Western Europe

This book was originally planned to be about people, places and events in beautiful Kintyre but, like Topsy, “it just growed”—northwards and southwards—eventually including tales from Norway and the entire west coast of Scotland, down as far as the Irish Sea. Events in time vary from the reality of the present-day, sweeping back into history, and including Myth and Legend from our ancient Celtic heritage. There is humour and, inevitably, pathos as well as the happenings of every-day life—naturally occurring ingredients from the comedy and tragedy of every nation’s story.

Greater Than a Tourist: Hamburg, Germany by Nicola Coutinho offers the inside scoop on Hamburg. Most travel books tell you how to travel like a tourist. Although there's nothing wrong with that, as a part of the Greater Than a Tourist series, this audiobook will give you travel tips from someone who lives at your next travel destination. In this audiobook, you'll discover local advice that will help you throughout your stay.

In The Victory of Reason, Rodney Stark advances a revolutionary, controversial, and long overdue idea: that Christianity and its related institutions are, in fact, directly responsible for the most significant intellectual, political, scientific, and economic breakthroughs of the past millennium. In Stark's view, what has propelled the West is not the tension between secular and non-secular society, nor the pitting of science and the humanities against religious belief. Christian theology, Stark asserts, is the very font of reason.

The Battle of the Bulge was the largest land engagement of World War II. The German counter-attack, spearheaded by three Panzer armies, found the Allies unprepared and ill-equipped. As the fighting raged across the frosty forests of the Ardennes, it was left to a few untested US Infantry divisions to hold the Allied lines. Written by one of the world's leading experts on the subject, this account provides an essential introduction to the events of winter 1944-'45 and to the many soldiers who risked their lives in defence of freedom.

Only two years after Pope Pius IX’s election in 1846 had triggered great popular enthusiasm across Italy, the pope found himself a virtual prisoner in his own palace. The revolutions that swept through Europe and shook Rome threatened to end the popes’ thousand-year reign over the Papal States, if not the papacy itself. The resulting drama was rife with treachery, tragedy, and international power politics. David Kertzer, one of the world’s foremost experts on the history of Italy and the Vatican, brings this pivotal moment vividly to life.

Since the end of World War II, democracy's sweep across the globe seemed inexorable. Yet today, it seems radically imperiled, even in some of the world's most stable democracies. How bad could things get? In How Democracy Ends, David Runciman argues that we are trapped in outdated 20th-century ideas of democratic failure. By fixating on coups and violence, we are focusing on the wrong threats. Our societies are too affluent, too elderly, and too networked to fall apart as they did in the past. We need new ways of thinking the unthinkable....

In this short essay, Mark Twain discusses the patriot William Tell, the city of Interlaken, and the Jungfrau mountain. He describes the beauty of the landscape with great admiration.

This is the audiobook millions of Rick Steves fans have been waiting for! A journal of Rick's favorite European stories, his traveling life, and how he started his business, all told in that funny, down-to-earth style that makes Rick America's favorite travel writer. Rick Steves' Postcards from Europe takes you on a European vacation, complete with the sights, sounds, tastes, and people of Europe, without ever leaving that comfy sofa or the relative safety of your own car.

What would the perfect Iceland road trip look like for you? If you’re a couple seeking adventure packed with cultural experience, exploring the land of fire and ice by road is perfect for you. Drive along winding roads, surrounded by towering volcanoes, cascading waterfalls, and sparkling glaciers. Taste traditional Icelandic cuisines, explore charming villages, and absorb the rich culture and traditions of the locals along the way. Perhaps even catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights….

Cambridge professor and renowned historian Anthony Pagden covers a vast subject in a compact package with Peoples and Empires. This wide-ranging and intellectually stimulating work examines the origins and history of the West with terse, efficient prose. With a captivating narration by Robert O'Keefe, listeners will find this work enjoyable and utterly absorbing.

The Austro-Hungarian army that marched east and south to confront the Russians and Serbs in the opening campaigns of World War I had a glorious past but a pitiful present. Speaking a mystifying array of languages and lugging outdated weapons, the Austrian troops were hopelessly unprepared for the industrialized warfare that would shortly consume Europe.

February 20, 1933: on an unremarkable day during a harsh Berlin winter, a meeting of twenty-four German captains of industry and senior Nazi dignitaries is being held in secret in the plush lounges of the Reichstag. They are there to "stump up" funding for the accession to power of the National Socialist Party and its fearsome Chancellor. This inaugural scene sets the tone of consent which will lead to the worst possible repercussions.

Most travel books tell you how to travel like a tourist. Although there is nothing wrong with that, as part of the Greater Than a Tourist series, this book will give you travel tips from someone who has lived at your next travel destination. In this audiobook, you will discover advice that will help you throughout your stay. This book will not tell you exact addresses or store hours but instead will give you excitement and knowledge from a local that you may not find in other smaller print travel books.

From autumn 2018 to spring 2019, British journalist Stephen Powell traveled the length of Portugal, following a zigzag path of nearly 1,500 kilometers on foot. Away from the mass tourism, he wanted to form his own unhurried impressions of this very distinctive country. He discovered a very mixed reality. The dark side was the blight of rural exodus that is emptying so many villages. But he also found a profoundly generous, warm-hearted people with time to converse—a gift that is not found everywhere.

One of the few names to emerge from the Dark Ages to live on today is that of Charlemagne. After the fall of Rome, Western Europe was in almost complete disarray for several centuries, with different tribes and factions running different parts of the continent. Then, in CE 768, Charles the Great, more commonly known as Charlemagne, became the ruler of the Franks.

Once valued at close to seven trillion dollars by today’s standards, the Dutch East India Company, formed in 1602, became the world’s first multinational corporation. In the nearly 200-year reign of their empire at sea, the Dutch East India Company amassed unfathomable fortunes, laid the foundation of the modern globalized world, and built monopolies that controlled the economy of the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe and the East Indies.

Exploring the successful Norman invasion of England in 1066, this concise and listenable book focuses especially on the often dramatic and enduring changes wrought by William the Conqueror and his followers. Hugh M. Thomas considers the conquest's wide-ranging impact by taking a fresh look at such traditional themes as the influence of battles and great men on history and by assessing how far the shift in ruling dynasty and noble elites affected broader aspects of English history.

Are you excited about planning your next trip? Do you want an edible experience? Would you like some culinary guidance from a local? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this Eat Like a Local book is for you. Eat Like a Local Ireland by Anne Ni Chonchobhair offers first-hand and personal insight into the best places to eat in Ireland. Culinary tourism is an important aspect of any travel experience.

In 2015, Beth and Eric Jusino walked out of a cathedral in the historic village of Le Puy, France, down a cobblestone street, and turned west. Seventy-nine days, a thousand miles, two countries, two mountain ranges, and three pairs of shoes later, they reached the Atlantic Ocean. More than two million pilgrims have walked the Way of Saint James, a long-distance hiking trail. Each pilgrim has their own reason for undertaking the journey. For the Jusinos, it was about taking a break from the relentless pace of modern life and getting away from all their electronic devices.

In this book, we will delve into the fascinating world of the Goths with a scientific lens, exploring everything we can about how they came about, where they lived, what they did, and how they died off. We will look into the nitty-gritty details of their everyday life, as well as some major historical events that were affected by Goths of any variety. Do strap yourselves in - there are quite a few of those.