History audiobooks

Davy Crockett

By: David Crockett

Narrated by: Jonathan Reese

Length: 4 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

Even as a child, Davy Crockett "always delighted to be in the very thickest of danger." Better known to us as "King of the Wild Frontier," Davy Crockett was not only a frontiersman but also a politician who became a celebrity and a folk hero during his lifetime. Here, in his own inimitable style, he describes his earliest days in Tennessee, his... Read more

Fixing Hell - Abridged

By: Colonel Larry C. James

Narrated by: Eric Kramer

Length: 6 hours 47 minutes

Abridged: Yes

This is the story of Abu Ghraib that you haven't heard, told by the soldier sent by the Army to restore order and ensure that the abuses that took place there never happen again.

In April 2004, the world was shocked by the brutal pictures of beatings, dog attacks, sex acts, and the torture of prisoners held at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. As the story... Read more

Zlata's Diary - Abridged

By: Zlata Filipovic

Narrated by: Dorota Puzio & Janine di Giovanni

Length: 1 hour 33 minutes

Abridged: Yes

The child's diary that awakened the conscience of the world

When Zlata’s Diary was first published at the height of the Bosnian conflict, it became an international bestseller and was compared to The Diary of Anne Frank, both for the freshness of its voice and the grimness of the world it describes. It begins as the day-to-day record of the life... Read more

The Road Ahead - Abridged

By: Bill Gates

Narrated by: Rick Adamson & Bill Gates

Length: 2 hours 59 minutes

Abridged: Yes

The founder of Microsoft presents his vision for the future, in which he sees the digital technologies of the coming years changing the way we buy, work, learn, and communicate. Read more

The Curse of the Bambino - Abridged

By: Dan Shaughnessy

Narrated by: Ken Coleman

Length: 2 hours 57 minutes

Abridged: Yes

The Boston Red Sox's loss to the New York Yankees in the final game of last year's playoffs has been called "the game of the century," evidence that the rivalry between the Red Sox and the Yankees is hotter than ever. In the wake of that defeat, author and Boston Globe sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy has updated his bewitching story of the... Read more

The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown

By: Lorri Glover & Daniel Blake Smith

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

Length: 10 hours 1 minute

Abridged: No

The English had long dreamed of colonizing America, especially after Sir Francis Drake brought home Spanish treasure and dramatic tales from his raids in the Caribbean. Ambitions of finding gold and planting a New World colony seemed within reach when, in 1606, Thomas Smythe extended overseas trade with the launch of the Virginia Company. But... Read more

The End of Iraq

By: Peter W. Galbraith

Narrated by: Alan Sklar

Length: 9 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

The United States invaded Iraq with grand ambitions to bring it democracy and thereby transform the Middle East. Instead, Iraq has disintegrated into three constituent components: a pro-western Kurdistan in the north, an Iran-dominated Shiite entity in the south, and a chaotic Sunni Arab region in the center. The country is plagued by insurgency... Read more

Angler

By: Barton Gellman

Narrated by: Brian Keith Lewis

Length: 13 hours 40 minutes

Abridged: No

Unabridged CDs * 8 CDs, 10 hours

Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Barton Gellman’s newsbreaking investigative journalism documents how Vice President Dick Cheney redefined the role of the American vice presidency, assuming unprecedented responsibilities and making it a post of historic power. Read more

American Lightning

By: Howard Blum

Narrated by: John H. Mayer

Length: 10 hours 32 minutes

Abridged: No

It was an explosion that reverberated across the country—and into the very heart of early-twentieth-century America. On the morning of October 1, 1910, the walls of the Los Angeles Times Building buckled as a thunderous detonation sent men, machinery, and mortar rocketing into the night air. When at last the wreckage had been sifted and the... Read more

The Forever War - Abridged

By: Dexter Filkins

Narrated by: Dexter Filkins

Length: 5 hours 50 minutes

Abridged: Yes

From the front lines of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, a searing, unforgetable audiobook that captures the human essence of the greatest conflict of our time. Through the eyes of Dexter Filkins, the prize-winning New York Times correspondent, we witness the remarkable chain of events that began with the rise of the Taliban in the... Read more

A History of Ancient Rome

By: Frances Titchener

Narrated by: Frances Tichener

Length: 7 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: No

Explore the glory that was Ancient Rome with Carnegie Teacher of the Year Frances Titchener. Read more

A History of Ancient Greece

By: Eric Cline

Narrated by: Eric H. Cline

Length: 8 hours 15 minutes

Abridged: No

Professor Eric H. Cline-The George Washington University In this intriguing series of lectures, prolific researcher, author, and professor Eric H. Cline delves into the history of ancient Greece, frequently considered to be the founding nation of democracy in Western civilization. The history of this remark- able civilization abounds with... Read more

