Audiobooks by Stephen Walker

[Spanish] - Más allá : La asombrosa historia del primer humano que viajó al espacio

09.07 am. 12 de abril de 1961. Un cohete de alto secreto en la URSS. Un joven ruso se sienta en una minúscula cápsula encima del misil balístico intercontinental más potente de la Unión Soviética -diseñado originalmente para transportar una cabeza nuclear- y despega hacia el cielo. Se llama Yuri Gagarin. Y está a punto de hacer historia. Viajando a casi 18.000 millas por hora - diez veces más rápido que una bala de fusil- Gagarin da la vuelta al mundo en sólo 106 minutos. Desde sus ventanillas ve la Tierra como nadie lo ha hecho antes, cruzando un atardecer y un amanecer, atravesando océanos y continentes, siendo testigo de su belleza y su fragilidad. Aunque su lanzamiento se inicia en total secreto, a las pocas horas de su aterrizaje se ha convertido en una celebridad mundial: el primer ser humano que abandona el planeta. 'Más allá' cuenta la emocionante historia de aquel vuelo épico en su 60 aniversario. Ocurrió en plena Guerra Fría, cuando Estados Unidos y la URSS se enfrentaban al otro lado del Telón de Acero. Ambas superpotencias asumieron enormes riesgos para llevar primero a un hombre al espacio: los estadounidenses a la luz de los medios de comunicación y los soviéticos en la clandestinidad. Ambas entrenaron a sus equipos de astronautas hasta el límite de lo soportable. Al final, la carrera entre ambos se decidiría en el último momento. Basándose en una extensa investigación original y en el vívido testimonio de testigos presenciales, muchos de los cuales nunca habían hablado antes, Stephen Walker desvela secretos que permanecieron ocultos durante décadas y muestra al lector el drama de una de las mayores aventuras de la humanidad: los científicos, ingenieros y líderes políticos de ambos bandos y, sobre todo, los astronautas estadounidenses y a sus rivales soviéticos que luchaban por la supremacía en los cielos. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION 09.07 am. April 12, 1961. A top secret rocket site in the USSR. A young Russian sits inside a tiny capsule on top of the Soviet Union's most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile-originally designed to carry a nuclear warhead-and blasts into the skies. His name is Yuri Gagarin. And he is about to make history. Travelling at almost 18,000 miles per hour-ten times faster than a rifle bullet-Gagarin circles the globe in just 106 minutes. From his windows he sees the earth as nobody has before, crossing a sunset and a sunrise, crossing oceans and continents, witnessing its beauty and its fragility. While his launch begins in total secrecy, within hours of his landing he has become a world celebrity - the first human to leave the planet. Beyond tells the thrilling story behind that epic flight on its 60th anniversary. It happened at the height of the Cold War as the US and USSR confronted each other across an Iron Curtain. Both superpowers took enormous risks to get a man into space first, the Americans in the full glare of the media, the Soviets under deep cover. Both trained their teams of astronauts to the edges of the endurable. In the end the race between them would come down to the wire. Drawing on extensive original research and the vivid testimony of eyewitnesses, many of whom have never spoken before, Stephen Walker unpacks secrets that were hidden for decades and takes the reader into the drama of one of humanity's greatest adventures - to the scientists, engineers and political leaders on both sides, and above all to the American astronauts and their Soviet rivals battling for supremacy in the heavens.

Stephen Walker (Author), Luis Solís (Narrator)

Audiobook

Where is There?: A Surprising Journey To Help You Find Hope, Direction, And Power For Your Life

From Carefree To Deep Despair To New Life I thought country-club living at home in Long Island during college, with no job or accountability, was the perfect life. Then came a trip to Africa during the Congo revolutions in a small search and rescue plane with my pilot uncle. I faced imminent death four times, and a girl I arranged to go on the other plane died. That started a 9-year downhill spiral. Back in the States, it was one illness and surgery after another, and two more knocks on death's door. Things got so bad, I had a brick wall built in front of my New York City brownstone bedroom window, without permission. My psychological report said: 'Stephen is in urgent need of help. He could self-destruct at any moment.' My brother Michael had left home totally stressed out. When he returned from home a completely different person, I was torn between jealousy and curiosity. I accepted an invite to visit him in Los Angeles. There the most shocking awakening happened. Instantly, I felt amazing and knew: ALL IS WELL. And my illnesses were gone! Now what? When I begrudgingly accepted a restaurant server job, I never expected it would lead to a successful career in hospitality and sales. I had opportunities to connect with top-of-the-world people. Life expanded in all areas, as I learned to expect the unexpected, along with swallowing my pride. A job associate once asked me, 'How come things happen to you that don't happen to us?' The answers are what this book is all about. All that and a happy marriage. Okay, Becky proposed, so who's perfect? During our 35th anniversary vow renewal, I surprised her by proposing on one knee with a diamond ring, as our friends and family cheered. She said YES! There are jewels in this book that can transform your life!

Stephen Walker (Author), Stephen Walker (Narrator)

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Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space

‘Thrilling … High-definition history: tight, thrilling and beautifully researched’ SUNDAY TIMES ‘This book is a triumph’ DAN SNOW 9.07 a.m., April 12, 1961. A top-secret rocket site in the USSR. A young Russian sits inside a tiny capsule on top of the Soviet Union’s most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile – originally designed to carry a nuclear warhead – and blasts into the skies. His name is Yuri Gagarin and he is about to make history. Travelling at almost 18,000 miles per hour – ten times faster than a rifle bullet – Gagarin circles the globe in just 106 minutes. While his launch begins in total secrecy, within hours of his landing he has become a world celebrity – the first human to leave the planet. Beyond tells the thrilling story behind that epic flight on its sixtieth anniversary. It happened at the height of the Cold War as the US and USSR confronted each other across an Iron Curtain. Both superpowers took enormous risks to get a man into space first – the Americans in the full glare of the media, the Soviets under deep cover. Both trained their teams of astronauts to the edges of the endurable. In the end the race between them would come down to the wire. Drawing on extensive original research and the vivid testimonies of eyewitnesses, many of whom have never spoken before, Stephen Walker unpacks secrets that were hidden for decades and takes the reader into the drama – featuring the scientists, engineers and political leaders on both sides, and above all the American astronauts and their Soviet rivals battling for supremacy in the heavens.

Stephen Walker (Author), David Rintoul (Narrator)

Audiobook

Shockwave: Countdown to Hiroshima

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ‘A stunning book, among the most immediate and thrilling works of history I have ever read’ At 8:15am on August 6th 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. In an instant, the temperature at its core rose to millions of degrees. Sixty-thousand buildings were obliterated. A third of the city’s population died, by heat, by the blast, and by a terrible new weapon in the history of warfare: radiation. In this riveting account, Stephen Walker follows the stories of real people in the extraordinary weeks leading up to the explosion and in its aftermath. From the atomic engineer who armed the bomb in mid-air to the Japanese doctors treating thousands of burnt bodies on the ground. From the flight crews and scientists to world leaders and civilian victims. With intimate testimony and remarkable stories, this is the startling narrative behind the dawn of the atomic age.

Stephen Walker (Author), Colin Mace (Narrator)

Audiobook