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Listen Legally to Most Popular Full Audiobooks in History, European
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Title: The Wars of the Roses
Subtitle: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors
Author: Dan Jones
Narrator: John Curless
Format: Unabridged
Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
Language: English
Release date: 10-14-14
Publisher: Recorded Books
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 1246 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
The author of the New York Times best-seller The Plantagenets chronicles the next chapter in British history - the actual historical backdrop for Game of Thrones. The 15th century saw the longest and bloodiest series of civil wars in British history. The crown of England changed hands five times as two branches of the Plantagenet dynasty fought to the death for the right to rule. Now, celebrated historian Dan Jones describes how the longest reigning British royal family tore itself apart until it was finally replaced by the Tudors. Some of the greatest heroes and villains in history were thrown together in these turbulent times - from Joan of Arc and Henry V, whose victory at Agincourt and prudent rule marked the high point of the medieval English monarchy, to Richard III, who stole the throne and murdered his own nephews, the princes in the Tower. It is also a period of headstrong and resilient women - Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort - who were not afraid to seize power and bend men to their will. With vivid descriptions of the battles of Towton and Bosworth, where the last Plantagenet king was slain, this is a bold and dramatic narrative history that will delight listeners who like their history with a healthy dose of bedlam, romance, and intrigue.
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Title: The Great Siege
Subtitle: Malta 1565
Author: Ernle Bradford
Narrator: Simon Vance
Format: Unabridged
Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
Language: English
Release date: 11-01-12
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 429 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
Suleiman the Magnificent, sultan of the Ottoman Empire and the most powerful ruler in the world, was determined to conquer Europe. Only one thing stood in his way: a dot of an island in the Mediterranean called Malta, which was occupied by the Knights of Saint John, the cream of the warriors of the Holy Roman Empire. A clash of civilizations was shaping up, the likes of which had not been seen since Persia invaded Greece. Determined to capture Malta and use its port to launch operations against Europe, Suleiman sent an armada and an overwhelming army. A few thousand defenders in Fort Saint Elmo fought to the last man, enduring cruel hardships. When the Turks captured the fort, they took no prisoners and mutilated the defenders bodies. Grand Master La Vallette of the Knights reciprocated by decapitating his Turkish prisoners and using their heads to cannonade the enemy. Then the battle for Malta began in earnest: no quarter asked, none given.
The Great Siege is not merely a gripping tale of brutality, courage, and tenacity but the saga of two mighty civilizations struggling for domination of the known world.
Ernle Bradford (19221986) was a prominent British historian specializing in the Mediterranean world and naval history. He served in the Royal Navy for the duration of World War II and later traveled throughout the Mediterranean, living for a while on Malta. He was a BBC broadcaster and magazine editor, as well as the author of many acclaimed books, including biographies on Cleopatra, Hannibal, and Caesar.
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Title: The Habsburg Empire
Subtitle: A New History
Author: Pieter M. Judson
Narrator: Michael Page
Format: Unabridged
Length: 18 hrs and 9 mins
Language: English
Release date: 01-25-17
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 111 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
In a panoramic and pioneering reappraisal, Pieter M. Judson shows why the Habsburg Empire mattered so much, for so long, to millions of Central Europeans.
Rejecting fragmented histories of nations in the making, this bold revision surveys the shared institutions that bridged difference and distance to bring stability and meaning to the far-flung empire. By supporting new schools, law courts, and railroads along with scientific and artistic advances, the Habsburg monarchs sought to anchor their authority in the cultures and economies of Central Europe. A rising standard of living throughout the empire deepened the legitimacy of Habsburg rule, as citizens learned to use the empire's administrative machinery to their local advantage. Nationalists developed distinctive ideas about cultural difference in the context of imperial institutions, yet all of them claimed the Habsburg state as their empire.
The empire's creative solutions to governing its many lands and peoples - as well as the intractable problems it could not solve - left an enduring imprint on its successor states in Central Europe. Its lessons remain no less important today.
