Showing results by narrator "John Pruden" in All Categories

Dennis Short thought his tour of duty was over...but now he has stepped into another war. Short, a Navy medical corpsman stationed in Hawaii after his ordeal in Vietnam, is looking forward to his two-week excursion to the island of Kahoolawe. But from the first day, he is plagued by an oppressive sense that he is being manipulated. Each night he slips into a dreamlike world of half-human mythical creatures who tempt him, frighten him, force him to become part of their battles with one another.

While in power, the South African apartheid regime made nuclear weapons. Later, they told the UN that the weapons were destroyed. But in fact the weapons were secretly stored by a white South African exile group. Now they have been refurbished and sold, but to whom? American intelligence expert Ray Bowman is brought in to find out.

Robert E. Lee is one of the most famous and decorated American generals in history. The son of Revolutionary War hero Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee III, General Lee was a native of Virginia and a top graduate at West Point. So distinguished was Lee that President Abraham Lincoln offered him command of the entire Union army before the onset of the Civil War. Lee famously declined the offer and instead served his home state of Virginia after it seceded.

Sebastian is whisked away at birth, just moments after his mother's death. He returns 19 years later, a warlock trained in the arts of war. Raised in secret and fed on tales of revenge, he seeks redemption against the witches who betrayed and murdered his mother.

O. Henry was a prolific American short-story writer - a master of surprise endings - who wrote about the life of ordinary people in New York City. Here is "A Blackjack Bargainer," the story of the drunken Yancey Goree, a washed-up lawyer who has lost his money, possessions, property, and self-respect as a result of playing poker. After settling a feud, however, he manages to redeem himself by trading places with an old rival.

Americans are becoming ever more disillusioned with the two traditional political parties. Both seem to offer more of the same: more spending, more war, more bailouts for big businesses, more control over people's lives. That's why more people than ever are taking a look at libertarianism. But what does that mean? Attorney and law professor Jacob H. Huebert explains in Libertarianism Today, an engaging introduction to the libertarian movement's ideas and people.

The Relation of My Imprisonment is a work of fiction utilizing a form invented in the seventeenth century by imprisoned Puritan divines. Designed to be exemplary, works of this type were aimed at brethren outside the prison walls and functioned primarily as figurative dramatization of the test of fait all true believers must endure.

Though the Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion, it does not specify what qualifies as a religion. From its founding in the 1830s, Mormonism, a homegrown American faith, has drawn thousands of converts but far more critics. In A Peculiar People, J. Spencer Fluhman offers a comprehensive history of anti-Mormon thought and the associated passionate debates about religious authenticity in 19th-century America.

At age 35, Morris Bliss is clamped in the jaws of New York City inertia. Enter Stefani, an 18-year-old girl in a Catholic school uniform, and Morris's once static life quickly unravels when Stefani's father calls on Morris to work for him. Morris's life becomes further entangled when his best friend, N.J., is recruited by an international cartel that controls global economics and local sex markets, and Morris is called in to save N.J.'s bacon.

In clear, lucid prose, Vietnam War, Revised Edition explores the critical questions surrounding the United States' experience in Vietnam: What led President Lyndon B. Johnson to commit combat troops in 1965? How was it possible for the North Vietnamese to suffer a military defeat in the Tet Offensive in 1968 and yet achieve a political victory?

Our Founding Fathers created the Bill of Rights to document our inalienable rights and to strictly limit the government’s power. These ten amendments are the foundation of American Exceptionalism. Yet, that foundation is quickly eroding. With every new sweeping regulation and invasive policy, the Obama administration is twisting the Bill of Rights and corrupting its true purpose.

Clay Rose, the deputy of Tucson noticed unfamiliar horses in front of the bank. It dawned on him, something was wrong. Suddenly his boss, Sheriff Biggs was stepping fast across the street just as Frankie Giles gang burst from the bank, shooting in all directions. They gunned the sheriff down along with the Marie Ramos, the lady Clay Rose intended to marry. He had been holding her behind him trying to shield her, but in his process to shoot back, a bullet took her....

The Stock Market Crash of 1929 is an informative introduction to one of the most turbulent events in our history. On October 29, 1929, more than 16 million stock shares were sold at the New York Stock Exchange, and by the end of November, investors had lost more than $100 billion in assets. With the crash, the prosperity of the Roaring Twenties came to a close, and a dark era of financial dispair dawned in the United States.

Hawk Haynes ruled from his heart, but stayed alive by using his instincts. Hawk was on his way to start a new life in Texas when he runs into burned out wagons. He finds families slaughtered, the men killed, the women raped, and killed. Hawk Haynes had just introduced himself to Southwest Texas. Hawk had been deeded land just northwest of Rawlins for his services in taking care of Ted Rawlins and his wife until their death.

In 2008, Democrats won a sweeping victory, seizing the White House and the majority in both houses of Congress. We knew this meant liberals would be in charge of the federal government—but what many Americans didn’t anticipate was that they would use this supposed “mandate” as an excuse to try and run every single part of our lives.

In 1858, New York City was growing so fast that new roads and tall buildings threatened to swallow up the remaining open space. The people needed a green place to be - a park with ponds to row on and paths for wandering through trees and over bridges. When a citywide contest solicited plans for creating a park out of barren swampland, Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted put their heads together to create the winning design, and the hard work of making their plans a reality began.

The Nome Ruggedo and a corrupt munchkin with the secret of magic form an army of wild animals to march upon the Emerald City. Can Dorothy and her friends thwart this nefarious plot? The 13th installment in the Oz series, this novel was published a month after author L. Frank Baum’s death and, possibly, as a result, was a best-selling success.

Ann Soforth, a rival queen from the land of Oogaboo, raises an army to conquer Oz. Newcomers Betsy Bobbin and her loyal mule, Hank, team up with the Shaggy Man, Ozga, Polychrome, the rainbow’s daughter, and Tik-Tok to thwart Queen Ann and her army of 17 men.

He became the nation's first hero.... But before that, George Washington was just a man. And in his youth, he was a man on the make. He wanted to serve the king, so he donned a red coat and fought the French. He loved another man's wife but yearned for status, so he married a rich widow. He dreamed of wealth, so he accumulated land and slaves. He accumulated enemies, too.... In Citizen Washington, one of those enemies - a newspaper publisher named Hesperus Draper - learns that Martha Washington has burned her husband's letters at his death.

From the days of pirate raids on the Chesapeake to swift-boat actions in Vietnam, the Staffords and their traditional rivals, the Parrishes, struggle with foreign enemies and each other to build a navy and a nation. When Stafford descendant Susan Browne sets out to film a documentary about her famous ancestry, her work sweeps her into the past, to celebrate Stafford victories, mourn their losses, and confront their secrets.