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1861

1861 The Lost Peace

by Jay Winik | Read by Arthur Morey

Hachette Audio | Unabridged
History

This audiobook about the months before and weeks after Abraham Lincoln's inauguration is sensitively narrated by Golden Voice Arthur Morey. The author takes us through a series of events culminating in the attack on Fort Sumter, which began the Civil War. Documenting the multiple attempts to prevent the conflict from occurring, he focuses on the largely forgotten Washington... Read More

AN AFRICAN HISTORY OF AFRICA

AN AFRICAN HISTORY OF AFRICA From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence

by Zeinab Badawi | Read by Zeinab Badawi

Harper Audio | Unabridged
History

British accents such as the one Zeinab Badawi employs in her narration have told a lot of Africa's stories over the years. Here, Badawi puts her British accent toward recounting African history from the African point of view as she shares tales of long-ago kingdoms and struggles against colonial control. Her narration is punctuated by wonder at visits to places such as the... Read More

AMERICA, AMERICA

AMERICA, AMERICA A New History of the New World

by Greg Grandin | Read by Holter Graham

Penguin Audio | Unabridged
History

In an expressive voice, narrator Holter Graham recounts the long and complicated history of Latin America, beginning with the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Grandin examines the relationship between Europe and the Americas as Europe's power in the hemisphere declined and the United States emerged as the hegemonic power of the hemisphere. Grandin does not shy away from difficult... Read More

CAPITALISM AND ITS CRITICS

CAPITALISM AND ITS CRITICS A History: From the Industrial Revolution to AI

by John Cassidy | Read by Nathaniel Priestly

Macmillan Audio | Unabridged
History

This audiobook takes a sideways look at the history of capitalism by profiling some of its critics from the dawn of the Industrial Revolution to today's digital revolution. Some names and movements will be familiar, such as Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, and the English Luddites. Many others are less widely known. Nathaniel Priestly narrates the work in a steady professional... Read More

COMBEE

COMBEE Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War

Earphones Award Winner

by Edda L. Fields-Black | Read by Machelle Williams

HighBridge Audio | Unabridged
History

Machelle Williams delivers this sweeping, detailed history of Harriet Tubman's work with a consistent, engaging voice that doesn't waver. While Tubman's name is widely associated with the Underground Railroad, Fields-Black's Pulitzer Prize-winner provides a vivid account of Tubman as an embedded spy who collected information for the Union Army to attack the South's resources of... Read More

THE CROSSING

THE CROSSING El Paso, the Southwest, and America's Forgotten Origin Story

by Richard Parker | Read by Timothy Andrés Pabon

Harper Audio | Unabridged
History

Narrator Timothy Andrés Pabon brings numerous essential skills to this richly detailed history of El Paso, Texas. Most important are his command of languages and accents, and a degree of conviction that supports the author's distinctly Southwestern and multicultural perspective. Parker, a respected journalist who, sadly, died the week this book was published, argues that El... Read More

THE FATE OF THE DAY

THE FATE OF THE DAY The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780

Earphones Award Winner

by Rick Atkinson | Read by Grover Gardner, Rick Atkinson

Random House Audio | Unabridged
History

Author and narrator are both at their best here. This second installment brings Atkinson's monumental history of the Revolutionary War to nearly 60 hours, with the conclusion still to come. It's an investment timely and richly rewarded. Grover Gardner isn't the most melodic of narrators, but he is steady, consistent, and subtly expressive, the very qualities needed for serious... Read More

THE GOLDEN ROAD

THE GOLDEN ROAD How Ancient India Transformed the World

by William Dalrymple | Read by William Dalrymple

Bloomsbury Publishing | Unabridged
History

Author/narrator William Dalrymple shares his fascination with the remarkable history of India's profound worldwide intellectual influence. His idiosyncratic and charming British speech and manner, along with his amiability and intelligence, are engaging throughout. His pacing and phrasing are natural, unaffected, and dictated by the material. He varies longish pauses--which... Read More

THE LAST DYNASTY

THE LAST DYNASTY Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra

by Toby Wilkinson | Read by Julian Elfer

HighBridge Audio | Unabridged
History

Narrator Julian Elfer has undertaken many daunting subjects: the pharmacist of Auschwitz, the Borgias, lost expeditions to the Greenland ice cap. Here, he faces down the challenge of a 300-year generational narrative in which all the principals are named either Ptolemy or Cleopatra. At the early death of Alexander, Ptolemy, his shrewdest commander, took the grandest prize:... Read More

