
Guardians of the Valley
John Muir and the Friendship That Saved Yosemite
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Narrated by:
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Samantha Desz
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By:
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Dean King
About this listen
Finalist for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography
*“We see through this book the immense power of language…to change the minds of lawmakers and tourists alike.” —The New York Times Book Review *“A poignant portrait of an era when mere words could change the world.” —San Francisco Chronicle*
The dramatic and uplifting story of legendary outdoorsman and conservationist John Muir’s journey to save Yosemite is “a rich, enjoyable excursion into a seminal period in environmental history” (The Wall Street Journal).
In June of 1889 in San Francisco, John Muir—iconic environmentalist, writer, and philosopher—meets face-to-face for the first time with his longtime editor Robert Underwood Johnson, an elegant and influential figure at The Century magazine. Before long, the pair, opposites in many ways, decide to venture to Yosemite Valley, the magnificent site where twenty years earlier, Muir experienced a personal and spiritual awakening that would set the course of the rest of his life.
Upon their arrival the men are confronted with a shocking vision, as predatory mining, tourism, and logging industries have plundered and defaced “the grandest of all the special temples of Nature.” While Muir is devastated, Johnson, an arbiter of the era’s pressing issues in the pages of the nation’s most prestigious magazine, decides that he and Muir must fight back. The pact they form marks a watershed moment, leading to the creation of Yosemite National Park, and launching an environmental battle that captivates the nation and ushers in the beginning of the American environmental movement.
“Comprehensively researched and compellingly readable” (Booklist, starred review), Guardians of the Valley is a moving story of friendship, the written word, and the transformative power of nature. It is also a timely and powerful “origin story” as the towering environmental challenges we face today become increasingly urgent.
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Overall
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The most famous man in South Carolina lives jailed in the state capital. He stands accused of a staggering amount of wrongdoing—ninety-nine crimes and counting. Once a high-flying, smooth-talking, pedigreed Southern lawyer, Alex Murdaugh is now disbarred and disgraced. For more than a decade, prosecutors claim, Alex was secretly a fraud, a thief, a drug dealer and an all-around phony. On the night of June 7, 2021, they claim, he also became a killer.
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Not what I expected
- By Jessica on 08-18-24
By: Jason Ryan
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Last Mission to Tokyo
- The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raiders and Their Final Fight for Justice
- By: Michel Paradis
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Michel Paradis’ Last Mission to Tokyo, a “superb” (The Wall Street Journal) and “engrossing...richly researched” (The New York Times Book Review) account of a key but underreported moment in World War II: The Doolittle Raids and the international war crimes trial in 1945 that defined the Japanese American relations and changed legal history.
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Bait and switch
- By Julia K Olsen on 08-17-20
By: Michel Paradis
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Stolen
- The Astonishing Odyssey of Five Boys Along the Reverse Underground Railroad
- By: Richard Bell
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Philadelphia, 1825: Five young, free Black boys fall into the clutches of the most fearsome gang of kidnappers and slavers in the US. Lured onto a small ship with the promise of food and pay, they are instead met with blindfolds, ropes, and knives. Over four long months, their kidnappers drive them overland into the Cotton Kingdom to be sold as slaves. Determined to resist, the boys form a tight brotherhood as they struggle to free themselves and find their way home.
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Should have been a fact based novel
- By Cate F. on 01-11-21
By: Richard Bell
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Damn the Valley
- 1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 2-508 PIR, 82nd Airborne in the Arghandab River Valley Afghanistan
- By: William Yeske, LTG Ben Hodges - Foreword USA (Ret.)
- Narrated by: Basil Sands, William Yeske
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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"DAMN THE VALLEY" was a phrase regularly uttered by the men that spent any amount of time in the Arghandab River Valley during the deployment of 2 Fury to Afghanistan in 2009-2010. The valley has claimed bodies from the troops of Alexander the Great, the British Empire, and more recently, the Russian Army. Operating in the valley was like nothing the men could have envisaged, they called it the "meat grinder." It was a deployment that the media didn't talk about, and the government doesn't acknowledge.
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Horrible in every way
- By Amazon Customer on 06-23-24
By: William Yeske, and others
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The Counterfeit Countess
- The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust
- By: Elizabeth B. White, Joanna Sliwa
- Narrated by: Gilli Messer
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on the manuscript of Mehlberg’s own unpublished memoir supplemented with prodigious research, Elizabeth White and Joanna Sliwa, professional historians and Holocaust experts, have uncovered the full story of this remarkable woman. They interweave Mehlberg’s sometimes harrowing personal testimony with broader historical narrative.
