Historical Tragedy

Listeners of all ages will witness the rise and fall of a scientific and historical icon in this masterful new edition. Exploring his childhood, his secret work on the bomb, his central role in the Cold War, and his tragic downfall, this quintessential biography is history at its finest, riveting and deeply informative, and now available to a younger audience.

It's fall 1987, and life as normal is ending for the Malone family. With their sterile Dallas community a far cry from the Irish-American Bronx of their youth, Pat and Anne Malone have reached a breaking point. Pat, faced with a debilitating MS diagnosis, has fallen into his drinking. Anne, his devoutly Catholic wife, is selected as a juror for a highly publicized attempted murder trial, one that raises questions - about God, and about men in power - she has buried her entire life. Together, they try to raise their only son, Daniel.

Two very different girls from this tight-knit community join up as ARP Wardens to do their bit for the home front. Violet Simms lives with her controlling, widowed mother who runs the local pawn shop. At just 20-years-old, Violet longs for friendship, love and escape. It seems her dreams might come true until tragedy strikes on one of the very worst nights of the Birmingham Blitz. Grace Templeton is the eldest in her family of 10 children. Spirited Grace is determined never to become burdened by child bearing and drudgery like her mother.

In the euphoria of the armistice, a young woman lay dying. Daisy had grown up, barefoot on the cobbles, in a village on the rugged North Devon coast; she was mindful of the perils of the uncertain sea. Her family had also been exposed to the dangers of disease and the First World War, but for Daisy, it was her own mother who posed the greatest threat of all.

After finding her great-grandmother's diary and seeing the writing on the wall for her own daughters, Lizzy's search for equality is ignited into a crusade for women's freedom of representation. Lizzy is determined not to let her ancestors' sacrifices be for naught. The third novel in the Monroe series follows Lizzy and her family from mourning to jubilation. Along the way, her perseverance is tested.

Cecile has been raised to a life of privilege at Polruan House, by her widowed father and aunt. Now she's of age, they are determined that she make a proper match, but Cecile's heart belongs to their coachman, Sam - most definitely not suitable marriage material. When Sam turns to his friend, smuggler Zach Carver, for help eloping with Cecile, Zach tells of a recent encounter with Lise, a beautiful but poor girl in St Ives, who is the mirror image of Cecile.

Tragedy and Triumph is based on the extraordinary life of an Afghan teenager whose loving childhood is shuttered by war. Ahmad Ansari is badly injured in a rocket attack on his house during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1970s. The memoir details challenges that young Ahmad faces since then, how he graduates valedictorian in Kabul to eventually earn a doctorate degree in France and join his refugee family in the United States.

With his parents deceased and his older brother deserting his family, William Blay is struggling with insolvency. After selling his farm in New Norfolk, Van Diemen’s Land, William packs up his wife and three daughters and absconds to Port Phillip. But life in the new Colony is dogged by the same dramas that hounded William in Van Diemen’s Land. A new start is not easy as it first seemed. Forced to deal with the First World War and the Great Depression, they fight to make ends meet.

Shakespeare writes about the plight of Romeo and Juliet with a lot of empathy and views their tragedy as a result of bad fate, rather than a problem with their characters. We sense from the very start that their relationship is doomed. Romeo and Juliet are portrayed as sincere and virtuous young people who are madly in love, but because of the feud between their families, their relationship has to end. As they won't even consider a separation, the only way out of the situation they find themselves in is by taking their own lives.

Olive Oatman isn’t a household name, but a distinct feature on her face has made her infamous for the worst reasons. She is the girl with the blue tattoo. The story behind the distinctive tattoo is the stuff of legends. Some believed it was placed on her face during her captivity, following the brutal murders of her family members and the kidnapping of her and her sister. Others believe it was placed on her after her return.

"The Tragedy of Macbeth" is a play written by William Shakespeare. Set mainly in Scotland, the play illustrates the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. The play was most likely written during the reign of James I, who had been James VI of Scotland before he succeeded to the English throne in 1603. James was a patron of Shakespeare's acting company and of all the plays Shakespeare wrote during James's reign, "Macbeth" most clearly reflects the playwright's relationship with the sovereign.