Critic Reviews:
"[A] subtly argued work of deep scholarship.... A nuanced scholarly reappraisal of a significant European empire." (
Kirkus Reviews)
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Title: Kashmir: The History and Legacy of the Indian Subcontinents Most Disputed Territory
Author: Charles River Editors
Narrator: Jim D. Johnston
Format: Unabridged
Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
Language: English
Release date: 01-12-18
Publisher: Charles River Editors
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
After the Sepoy Rebellion, India was governed directly from England through a dedicated department: the India Office, headed by the Secretary of State for India. The territory was divided into British India, which came under direct British control, and the Princely States. The latter were the territories and sovereignties of various powerful tradition leaders, remnants of the old system of rule, who were permitted, under various weights of British superintendentship, to maintain their positions and continue their rule.
British India ultimately covered some 54 percent of the landmass and 77 percent of the population. By the time the British began to contemplate a withdrawal from India, 565 princely states were officially recognized, in addition to thousands of zamindaris and jagirs, which were in effect feudal estates. The stature of each Princely State was defined by the number of guns fired in salute upon a ceremonial occasion honoring one or other of the princes. These ranged from nine-gun to 21-gun salutes and, in a great many cases, no salute at all.
The Princely States were reasonably evenly spread between ancient Muslim and Hindu dynasties, but bearing in mind the minority status of Muslims in India, Muslims were disproportionately represented. This tended to grant Muslims an equally disproportionate share of what power was devolved to local leaderships, and it positioned powerful Muslim leaders to exert a similarly unequal influence on British policy.
Kashmir: The History and Legacy of the Indian Subcontinents Most Disputed Territory chronicles the remarkable history of the area and the influence it has had over the centuries.
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Title: World History: World History, Europe
Author: Robert Dean
Narrator: Todd Weir
Format: Unabridged
Length: 2 hrs and 57 mins
Language: English
Release date: 01-11-18
Publisher: Raymond C Nelson
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
Weve come so far since our prehistoric beginnings. The world we know today is unlike anything past generations have witnessed and experienced. And yet, we all share a common history. Hence, it goes without saying that learning the history of the world is something we all owe to ourselves, especially if we want to better understand the society we live in today.
World History: History of the World: Ancient History in Mesopotamia to Modern History - The Events, People and Leaders That Shaped Our Planet (Renaissance, ... Alexander the Great, Sumerians Book 1)
Follow humankind through the earliest civilizations in Mesopotamia, the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the Renaissance, Age of Discovery, and the French and American Revolutions. Meet the historical personalities that propelled us forward, including Buddha, Confucius, Genghis Khan, Christopher Columbus, Martin Luther, and Karl Marx. A fascinating tale of human emergence, survival, and growth. Of our colorful past. Of world history.
Europe: European History: The Most Important Leaders, Events, & People Through "European History" That Shaped Europe and Eventually Became the: European ... Napoleon, Hitler, Communism, Newton Book 1)
Third edition - updated and with added content
Discover how disease, disaster, politics, and innovation ensured Europes development into modern times. Dip into European history today and learn about the people, technological advancements, tragedies, and events that shaped modern thinking and the foundation of todays democratic Europe.
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Title: The Riviera Set
Subtitle: Glitz, Glamour, and the Hidden World of High Society
Author: Mary S. Lovell
Narrator: Jill Rolls
Format: Unabridged
Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
Language: English
Release date: 01-09-18
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
The Riviera Set reveals the story of the group of people who lived, partied, bed-hopped, and politicked at the Château de l'Horizon near Cannes, over the course of 40 years from the time when Coco Chanel made southern French tans fashionable in the twenties to the death of the playboy Prince Aly Khan in 1960.
At the heart of dynamic group was the amazing Maxine Elliott, the daughter of a fisherman from Connecticut, who built the beautiful art deco Château and brought together the likes of Noel Coward, the Aga Khan, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and two very saucy courtesans, Doris Castlerosse and Daisy Fellowes, who set out to be dangerous distractions to Winston Churchill as he worked on his journalism and biographies during his "wilderness years" in the 30s. After the War the story continued as the Château changed hands and Prince Aly Khan used it to entertain the Hollywood set, as well as launch his seduction of and eventual marriage to Rita Hayworth.
Bringing a bygone era back to life, Mary Lovell cements her spot as one of our top social historians in this captivating and evocative new book.