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Ok
- By Jewels on 03-29-25
By: Elizabeth B. White, and others
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The Lighthouse Effect
- How Ordinary People Can Have an Extraordinary Impact in the World
- By: Steve Pemberton
- Narrated by: Rick N. Jones
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Our culture is adrift in division and distrust, and we need everyday heroes more than ever. Drawing from his own remarkable journey, Steve Pemberton shares stories of the ordinary people who quietly change lives and bring change to their communities. Compelling and insightful, this book will inspire you and renew your hope for the future.
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Great Life Story
- By Randee on 12-18-21
By: Steve Pemberton
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The Palace
- From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of British History at Hampton Court
- By: Mr. Gareth Russell
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Architecturally breathtaking and rich in splendid art and décor, Hampton Court Palace has been the stage of some of the most important events in British history, such as the commissioning of King James’s version of the Bible, the staging of many of Shakespeare’s plays, and Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation ball. The Palace takes us on “an entertaining journey into the past” (Kirkus Reviews) as it reveals the ups and downs of royal history and illustrates what was at play politically, socially, and economically at the time.
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Gareth Russell is a true talent
- By clandstu on 12-13-23
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Necessary Trouble
- Growing Up at Midcentury
- By: Drew Gilpin Faust
- Narrated by: Drew Gilpin Faust
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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To grow up in the 1950s was to enter a world of polarized national alliances, nuclear threat, and destabilized social hierarchies. To be a privileged white girl in conservative, segregated Virginia was to be expected to adopt a willful blindness to the inequities of race and the constraints of gender. For young Drew Gilpin Faust, the acceptance of both female subordination and racial privilege proved intolerable and galvanizing. Urged to become “well adjusted" and to fill the role of a poised young lady that her upbringing imposed, she found resistance was the necessary price of survival.
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My Life written by Her.
- By Jacqueline L Larner on 09-03-23
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The Ship of Dreams
- The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era
- By: Mr. Gareth Russell
- Narrated by: Jenny Funnell
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In this original and meticulously researched narrative history, the author of the “stunning” (The Sunday Times) Young and Damned and Fair uses the sinking of the Titanic as a prism through which to examine the end of the Edwardian era and the seismic shift modernity brought to the Anglo-American world.
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One of my favorites
- By M. M. Jones on 04-13-20
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The Hamilton Scheme
- An Epic Tale of Money and Power in the American Founding
- By: William Hogeland
- Narrated by: William Hogeland
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Alexander Hamilton has become a global celebrity. Millions know his name and imagine knowing the man. But what did he really want for the country? What risks did he run in pursuing those vaulting ambitions? Who tried to stop him? How did they fight? It's ironic that the Hamilton revival has obscured the man's most dramatic battles and hardest-won achievements—as well as downplaying unsettling aspects of his legacy.
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Unknown to me
- By J. D. Howard on 10-21-24
By: William Hogeland
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The Swamp Fox
- How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution
- By: John Oller
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In the darkest days of the American Revolution, Francis Marion and his band of militia freedom fighters kept hope alive for the patriot cause during the critical British southern campaign. Like the Robin Hood of legend, Marion and his men attacked from secret hideaways before melting back into the forest or swamp. Employing insurgent tactics that became commonplace in later centuries, Marion and his brigade inflicted losses on the enemy that were individually small but cumulatively a large drain on British resources and morale.
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The Swamp Fox - Francis Marion
- By Stephen on 06-07-17
By: John Oller
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This Is Berlin
- Radio Broadcasts from Nazi Germany
- By: William Shirer
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 21 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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This collection of William L. Shirer’s radio broadcasts tells the vivid story of WWII and brings the suspense of the times to life for today’s audience. As the first journalist hired by CBS to cover the war in Europe, Shirer compiled two and a half years’ worth of wartime broadcasts including Hitler’s invasion of Austria, the armistice between France and Nazi forces in June of 1940, daily roundups of news from Paris, Vienna, Berlin, London and Rome, documenting the conditions of these countries under invasion.
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Another banger from Willy and Grover
- By Garrett Webster on 04-08-24
By: William Shirer
Great Stories from the Valley and Beyond
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An engaging book on the history of Yosemite
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It was fascinating to learn about John Muir and Johnson. It was amazing to see a simple friendship can make such a positive change in the world.
I would highly recommend this book!
Loved the history!!
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