Showing results by narrator "Jim D Johnston" in All Categories

In 323 BCE, Alexander the Great was on top of the world. Never a man to sit on his hands or rest upon his laurels, Alexander began planning his future campaigns, which may have included attempts to subdue the Arabian Peninsula or make another incursion into India. But fate had other plans for the young Macedonian king. One night, while feasting with his admiral Nearchus, he drank too much and took to bed with a fever.

The Olympics have long been the center of attention in the sports world, but perhaps no moment in the history of the games was as poignant as Jesse Owens' performance in Berlin in 1936. Owens would finish his career with four gold medals and become known as "perhaps the greatest and most famous athlete in track and field history" (as his obituary in The New York Times put it), but nearly 80 years later, it's the context that has made his performance so memorable.

Although revered in history for their civilization and culture, the Greeks were always in a constant state of warfare amongst themselves. With the likes of Athens, Sparta, and Thebes asserting dominance over the Ionian Peninsula, none of the other city-states could amass an army strong enough to challenge their superiority in the area, much less take on all challengers and invade Persia. However, none of these other city-states had a ruler named Alexander.

Andrew Klein's book pulls no punches, defends Hoffa, and destroys the perverse and pervasive influence of the Kennedy clan. This book presents a flawed and tragic charismatic hero in Hoffa, a powerful and bullying classic villain in Robert Kennedy, and a lush backdrop of union fights, personal betrayal, and presidential assassinations.

This book is an elaborate explanation of MacArthur's life. It is written in an easy-to-follow style that makes you move with the flow of the events of the day. In the book, you will learn almost everything you ever wanted to know about the most decorated army general the US ever had. In particular, you are going to see the factors that influenced MacArthur's life, and the background against which he developed his career.

Africa may have given rise to the first humans, and Egypt probably gave rise to the first great civilizations, which continue to fascinate modern societies across the globe nearly 5,000 years later. From the Library and Lighthouse of Alexandria to the Great Pyramid at Giza, the Ancient Egyptians produced several wonders of the world, revolutionized architecture and construction, created some of the world's first systems of mathematics and medicine, and established language and art that spread across the known world.

Preparation is one of the single most fundamental factors that will make your presentation successful! One thing that you have to realize is that a good presentation ensures that the content is well thought out. This means that you can effectively communicate to your audience with a great degree of confidence.

A series of mountain chains frame the Levantine coast, growing in height as they approach modern-day Lebanon. These provided a natural defense along the important coast, and the few passes through these mountain ranges were the focal points of movement and communication. For this reason, these locations were where many crusader castles were erected.

Joseph Stalin rose from humble roots to become the greatest madman of the 20th century. His disregard for human life dwarfs Hitler's, as does the scale of his crimes. This book by author Andrew Klein exposes "Uncle Joe" as the perpetrator of mass killings, mass incarcerations, and mass starvations across four decades. This book spares no detail and minces no words about the evil deeds of one of history's most brazen tyrants.

The Canaanites and Nubians received the most attention as Egypt's enemies and occasional trading partners, but it was the Libyans - the final third of Egypt's traditional enemies - who influenced later Egyptian culture most. The Ancient Libyans: The Mysterious History of Egypt's Neighbors to the West During Antiquity looks at the various groups and their impact on the region and subsequent cultures. You will learn about the ancient Libyans like never before.

Words of meditation to be comforted by.

This first volume of the Savage Frontier series is a comprehensive account of the formative years of the legendary Texas Rangers. Stephen L. Moore provides fresh detail about each ranging unit formed during the Texas Revolution and narrates their involvement in the pivotal battle of San Jacinto and later battles at Parker's Fort, the Elm Creek Fight, Post Oak Springs Massacre, and the Stone Houses Fight.

Richard Nixon was the consummate politician. Growing up as a poor Quaker in California, Nixon decided early on to pursue a career in politics. Struggling from the bottom, Nixon worked his way through law school and eventually into politics. Richard Nixon embodied the American dream. He would also embody the American nightmare. Richard M. Nixon made it to the pinnacle of political power in the United States through effort and determination. Then, in the blink of an eye, he lost everything.

John Adams didn't cut a dashing figure like George Washington. He was not the darling of France, as was Benjamin Franklin. He was not a wealthy and statuesque plantation owner like Thomas Jefferson. Adams was highly opinionated, blunt, and often tactless in his social interactions. To top it off, he was short, fat, and awkward. This does not sound like the description of a Founding Father we should want to know any better - but that's where you're wrong.

Winner: Annual Competition/Honorable Mention: California State Poetry Society 2011. Archived in the UCLA Library of Special Collections.

Does your marketing work? This is a question asked by businesses and marketers around the globe, and with good reason. Billions of dollars are spent every year in marketing efforts, and unfortunately, there is not always a clear picture of the efficacy of those efforts. In his book Does My Marketing Work?, author Robert Thompson attempts to answer this question by using examples as experiences you are already familiar with. Instead of a "how to" approach, however, Mr. Thompson encourages personal idea generation for your unique situation.

In this deeply researched and yet still highly accessible book about the successor to Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II, Steinburg takes us through Pope Francis' early days as a parish priest in Argentina, his Jesuit education, his role in Argentina's infamous "Dirty War", and his time as a bishop and a cardinal at the seat of the Catholic church in Rome.

Buddhism is more than a religious concept! Buddhism is essentially hailed to be a "way of life" which aims at helping people gain a deeper understanding of how things are to be tackled and dealt with. In this book, we are going to talk about the different ideals of Buddhism and the key principles. Buddhism is becoming hugely popular even in most western countries because it seems to have answers to most of the materialistic problems which the world is facing.

They say a dog is a man's best friend. Well, while this may partly be true, the unfortunate part about our friendship with our dogs is really wanting. Let me ask you this simple question; how much do you know about dogs? If you really are someone's friend, you probably would do everything possible to know as much about them as is practically possible. If you've been a dog owner for some time, you can bet that your dog knows a lot about you than you probably may think.

This book contains proven 10-step guidelines on how to build trust in yourself and trust others. The title says it all. How do we make other people trust us? This question has been bothering leaders and managers throughout the centuries. This book aims to answer this question. "Trust is one of the pillars of a strong relationship." When people choose whom to trust, they do not use logic or rational thinking. We do not trust someone based solely on his or her track record. Our mind collects a combination of verbal and non-verbal cues to guess if a person we just met is trustworthy.