PROTO

PROTO How One Ancient Language Went Global

Earphones Award Winner

by Laura Spinney | Read by Emma Spurgin-Hussey

Bloomsbury Publishing | Unabridged
History

The topic of this audiobook--the evolution of language--requires a wide range of skills. Actor Emma Spurgin-Hussey's rich, expressive voice demonstrates the linguistic relationships and shifts. Her performance is adept in every syllable and accent. Why do so many of today's languages share a common Eurasian root? Linguists and archaeologists find answers in similarities and... Read More

THE ROADS TO ROME

THE ROADS TO ROME A History of Imperial Expansion

by Catherine Fletcher | Read by Catherine Fletcher

Tantor Media | Unabridged
History

Catherine Fletcher delivers her examination of ancient Roman roads, including their subsequent history and her current-day adventures discovering their traces. She narrates with energy, engagement, and amiability, and with the authenticity of recounting her own research and experiences. These characteristics help the listener move past her vocal quality, which is rather... Read More

SAVING MICHELANGELO'S DOME

SAVING MICHELANGELO'S DOME How Three Mathematicians and a Pope Sparked an Architectural Revolution

by Wayne Kalayjian | Read by Peter Noble

Tantor Media | Unabridged
History

Architects and mathematicians, in particular, will relish the intricacies of this fine audiobook history of the repairs to St. Peter's dome in Vatican City in the 1740s. But every listener will comprehend the historical shift in thinking that underlies the work. The basilica was designed by Michelangelo but finished after his death, and two centuries later was near collapse.... Read More

SCORCHED EARTH

SCORCHED EARTH A Global History of World War II

by Paul Thomas Chamberlin | Read by Jefferson Mays

Hachette Audio | Unabridged
History

Jefferson Mays's no-nonsense delivery works well for this revisionist history of WWII. Chamberlain, a professor of history at Columbia, begins this detailed work with commentary on WWI, viewing it as "the child of colonialism and the father of superpower neo-imperialism." Mays's baritone is steady and clear and appropriate in expression throughout. He does well at pronouncing... Read More

SHATTERING THE GLASS

SHATTERING THE GLASS The Remarkable History of Women's Basketball

by Susan Shackelford, Pamela Grundy | Read by Kate Udall

Tantor Media | Unabridged
History

Kate Udall narrates this updated audiobook, first released in 2005. The focus is the ensuing 20 years of the Women's National Basketball League's (WNBA) growth and challenges. Udall's assured tone and smooth pacing keep listeners anchored throughout this comprehensive must-listen history. Rich with detail, it delves into the nascent sport's initial development at 19th-century... Read More

SHOTS HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

SHOTS HEARD ROUND THE WORLD America, Britain, and Europe in the Revolutionary War

by John Ferling | Read by Jason Keller

Bloomsbury Publishing | Unabridged
History

This account of the international politics of the American Revolution is given a steady narration by Jason Keller. The author goes into the role of the French, as well as the Spanish and Dutch, in joining forces to support the American colonists against their common enemy, the British. He does not spare descriptions of the brutality of the war or the political machinations... Read More

SPELL FREEDOM

SPELL FREEDOM The Underground Schools That Built the Civil Rights Movement

by Elaine Weiss | Read by Robin Miles

Simon & Schuster Audio | Unabridged
History

Robin Miles narrates this important study of the Civil Rights movement, its effects on the Tennessee Highlander School in Topeka, Kansas, the significance of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, and steps taken to desegregate schools, especially in the South. The author focuses on four activists--Septima Clark, Myles Horton, Esau Jenkins, and Bernice Johnson--and their roles in... Read More

SPITFIRES

SPITFIRES The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During World War II

by Becky Aikman | Read by Laurel Lefkow

Bloomsbury Publishing | Unabridged
History

As the U.S. entered WWII, a group of 25 women went to England to ferry aircraft for the RAF. Laurel Lefkow ably presents the story of 9 of these women. The women came from various backgrounds and areas of the U.S. and were every bit as hard-charging, thrill seeking, and wild as their male pilot compatriots. These spitfires (nice play on words) operated the widest range of... Read More

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