Random Loyal Books Podcasts

A book that won the Newberry Prize in 1921 for an Outstanding Contribution in Children’s Literature, The Story of Mankind, by Hendrik van Loon is indeed a classic that has been enjoyed by generations of children and adults. The book is an engagingly written work, dedicated to the author Hendrik van Loon’s two young son’s Hansje and Willem. It was created to convey the history of the human race to young people in a way that was interesting, memorable and would spur them onto further research and reading into the subject. Tracing the origins of mankind from about 500,000 BC into the present era, The Story of Mankind encompasses anthropology, culture, sociology and history. This book creates a vivid portrayal of the development of the human race from the time of the caveman to the intelligent dominate species that it is today. Designed to be read by young readers and perhaps their parents and teachers along with them, it provides valuable lessons in a variety of subjects in a very readable fashion. Modern day readers may find some of the concepts politically incorrect or not quite enlightened. Some critics have also found that van Loon takes Biblical concepts and presents them as proven history. However, aside from these small blips, the book is indeed a treasure trove of information. It also describes the foundations of Western thought and culture. It traces the development of art, music, literature, culture and civilization itself in the Western World. Van Loon was motivated to select the areas of history that he would describe by apparently asking himself whether this particular person or event changed the course of civilization or not. After World War I, the author added one more chapter called “After Seven Years” and in later years, his children and other writers have added more chapters to make the book more contemporary and relevant for modern readers. The original illustrations by the author added to the appeal of the book as he was a talented artist and naturalist. The book was also adapted to film in 1957, in a quirky version starring the inimitable Marx Brothers. As basic reading for anyone interested in the history of the human race, The Story of Mankind provides a great launching pad from which to explore the deep and complex mysteries that are contained in the origin of our species on earth.

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Hendrik van Loon, History, Kids, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Teen/Young adult, The Story of Mankind

Machiavelli has created a ruthless guide on how to rule the country in his volume “The Prince”. The book is dedicated to Lorenzo De Medici, the ruler of Florence. The author explains in simple language about the nature of great men and the characters of the government. The first chapter gives an outline of the book discussing various styles of ruling as a prince, character traits that a ruler should have and the political situation of Italy in the 16th century. The book is composed of 26 chapters which fall into four major sections. In part one Machiavelli discusses the four types of principalities. The first type is hereditary princedoms meaning they are inherited by the ruler. There are also mixed principalities which are seized by force, civic principalities which are acquired by various criminal methods and finally ecclesiastical principalities influenced by the church. Machiavelli outlines how to maintain a newly acquired territory as these various types of principalities. The author details the characters of a prince for example paying close consideration to the armed forces so that they help him keep his power. There are four types of armies that are identified by the author beginning with mercenaries who are the hired soldiers and tend to be unreliable and dangerous. There are also auxiliaries which are the soldiers lent by other rulers, native troops which are the soldiers in their own country and lastly the mixed troops which will have soldiers from native troops, auxiliaries and mercenaries. Machiavelli also takes a chapter to put forth the character and behavior of a prince. In an ideal world a virtuous prince would do well. Additionally Machiavelli considers it better to be economical than to be generous, pitiless than amorous and sneaky rather than sincere. Reading “The Prince” will take you into the ruthless and cunning mind of Machiavelli as he systematically describes how to conquer and rule in the 16th century Italy. The astute reader will find that Machiavelli’s principals apply just as much in today’s world as they did hundreds of years ago. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Education

Tags: advice, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Essay/Short nonfiction, fiction, free audio books, instruction, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Niccolò Machiavelli, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Politics, science, The Prince

If you find yourself with nothing particular to do in an airport, train or bus or you’ve got a quiet evening to yourself in a hotel room or you’re facing the delicious prospect of an extended lunch or tea break, why not pick up Coffee Break Collection 001 and enjoy the experience? This anthology has a selection of humorous pieces guaranteed to keep you entertained. Opening with a master of the genre, PG Wodehouse, the first story is a pseudo-scholarly treatise on football captains! A delightful piece follows – Beyond Pandora by RJ Martin with its memorable opening line, “The ideal way to deal with a pest…. is of course to make it useful to you.” The collection also includes a gem from the inimitable Saki and another from a master of the twist-in-the-tail genre, O Henry. Published in 1883 and written by an anonymous writer, English As She is Wrote is an amusing compendium of curiosities of the English language that’s definitely rib-tickling! Chapters 2 and 3 are included here. Chapter 2 deals with various comical advertisements and sign-boards – to give an example, In the far West a man advertises for a woman to wash, iron and milk a few cows! Chapter 3 provides examples of zany epitaphs like “Here lies John Ross Kicked By a Hoss” Selections from Robert Benchley, WS Gilbert, Mark Twain, William Makepeace Thackeray and many more witty entertainers are included in Coffee Break Collection 001. A couple of stories, fables, actually, are by the only woman author to be featured here, Lida Brown McMurry. What makes the collection even more attractive is that all the stories included are short pieces, and would take just about fifteen or twenty minutes to get through, making them ideal for a quick and easy read. This is really fun on the run!

