Showing results by narrator "Keith Brown" in All Categories

Lawrence Perelman, an eighteen-year-old aspiring pianist and son of Soviet Jewish immigrants, wrote a letter to William F. Buckley, Jr., the conservative icon, in 1994. A remarkable cross-generational friendship was sparked by Buckley's response. During their friendship Perelman would go on to learn of the timeless elements of Buckley's character and the central role of classical music in Buckley's American vision.

In this sequel to his landmark study, historian Peter Kolchin compares the transition to freedom after American emancipation with the Russian Great Reforms The two largest transitions from unfree to free labor of the many that occurred in Europe and the Americas during the nineteenth century...

Jonathan Lethem treats Fear of Music (the third album by the Talking Heads, and the first produced by Brian Eno) as a masterpiece—edgy, paranoid, funky, addictive, rhythmic, repetitive, spooky, and fun. He scratches obsessively at the album's songs, guitars, rhythms, lyrics, packaging, downtown origins, and legacy, showing how Fear of Music hints at the directions (positive and negative) the band would take in the future.

It is late June in Michigan's gold coast resort area. The summer residents are settling in for the season and the tourists are beginning to flood the highways and beaches. But the idyllic vision of a summer at the shore is suddenly shattered by a gangland-style shooting. This murder is quickly followed by the deaths of three more summer residents, each taking place under suspicious circumstances.

The wedding would be perfect. Every contingency had been anticipated...except a body. Everything is in place at the Gull Point Estate for the Memorial Day wedding bash - the lawns are perfectly manicured, the caterer is stocked and ready, the champagne is chilled. And the string quartet is brushing up on their Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, and Mozart. But before they end their rehearsal, they’d be well advised to have a version of stormy weather ready to go just in case the day doesn’t go as planned.

Eamon Tauk was literally born into the Space Corps. They spent two decades forging him into a Marine. Training him to be a killer. Twisting him into a fanatic. Then they assigned him to protect Dr. Jella Duverii, a mildly subversive alien zoologist who could very well undo all the work they put into him. When the young cadet and his charge crash land on Kanaris with the survivors of their Recon battalion, they find themselves leagues away from their objective, marooned in an environment so hostile even the trees seem hellbent on killing them.

On June 26, 1976, Muhammad Ali fought in a mixed-rules contest against iconic pro wrestling champion Antonio Inoki for the so-called "martial arts championship of the world." Broadcast from Tokyo to a potential audience of 1.4 billion in 34 countries, the spectacle foreshadowed and, in many ways, led to the rise of mixed martial arts as a major sport.

Prizewinning historian Michael David-Fox traces the experiences of Smolensk residents between the interwar years and the end of World War II, a period during which the city and region passed from Stalinist rule to Nazi occupation and back. The result is a revelatory examination of choice and power under dueling forms of murderous totalitarianism. Exploring the life-and-death decisions of a fascinating cast of characters, David-Fox shows how deeply the Stalinist and Nazi regimes relied on the co-optation of average citizens motivated by greed and need, but always within the orbit of ideology.

The Oath tracks the intertwined lives of Dr. Katz and SS Doktor Bloch, who both survive Auschwitz and the war to practice medicine in the United States, never losing the stains upon their souls. Katz, a respected Jewish French surgeon captured by the Nazis, volunteers to serve at Auschwitz, believing he can protect his wife and children from the gas chambers by helping Joseph Mengele and other SS physicians with their human studies.

In a dateless future, a seemingly benevolent totalitarian state has eliminated poverty, crime, war, and religious intolerance and brought the happiness of conformity to its people. Professor Burden thinks he too is a loyal citizen, but the Department of Internal Examination discovers that he secretly values his individuality. Believing Burden to be a threat to the continued existence of the State, an examiner named Lark decides to cure him of his heresy and return him to being a normal, productive member of society.