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Title: Richard the Lionheart: A Life from Beginning to End
Subtitle: Royalty Biography, Book 8
Author: Hourly History
Narrator: William Irvine
Format: Unabridged
Length: 1 hr and 12 mins
Language: English
Release date: 11-29-17
Publisher: Hourly History
Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
You might have heard of King Richard the Lionhearted, the good king in the tales of Robin Hood. But what do you really know about this 12th-century ruler of England? Do you know why he left England, or why he was taken prisoner by another sovereign as he tried to return? Did you know Richard had other brothers besides the famed scoundrel, Prince John? Have you heard tales of Richard not only as a missing king but as a leader who rode boldly into battle alongside his knights?
You will learn about....
In this audiobook, youll learn the actual story of King Richard, a king who may not have been exactly "good", but was certainly brave, charismatic, and dashing - a historical character with a story to remember.
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Title: Henry V
Subtitle: The Warrior King of 1415
Author: Ian Mortimer
Narrator: James Cameron Stewart
Format: Unabridged
Length: 25 hrs and 39 mins
Language: English
Release date: 11-07-17
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 11 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
This insightful look at the life of Henry V and the Battle of Agincourt casts new light on a period in history often held up as legend. A great English hero, Henry V was lionized by Shakespeare and revered by his countrymen for his religious commitment, his sense of justice, and his military victories.
Here, noted historian and biographer Ian Mortimer takes a look at the man behind the legend and offers a clear, historically accurate, and realistic representation of a ruler who was all too human.
Critic Reviews:
"A new and convincing likeness of medieval England's most iconic king." (Sunday Times)
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Title: Enduring the Whirlwind
Subtitle: The German Army and the Russo-German War 1941-1943
Author: Gregory Liedtke
Narrator: James Anderson Foster
Format: Unabridged
Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
Language: English
Release date: 10-31-17
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 11 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
Despite the best efforts of a number of historians, many aspects of the ferocious struggle between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during the Second World War remain obscure or shrouded in myth. One of the most persistent of these is the notion - largely created by many former members of its own officer corps in the immediate postwar period - that the German Army was a paragon of military professionalism and operational proficiency whose defeat on the Eastern Front was solely attributable to the amateurish meddling of a crazed former Corporal and the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Red Army.
A key pillar upon which the argument of German numerical-weakness vis-à-vis the Red Army has been constructed is the assertion that Germany was simply incapable of providing its army with the necessary quantities of men and equipment needed to replace its losses. In consequence, as their losses outstripped the availability of replacements, German field formations became progressively weaker until they were incapable of securing their objectives.
This work seeks to address the notion of German numerical-weakness in terms of Germany's ability to replace its losses and regenerate its military strength, and assess just how accurate this argument was during the crucial first half of the Russo-German War.
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Title: Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts
Subtitle: Twelve Journeys into the Medieval World
Author: Christopher de Hamel
Narrator: Christopher de Hamel
Format: Unabridged
Length: 17 hrs and 40 mins
Language: English
Release date: 10-24-17
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 5 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts is a remarkable examination of 12 illuminated manuscripts from the medieval period. Noted authority Christopher de Hamel invites the listener into intimate conversations with these texts to explore what they tell us about nearly a thousand years of medieval history - and sometimes about the modern world too.
In so doing, de Hamel introduces us to kings, queens, saints, scribes, artists, librarians, thieves, dealers, and collectors. He traces the elaborate journeys which these exceptionally precious artifacts have made through time, shows us how they have been copied, who has owned them or lusted after them (and how we can tell), how they have been embroiled in politics, how they have been regarded as objects of supreme beauty and as symbols of national identity.
From the earliest book in medieval England to the incomparable Book of Kells to the oldest manuscript of The Canterbury Tales, these encounters tell a narrative of intellectual culture and art over the course of a millennium. Two of the manuscripts visited are now in libraries of North America, the Morgan Library in New York and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
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Title: Lost Kingdom
Subtitle: The Quest for Empire and the Making of the Russian Nation
Author: Serhii Plokhy
Narrator: Peter Ganim
Format: Unabridged
Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
Language: English
Release date: 10-10-17
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
From a preeminent scholar of Eastern Europe, a new history of Russian imperialism
In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimea and attempted to seize a portion of Ukraine. While the world watched in outrage, this blatant violation of national sovereignty was only the latest iteration of a centuries-long effort to expand Russian boundaries and create a pan-Russian nation.
