over $2.5 million in forged checks, all before he was 21. His story is now a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.
The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations, and Business
UNABRIDGED (10 hrs and 44 mins)
By Eric Schmidt, Jared Cohen
Narrated By Roger Wayne
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The New Digital Age is the product of an unparalleled collaboration: full of the brilliant insights of one of Silicon Valley's great innovators - what Bill Gates was to Microsoft and Steve Jobs was to Apple, Schmidt (along with Larry Page and Sergey Brin) was to Google - and the Director of Google Ideas, Jared Cohen, formerly an advisor to both Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton. Never before has the future been so vividly and transparently imagined. From
We are all storytellers - through stories, we make sense of our lives. But it is not enough to tell tales. There must be someone to listen. In his work as a psychoanalyst, Stephen Grosz has spent the last 25 years uncovering the hidden feelings behind our most baffling behaviour. The Examined Life distils over 50,000 hours of conversation into pure psychological insight, without the jargon. This extraordinary book is about one ordinary process: talking, listening, and understanding.
Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients
UNABRIDGED (12 hrs and 47 mins)
By Ben Goldacre
Narrated By Jot Davies
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'Bad Science' hilariously exposed the tricks that quacks and journalists use to distort science, becoming a 400,000 copy bestseller. Now Ben Goldacre puts the $600bn global pharmaceutical industry under the microscope. What he reveals is a fascinating, terrifying mess.
Lut says:
"Every medical doctor should read this!"
In this thought-provoking, endlessly enlightening, and entertaining essay on the art of the novel, renowned author Milan Kundera suggests that "the curtain" represents a ready-made perception of the world that each of us has-a pre-interpreted world. The job of the novelist, he argues, is to rip through the curtain and reveal what it hides. Here an incomparable literary artist cleverly sketches out his personal view of the history and value of the novel in Western civilization.
How to Save Your Home: Making Your Home Work for You
UNABRIDGED (23 mins)
By Sheila Hayford
Narrated By Todd Barsness
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The United States of America is facing a record number of home foreclosures. Behind the home foreclosure "statistics" are real homeowners, struggling to bail themselves out of their financial situations, unsure how to save their homes, with or without the cooperation of their bank mortgage company. While this is happening, millions more face the uncertainty of being two paychecks away from losing their homes...
The Modern Scholar: Lore of the Stars: The Mythological Narrative of the Night Sky
ORIGINAL (4 hrs and 19 mins)
By Professor Timothy B. Shutt
Narrated By Professor Timothy B. Shutt
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One of Kenyon College's most honored professors, Timothy B. Shutt is widely renowned as a gifted polymath and lecturer. The night sky was the ancient world's cinema, and storytellers have used this panorama to weave fascinating tales since the earliest days of mankind. This captivating series of lectures explores the mythological sagas found in the night sky and the history behind the names of the great constellations.
Cross-Cultural Psychology offers different research methodologies in addition to a detailed description of traditional and nontraditional cultures. The prospect of culture can possess of an effect on cultural norms in turn affecting what may be classified as normal versus abnormal behavior.
Second Suns: Two Doctors and Their Amazing Quest to Restore Sight and Save Lives
UNABRIDGED (15 hrs and 21 mins)
By David Oliver Relin
Narrated By Rob Shapiro
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In this transporting book, David Oliver Relin shines a light on the work of Geoffrey Tabin and Sanduk Ruit, gifted ophthalmologists who have dedicated their lives to restoring sight to some of the world's most isolated, impoverished people through the Himalayan Cataract Project, an organization they founded in 1995. Tabin was the high-achieving bad boy of Harvard Medical School, an accomplished mountain climber and adrenaline junkie as brilliant as he was unconventional.
Using creative techniques, Holmes guides the student in easy-to-follow steps toward mastering the powers of the mind to find purpose in life. His explanations of how to pray and meditate, heal oneself spiritually, find self confidence, and express love have helped millions change their lives for the better. The Science of Mind is one of those spiritual classics that belongs on the bookshelf of anyone who wishes a life for themselves free of compulsion and negativity.
Hull House was visited each week by around 2000 people. Her adult night school was a forerunner of the continuing education classes offered by many universities today. In this book, Jane Addams reflects on labor, discrimination, welfare, education, and the role of democracy and government in relation to improving the lives of society's less fortunate.
Best-selling author Frank Delaney deconstructs the Vampire myth through the ages, and shows us how Stoker's 1897 novel, one of the most widely read books of all time, heightened the allure of sex, the glamour of blood, and the defeat of death in a way that continues to pulse - and faster than ever - on the page and on the screen.
The Nephilim Chronicles: Fallen Angels in the Ohio Valley
UNABRIDGED (14 hrs and 24 mins)
By Fritz Zimmerman
Narrated By Cynthia Wallace
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Did a race of giant humans once roam the Biblical lands, Europe and North America? Over 300 historical accounts of giant human skeletons are presented for the first time. Massive human skeletal remains, burial mound types, symbolism, etymology, numerology and ceremonial centers are compared in the Biblical Levant, the British Isles and the Ohio Valley with stunning similarities.
In The Polar Bear in the Zoo, Martin Rowe studies a photograph by the Canadian photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur in the context of her series "We Animals" and the portraits of several other photographers of captive animals. Rowe looks at how we come to the window to stare at the creatures, and the ways we frame our ideas about them within the exposure and capture provided by the photograph and the zoo.
In these Messenger Lectures, originally delivered at Cornell University and recorded for television by the BBC, Richard Feynman offers an overview of selected physical laws and gathers their common features into one broad principle of invariance. He maintains at the outset that the importance of a physical law is not "how clever we are to have foundit out but...how clever nature is to pay attention to it" and steers his discussions toward a final exposition of the elegance and simplicity of all scientific laws.
Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume
UNABRIDGED (8 hrs and 39 mins)
By Jennifer O'Connell (editor)
Narrated By Eve Bianco, Allison McLemore, Therese Plummer, and others
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Whether laughing to tears reading Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great or clamoring for more unmistakable "me too!" moments in Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, girls all over the world have been touched by Judy Blume's poignant coming-of-age stories. Now, in this anthology of essays, 24 notable female authors write straight from the heart about the unforgettable novels that left an indelible mark on their childhoods and still influence them today. After growing up from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing into Smart Women, these writers pay tribute to one of the most beloved authors of all time.