Mr. Mary and his wife are being observed from at least three vantage points as they go about their mundane home lives. G, the former gardener, watches them from a garden shed. Mr. Mary's dismissed secretary, S, watches them from the top room of a brick outhouse in the back. The chauffeur, C, who no longer drives, watches the Marys from the garage.

In the summer of 2015, a young couple—an American and his French wife—undergo fertility treatment in Paris. They settle in to wait for the results as a heatwave paralyzes the city. As the heat rises, a state of emergency is declared and tempers flare, leaving cracks in the foundation of their marriage. In the months that follow, they find themselves navigating a confluence of world crises and historical forces that affect each in ways the other struggles to understand.

There is a plethora of sites and programs dedicated to cryptocurrency, and there are many scams. This audiobook will help you identify legitimate cryptocurrency platforms. In this audiobook, you will understand the basic concept of cryptocurrency and its potentially massive benefits, as well as the well-known risks. At the close of this audiobook, you will have a great overview of cryptocurrency and be able to put what you have learned into action.

Maverick environmental writers William J. Kelly and Chip Jacobs follow up their acclaimed Smogtown with a provocative examination of China’s ecological calamity already imperiling a warming planet. Toxic smog most people figured was obsolete needlessly kills as many there as the 9/11 attacks every day, while sometimes Grand Canyon-sized drifts of industrial particles aloft on the winds rain down ozone and waterway-poisoning mercury in America. Vivid, gonzo prose blends first-person reportage with exhaustive research and a sense of karma, describing the horror of "Cancer Villages", spellbinding "peasant revolts" against cancer-spreading plants, and much more....

This book is not just a memoir but a confession. In 1994, author Sergey Maidukov accepted an "exciting business offer" from Samvel Martirosyan, later renowned as one of the most brutal and indomitable leaders of the Ukrainian Mafia. Maidukov quickly discovered that his job as "president" of a newly created business was actually a front for Mafia activities. Despite regular attempts to extricate himself, he was told that it was too late in no uncertain terms. Thus ensued five adrenaline-fueled years in a long-term apprenticeship with the Mafia underground.

Welcome to the future European Super-State—one continent united into a not-quite-homogenous whole. Numerous historic happenings and technological advances have ushered us to this new age of solidarity and prosperity, though some of the past's problems still linger: global warming, terrorism, war, rape, murder, Alzheimer's, environmental catastrophe. Despite advances of this brave new tomorrow, it seems people haven't changed.

After the politics of his prestigious law firm send Ben out on the street, he finds himself playing piano at a waterfront brothel. In his new life, Ben explores the underbelly of people's desires, fears, compulsions, and dreams. As Ben moves throughout this new life, he realizes that the women around him are trying to survive and thrive in a world that hasn't handed them anything.

Climate fiction without apocalypse, set in and around Washington, D.C. Newly minted engineering professor Jake Harper, dealing with issues of mild dyslexia and awkwardness with public speaking, wants to stave off climate weirding by re-engineering the North American electric grids. His pregnant partner Abbey London, sassy but irresistible, starts her practice as an infectious disease specialist, concerned with encroaching tropical diseases. Together they operate her parents' Dragonfly Inn just twenty minutes away in northern Virginia.

Substantial Justice chronicles the 1985 misadventures of Spider Lacey, a laconic Citroen mechanic, and Siobhan Mollenkopf, a lawyer who has reappeared in Spider’s life after a ten-year hiatus. Things start well, then devolve when Spider’s best friend, a marijuana grower and controversial talk-show host, is murdered. Spider and Siobhan spiral into a world of white supremacists, political activists, lumber tycoons, motorcycle gangs, early online geeks, tree-spikers, and law enforcement. The terrain is San Francisco, Mendocino County, New York City, and Arizona.

Omega-3 fatty acids can limit the inflammation that is the underlying cause of many severe diseases of modern civilization, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The Omega-Factor presents information on the mechanisms whereby inflammation damages organs and the blood vessels serving them, as well as the hard science on the mechanisms by which the omega-3 fatty acids protect those tissues. It also features peer-reviewed evidence from clinical trials on these topics.