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Librivox: Amendments to the United States Constitution (version 2) by United States, Founding Fathers of the show

Librivox: Amendments to the United States Constitution (version 2) by United States, Founding Fathers of theJoin Now to Follow

The Constitution has a total of 27 amendments. The first ten, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified simultaneously. The following seventeen were ratified separately. (Summary from wikipedia.org)

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Librivox: From October to Brest-Litovsk by Trotsky, Leon show

Librivox: From October to Brest-Litovsk by Trotsky, LeonJoin Now to Follow

This account by Trotsky is of the events in Russia from the October Revolution of 1917 in Petrograd, to his signing of the Brest-Litovsk treaty with Germany on 3rd March 1918 which took Russia out of the First World War. The treaty exacted heavy losses for Russia in terms of annexations of land and financial indemnities to Germany. In this extended essay, Trotsky argues the reasons as to why he decided to sign what appears to be a disastrous agreement for Russia. (Summary by Rebecca)

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Librivox: Prince, The by Machiavelli, Niccolo show

Librivox: Prince, The by Machiavelli, NiccoloJoin Now to Follow

ll Principe (The Prince) is a political treatise by the Florentine writer Niccolò Machiavelli, originally called “De Principatibus” (About Principalities). It was written around 1513, but not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli’s death. The treatise is not actually representative of his published work during his lifetime, but it is certainly the best remembered one. (Summary from Wikipedia.org)

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Librivox: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The by Twain, Mark show

Librivox: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The by Twain, MarkJoin Now to Follow

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) by Mark Twain is one of the truly great American novels, beloved by children, adults, and literary critics alike. The book tells the story of “Huck” Finn (first introduced as Tom Sawyer’s sidekick in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ), his friend Jim, and their journey down the Mississippi River on a raft. Both are on the run, Huck from his drunk and abusive father, and Jim as a runaway slave. As Huck and Jim drift down the river, they meet many colorful characters and have many great adventures. The true heart of the story, however, is the friendship between Huck and Jim. A constant theme throughout the book is Huck’s internal struggle between what he has been taught, that helping a runaway slave is a sin, and what he truly believes, that Jim is a good man and it couldn’t possibly be wrong to help him. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was unique at the time of its publication (1884) because it is narrated by Huck himself and is written in the numerous dialects common in the area and time in which the book is set. Although the book was originally intended as a sequel to the children’s book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer , as Twain wrote Adventures of Huckleberry Finn it progressed into a more serious work. Twain’s views on slavery and other social issues of the time become clear through the words, thoughts, and actions of Huck Finn. The book has always been the subject of great controversy, and according to The American Library Association it was fifth on the list of most frequently challenged books in the 1990s. (Summary by Annie Coleman)

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Librivox: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The by Stevenson, Robert Louis show

Librivox: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The by Stevenson, Robert LouisJoin Now to Follow

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a novella by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, first published in 1886. London lawyer Utterson is driven to investigate Edward Hyde, the unlikely protégé of his friend Dr Henry Jekyll, suspecting the relationship to be founded on blackmail. The truth is worse than he could have imagined. Jekyll’s ‘full statement of the case’, the final chapter of the book, explores the idea of dual personality that led him to his experiments, and his inexorable and finally fatal descent into evil. (Summary by David Barnes)

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Librivox: Short Poetry Collection 010 by Various show

Librivox: Short Poetry Collection 010 by VariousJoin Now to Follow

Librivox’s Short Poetry Collection 010: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.

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Librivox: Johnny Crow’s Party by Brooke, L. Leslie show

Librivox: Johnny Crow’s Party by Brooke, L. LeslieJoin Now to Follow

A beautifully illustrated children’s picture book. Listen to the narration while you view (on gutenberg.org) a variety of delightful animals doing strange things such as the kangaroo who tried to paint the roses blue. This is a follow up to Johnny Crow’s Garden. (Summary by Jim)

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Librivox: Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases by Kleiser, Grenville show

Librivox: Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases by Kleiser, GrenvilleJoin Now to Follow

A Practical Handbook of Pertinent Expressions, Striking Similes, Literary, Commercial, Conversational, and Oratorical Terms, for the Embellishment of Speech and Literature, and The Improvement of the Vocabulary of Those Persons Who Read, Write, and Speak English

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Librivox: Eve’s Diary by Twain, Mark show

Librivox: Eve’s Diary by Twain, MarkJoin Now to Follow

Eve’s Diary is a humorous monologue about Eve’s experiences at the dawn of creation. She is fascinated by every aspect of the new world around her and… Adam! The following is an extract from Adam: “She is all interest, eagerness, vivacity, the world is to her a charm, a wonder, a mystery, a joy; she can’t speak for delight when she finds a new flower, she must pet it and caress it and smell it and talk to it…. And she is color-mad: brown rocks, yellow sand, gray moss, green foliage, blue sky…none of them is of any practical value, so far as I can see, but because they have color and majesty, that is enough for her, and she loses her mind over them…. If there is anything on the planet that she is not interested in, it is not in my list.” (Summary by Esther Lockwood)

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Librivox: Walden by Thoreau, Henry David show

Librivox: Walden by Thoreau, Henry DavidJoin Now to Follow

Walden by Henry David Thoreau is one of the best-known non-fiction books written by an American. Published in 1854, it details Thoreau’s life for two years, two months, and two days around the shores of Walden Pond. Walden is neither a novel nor a true autobiography, but a social critique of the Western World, with each chapter heralding some aspect of humanity that needed to be either renounced or praised. Along with his critique of the civilized world, Thoreau examines other issues afflicting man in society, ranging from economy and reading to solitude and higher laws. He also takes time to talk about the experience at Walden Pond itself, commenting on the animals and the way people treated him for living there, using those experiences to bring out his philosophical positions. This extended commentary on nature has often been interpreted as a strong statement to the natural religion that transcendentalists like Thoreau and Emerson were preaching. (Description amended from Wikipedia).

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