Americas Audiobooks | History

Policing Ferguson, Policing America: What Really Happened . . . and What the Country Can Learn from

Following the fatal shooting in broad daylight of unarmed African American Michael Brown by a white cop in August 2014, Ferguson, Missouri, became the scene of protests that pitted law enforcement against locals and Black Lives matter activists. The media firestorm has not waned, and, in fact, has grown stronger in light of all the recent violence by and against police officers nationwide. According to Ferguson's former police chief Tom Jackson, the uninformed media actually fans the flames of unrest and exploits the situation: infotainment optics have become more important than truth, while social media spreads the news without providing context. Policing Ferguson, Policing America is the book that finally tells the inside story of what happened in Ferguson, and how good guys became the bad guys through media and political distortion. Pressure is at a boiling point. In 2016, America has been rocked by heart-wrenching fatal shootings of African Americans by police officers in Louisiana and in Minnesota, and by the shootings of police officers in Dallas, Baton Rouge, and Kansas City that left eleven officers dead and a dozen more wounded. To many Americans, the central theme of this continuing bloody story is one of racial injustice and out-of-control policing.

Thomas Jackson (Author), Todd Mclaren (Narrator)

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Cuba beyond the Beach

Havana is Cuba’s soul: a mix of Third World, First World, and Other World. After over a decade of visits as a teacher, researcher, and friend, Karen Dubinsky looks past political slogans and tourist postcards to the streets, neighbourhoods, and personalities of a complicated and contradictory city. Her affectionate, humorous vignettes illustrate how Havana’s residents—old Communist ladies, their sceptical offspring, musicians, underground vendors, entrepreneurial landlords, and poverty-stricken professors—go about their daily lives. As Cuba undergoes dramatic change, there is much to appreciate, and learn from, in the unlikely world Cubans have collectively built for themselves. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will go to the Queen’s University Student Overseas Travel Fund - The Sonia Enjamio Fund, which funds Cuban/Canadian student exchange.

Karen Dubinsky (Author), Gina Clayton (Narrator)

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The Santa Muerte: The Origins, History, and Secrets of the Mexican Folk Saint

European and American scholars are fascinated by her. She is exotic; they look at her with the romantic look of the anthropologist and the sociologist; she is Mexican, colorful, and third-worldly (not to mention that she is a fantastic reason to get funding from their universities). Many see in her, correctly, a prodigious syncretism, so common in the troubled history of Latin America. The Catholic hierarchy, the predominant religion in Mexico, is horrified; the church calls her a satanic cult figure, associated with organized crime. Similarly, governmental authorities watch cautiously, deny official recognition to her “churches,” and destroy her solitary shrines in northern Mexico, in roads riddled with crime. However, among her followers —besides prisoners, drug traffickers and many well-meaning men and women seeking other spiritual alternatives— there are some working on the side of the law, especially soldiers and police officers. This is the story of Santa Muerte, the so-called cult of crisis, a red-hot combo of a kermesse (Mexican carnival), Catholicism and New Age; a hedonist practice but involving bodily sacrifice too. It is an expression of economic, psychological and social forces, bigger than perhaps any of her acolytes suspect.

Charles River Editors, Gustavo Vázquez Lozano (Author), Colin Fluxman (Narrator)

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Pancho Villa: The Life and Legacy of the Famous Mexican Revolutionary

“Pancho Villa,” people whispered at the beginning of the 20th century, "can march 100 miles without stopping, live 100 days without food, go 100 nights without sleep, and kill 100 men without remorse." The legend of Francisco Villa is full of heroism, tragedy and romance. It is the story of a poor farmer boy who became a bandit out of necessity, after avenging an injustice on his family; a military genius who flew from an oppressive government to lead the largest revolutionary army in his country's history, and defeated dictatorship to become Mexico´s liberator, only to fall again in disgrace when his troops abandoned him or were massacred by the enemy. Pancho Villa and his cavalry, Mexicans point out with a certain amount of pride, invaded the United States, and although they came and tried to capture him, they never found him. This is, at least, the version that most of them know, but it's certainly not the same as in their textbooks. The story of Francisco Villa bypassed official censorship from generation to generation, like leaves sailing at full speed on the surface of a stream. But the historical reconstruction is full of nuances. Was he a freedom fighter, or a bandit? Was he a Mexican Robin Hood, or a thief and a murderer? Was he present when his troops invaded U.S. territory? Was the advance of his famous "Dorados" (the “golden ones,” the name of his troops) the cause for joy, or terror among the people as they passed the countryside towards Mexico City? Pancho Villa´s personality has been controversial since the very beginning of his career as a General of the revolutionary army. Many biographies have been written about him, the first of which dates back to only a few years after his death. Counting the number books who take one of those two sides—butcher or freedom fighter—would be impossible, but they would probably form two piles of equal size. Through them, readers can learn divergent tales about one of the most widely known Mexicans, both in his country and abroad. For many Mexicans, he is a hero. In schools, teachers still speak cautiously about him to new generations of children, who are amazed by the tough guy with hat and pistols. And the old, those who had heard about his exploits from their parents, declare that Villa himself will ride again through the mountains of Mexico, on the day when the poor can no longer stand and a new revolution explodes. As Octavio Paz eloquently put it, “The brutality and uncouthness of many of the revolutionary leaders has not prevented them from becoming popular myths. Villa still gallops through the north, in songs and ballads; Zapata dies at every popular fair. … It is the Revolution, the magical word, the word that is going to change everything, that is going to bring us immense delight and a quick death.” Pancho Villa: The Life and Legacy of the Famous Mexican Revolutionary chronicles the controversial life of one of Mexico’s most legendary fighters.