In Lost Kingdom, award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy argues that we can understand the confluence of Russian imperialism and nationalism today only by delving into the nation's history. Spanning over 500 years, from the end of the Mongol rule to the present day, Plokhy shows how leaders from Ivan the Terrible to Joseph Stalin to Vladimir Putin exploited existing forms of identity, warfare, and territorial expansion to achieve imperial supremacy.
An authoritative and masterful account of Russian nationalism, Lost Kingdom chronicles the story behind Russia's belligerent empire-building quest.
Critic Reviews:
"In Lost Kingdom, Serhii Plokhy does for Russia what only great historians can do - make the connections between the distant past and vital present feel relevant and alive. He brings Russia's centuries of struggle with nationalism and imperialism into the near focus of Vladimir Putin's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. Lost Kingdom carefully and colorfully relates how the fires of history and myth burned from before the first tsars to Peter the Great, through the Bolsheviks, World War II, and the fall of the Soviet Union. With Russia everywhere in the news today, and every pundit pretending to be an expert, Lost Kingdom is essential reading for those wishing to understand Russia beyond the headlines." (Garry Kasparov, author of Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped)
"Lost Kingdom is an erudite exploration of the contradictions of Russian nationalism, whose history shows it to be both inclusive and exclusive, universalistic and identitarian, often in quick succession or even simultaneously. A master historian on top of his game, Serhii Plokhy lays out the challenges this past presents for transforming Russia into a better country for its people and its neighbors." (Odd Arne Westad, author of The Cold War: A World History)
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Title: Empire
Subtitle: How Britain Made the Modern World
Author: Niall Ferguson
Narrator: Jonathan Keeble
Format: Unabridged
Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
Language: English
Release date: 10-05-17
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 67 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
Penguin presents the unabridged audiobook edition of Empire by Niall Ferguson, read by Jonathan Keeble.
Once vast swathes of the globe were coloured imperial red, and Britannia ruled not just the waves but the prairies of America, the plains of Asia, the jungles of Africa and the deserts of Arabia. Just how did a small, rainy island in the North Atlantic achieve all this? And why did the empire on which the sun literally never set finally decline and fall?
Niall Ferguson's acclaimed Empire brilliantly unfolds the imperial story in all its splendours and its miseries, showing how a gang of buccaneers and gold diggers planted the seed of the biggest empire in all history - and set the world on the road to modernity.
Critic Reviews:
"The most brilliant British historian of his generation...Ferguson examines the roles of 'pirates, planters, missionaries, mandarins, bankers and bankrupts' in the creation of history's largest empire...he writes with splendid panache...and a seemingly effortless, debonair wit." (Andrew Roberts)
"Dazzling...wonderfully readable." (New York Review of Books)
"A remarkably readable précis of the whole British imperial story - triumphs, deceits, decencies, kindnesses, cruelties and all." (Jan Morris)
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Title: Russia
Subtitle: A Short History
Author: Abraham Ascher
Narrator: John Pruden
Format: Unabridged
Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
Language: English
Release date: 10-01-17
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 9 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
Distinguished Professor Emeritus Abraham Ascher offers a skillful blend of engaging narrative and fresh analysis in this concise introduction to Russian history.
Newly updated on the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, it covers the growing political tensions between Russia and its neighbors and the mounting divergence between Russian and US foreign policies. This stimulating and beautifully written introduction will prove enlightening for students, scholars, and travelers alike.
Critic Reviews:
"A coherent account of Russia's vibrant history, explaining the complex story of Russian development with great clarity. Vividly illuminates Russia's past and shows how it has contributed to its troubled present." (Peter Waldron, professor of modern history, University of East Anglia)
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Title: Queens of the Conquest
Author: Alison Weir
Narrator: Julia Franklin
Format: Unabridged
Length: 17 hrs and 29 mins
Language: English
Release date: 09-26-17
Publisher: Recorded Books
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 35 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
This epic book brings to vivid life five powerful Norman queens, from Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, to the Empress Matilda, mother to King Henry II, founder of the Plantagenet dynasty.
