History audiobooks

The Barbarians

By: Tim Newark

Narrated by: Nelson Runger

Length: 52 minutes

Abridged: No

Tim Newark's lively narrative answers the most commonly asked questions about the Dark Ages. Who were the Vandals and the Goths? What were Attila the Hun and Charlemagne really like? From surviving contemporary literature and artifacts now shrouded in myth and legend, Newark reconstructs the battles, campaigns, sieges, and legendary leaders of... Read more

The Story of Napoleon

By: Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall

Narrated by: David Thorn

Length: 2 hours

Abridged: No

This thrilling account of Napoleon's rise to power—from his humble beginnings on the island of Corsica to his time as emperor of over half of Europe—focuses on Napoleon's military exploits, including his victories in battle after battle, his exile to the island of Elba, his subsequent return to lead the disastrous Russian campaign, his final... Read more

Behind the Scenes in the Lincoln White House

By: Elizabeth Keckley

Narrated by: Bobbie Frohman

Length: 6 hours 55 minutes

Abridged: No

An autobiographical narrative, Behind the Scenes in the Lincoln White House traces Elizabeth Keckley's life from her enslavement in Virginia and North Carolina to her time as seamstress to Mary Todd Lincoln in the White House during Abraham Lincoln's administration. It was quite controversial at the time of its release—an uncompromising work... Read more

History of the Donner Party

By: C. F. McGlashan

Narrated by: Bobbie Frohman

Length: 8 hours 51 minutes

Abridged: No

C. F. McGlashan was the newspaper editor and publisher of the local daily in Truckee, California, the closest town to the Donner Pass. Over the course of an eighteen-month period, McGlashan interviewed the survivors of the Donner Party, gathered artifacts, and amassed an enormous amount of secondary information. He published his findings as... Read more

Stories of California

By: Ella M. Sexton

Narrated by: Bobbie Frohman

Length: 3 hours 56 minutes

Abridged: No

A collection of stories about the history, people, and culture of CaliforniaElla M. Sexton’s stated purposed was “to recount in simple accurate narratives the early conditions and subsequent development of California.” In addition to the facts, Sexton brings the players to life with drama, emotion, and energy. Read more

The Narrative of Sojourner Truth

By: Olive Gilbert

Narrated by: Bobbie Frohman

Length: 3 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

The Narrative of Sojourner Truth is a poignant biography as told to Olive Gilbert by Isabella Bomefree—a slave born at the end of the eighteenth century who later took the name of Sojourner Truth. She recounts the harshness of life under slavery, as well as what transpired after she won her freedom, when she became a vociferous abolitionist, a... Read more

The Story of the Pony Express

By: Glenn D. Bradley

Narrated by: Bobbie Frohman

Length: 2 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: No

The Pony Express was a swift mail service that was only active from April 1860 to October 1861. It was a crucial communication link between the East Coast and West Coast during a time when communication between Washington, DC, and Sacramento was helping establish California as a free state, as well as helping the Union factions gain strength... Read more

The Trial of Charles I

By: Roger Lockyer

Narrated by: David Thorn

Length: 5 hours 13 minutes

Abridged: No

A contemporary account taken from the memoirs of Sir Thomas Herbers and Hohn Rushworth.Taken from two main sources, John Rushworth's Historical Collection (circa 1659) and Sir Thomas Herbert's memoirs (circa 1678), this book will primarily be of interest to those who have a deep curiosity about this historic event, unprecedented in the history... Read more

Eliot Ness

By: Douglas Perry

Narrated by: Pete Bradbury

Length: 12 hours 11 minutes

Abridged: No

The true story of Eliot Ness, the legendary lawman who led the Untouchables, took on Al Capone, and saved a city’s soul

Eliot Ness is famous for leading the Untouchables against the notorious mobster Al Capone. But it turns out that the legendary Prohibition Bureau squad’s daring raids were only the beginning. Ness’s true legacy reaches far... Read more

Trapped Under the Sea

By: Neil Swidey

Narrated by: David H. Lawrence XVII

Length: 15 hours 28 minutes

Abridged: No

The harrowing story of five men who were sent into a dark, airless, miles-long tunnel, hundreds of feet below the ocean, to do a nearly impossible job—with deadly results
 
A quarter-century ago, Boston had the dirtiest harbor in America. The city had been dumping sewage into it for generations, coating the seafloor with a layer of “black... Read more

The Mad Sculptor

By: Harold Schechter

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Length: 10 hours 52 minutes

Abridged: No

2015 Edgar Award NomineeBeekman Place, once one of the most exclusive addresses in Manhattan, had a curious way of making it into the tabloids in the 1930s: SKYSCRAPER SLAYER, BEAUTY SLAIN IN BATHTUB read the headlines. On Easter Sunday in 1937, the discovery of a grisly triple homicide at Beekman Place would rock the neighborhood yet again—and... Read more

Earthquake Storms

By: John Dvorak

Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner

Length: 8 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

The lives of millions will be changed after it breaks, and yet so few people understand it, or even realize it runs through their backyard. Dvorak reveals the San Andreas Fault's fascinating history—and its volatile future.It is a prominent geological feature that is almost impossible to see unless you know where to look. Hundreds of thousands... Read more