Categories: Arts, Comedy

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Coffee Break Collection, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, humor, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Short stories, various

The Social Contract outlines Rousseau’s views on political justice, explaining how a just and legitimate state is to be founded, organized and administered. Rousseau sets forth, in his characteristically brazen and iconoclastic manner, the case for direct democracy, while simultaneously casting every other form of government as illegitimate and tantamount to slavery. Often hailed as a revolutionary document which sparked the French Revolution, The Social Contract serves both to inculcate dissatisfaction with actually-existing governments and to allow its readers to envision and desire a radically different form of political and social organization. (Summary by Eric Jonas)

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Politics, The Social Contract

The Notebooks of Leonardo Da VinciPREFACEA singular fatality has ruled the destiny of nearly all the most famous of Leonardo da Vinci’s works. Two of the three most important were never completed, obstacles having arisen during his life-time, which obliged him to leave them unfinished; namely the Sforza Monument and the Wall-painting of the Battle of Anghiari, while the third–the picture of the Last Supper at Milan–has suffered irremediable injury from decay and the repeated restorations to which it was recklessly subjected during the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries. Nevertheless, no other picture of the Renaissance has become so wellknown and popular through copies of every description. Vasari says, and rightly, in his Life of Leonardo, that he laboured much more by his word than in fact or by deed, and the biographer evidently had in his mind the numerous works in Manuscript which have been preserved t

Categories: Arts

Tags: art, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Leonardo da Vinci, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, science, The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci

Henry Gray’s classic anatomy textbook was first published in 1858 and has been in continuous publication ever since, revised and expanded through many successive editions. This recording is of the public-domain 1918 US edition (some information may be outdated). More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Education

Tags: Anatomy of the Human Body, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Henry Gray, instruction, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, nature, Non-fiction, science

John Wesley Powell was a pioneer American explorer, ethnologist, and geologist in the 19th Century. In 1869 he set out to explore the Colorado and the Grand Canyon. He gathered nine men, four boats and food for ten months and set out from Green River, Wyoming, on May 24. Passing through dangerous rapids, the group passed down the Green River to its confluence with the Colorado River (then also known as the Grand River upriver from the junction), near present-day Moab, Utah. The expedition’s route traveled through the Utah canyons of the Colorado River, which Powell described in his published diary as having …wonderful features—carved walls, royal arches, glens, alcove gulches, mounds and monuments. From which of these features shall we select a name? We decide to call it Glen Canyon. (Ironically, now almost completely submerged by Lake Powell, behind the Glen Canyon Dam.) One man (Goodman) quit after the first month and another three (Dunn and the Howland brothers) left at Separation Rapid in the third, only two days before the group reached the mouth of the Virgin River on August 30 after traversing almost 1,500 km. The three who left the group late in the trip were later killed—probably by Indians. Powell retraced the route in 1871-1872 with another expedition, producing photographs, an accurate map, and various papers, including ethnographic reports of the area’s Native Americans and a monograph on their languages.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Canyons of the Colorado, ebooks, free audio books, History, John Wesley Powell, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Memoirs, nature, Non-fiction, or The exploration of the Colorado River and its Canyons, science, travel

A beautiful woman who is punished for the mortal sin of loving a man other than her husband, a cowardly lover, a vengeful husband, a rebellious illegitimate child and the oppressive and patriarchal morality of 17th century Puritanism in Boston. Together these form an unforgettable and thought-provoking glimpse of how much social attitudes have changed over the centuries. Nathaniel Hawthorne was the creator of such beloved works as Twice-Told Tales, A Wonder Book for Boys and Girls, The House of the Seven Gables and spine-chilling tales like Roger Malvin’s Burial. Scion of an old Puritan family from Salem, Massachusetts, Hawthorne was familiar with the old traditions of the area. He began writing in college and worked as a customs surveyor to earn his livelihood while pursuing his passion for creative writing. His friendship with Ralph Waldo Emerson broadened his horizons considerably and he experimented with movements like Transcendentalism. The Scarlet Letter is a deeply disturbing novel about gender discrimination, women’s oppression, male dominated society and authoritarian religions. Set in 17th century Boston, its lovely heroine Hester Prynne, is accused of adultery and giving birth to an illegitimate child in the absence of her husband. The punishment mandated for this crime is to be paraded and vilified in public with a scarlet letter A affixed to her chest, signifying “adulteress.” She refuses to name her partner in crime. The missing husband arrives fortuitously at that very moment, but does not reveal himself to Hester or the public. Intent on revenge, he devises an elaborate plot to destroy his wife and her nameless lover. The book was an instantaneous hit when it was first published and touched a chord with readers all over the world, both men and women. It was the first book to be published on a mass scale in the United States. However, religious establishments were critical of the book’s attempt to countermand the rules of the Church and promote immorality. Generations of readers have been struck by its compassion, depth and deep human concern. The strong plot and memorable characters have rendered it uniquely suited to adaptations for stage, film, television and radio. The Scarlet Letter remains a masterpiece of wonderful story-telling, full of dramatic moments, secrets and mysteries and above all, for the modern reader, it’s an excellent read! More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Historical Fiction, History, Kids, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

