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1How I Found Livingstone

By Henry Morton Stanley

Sir Henry Morton Stanley is famously quoted for saying "Dr Livingstone, i Presume?". Born in Wales, he migrated over to the United States at the age of 18, he eventually became an overseas correspondent for the New York Herald. In 1869 Stanley was told by James Gordon Bennett Jr to find Livingstone, a Scottish missionary and explorer. When Stanley commented on the cost Bennett's reply was:<br /><br /> <em>"Well, I will tell you what you will do. Draw a thousand pounds now; and when you have gone through that, draw another thousand, and when that is spent, draw another thousand, and when you have finished that, draw another thousand, and so on; but, FIND LIVINGSTONE."</em><br /><br /> How I Found Livingstone is Stanley's personnel account of his trip from Zanzibar to Lake Tanganyika on this quest, including time spent exploring the area with Livingstone.<br />- Written by Lizzie Driver (Modified from Wikipedia)

There's Laughter in the Air takes readers on a sidesplitting romp through the world of old-time radio comedy. It gives a brief history of the medium and brief but intimate accounts of some of the biggest acts from the 1930s and 1940s. Gaver and Stanley give insight on several luminaries from the days of vintage radio: Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Fibber McGee and Molly, Burns and Allen, Amos 'n Andy, and more! (Summary by ChuckW)

General Order No. 11 has been issued by Union General Thomas Ewing in 1863. The goal was to deprive pro-Confederates in western Missouri of power and resources. The consequences are far reaching, still affecting the four counties until this very day. The novel, Order No. 11, A Tale Of The Border, tells about the order through the eyes of people who, with little choice, had to leave behind everything they knew. The book was a regional best seller. But the order is little known today. So here is a link to more information, just in case you want to learn more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Order_No._11_(1863)<br><br> - Summary by Stav Nisser and Wikipedia.<br><br> Proof-listened by <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11651">DrPGould</a>, Forbes, and <a href="https://librivox.org/reader/11782">aniroo</a>

4Boy Travellers on the Congo

By Thomas Wallace Knox and Henry Morton Stanley

Frank and Fred share the sights they explore and the information they learn in Africa. As in other volumes, this fictionalized travelogue provides many fascinating scenes and items of interest to the modern listener, despite being published in 1888. Unlike the other volumes, this one incorporates large portions of Henry Stanley's travelogue, at his invitation. (Summary by Scott Caulkins)

In terms of population, in terms of development and in terms of wealth, Victoria boomed in the 1850s and 1860s due to the Gold Rush. Undeniably, the colony had money to burn. Surprise port visits by the Russian corvette Bogatyr and the Confederate warship Shenandoah in the 1860s awakened in Victoria a deep sense of vulnerability, and Victorians set their minds to a new domestic project – a decades long pursuit of security. That effort would ultimately give rise to extensive coastal fortifications, militia and artillery formations both voluntary and professional, sea mines, and a small but not inconsequential naval flotilla whose backbone would be the formidable ironclad H.M.V.S. Cerberus. Not that these efforts were confined to Victoria alone. The not-infrequently perilous straits of the Mother Country as it navigated the treacherous shoals of European politics and global empire provided ample reasons for insomnia. To varying degrees the other states too had constituted forces, and most made a start at acquiring ‘warships’—an assemblage tending more to the ‘dinky’ side than that term might otherwise suggest. But where naval matters were concerned New South Wales made something of a false start, while Queensland and South Australia simply started late. Whether this is because the issue didn’t resonate as much in the other colonies, or whether Victoria simply had larger resources to sink into an inherently (economically) unproductive project is not immediately obvious. Efforts _were_ made in all the colonies, however and joint defence and a federal fleet would be a not insignificant impetus towards Federation. The Australian colonies would largely abandon armaments acquisition with the depression of the 1890s, but the arrival of Theodore Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet in 1908 exercised popular imagination, and the recently federated Commonwealth of Australia set about acquiring a new navy. This new Royal Australian Navy, lead by the battle-cruiser HMAS Australia, steamed into Sydney Harbour for the first time in late 1913. This new institution would be tested far more strenuously than the naval forces of the unfederated colonies ever were. My appreciation to the [url=” https://www.cerberus.com.au/index.html]”Friends of the Cerberus[/url] for their extensive online resources. - Summary by Alister