History audiobooks

Red Famine

By: Anne Applebaum

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

Length: 17 hours 45 minutes

Abridged: No

AN ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

From the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Gulag and the National Book Award finalist Iron Curtain, a revelatory history of one of Stalin's greatest crimes—the consequences of which still resonate today

In 1929 Stalin launched his policy of agricultural collectivization—in effect a second Russian... Read more

The Unwomanly Face of War

By: Svetlana Alexievich

Narrated by: Julia Emelin & Yelena Shmulenson

Length: 14 hours 17 minutes

Abridged: No

A long-awaited English translation of the groundbreaking oral history of women in World War II across Europe and Russia—from the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

“A landmark.”—Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

For more than three decades, Svetlana Alexievich has been the memory and conscience of... Read more

The Prisoner in His Palace

By: Will Bardenwerper

Narrated by: Danny Campbell

Length: 7 hours 28 minutes

Abridged: No

In the tradition of In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song, this haunting, insightful, and surprisingly intimate portrait of Saddam Hussein provides “a brief, but powerful, meditation on the meaning of evil and power” (USA TODAY).

The “captivating” (Military Times) The Prisoner in His Palace invites us to take a journey with twelve young... Read more

The Lost City of the Monkey God

By: Douglas Preston

Narrated by: Bill Mumy

Length: 10 hours 29 minutes

Abridged: No

The #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, named one of the best books of the year by The Boston Globe and National Geographic: acclaimed journalist Douglas Preston takes readers on a true adventure deep into the Honduran rainforest in this riveting narrative about the discovery of a lost civilization -- culminating in a stunning... Read more

The Guns of August

By: Barbara W. Tuchman

Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon

Length: 19 hours 9 minutes

Abridged: No

In this Pulitzer Prize–winning classic, historian Barbara Tuchman brings to life the people and events that led up to World War I.This was the last gasp of the Gilded Age, of kings and kaisers and czars, of pointed or plumed hats, colored uniforms, and all the pomp and romance that went along with war. How quickly it all changed—and how horrible... Read more

The Indian Card

By: Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz

Narrated by: Amy Hall

Length: 7 hours 51 minutes

Abridged: No

A groundbreaking and deeply personal exploration of Tribal enrollment, and what it means to be Native American in the United States

“Candid, unflinching . . . Her thorough excavation of the painful history that gave rise to rigid enrollment policies is a courageous gift to our understanding of contemporary Native life.” —The Whiting Foundation... Read more

Flamboyants

By: George M. Johnson

Narrated by: George M. Johnson

Length: 2 hours 23 minutes

Abridged: No

This program is read by the author and features music from Josephine Baker, Gladys Bentley, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Ethel Waters to enhance the listening experience.

From the New York Times–bestselling author of All Boys Aren’t Blue comes an empowering set of essays about Black and Queer icons from the Harlem Renaissance.

In Flamboyants,... Read more

Eden Undone

By: Abbott Kahler

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 9 hours 53 minutes

Abridged: No

An incredible true story of murder, romance, and a fateful search for utopia in the Galápagos—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Ghosts of Eden Park

“Abbott Kahler’s wickedly gothic tale confronts an essential truth about those who ditch civilization: Try as we might, humans cannot elude the tyranny of our own nature.”—Hampton... Read more

The Men Who Killed the News

By: Eric Beecher

Narrated by: Eric Beecher

Length: 13 hours 26 minutes

Abridged: No

Crikey owner and ex-News Corp and Fairfax editor lifts the lid on the abuse of power by media moguls – from William Randolph Hearst to Elon Musk – and on his own unique experience of working for (and being sued by) the Murdochs.  

What’s gone wrong with our media? The answer: its owners. From William Randolph Hearst to Elon Musk, from the... Read more

History for Tomorrow

By: Roman Krznaric

Narrated by: Roman Krznaric

Length: 7 hours 30 minutes

Abridged: No

Brought to you by Penguin.

What can humankind’s rich history of radical revolts teach us about the power of disobedience to tackle the climate crisis? What inspiration could we take from eighteenth century Japan to create a regenerative economy today? How might understanding the origins of capitalism spark ideas for bringing AI under control?

In... Read more

Hell Put to Shame

By: Earl Swift

Narrated by: Mark Deakins

Length: 12 hours 22 minutes

Abridged: No

""Hell Put to Shame is a powerfully unsettling portrait of both the single most savage episode in the long decades of savagery inflicted by white southerners on their Black neighbors in the 20th century—and the methodical process that followed to erase those crimes from America’s collective memory."" —Douglas A. Blackmon, author of Slavery by... Read more

Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson's Creek

By: Thea Glassman

Narrated by: Christine Lakin

Length: 9 hours 2 minutes

Abridged: No

The untold stories of seven revolutionary teen shows (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, My So-Called Life, Dawson’s Creek, Freaks and Geeks, The O.C., Friday Night Lights, and Glee) that shaped the course of modern television and our pop cultural landscape forever.

The modern television landscape is defined by influential and ambitious shows for and... Read more

Waxing On

By: Ralph Macchio

Narrated by: Ralph Macchio

Length: 5 hours 13 minutes

Abridged: No

An instant New York Times Bestseller! 