The lives of England's medieval queens were packed with tragedy, betrayal, love, warfare, adultery, and mystery - but their stories are obscured by centuries of myth and prejudice against these powerful women. These Norman queens were actually more autonomous and influential than most later queens, since they actually participated in battles and led troops of their own. By joining her husband, William the Conqueror, in the battle to take control of England, Matilda of Flanders set a precedent for her female descendants to continue to ride onto the battlefield and maintain their own separate armies.
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Title: And the Weak Suffer What They Must?
Subtitle: Europe's Crisis and America's Economic Future
Author: Yanis Varoufakis
Narrator: Yanis Varoufakis
Format: Unabridged
Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
Language: English
Release date: 09-19-17
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 9 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
A number one Sunday Times best seller (UK)
A titanic battle is being waged for Europe's integrity and soul, with the forces of reason and humanism losing out to growing irrationality, authoritarianism, and malice, promoting inequality and austerity. The whole world has a stake in a victory for rationality, liberty, democracy, and humanism.
In January 2015, Yanis Varoufakis, an economics professor teaching in Austin, Texas, was elected to the Greek parliament with more votes than any other member of parliament. He was appointed finance minister, and, in the whirlwind five months that followed, everything he had warned about - the perils of the euro's faulty design, the European Union's shortsighted austerity policies, financialized crony capitalism, American complicity and rising authoritarianism - was confirmed as the "troika" (the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund, and European Commission) stonewalled his efforts to resolve Greece's economic crisis.
Here, Varoufakis delivers a fresh look at the history of Europe's crisis and America's central role in it. He presents the ultimate case against austerity, proposing concrete policies for Europe that are necessary to address its crisis and avert contagion to America, China, and the rest of the world. With passionate, informative, and at times humorous prose, he warns that the implosion of an admittedly crisis-ridden and deeply irrational European monetary union should and can be avoided at all cost.
Critic Reviews:
"[A] fiery maverick." (
Fortune)
"The emerging rock-star of Europe s anti-austerity uprising." (
The Daily Telegraph)
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Title: The Pursuit of Italy
Subtitle: A History of a Land, Its Regions, and Their Peoples
Author: David Gilmour
Narrator: Napoleon Ryan
Format: Unabridged
Length: 19 hrs and 25 mins
Language: English
Release date: 09-12-17
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 4 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
Did Garibaldi do Italy a disservice when he helped its disparate parts achieve unity? Was the goal of political unification a mistake? These questions are asked and answered in a number of ways in this engaging, original consideration of the many histories that contribute to the brilliance - and weakness - of Italy today.
David Gilmour's exploration of Italian life over the centuries is filled with provocative anecdotes as well as personal observations, and is peopled with the great figures of the Italian past - from Cicero and Virgil to Dante and the Medicis, from Garibaldi and Cavour to the controversial politicians of the 20th century. Gilmour's wise account of the Risorgimento, the pivotal epoch in modern Italian history, debunks the nationalistic myths that surround it, though he paints a sympathetic portrait of Giuseppe Verdi, a beloved hero of the era.
Gilmour shows that the glory of Italy has always lain in its regions, with their distinctive art, civic cultures, identities, and cuisines. Italy's inhabitants identified themselves not as Italians but as Tuscans and Venetians, Sicilians and Lombards, Neapolitans and Genoese. Italy's strength and culture still come from its regions rather than from its misconceived, mishandled notion of a unified nation.
Critic Reviews:
"Gilmour's compelling look into Italy's past as a way of understanding its present offers a fascinating glimpse of the failures and triumphs of the country." (Publishers Weekly starred review)
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Title: Charlemagne
Author: Johannes Fried, Peter Lewis
Narrator: James Cameron Stewart
Format: Unabridged
Length: 30 hrs and 17 mins
Language: English
Release date: 09-12-17
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 37 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
When the legendary Frankish king and emperor Charlemagne died in 814 he left behind a dominion and a legacy unlike anything seen in Western Europe since the fall of Rome. Johannes Fried paints a compelling portrait of a devout ruler, a violent time, and a unified kingdom that deepens our understanding of the man often called the father of Europe.