Political Theory

By: Joshua Kaplan

Narrated by: George K. Wilson

Length: 6 hours 51 minutes

Abridged: No

We all need some help in understanding the world, and that is the starting point for political theory itself. The great works of other times and places can speak to us today, wherever we are. Political theory does this better than other subjects, in part because the theorist wants us to look around and think about the specifics of the world... Read more

Archaeology and the Iliad

By: Eric Cline

Narrated by: Eric Cline

Length: 7 hours 33 minutes

Abridged: No

The Trojan War, captured forever in Homer's epic poem the Iliad, resonates to the present day in the popular imagination, and this magnificent confrontation continues to exert a tremendous influence on modern audiences. But did Troy actually exist? And if so, where is it located? Was the Trojan War actually fought? If it was, did it take place... Read more

The Dead Sea Scrolls

By: Lawrence Schiffman

Narrated by: Richard Ferrone

Length: 8 hours 1 minute

Abridged: No

The Dead Sea Scrolls are perhaps the most important archaeological discovery of the twentieth century. These lectures set before the public the real Dead Sea Scrolls, the most important collection of Jewish texts from the centuries before the rise of Christianity. Only through efforts to understand what the scrolls can teach us about the history... Read more

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

By: Timothy B. Shutt

Narrated by: Timothy B. Shutt

Length: 8 hours 2 minutes

Abridged: No

Baseball has been celebrated as "America's National Pastime" for more than one hundred and fifty years, and recalls what, at least in retrospect, seems to be an earlier, more innocent age- long summer afternoons and sandlot ball, fresh rural air or brownstone stoops. In part, this is because most of those who love the game played as children and... Read more

Fundamental Cases

By: Alan M. Dershowitz

Narrated by: Alan M. Dershowitz

Length: 7 hours 55 minutes

Abridged: No

The courtroom trial has fascinated human beings from the beginning of recorded history. Trials are theater, trials are history, and the great trials of the twentieth century and beyond provide a unique window into American history and the sense of America's enduring commitment to law. It was Alexis de Tocqueville who, when he visited the new... Read more

High Seas, High Stakes

By: Timothy B. Shutt

Narrated by: Timothy B. Shutt

Length: 7 hours 33 minutes

Abridged: No

Naval battles have long captured the popular imagination, from confrontations between Greece and Sparta in the ancient world to epic conflicts during the World Wars and beyond. In this riveting series of lectures, Professor Timothy B. Shutt explores the naval battles that have helped to establish empires and have changed history. Professor Shutt... Read more

Empire of Gold

By: Thomas F. Madden

Narrated by: Thomas F. Madden

Length: 8 hours 20 minutes

Abridged: No

In Empire of Gold: A History of the Byzantine Empire, esteemed university professor Thomas F. Madden offers a fascinating series of lectures on the history of the remarkable culture and state that developed out of the ancient Roman Empire, particularly its eastern portion, throughout the Middle Ages. The story here therefore begins at an ending,... Read more

The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin

By: H.W. Brands

Narrated by: H.W. Brands

Length: 7 hours 59 minutes

Abridged: No

A study of the life of Benjamin Franklin and his influence on both American and world history. From his early days as a printer's apprentice to very nearly his last days, Benjamin Franklin's thirst for knowledge and his desire to share what he knew brought him into the forefront of a changing world. Read more

A House Reunited

By: Jay Winik

Narrated by: Jay Winik

Length: 7 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

While most courses focus on the entire sweep of the conflict, this course presents an in-depth examination of the waning days of the great struggle. We'll examine the dramatic events leading up to April 1865 and ponder some of the unthinkable alternatives that, had they materialized, would have surely prevented the formation of the country we... Read more

The Christian World

By: Martin Marty

Narrated by: Nelson Runger

Length: 11 hours 45 minutes

Abridged: No

A National Book Award winner, Martin E. Marty is a University of Chicago Professor Emeritus, Lutheran minister, and prolific writer on history, culture, and theology. In his comprehensive yet concise The Christian World, Marty outlines the life and teachings of Christ and details how his followers spread the gospel to the world. "An effective... Read more

Six Months That Changed the World

By: Margaret MacMillan

Narrated by: Margaret MacMillan

Length: 7 hours 33 minutes

Abridged: No

The world will never see another peace conference like the one that took place in Paris in 1919. For six months, the world's major leaders - including Woodrow Wilson, president of the United States, David Lloyd George, prime minister of Great Britain, and Georges Clemenceau, prime minister of France - met to discuss the peace settlements to end... Read more

Judaism, Christianity and Islam

By: Frank Peters

Narrated by: Frank Peters

Length: 8 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

In everything that follows, "Bible" always means the Hebrew or Jewish Bible. The Christian Scriptures will always be called "New Testament" or "Gospels." Judaism, Christianity and Islam should be thought of as three faith communities rather than as three "religions." They are communities of believers, each with its own ideology, history (its... Read more