bookshelf

The Map that Changed the World by Simon Winchester

William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology
6 tapes, 9 1/2 hrs, Narrated by the author
(c) 2001, Harper Audio, Recorded Books 04/20/09

 William Smith's biography could have been written by Dickens: a stint in debtor's prison, a victim of plagiarism and class prejudices and a mentally ill young wife afflicted with nymphomania are just a few of the subplots.

Dark Genius of Wall Street by Edward J. Renehan, Jr

The Misunderstood Life of Jay Gould, King of the Robber Barons
Narrated by George Wilson
13 CDs, 14.75 hours (c) 2005 by Edward J. Renehan, Jr., 2006 by Recorded Books. LLC.
Read 03/16/09

Jay Gould was one of the original "Robber Barons" of the last half of the nineteenth century. According to Renehan, Gould was not the monster that that the press of the time and many biographers have made him out to be.

Great Catherine by Carolly Erickson

A biography of Catherine the Great
11 tapes / Narrated by Davina Porter
Recorded Books, Read: 01/28/08, Blog 03/12/09

The author wants to set the record straight and dispel the worst of the criticism against Catherine the Great. The empress or Russia is presented as a sympathetic character who had her hands full with a problematic family life and an unwieldy realm.

Commodore by Edward J. Renehan Jr.

Commodore: The Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by Edward J. Renehan Jr.
11 CDs, 12.75 hours, Narrated by John McDonough
(c) 2007, Edward J. Renehan Jr., (c) 2008 Recorded Books. Read 02/10/09

Edward J. Renehan Jr. sets the record straight about the life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, clearing up inaccuracies of earlier biographies by using newly available materials as well as extensive contemporaneous sources. He brings to life this single-minded, notorious empire-builder of early industrialization in the United States.