Great Figures

The 18th century was the age of the Enlightenment, great discoveries, and political revolutions. New ideas about freedom, reason, and human rights changed the world. This audiobook introduces 14 extraordinary figures who shaped their era: from Voltaire and Rousseau to Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, and on to George Washington, Catherine the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, James Cook, and Alexander von Humboldt.

What drives human thought? From Plato to Voltaire, Marcus Aurelius to Isaac Newton, Socrates to Descartes, Aristotle to Rousseau – these five-minute snapshots offer powerful insights into the people who shaped our understanding of life. Whether you're commuting, relaxing, or curious to learn something new: These short, vivid biographies offer quick insights, big ideas, and timeless inspiration.

The 17th century was a time of great contrasts. While powerful rulers expanded their empires and established magnificent courts, scientists, philosophers, and explorers revolutionized our understanding of the world. Art and culture flourished impressively during the Baroque era.

Bloomsbury presents Peter The Great by Robert K. Massie, read by Jonathan Keeble. Against the monumental canvas of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe and Russia, unfolds the magnificent story of Peter the Great, crowned at the age of 10. A barbarous, volatile feudal tsar with a taste for...

“Bennett’s medieval England comes alive in ways a reader can immediately relate to, even while being transported away from the modern world.” —Christian Science Monitor The story of two sisters caught up in the maelstrom of historic events, Figures in Silk by Vanora Bennett combines the...

In a volatile and complex world roiled by a climate crisis, global pandemics, and disruptive technologies like AI, hyper-individualized leadership models no longer make sense. To seize emerging opportunities and achieve sustainable growth, leaders must recognize that a team’s success flows from the intelligence, achievements, and growth of the entire collective. In Safe to Great, Skip Bowman proposes a leadership sea change that puts purpose before profit, and the team before the individual.

The 16th century changed the world like almost no other era. New continents were discovered, science challenged centuries-old beliefs, and the Reformation shook Europe to its core. This audiobook tells the fascinating life stories of 19 extraordinary figures—from Leonardo da Vinci and Martin Luther to Nicolaus Copernicus and Elizabeth I, Michelangelo and Peter Paul Rubens to Paracelsus and Vasco da Gama, and on to Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan.

Power, Splendor, and Genius – Great Figures of the Baroque Era

Magnificent palaces, groundbreaking discoveries, great art, and powerful rulers—the Baroque was an era of contrasts. In this audiobook, you will encounter 19 extraordinary figures from the worlds of politics, music, art, science, philosophy, and literature who shaped their times and changed the world.

Monologist Mike Daisey presents a dazzling new work: four "bio-logues" about megalomania and desire constructed from the interleaved life stories of Bertolt Brecht, P.T. Barnum, Nikola Tesla, and L. Ron Hubbard. Over four nights Daisey explores the nature of genius and wrestles with the pride, insanity, and chauvinism that bind these men together, and reveals how the heights and depths of their gifts have much to teach us about ourselves.

'An empowering read . . . it is refreshing to see somebody celebrate the role that black Britons have played in this island's long and complicated history' DAVID LAMMY, author of Tribes, in 'The best books of 2020', the Guardian 'Timely and so important . . . recognition is long overdue . . . I...

Bloomsbury presents So Great a Prince by Lauren Johnson, read by Matthew Biddulph. The King is dead: long live the King. In 1509, Henry VII was succeeded by his son Henry VIII, second monarch of the house of Tudor. But this is not the familiar Tudor world of Protestantism and playwrights...

'The Life of Herod The Great – like Hurston herself – is a masterpiece, a miracle, and a marvel. In other words, treasure for the whole world' Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage * In the 1950s Zora Neale Hurston penned a historical novel reconsidering the life of one of the most...

Beloved Olympic skater shares his secrets to happiness on and off the ice. Scott Hamilton has experienced the heights of accomplishment and the depths of disease, from winning the Gold to becoming a cancer and brain tumor survivor. But through his successes, struggles, and setbacks, Hamilton has...

Bloomsbury presents 101 Great Philosophers: Makers of Modern Thought by Madsen Pirie read by Tom Lawrence 101 Great Philosophers is a concise and accessible guide to 101 of the greatest minds that contributed to the legacy of western philosophy. From the ancient Greeks to present-day thinkers...

Mitropolit Dimitrij Rostovskij (v miru Daniil Savvich Tuptalo; 1651-1709) - russkij cerkovnyj dejatel', episkop Russkoj Cerkvi; duhovnyj pisatel', propovednik. V 1757 godu proslavlen v like svjatyh Pravoslavnoj Rossijskoj Cerkov'ju; pamjat' 21 sentjabrja (po julianskomu kalendarju) i v den' Sobora Sibirskih svjatyh (10 ijunja). Dimitrij Rostovskij proslavilsja kak plodotvornyj cerkovnyj avtor - sostavitel' sbornikov zhitij svjatyh (naibolee izvestnyj, v chetyreh knigah - "Chet'i-Minei").