A Storm Too Soon

By: Michael J. Tougias

Narrated by: Charlie Thurston

Length: 8 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

A heart-stopping true-life tale of maritime disaster, survival, and daring rescue from a master storytellerSeventy-foot waves batter a torn life raft 250 miles out to sea in one of the world's most dangerous places, the Gulf Stream. Hanging on to the raft are three men, a Canadian, a Brit, and their captain, Jean Pierre de Lutz, a dual citizen... Read more

Atomic Accidents

By: James Mahaffey

Narrated by: Tom Weiner

Length: 15 hours 54 minutes

Abridged: No

A gripping narrative of nuclear mishaps and meltdowns around the globe, all of which have proven pivotal to the advancement of nuclear scienceFrom the moment radiation was discovered in the late nineteenth century, nuclear science has had a rich history of innovative scientific exploration and discovery, coupled with mistakes, accidents, and... Read more

The Day Lincoln Was Shot

By: Jim Bishop

Narrated by: Nelson Runger

Length: 11 hours 11 minutes

Abridged: No

In a historical classic as enthralling as a novel, author Jim Bishop colorfully depicts the city of Washington as it is celebrating the end of the Civil War. With research carefully gathered over 25 years, he weaves details together so skillfully, that even though you know the outcome, the suspense heightens with each unfolding event. It's Good... Read more

Yakety Yak I Fought Back

By: Carl Gardner

Narrated by: Tommie Earl Jenkins

Length: 3 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

If you don't know who Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Carl Gardner is, you should. The story of the lead tenor of pioneering vocal group The Coasters is brought to life in this audiobook. Telling the story of their rise to fame and laying bare the barriers that not only The Coasters but all black artists through the 1950s and 60s faced, it's a must... Read more

E. E. Cummings

By: Susan Cheever

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 7 hours 53 minutes

Abridged: No

From the acclaimed author of My Name Is Bill and Home before Dark comes a major reassessment of the life and work of one of America's preeminent twentieth-century poets.E. E. Cummings' radical experimentation with form, punctuation, spelling, and syntax resulted in his creation of a new, idiosyncratic means of poetic expression. And while there... Read more

Dark Invasion

By: Howard Blum

Narrated by: Pete Larkin

Length: 10 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

Combining the pulsating drive of Showtime's Homeland with the fascinating historical detail of such of narrative nonfiction bestsellers as Double Cross and In the Garden of Beasts, Dark Invasion is Howard Blum’s gritty, high-energy true-life tale of German espionage and terror on American soil during World War I, and the NYPD Inspector who... Read more

The Twilight of the American Enlightenment

By: George M. Marsden

Narrated by: William Hughes

Length: 6 hours 24 minutes

Abridged: No

In the aftermath of World War II, the United States stood at a precipice. The forces of modernity unleashed by the war had led to astonishing advances in daily life, but technology and mass culture also threatened to erode the country's traditional moral character. As award-winning historian George M. Marsden explains in The Twilight of the... Read more

Code Name: Johnny Walker

By: Johnny Walker & Jim DeFelice

Narrated by: Peter Ganim

Length: 10 hours 30 minutes

Abridged: No

In this unforgettable memoir, the Navy SEALs’ most trusted translator—a man who is credited with saving countless American lives and became a legend in the special-ops community—tells his inspiring story for the first time.As the insurgency in Iraq intensified following the American invasion, U.S. Navy SEALs were called upon to root terrorists... Read more

The Manor

By: Mac Griswold

Narrated by: Christina Moore

Length: 14 hours 10 minutes

Abridged: No

Mac Griswold' s The Manor is the biography of a uniquely American place that has endured through wars great and small, through fortunes won and lost, through histories bright and sinister-- and of the family that has lived there since its founding as a New England slave plantation three and a half centuries ago. In 1984, the landscape historian... Read more

The Children of Henry VIII

By: John Guy

Narrated by: Saul Reichlin

Length: 6 hours 22 minutes

Abridged: No

Nothing drove Henry VIII, England's wealthiest and most powerful king, more than producing a legitimate male heir and perpetuating his dynasty. To that end he married six wives, became the subject of the most notorious divorce case of the sixteenth century, and broke with the Pope, all in an age of international competition and warfare, social... Read more

Lincoln's Boys

By: Joshua Zeitz

Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner

Length: 12 hours 59 minutes

Abridged: No

A timely and intimate look into Abraham Lincoln’s White House through the lives of his two closest aides and confidants

Lincoln’s official secretaries John Hay and John Nicolay enjoyed more access, witnessed more history, and knew Lincoln better than anyone outside of the president’s immediate family. Hay and Nicolay were the gatekeepers of the... Read more

The Race Underground

By: Doug Most

Narrated by: John H. Mayer

Length: 15 hours 25 minutes

Abridged: No

In the late nineteenth century, as cities like Boston and New York grew larger, the streets became increasingly clogged with horse-drawn carts.  When the great blizzard of 1888 brought New York City to a halt, a solution had to be found. Two brothers—Henry Melville Whitney of Boston and William Collins Whitney of New York City—pursued the dream... Read more