Charles River Editors, Gustavo Vázquez Lozano (Author), Dan Gallagher (Narrator)

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The Apache Wars: The Hunt for Geronimo, the Apache Kid, and the Captive Boy Who Started the Longest

They called him Mickey Free. His kidnapping started the longest war in American history, and both sides blamed him for it. A mixed-blood warrior who moved uneasily between the worlds of the Apaches and the American soldiers, he was never trusted by either but desperately needed by both. Free was the only man Geronimo ever feared. He played a pivotal role in this long war for the Southwest with his pursuit of the renegade scout, Apache Kid. In this sprawling, monumental work, Paul Hutton unfolds over two decades of the last war for the West through the eyes of the men and women who lived it. This is Mickey Free's story, but also the story of his contemporaries: the great Apache leaders Mangas Coloradas, Cochise, and Victorio; the soldiers Kit Carson, O. O. Howard, and Nelson Miles; the frontiersmen Al Sieber, Tom Horn, and Texas John Slaughter; the scout Alchesay and the Apache female warrior Lozen; the fierce Apache warrior Geronimo; and the Apache Kid. These lives shaped the violent history of the deserts and mountains of the Southwestern borderlands where a people would make a final, bloody stand against an American war machine bent on their destruction.

Paul Andrew Hutton (Author), Jonathan Yen (Narrator)

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Hunting Che: How a U.S. Special Forces Team Helped Capture the World's Most Famous Revolutionary

From Mitch Weiss and Kevin Maurer, the untold story of the capture of Che Guevara, one of the most feared revolutionaries of the late twentieth century. By the mid-1960s, Guevera had become famous for his outspoken criticism of the United States and his support for armed Communist insurgencies. He had been one of the architects of the Cuban Revolution, and was attempting to repeat his success throughout Latin America. His guerrilla tactics and talent for proselytizing made him a threat to American foreign policy-and when he turned his attention to Bolivia in 1967, the Pentagon made a decision: Che had to be eliminated. Major Ralph "Pappy" Shelton was called upon to lead the mission to train the Bolivians. With a hand-picked team of specialists, his first task was to transform a ragtag group of peasants into a trained fighting force who could also gather intelligence. Gary Prado, a Bolivian officer, volunteered to join the newly formed Bolivian Rangers. Joined by Felix Rodriguez, a Cuban exile working for the CIA, the Americans and Bolivians searched for Che. The size of Che's group and when they would strike were unknowns, and the stakes were high. If Bolivia fell, it would validate Che's theories and throw South America into turmoil. Hunting Che follows the exploits of Major Shelton, Felix Rodriguez, and Gary Prado-the Bolivian Ranger commander who ultimately captured him. The story begins with Che's arrival in Bolivia and follows the hunt to the dramatic confrontation and capture of the iconic leader in the southeastern village of La Higuera. With the White House and the Pentagon secretly monitoring every move, Shelton and his team changed history, and prevented a catastrophic threat from taking root in the West.

Kevin Maurer, Mitch Weiss (Author), Robertson Dean (Narrator)

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Conquistadors

Following in the footsteps of the greatest Spanish adventurers, Michael Wood retraces the path of the conquistadors from Amazonia to Lake Titicaca, and from the deserts of North Mexico to the heights of Machu Picchu. As he travels the same routes as Hernán Cortés, Francisco, and Gonzalo Pizarro, Wood describes the dramatic events that accompanied the epic sixteenth-century Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires. He also follows parts of Orellana's extraordinary voyage of discovery down the Amazon and of Cabeza de Vaca's arduous journey across America to the Pacific. Few stories in history match these conquests for sheer drama, endurance, and distances covered, and Wood's gripping narrative brings them fully to life. Wood reconstructs both sides of the conquest, drawing from sources such as Bernal Diaz's eyewitness account, Cortés's own letters, and the Aztec texts recorded not long after the fall of Mexico. Wood's evocative story of his own journey makes a compelling connection with the sixteenth-century world as he relates the present-day customs, rituals, and oral traditions of the people he meets. He offers powerful descriptions of the rivers, mountains, and ruins he encounters on his trip, comparing what he has seen and experienced with the historical record. As well as being one of the pivotal events in history, the Spanish conquest of the Americas was one of the most cruel and devastating. Wood grapples with the moral legacy of the European invasion and with the implications of an episode in history that swept away civilizations, religions, and ways of life. The stories in Conquistadors are not only of conquest, heroism, and greed but of changes in the way we see the world, history and civilization, justice and human rights.