Kidnapped is the story of a 16-year old young man who is searching for his true birthright and is determined to make a fortune after the death of his parents. This timeless tale by Robert Louis Stevenson follows the life of David Balfour who leaves his home in Scotland after the death of his parents. First he meets his uncle for the first time in his life. His uncle is a very mean person who, at first, tried to kill David by devious means but then got him kidnapped onto a slave ship. In the ship, David makes friends with a Scottish rebel and together they successfully defeat the ship’s crew. The rebel, Alan, cherishes a dream to overthrow the British rulers of Scotland. Soon after the shipwreck, the two escaped but were later charged for being accomplices in the murder of a British supporter by the name of Colin Campbell. Although the novel’s adventures get a kick-start by this kidnapping, it is true that the hero of the story spends very little time as a captive. The character of Alan is very important as without his friendship the story would have ended very quickly. David would have been forced into slavery or would have escaped and met a poor fate due to starvation and want of money. On the contrary, David enters into new adventures with Alan on the ship itself. But after being charged with the grave crime of murder, readers are forced to ask two pertinent questions – Will these two escape from the hands of the British soldiers? Will David ever confront his sly uncle and fight to get back his inheritance? This is a very exciting and adventure filled story and all readers, old or young, will like the way the novel slowly unfolds. The setting of the story is very beautiful and there are vivid descriptions of the woods, waterfalls and streams which they jump over. The story is set in 1751 and the author has successfully narrated the story keeping in mind the history of the time. If you love adventure stories then you simply cannot ignore this fast-moving adventure which promises to keep the reader engrossed from start-to-finish. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family, Society & Culture

Tags: Adventure, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Historical Fiction, History, kidnapped, Kids, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Robert Louis Stevenson

This is the fifth of Burrough’s Tarzan novels. Tarzan finds himself bereft of his fortune and resolves to return to the jewel-room of Opar, leaving Jane to face unexpected danger at home.

Categories: Arts

Tags: Adventure, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Edgar Rice Burroughs, fantasy, fiction, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar

A collection of six wonderfully quirky detective stories, featuring the ‘mystic’ former judge Basil Grant. Each story reveals a practitioner of an entirely new profession, and member of the Club of Queer Trades.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, G. K. Chesterton, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, MYSTERY, The Club of Queer Trades

Nineteenth century attitudes towards marriage, the role of women, morality and the search for identity are brilliantly explored in Henrik Ibsen’s three act play, A Doll’s House. It was highly controversial and received with a sense of outrage among opinion leaders in Europe. Many thinkers like August Strindberg lashed out at Ibsen for portraying the sacred institution of marriage in such a derogatory way. A Doll’s House, written in the original Danish, was first performed at the Royal Theater in Copenhagen in 1879. The ending of the play, where the heroine, Nora decides to leave her sham of a marriage aroused the ire of many viewers and critics at that time. The play portrays Nora Helmer who is the pampered wife of a wealthy banker, Torvald Helmer. He treats Nora as a parent would pamper and indulge a child, calling her his “little squirrel” and constantly teasing and making fun of her habits and personality. When Nora’s old friend Kristine Lind drops in with a request that Nora put in a word to Torvald about finding Kristine a job in the bank, things take a dramatic and unexpected turn. Nora’s entire world turns upside down and she gradually comes to realize that she has been living a life that’s a mere facade. Though she has taken serious decisions that have protected her family, she has always been regarded as a helpless and incompetent infant. As the play progresses, Nora’s gradual realization of her own true powers and strengths lead to the stunning climax. The first English production of A Doll’s House was an adaptation by Henry Jones and Henry Herman, who re-titled it Breaking a Butterfly. English audiences were prevented from watching a real translation of the play for many decades by a ban order passed by the government. However, today with more liberal thinking, the rise of the feminist movement and a more broad and humanist ideology prevailing, A Doll’s House can be read or watched almost anywhere in the world without restrictions. As a revolutionary play that attacked the oppressive and inhuman mind-set of traditional, patriarchal social orders throughout the world, A Doll’s House is a remarkable and thought provoking work of literature. It not only addresses the place of women in society, but also that of men and how the usefulness of each is essential for healthy family life and child rearing. It is relevant even today, when perhaps such attitudes still persist though things may seem to have changed on the surface, more than a century after it was written.

