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Writing on behalf of the oppressed

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  Title: Anti-Imperialist Writings Author: Mark Twain Librivox Audiobook app Read by John Greenman (5 hr 11 min) The book is a collection of essays, speeches, and reflections that reveal one of America’s most celebrated writers in his role as a social critic and political commentator. Written primarily in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these works demonstrate Twain’s fierce opposition to imperialism, colonialism, and foreign intervention, particularly by the United States. Twain, who had been widely recognized for his humor and storytelling, turned his wit and sharp tongue toward politics, exposing the hypocrisy and moral contradictions of imperial power. Anti-Imperialist Writings brings together Twain’s writings during and after the Spanish-American War, when the United States acquired territories such as the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Twain, once a supporter of the war under the impression that it was fought to liberate oppressed peoples, became disil...
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Preserving the memory of a vanished era

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  Title: Old Times on the Mississippi Author: Mark Twain Librivox Audiobook app Read by John Greenman (3 hr 38 min) Old Times on the Mississippi is Mark Twain’s semi-autobiographical account of his early years as a cub pilot on the Mississippi River. First published in serialized form before later being expanded into Life on the Mississippi, the work captures the mix of excitement, challenge, and nostalgia of an era when steamboats dominated American rivers. Twain blends humor, sharp observation, and personal memory to preserve the spirit of a world that was already beginning to fade. The story opens with Twain recalling his boyhood admiration for river pilots, who were regarded as glamorous, authoritative figures in river towns. For him, piloting was not just a profession but a calling that promised status and adventure. His dream materializes when he secures an apprenticeship under Horace Bixby, a respected but stern pilot. What follows is Twain’s struggle to learn the harsh real...
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A window into the genius of Leonardo da Vinci

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  Title: The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci - Volume 2 Author: Leonardo Da Vinci Publisher: iBooks Year published: Some words of advice from Leo: To keep in health, this rule is wise: Eat only when you want and relish food. Chew thoroughly that it may do you good. Have it well cooked, unspiced and undisguised. He who takes medicine is ill advised. I teach you to preserve your health; and in this you will succeed better in proportion as you shun physicians, because their medicines are the work of alchemists. Summary: The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci - Volume 2 is a continuation of the remarkable collection of Leonardo’s writings, sketches, and reflections that reveal the mind of one of history’s greatest polymaths.  This volume presents a broad range of subjects, showing how Leonardo’s thoughts moved fluidly between art, science, engineering, and philosophy.  It reflects not just his curiosity but his attempts to unify knowledge into a comprehensive understanding of natu...
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Location: New York, NY, USA
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The disgrace of the 'mighty' British Empire

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  Title: The Defence and Fall of Singapore Author: Brian P. Farrell Publisher: Monsoon Books, Leicestershire Year published: 2019 496 pages From page 426: 1st Malay resisted Japanese attacks near Buona Vista Village, including at least one using civilians forced to run ahead as human shields.  Worse followed on the hilltop near the Opium Factory.  Japanese infiltration cut off C Company, helped by burning oil flowing through wide drains behind and below the Malays.  C Company beat back Japanese assaults with steady Bren gun fire, but both sides suffered heavily.  By late afternoon only one officer survived, 2nd Lt. Adnan Saidi.  The Japanese overran the position and gave no quarter; only four Malays escaped the enemy and the drains.  The Japanese massacred the remainder, reportedly torturing Adnan to death. READ MORE
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The grotesque comedy of human existence

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  Title: Echo's Bones Author: Samuel Beckett Publisher: Faber & Faber, London Year published: 2014 121 pages Echo's Bones is a short story first written in 1933 and only published decades later.  It was intended as an additional tale to Beckett’s collection More Pricks Than Kicks but was initially rejected for being too strange and unsettling. The story follows Belacqua Shuah, Beckett’s recurring anti-hero, who has already died in the earlier collection.  In Echo's Bones, he is resurrected and wanders through surreal and bizarre encounters that mix death, sexuality, and absurd humor.  The narrative unfolds in a fragmented, dreamlike style filled with puns, mythological allusions, and grotesque imagery. The text reflects Beckett’s early experimentation with themes that would define his later work: the futility of existence, the absurdity of human desire, and the blending of comedy with despair.  It is both difficult and playful, showing the seeds of his matur...
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The blast that changed the world

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  Title: The Day The World Went Nuclear Author: Bill O' Reilly Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, New York Year published: 2017 302 pages The Day the World Went Nuclear provides a detailed yet approachable account of the pivotal moment in history when nuclear weapons were first used in warfare.  The book takes readers through the final stages of World War II, explaining how the war in the Pacific had reached a brutal stalemate, with Japan showing no signs of surrender despite suffering heavy losses.  O’Reilly outlines the key military and political challenges faced by the Allies, particularly President Harry Truman, who had assumed the presidency after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death and was suddenly confronted with the responsibility of making a decision that would alter the course of history. The narrative examines the Manhattan Project, the secret U.S. effort to develop the atomic bomb, and the race to create the weapon before Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan could do th...
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A journey through two world wars

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  Title: The World at War Publisher: Igloo Books, Sywell Year published: 2017 304 pages The World at War offers a comprehensive yet accessible exploration of the major conflicts that defined the twentieth century, primarily focusing on the First and Second World Wars.  It traces the origins of global tensions, beginning with the build-up to World War I, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and the tangled web of alliances that plunged the world into war.  The book outlines the key battles, strategies, and turning points of the Great War, including trench warfare on the Western Front, the use of new technologies like tanks and poison gas, and the social and political upheaval that followed. The narrative then shifts to the interwar years, examining the rise of totalitarian regimes, the economic turmoil of the Great Depression, and the failure of appeasement policies that ultimately led to World War II.  It delves into the causes and consequences of Hitler’s ...
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