Michael Wood (Author), John Telfer (Narrator)

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American Nonfiction Audiobook Collection: 7 Title Collection

Great American Nonfiction includes major works by Thoreau, Elbert Hubbard, and about Jack Kerouac. These works are better listened to than read according to many listeners.The 7 include Walking & An Excursion to Canada by Thoreau, Live Life to the Fullest & Wit and Wisdom of others by Elbert Hubbard, The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, On the Road with Jack Kerouac & New York City, the Ageless City, 1947-1963. These are lesser known works than could have been selected. However, they have a range and interest that have appealed to Simply listeners so are provided here for pleasurable and informative listening.

Various Authors (Author), Deaver Brown, Harvard AB & MBA, Various, Various Narrators (Narrator)

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Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (with a Few Flat Tires Along the Way)

A finalist for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award, Sue Macy's Wheels of Change offers young listeners an eye-opening account of how, beginning in the late 19th century, the bicycle helped change the course of women's history. Macy meticulously documents how women used the freedom of their newfound mobility to effect social change even in the face of constant challenges.

Sue Macy (Author), Meredith Orlow (Narrator)

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The Lowdown: a short history of the origins of the Vietnam War

A concise history of the origins of The Vietnam War for a new generation On September 2, 1945, Vietnamese revolutionary Ho Chi Minh boldly proclaimed his country's independence. Just as Americans had done almost two centuries earlier in defiance of the British, Ho declared that Vietnamese patriots were, after many decades of French domination, affirming that 'all the peoples on the earth are equal from birth' and 'have a right to live and to be happy and free.' Among the cheering Vietnamese assembled for this auspicious announcement were American military officers, who had worked with Ho and his Vietminh political front to defeat the Japanese imperial forces that had occupied Indochina and had replaced French authority for the previous four years. Envisioning this dramatic scene and not knowing the tragic saga that would follow, someone might assume that Americans and Vietnamese had much in common on which to build a harmonious international relationship. In reality, however, the two nations were destined to collide in a war that would ultimately cost more than two million Vietnamese and more than 58,000 American lives. How could it have happened? This fascinating story of how the Vietnamese people resisted external control and moved outward like pioneer settlers to occupy the country that became Vietnam, creating a unified and independent government, is in many ways like the story of early America. In this concise history of the origins of the Vietnam War, Dr David Anderson, Professor of History at California State University, Monterey Bay, examines the events that led to one of the most controversial wars the US has ever known and succinctly explains, for a new generation, why this conflict still matters today.

Dr. David Anderson (Author), Lorelei King (Narrator)

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Fire on the Horizon: The Untold Story of the Explosion Aboard the Deepwater Horizon

A real-life thriller in the tradition of The Perfect Storm In the spring of 2010 the world watched for weeks as more than 200 million gallons of crude oil billowed from a hole three miles deep in the Gulf of Mexico. Warnings of various and imminent environmental consequences dominated the news. Deepwater drilling'largely ignored or misunderstood to that point'exploded in the American consciousness in the worst way possible. Fire on the Horizon, written by veteran oil rig captain John Konrad and longtime Washington Post journalist Tom Shroder, recounts in vivid detail the life of the rig itself, from its construction in South Korea in the year 2000 to its improbable journey around the world to its disastrous end, and reveals the day-to-day lives, struggles, and ambitions of those who called it home. From the little-known maritime colleges to Transocean's training schools and Houston headquarters to the small towns all over the country where the wives and children of the Horizon's crew lived in the ever-present shadow of risk hundreds of miles away, Fire on the Horizon offers full-scale portraits of the Horizon's captain, its chief mate, its chief mechanic, and others. What emerges is a white-knuckled chronicle of engineering hubris at odds with the earth itself, an unusual manifestation of corporate greed and the unforgettable heroism of the men and women on board the Deepwater Horizon. Here is the harrowing minute-by-minute account of the fateful day, April 20, 2010, when the half-billion-dollar rig blew up, taking with it the lives of eleven people and leaving behind a swath of unprecedented natural destruction.

John Konrad, Tom Shroder (Author), Sean Pratt (Narrator)

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Marching Through Georgia

In 1864 William Tecumseh Sherman led a throbbing, hooting, violent river of 62,000 soldiers through the heart of the American South, looting, pillaging, trailing plunder, stealing animals, and dazing civilians. The raucous swath of devastation stretched from Atlanta to the sea at Savannah and brought the Confederacy to its knees. More than a hundred years later, Jerry Ellis, inveterate traveler, storyteller and adventurer, set off to walk from Atlanta to Savannah using Sherman's route as his guide. Searching for the living, breathing artifacts of a nation's most bitter war, Ellis was also a man in search of his own South. He knew the South as a place of complexities and contradictions, of manners and blood-grudges, of change and timelessness. In today's South, Ellis not only found living memories of the Great Lost Cause - and, in one case, of General Sherman himself - but a vibrant American culture of blacks and whites, of young people and old timers grappling with such issues as racism and social justice. His many experiences, from meeting folk heroes to sleeping by cemeteries, helped him realize that what he was looking for was all around him.

Jerry Ellis (Author), Jerry Ellis (Narrator)

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Americas Audiobooks in History