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  8 Seconds of Courage - A...

  Tom Sileo, Flo Groberg

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  In an inspiring story of valor and the making of a hero, Florent Groberg—who grew up in France and emigrated to the US—becomes the first immigrant in forty years to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor after he tackled a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.Florent “Flo” Groberg was born in the suburbs of Paris and moved to the US with his family in middle school. He became a naturalized citizen in 2001. After attending the University of Maryland, he joined the US Army and twice deployed to Afghanistan. In August of 2012, Flo was guarding a high-level US-Afghan delegation and noticed someone suspicious: a local man stumbling toward his patrol. Flo reacted quickly and ran to tackle the man—who was wearing a suicide vest. Four people died in the subsequent explosion, but many others were spared. Flo himself spent the next three years undergoing surgeries at Walter Reed Medical Center, and in 2015 he was given the nation’s highest military award, the Congressional Medal of Honor—the first immigrant to be so recognized since the Vietnam War.What prepares a soldier for those critical moments in combat? 8 Seconds of Courage tells Flo’s story from his childhood in France to his decision to enlist and the grueling training he underwent at US Army Ranger School. As a field commander on the front lines in Afghanistan he formed close and lasting bonds with his fellow soldiers. It was this powerful sense of responsibility that compelled him to take action to save lives, even at the risk of his own.“Flo’s incredible tale of bravery and service is also a stark reminder that for many of our warriors, coming home is not the end of the fight. Flo finds a way to live…Truly an inspiration” (Jon Stewart). In his own words, Flo provides that essential insight into his selfless act while remembering his four fallen brothers in arms. 8 Seconds of Courage is a story of heroism, sacrifice, and camaraderie in wartime.

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  O Canada!

  Robert Stanley Weir

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  In celebration of Canada Day, 2006, LibriVox volunteers bring you ten different recordings of O Canada!.  If you prefer English or French, spoken or sung, you will find a version that suits you here!  This was the Weekly Poetry project for the week of June 25th, 2006.(Summary by Annie Coleman)

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  Gordon Welchman - Bletchley...

  Joel Greenberg

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  “Enigma’s ‘forgotten genius’ . . . [the] story of Alan Turing’s spymaster boss who led the team that cracked Hitler’s WWII codes” (Daily Mail).   The Official Secrets Act and the passing of time have prevented the Bletchley Park story from being told by many of its key participants. Here at last is a book that allows some of them to speak for the first time. Gordon Welchman was one of the Park’s most important figures. Like Alan Turing, his pioneering work was fundamental to the success of Bletchley Park and helped pave the way for the birth of the digital age. Yet, his story is largely unknown to many. His book, The Hut Six Story, was the first to reveal not only how they broke the codes, but how it was done on an industrial scale. Its publication created such a stir in GCHQ and the NSA that Welchman was forbidden to discuss the book or his wartime work with the media.   In order to finally set the record straight, Bletchley Park historian and tour guide Joel Greenberg has drawn on Welchman’s personal papers and correspondence with wartime colleagues that lay undisturbed in his son’s loft for many years. Packed with fascinating new insights, including Welchman’s thoughts on key Bletchley figures and the development of the bombe machine, this is essential reading for anyone interested in the clandestine activities at Bletchley Park.   “A magnificent biography which finally provides recognition to one of Bletchley’s and Britain’s lost heroes.” —Michael Smith   “Reveals a man equally as fascinating equally as important as Turing, and tells us even more about what went on in this most secret of establishments during the war years.” —Books Monthly  

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  Mischief in Greenland - Only a...

  H.W. Tilman

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  'Only a man in the devil of a hurry would wish to fly to his mountains, forgoing the lingering pleasure and mounting excitement of a slow, arduous approach under his own exertions.'
  H.W. 'Bill' Tilman's mountain travel philosophy, rooted in Africa and the Himalaya and further developed in his early sailing adventures in the southern hemisphere, was honed to perfection with his discovery of Greenland as the perfect sailing destination. His Arctic voyages in the pilot cutter Mischief proved no less challenging than his earlier southern voyages. The shorter elapsed time made it rather easier to find a crew but the absence of warm tropical passages meant that similar levels of hardship were simply compressed into a shorter timescale.
  First published fifty years before political correctness became an accepted rule, Mischief in Greenland is a treasure trove of Tilman's observational wit. In this account of his first two West Greenland voyages, he pulls no punches with regard to the occasional failings, leaving the reader to seek out and discover the numerous achievements of these voyages. The highlight of the second voyage was the identification, surveying and successful first ascent of Mount Raleigh, first observed on the eastern coast of Baffin Island by the Elizabethan explorer John Davis in 1585. For the many sailors and climbers who have since followed his lead and ventured north into those waters, Tilman provides much practical advice, whether from his own observations or those of Davis and the inimitable Captain Lecky. Tilman's typical gift of understatement belies his position as one of the greatest explorers and adventurers of the twentieth century.

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  Sister of Darkness - The...

  R. H. Stavis, Sarah Durand

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  The world’s only non-denominational exorcist—the subject of a forthcoming major motion picture—tells her astonishing true story: a riveting chronicle of wrestling entities from infected souls, showing how pain and trauma opens us to attachment from forces that drain our energy . . . and can even destroy our humanity. 
  As a secular exorcist, Rachel H. Stavis has cleansed thousands of tormented people, from small children and Hollywood moguls to stay-at-home moms and politicians. But for many years, the horror screenwriter and novelist denied her gift. As a little girl, she began to see ""monsters"" floating around her bedroom or attached to other children. Told it was only her imagination, Rachel learned to ignore the things she saw.  
  But a series of events in adulthood forced her to acknowledge her unique ability and embrace her power to heal. Since then, Rachel has dedicated her life to helping others cast off the forces feeding off of us. Performing her services pro-bono, she quietly worked in the shadows, until she unknowingly revealed her work to a journalist, who told her story to NPR. 
  A unique look at demonology removed from religious dogma, Sister of Darkness recounts Rachel’s journey to becoming an exorcist and chronicles some of her most extreme cleansings cases, including those that put her and her clients in peril. Going deep into her world, we meet the diverse range of people she has helped—young, old, famous and not—in gripping stories of danger and sometimes sadness, that are ultimately about redemption. Rachel teaches us that there are a diverse range of ""entities"" surrounding us—some of these are playful or misguided, while some are dangerous and harmful. She introduces each of them and explains their power, helping us understand what is attacking and hurting us, and what we can do to protect ourselves. 
  Frightening, eye-opening, and utterly enthralling, Sister of Darkness brings to light a world ruled by destruction, chaos and fear, and the woman who bravely fights to protect those who seeks her out.

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  To Russian-American community...

  PBS NewsHour

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  How have strains in U.S.-Russia relations affected Russian-Americans and recent immigrants? Special correspondent Ryan Chilcote reports from the Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn, the first stop for many of the 3 million Russian or former Soviet Union immigrants who come to the U.S., to get their take on the charges of election meddling.

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