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The Founding Fathers have been revered by Americans for over 200 years, celebrated for creating a new nation founded upon the loftiest ideals of democracy and meritocracy. But if the American Dream has come to represent the ability to climb the social ladder with skill and hard work, no Founding Father represented the new America more than Alexander Hamilton.

Paul Revere is one of the most famous Americans in history and one of the first that schoolchildren learn about. Although he is known almost entirely for his legendary midnight ride before the Battles of Lexington and Concord today, in colonial Boston he was praised for the quality of the silver he made, and he was known for being one of the patriotic Sons of Liberty and a militiaman. With 16 children, Paul Revere supported his large family by doing everything from dentistry to casting church bells and engraving the most popular image of the Boston Massacre.

This essay comes from the NPR series This I Believe, which features brief personal reflections from both famous and unknown Americans. The pieces that make up the series compel listeners to rethink not only what and how they have arrived at their beliefs, but also the extent to which they share them with others.

In 1871, an entire fleet of whaling ships was caught in an arctic ice storm and destroyed. Though few lives were lost, the damage would forever shape one of America's most distinctive commodities: oil. New Bedford, Massachusetts, was fertile ground for this country's first multimillion-dollar industry. Founded by assiduous Quaker merchants seeking refuge for their austere religion, the town also lent unparalleled access to the high seas.

Despite the assurances that the French would never hand their ships over to Germany, Churchill would put in motion a campaign attempting to destroy their fleet. As a result, Operation Catapult would be one of the most controversial and unique episodes of World War II.

Quintessential travel articles and thoughtful essays by the observant, witty and skeptical travel writer and novelist. Part One: 1964-1978 includes: "Winter in Africa"; "Leper Colony"; "V.S. Naipaul"; "Memories of Old Afghanistan"; "The Night Ferry to Paris"; and "A Circuit of Corsica".

Occupied by the Germans, the strategically located town of Sofia, Poland, stands on the brink of annihilation in 1941. As every arrest and execution brings total obliteration closer to reality, two medical doctors devise an ingenious plan - to stage a typhus epidemic that will force the Nazis to evacuate. The locals and their enemy swiftly become enmeshed in what soon becomes the most daring act of resistance in World War II.

Hagar’s story, found in Genesis 16, is a story of cultural victimization. She was betrayed, abandoned, and scorned. Her response? She did what most of us would do when deeply hurt by someone we trust–she ran away. She got defensive. She retreated to a place where she felt safe. She felt justified in her anger and hurt. But deep in her core was a woman who longed to be seen and hoped for redemption.

From FDR to Harry Truman to JFK to George W. Bush, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House captures the wit and humor of the campaign trail - a place where levity is always welcome. Osgood includes fragments of speeches, interviews, and press conferences, as well as articles written by and about the candidates - no source is left untapped.

In 1948, a mysterious and charismatic man arrives in a small Virginia town carrying two suitcases - one contains his worldly possessions, the other is full of money. He soon inserts himself into the town's daily life, taking a job in the local butcher shop and befriending the owner and his wife and their son. But the passion that develops between the man and the wife of the town's wealthiest citizen sets in motion a series of events that not only upset the quiet town but threaten to destroy both him and the woman.

Emma Goldman argued that the concept of patriotism limits the liberty of the individual. She states that patriotism is a superstition created by a network of lies and falsehoods that robs a man of his self-respect and dignity. She claims that the wealthy do not contribute to patriotism as they are cosmopolitans, at home in any land.

New York City. The Big Apple. The city of dreams. The city so nice they named it twice. These are just some of the monikers given to not only the most highly populated city in North America, but perhaps the most culturally diverse region in all the world. Modern age New York is stamped on the map for its breathtaking skylines and iconic financial centers, as well as being the quintessential melting pot, where people go to "make it big" and take a chance on long-awaited dreams.

It is hard to find an island on the map more central than Sicily. It has rarely been governed as an independent, unified state. Nonetheless, the island has always occupied a front-row seat to some of the most important events in history, and nowhere is this more obvious than during antiquity. Modern Sicily: The History and Legacy of the Mediterranean Island Since the Middle Ages looks at one of the world’s most important and contested territories. You will learn about Sicily like never before.

The Fourth Horseman tells the startling story of that mission, led by a brilliant but conflicted surgeon who became one of Germany's most daring spies and saboteurs during World War I - and who not only pioneered bio-warfare in his native land but also lead a last-ditch German effort to goad Mexico into invading the United States. It is a story of mysterious missions, divided loyalties, and a new and terrible kind of warfare.

In Spy Watching, Loch K. Johnson explores the United States' travails in its efforts to maintain effective accountability over its spy services.

Born to a father plagued by bouts of drinking and depression, and surrounded by siblings with similar ailments, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, grew up believing that he must be a victim of hereditary illness, to the point that he believed he must never marry or father children less he perpetuate the suffering on future generations. With these thoughts always in his head, he turned his mind towards a near worship of romantic love, while at the same time repeatedly painting a tragic ending for his most cherished characters, many of whom seemed to die of a broken heart.

The Known By Name Bible study series for women will take you and your group through the lives of biblical women to learn more about God and how to answer these essential questions. Naomi’s story, found in the book of Ruth, is a story of lost identity. She lost her husband and her sons, which in her culture left her completely without a home or a means to support herself. Follow Naomi in this audio Bible study as she journeys from comfort and security to despair and bitterness; from hopeless drifting to faithful obedience; and from loss to redemption in one short lifetime.

While the Elven Exiles struggle for survival in the distant kingdom of Khur, the elves remaining in Qualinesti face persecution, enslavement, and extermination. Amid great suffering and unrelieved evil, a rebel leader - masked, anonymous, and with strange powers - appears, determined to cleanse the land of invaders.Meanwhile, Kerianseray, the Lioness, Kagonesti general and wife of Speaker Gilthas, finds herself magically transported from certain death in Khur to equally dire straits in her former homeland.

World War II had the Dirty Dozen. The war in space has The Lucky 13th. The 13th Spaceborne is the elite fighting force of the Accord of Free Worlds. Their do-or-die mission is to stop two enemy empires from poaching free worlds. As usual, they're on their own....

Part Two: 1979-1984 includes: The Orient Express; Rudyard Kipling; Railways of the Raj; Graham Greene's Traveling Companion; and Sunrise with Seamonsters.