Critic Reviews:
"This is a magisterial study of the life and times of the Frankish king who became the first Holy Roman Emperor." (
Publishers Weekly)
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Title: Farther Than Any Man
Subtitle: The Rise and Fall of Captain James Cook
Author: Martin Dugard
Narrator: Jack Chekijian
Format: Unabridged
Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
Language: English
Release date: 09-12-17
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 29 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
In the annals of seafaring and exploration, there is one name that immediately evokes visions of the open ocean, billowing sails, visiting strange, exotic lands previously uncharted, and civilizations never before encountered - Captain James Cook.
This is the true story of a legendary man and explorer. Noted modern-day adventurer Martin Dugard, using James Cook's personal journals, strips away the myths surrounding Cook's life and portrays his tremendous ambition, intellect, and sheer hardheadedness to rise through the ranks of the Royal Navy - and by his courageous exploits become one of the most enduring figures in naval history.
Full of realistic action, lush descriptions of places and events, and fascinating historical characters such as King George III and the soon-to-be-notorious Master William Bligh, Dugard's gripping account of the life and death of Captain James Cook is a thrilling story of a discoverer hell-bent on going farther than any man.
Critic Reviews:
"A thoroughly readable biography of the famed sea captain and explorer.... [General readers are] likely to enjoy Dugard's well-made narrative, and to come away sharing his abundant admiration for the admirable - and ultimately unfortunate - Cook." (
Kirkus)
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Title: Queen Victoria's Children
Author: John Van der Kiste
Narrator: Jennifer M. Dixon
Format: Unabridged
Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
Language: English
Release date: 08-29-17
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 4 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
Queen Victoria and Albert, the Prince Consort, had nine children, who, despite their very different characters, remained a close-knit family. Inevitably, as they married into European royal families, their loyalties were divided and their lives dominated by political controversy. This is not only the story of their lives in terms of world impact but also of personal achievements in their own right, individual contributions to public life in Britain and overseas, and as the children of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort. John Van der Kiste weaves together the lives of each of these children and shows how their mother was the thread that kept the family together. It is a refreshing insight into one of history's most popular royal families.
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Title: Victoria & Abdul (Movie Tie-in)
Subtitle: The True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant
Author: Shrabani Basu
Narrator: Elizabeth Jasicki
Format: Unabridged
Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
Language: English
Release date: 08-29-17
Publisher: Random House Audio
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 55 votes
Genres: History, European
Publisher's Summary:
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Dame Judi Dench from director Stephen Frears, releasing September 22, 2017.
Tall and handsome, Abdul was just 24 years old when he arrived in England from Agra to wait at tables for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. Within a year Abdul had grown to become a powerful figure at court, the queen's teacher, or Munshi; her counsel on Urdu and Indian affairs; and a friend close to the queen's heart. "I am so very fond of him," Queen Victoria would write in 1888. "He is so good and gentle and understanding...a real comfort to me."
This marked the beginning of the most scandalous decade in Queen Victoria's long reign. Devastated first by the death of Prince Albert in 1861 and then her personal servant John Brown in 1883, Queen Victoria quickly found joy in an intense and controversial relationship with her Munshi, who traveled everywhere with her, cooked her curries, and cultivated her understanding of the Indian subcontinent - a region, as empress of India, she was long intrigued by but could never visit. The royal household roiled with resentment, but their devotion grew in defiance of all expectation and the societal pressures of their time and class and lasted until the queen's death on January 22, 1901.
Drawn from never-before-seen firsthand documents that had been closely guarded secrets for a century, Shrabani Basu's Victoria & Abdul is a remarkable history of the last years of the 19th century in English court, an unforgettable view onto the passions of an aging queen and a fascinating portrayal of how a young Indian Muslim came to play a central role at the heart of the British Empire.
Critic Reviews:
"A tale of Empire and intrigue, brought vividly back to life." (Vikas Swarup, author of
Slumdog Millionaire)
"If this had been the plot of a novel, it would have been dismissed as foolishly far-fetched. But
Victoria & Abdul is fact rather than fiction, and therein lies its power." (
The Times of India)