Categories: Arts

Tags: A Doll's House, audio books, audiobook, Dramatic Works, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Henrik Ibsen, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, play, tragedy

Anyone who has ever been on a package tour with a group of strangers who soon become friends, and passed time swapping stories with them, would instantly identify with this timeless classic of English literature. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer recounts twenty different stories recounted by a diverse group of pilgrims who gather at The Tabard Inn in Southwark, near London, before setting out for the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury. The Host of the inn proposes that they entertain themselves by telling stories along the route and the one who tells the best tale would win a prize – a meal at Bailey’s tavern, sponsored by the losers. Lots are drawn and the stories and the journey begin… Chaucer, who lived in medieval England during an eventful period in English history, is known as the Father of English Literature. As the first acknowledged poet in English, Chaucer was a polymath who had wide ranging interests in astronomy, alchemy, philosophy and literature. He was a courtier and civil servant in the 14th century, whose life is surprisingly well-documented for those times. A confidante and mentor to many royal children, Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales after his retirement, somewhere between 1380-90. It was written in verse form and in Middle English in the original, which would be difficult for modern readers to decipher easily. However, excellent translations have now made the text accessible to us. What sets The Canterbury Tales apart from other works during the period is that Chaucer preferred to use English rather than Latin which was considered to be the language of sophistication. This one decision made all the difference as people all over England soon began to use their native tongue to express themselves in prose and poetry. This is perhaps the first “road trip” genre of writing in English and is replete with wonderful, ironic, sharp and witty descriptions of the characters and Chaucer’s unerring eye for details allows the reader to instantly visualize the people he’s describing. The Knight, The Wife of Bath, The Prioress and The Miller are some of the colorful travelers. The book is an interesting document regarding history, social customs, the medieval concept of “courtly love,” the emphasis on companionship and cooperation while traveling, the role of the church and the prevailing corruption and romantic ideals of the time. For both casual readers and those interested in the history of English literature, The Canterbury Tales is an invaluable mine of information.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Biography, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Geoffrey Chaucer, Historical Fiction, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, poetry, The Canterbury Tales

“Languages”, Sir Arthur Cotton writes, “are usually learnt as if it took a long time to learn the grammar &c., but that to speak with a good pronunciation and expression, and freely, and to catch the words from a speaker by the ear were easily and quickly acquired, but this is exactly contrary to fact.” Cotton’s “Vocal system” differs from the traditional grammatical method of learning languages in that it emphasises the development of correct pronunciation and the gradual acquisition of correct expressions and vocabulary. This is achieved through listening and repeating words and phrases uttered by a teacher. In the case of this audiobook, the teacher is the reader himself. The Arabic Primer contains only the simplest and most basic Arabic words. It allows the student to gain a foundational knowledge of the sounds and expressions of the Arabic language. Having mastered this work, the student can continue to develop his or her knowledge of Arabic through more advanced textbooks.

Categories: Arts, Education

Tags: Arabic Primer, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, instruction, Languages, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Sir Arthur Cotton

A life lived backwards, with events happening in reverse order forms the strange and unexpected framework of one of F Scott Fitzgerald’s rare short stories. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was published in Collier’s in 1927 and the idea came to Fitzgerald apparently from a quote of Mark Twain’s in which he regretted that the best part of life came at the beginning and the worst at the end. Fitzgerald’s concept of using this notion and turning the normal sequence of life on its head resulted in this delightful, thought provoking fantasy tale. The story was later incorporated in a Fitzgerald anthology, Tales of the Jazz Age. The story opens with a young, high society couple who are shocked beyond belief when they discover that their much awaited first born child resembles an elderly gent of seventy, complete with a white beard and whiskers, sitting up and querulously demanding to know, “Are you my father?” Their young son is born to live out a peculiar destiny. And so begins a grotesque journey through life, with the child, Benjamin “growing down” instead of up. Set in the Baltimore of the 1860s the story is also a satire of contemporary American society of the time. Though Fitzgerald maintains a cool and light tone throughout the story, it is in fact, deeply reflective and a very interesting take on the human condition. For contemporary readers who are familiar with the problems of aging and “second childhood” Benjamin Button’s difficulties with dealing with the demands of his chronological age vs his mental age are extremely interesting. As we find more and more older people succumbing to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, requiring the kind of care that an infant does, the story is strangely prophetic of the condition of geriatric care in our century. The plot is not exactly new to literature, with several stories and novels being written on a similar theme by many other writers. However, Fitzgerald’s take on growing old and how we humans deal with it is what sets The Curious Case of Benjamin Button apart. The style is extremely readable, the premise is intriguing and refreshingly different and appeals to readers of all ages. The story was adapted into a film in 2008 and continues to fascinate Fitzgerald fans the world over. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Comedy