Since The Karate Kid first crane-kicked its way into the pop culture stratosphere in June 1984, there hasn’t been a week Ralph Macchio hasn’t heard friendly shouts of “Wax on, wax off” or “Sweep the leg!” Now, with Macchio reprising his role as Daniel LaRusso in the #1 ranked Netflix show Cobra Kai, he is... Read more

Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws

By: Adrienne Mayor

Narrated by: Nancy Crane & Adrienne Mayor

Length: 11 hours 2 minutes

Abridged: No

Adrienne Mayor and Nancy Crane narrate this treasury of astonishing mythic marvelsAdrienne Mayor is renowned for exploring the borders of history, science, archaeology, anthropology, and popular knowledge to find historical realities and scientific insights—glimmering, long-buried nuggets of truth—embedded in myth, legends, and folklore. Combing... Read more

A Brief History of Equality

By: Thomas Piketty

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

Length: 8 hours 43 minutes

Abridged: No

The world’s leading economist of inequality presents a short but sweeping and surprisingly optimistic history of human progress toward equality despite crises, disasters, and backsliding, a perfect introduction to the ideas developed in his monumental earlier books.It is easy to be pessimistic about inequality. We know it has increased... Read more

Paradise Falls

By: Keith O'Brien

Narrated by: Eileen Stevens

Length: 13 hours 5 minutes

Abridged: No

From the New York Times best-selling journalist, the staggering, hidden story of an unlikely band of mothers who discovered the deadly secret of Love Canal, and exposed one of America’s most devastating environmental disasters.

Lois Gibbs, Luella Kenny, and other mothers loved their neighborhood on the east side of Niagara Falls. It had an... Read more

Saving Yellowstone

By: Megan Kate Nelson

Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell

Length: 8 hours 22 minutes

Abridged: No

From historian and critically acclaimed author of The Three-Cornered War comes the captivating story of how Yellowstone became the world’s first national park in the years after the Civil War, offering “a fresh, provocative study…departing from well-trodden narratives about conservation and public recreation” (Booklist, starred review).

Each year... Read more

Black Cowboys of the Old West

By: Tricia Martineau Wagner

Narrated by: Allyson Johnson

Length: 4 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

The word cowboy conjures up vivid images of rugged men on saddled horses—men lassoing cattle, riding bulls, or brandishing guns in a shoot-out. White men, as Hollywood remembers them. What is woefully missing from these scenes is their counterparts: the black cowboys who made up one-fourth of the wranglers and rodeo riders. This book tells their... Read more

Burning Boy

By: Paul Auster

Narrated by: Paul Auster

Length: 35 hours 48 minutes

Abridged: No

This program is read by the author.

Booker Prize-shortlisted and New York Times bestselling author Paul Auster's comprehensive, landmark biography of the great American writer Stephen Crane.

With Burning Boy, celebrated novelist Paul Auster tells the extraordinary story of Stephen Crane, best known as the author of The Red Badge of Courage, who... Read more

The 9.9 Percent

By: Matthew Stewart

Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins

Length: 12 hours 6 minutes

Abridged: No

A “brilliant” (The Washington Post), “clear-eyed and incisive” (The New Republic) analysis of how the wealthiest group in American society is making life miserable for everyone—including themselves.

In 21st-century America, the top 0.1% of the wealth distribution have walked away with the big prizes even while the bottom 90% have lost ground.... Read more

Come Fly The World

By: Julia Cooke

Narrated by: Andi Arndt

Length: 7 hours 32 minutes

Abridged: No

Glamour, danger, liberation: in a Mad Men–era of commercial flight, Pan Am World Airways attracted the kind of young woman who wanted out, and wanted up

Required to have a college education, speak two languages, and possess the political savvy of a Foreign Service officer, a jet-age stewardess serving on iconic Pan Am between 1966 and 1975 also... Read more

Gay Bar

By: Jeremy Atherton Lin

Narrated by: Jeremy Atherton Lin

Length: 7 hours 52 minutes

Abridged: No

As gay bars continue to close at an alarming rate, a writer looks back to find out what’s being lost in this indispensable, intimate, and stylish celebration of history. In the era of Grindr and same-sex marriage, gay bars are closing down at an alarming rate. What, then, was the gay bar? Set between Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London, Gay... Read more

The Patriots

By: Winston Groom

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 10 hours 21 minutes

Abridged: No

In this masterful narrative, historian Winston Groom transports readers to the world of the American Revolution, where bold ideas, improbable events, and three extraordinary characters led to theremarkable birth of the country we know today. When the Revolutionary War ended in victory, there remained a stupendous problem: establishing a workable... Read more

His Truth Is Marching On

By: Jon Meacham

Narrated by: JD Jackson & Jon Meacham

Length: 10 hours

Abridged: No

An intimate and revealing portrait of civil rights icon and longtime U.S. congressman John Lewis, linking his life to the painful quest for justice in America from the 1950s to the present—from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Soul of America 
 
John Lewis, who at age twenty-five marched in Selma, Alabama, and was beaten on the Edmund... Read more