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Comedy, Dramatic Works, ebooks, F. Scott Fitzgerald, fiction, free audio books, humor, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Short stories, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

If you’ve enjoyed watching the 1998 BBC television miniseries, you’d probably want to renew your acquaintance with William Makepeace Thackeray’s 1847 novel, Vanity Fair. However, if you’re unfamiliar with what has been dubbed one of the Best 100 Books in English Literature, you certainly have a treat ahead. Miss Pinkerton’s Academy in Chiswick Mall in London is where young ladies with ambitions of making a good marriage are sent by their socially aspiring middleclass parents. Two young ladies, Amelia Sedley and Rebecca (Becky) Sharpe are on their way home after completing their term at Miss Pinkerton’s. Amelia is from a well to do family, while Becky is a scheming orphan who has latched on to her amiable friend in the hopes of climbing the social ladder. In Amelia’s comfortable Russell Square home, Becky goes to work immediately. Her target is Amelia’s clumsy, boastful, wealthy civil servant brother, Joseph, who is home on furlough from India. She also meets the dashing Captain George Osborne, Amelia’s childhood sweetheart. Things don’t go according to plan and Becky soon moves to a country mansion, Queen’s Crawley, where she takes up a job as a governess to the children of the wealthy widower Sir Pitt Crawley. She manages to entrap the naïve younger son of the house, Rawdon Crawley. Meanwhile, Amelia and George marry. However, George is not all he seems and turns out to be a coward in war and an unscrupulous liar. He is also weary of his marriage and begins to pay undue attentions to Becky, whom he meets in Brighton where she is staying with her husband. The rest of the story follows the lives of the two classmates and their travails. The title of Vanity Fair is taken from John Bunyan’s famous 17th century work, Pilgrim’s Progress. In Bunyan’s allegorical tale of Christian’s journey, Vanity Fair is the name of an endless carnival in the town of Vanity, and represents worldly vices and sinful attachments. Thackeray was writing in the Golden Age of Satire when greats like Dryden, Pope, Swift, Addison, Steele and Fielding were regaling readers with their caustic, acerbic wit. Vanity Fair explores the ideas of transient, materialistic desires and their harmful effects on people. His biting satirical portrait of the selfish and street smart Becky and her overwhelming desire for wealth and social success is one of the masterpieces in English literature. Thackeray’s brilliant gifts for slicing through the pretensions and facades that human beings hide behind remain one of the reasons why Vanity Fair is even today considered a must read classic. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Comedy

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, satire, Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray

A children’s book detailing early American history from the Norsemen to the Revolution, meant for educational use. (Description by the reader) More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family, Society & Culture

Tags: American History Stories, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, History, Kids, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Mara L. Pratt, Non-fiction

Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol, Russian writer, was first published in 1842, and is one of the most prominent works of 19th-century Russian literature. Gogol himself saw it as an “epic poem in prose”, and within the book as a “novel in verse”. Despite supposedly completing the trilogy’s second part, Gogol destroyed it shortly before his death. Although the novel ends in mid-sentence (like Sterne’s Sentimental Journey), it is usually regarded as complete in the extant form. In Russia before the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, landowners were entitled to own serfs to farm their land. Serfs were for most purposes considered the property of the landowner, and could be bought, sold, or mortgaged against, as any other chattel. To count serfs (and people in general), the measure word “soul” was used: e.g., “six souls of serfs”. The plot of the novel relies on “dead souls” (i.e., “dead serfs”) which are still accounted for in property registers. On another level, the title refers to the “dead souls” of Gogol’s characters, all of which visualise different aspects of poshlost (an untranslatable Russian word which is perhaps best rendered as “self-satisfied inferiority”, moral and spiritual, with overtones of middle-class pretentiousness, fake significance, and philistinism).

Categories: Arts, Comedy, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Dead Souls, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Historical Fiction, humor, Languages, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, satire