New Reviews: History

The stentorian voice of Leon Nixon adds gravitas and depth to a sweeping historical study of the Blood family. This noteworthy family embraced the wildness of the American continent, westward expansion, and the mythos of the American Dream as they explored, settled, and developed their claims from the seventeenth century through the beginning of the twentieth. Nixon's rich... Read More

Byron Wagner sounds mostly straightforward as he tells listeners of possible Viking visits along the Canadian and New England coasts. Author Martyn Whittock thoroughly presents the archaeological finds and Norse sagas that raise this possibility. At the same time, he observes how Vikings have landed in the American psyche--whether in the right-wing assertions of groups such as... Read More

This compelling audiobook about the beginning of the Civil War gains resonance from its parallels with today's divisions and drift toward violence. Will Patton's narration fits Larson's authorial voice, which is frank, factual, and artfully judicious in tone. Patton suggests historical voices, but his delivery is nuanced and understated, never showy. Brief chapters track the... Read More

Johnny Heller and Jo Anna Perrin successfully navigate the challenge of narrating an extensive oral history, creating a fascinating journey through the evolution and demise of THE VILLAGE VOICE. Even if listeners have never read the weekly news and culture publication from Greenwich Village, they've definitely felt its influence. Contributing writers embraced the arts and pop... Read More

Shamaan Casey brings a deep, captivating voice to his stellar performance of this recounting of one of America's first prisons for profit. The story includes the 1846 murders that resulted from its operators' greed and brutality. William Freeman, serving five years in the Auburn, New York, penal institution, was left brain damaged and partially deaf after guards beat him. He... Read More

Annabelle Hirsch's feminist look at history through 101 idiosyncratic objects is given a captivating performance by the author and 100 narrators. The choice of performers, including actors, authors, and commentators, is as clever as the short essays about the objects. We have an anecdote about a healed femur from 30,000 BCE, narrated by Gillian Anderson; a fifth-century BCE... Read More

This audiobook compilation of interviews with brides, nurses, factory workers, children, and other survivors of World War II is captivating. The narrators are excellent, and the candid stories give insight into why the seemingly ordinary is anything but. Each narrator brings a unique delivery to the mic, ranging from a distinct accent to the type of unique inflection that... Read More

Narrator Elizabeth Wiley is a gifted enunciator, adept at delivering the full weight and value of every word. For this expansive survey of how theories of prehistory have shaped thinking and events over the past three centuries, she maintains a steady pace and a level tone. In these ways she keeps grounded a narrative that takes enormous leaps in time and locale. Wiley proves... Read More

Rupert Brooke, Alan Seeger, Isaac Rosenberg, Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, and Wilfred Owen were arguably the greatest poets writing in English during WWI. Malcolm Hillgartner delivers Michael Korda's biographies of them, telling the story of how the attitudes of poetry--and to a lesser extent of the British public--shifted as the war went on. From Brooke's glorification of... Read More

This history of American Indigenous people sounds like a well-constructed college lecture. But that's no surprise since author Kathleen DuVal is a university professor. But Carolina Hoyos's narration is far from a dry academic recitation. Rather, she comes across as a storyteller. Her voice is smooth and easy to listen to. Her pace allows listeners to absorb the author's points... Read More

L.J. Ganser narrates this wonderful historical look at the rise of baseball in New York City with his usual interested style. You can tell when Ganser is reading a quotation, but he never imposes a campy tone or a vocal imitation. He sounds involved without being overly animated as he delivers the narrative, which starts in the nineteenth century and moves through... Read More

Three centuries of cutthroats, blackguards, and assorted sea swine, women as well as men, set sail again in this audiobook anthology of history's most infamous and dastardly pirates. Editor Katherine Howe introduces each chapter, and her more than three dozen one-chapter biographies are divided among three narrators, each taking a century. Most effective is Matthew Lloyd... Read More

Mao Zedong's ten-year Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) forever changed Chinese society and family structure. With a deliberate, evenhanded delivery, Asian American narrator Rebecca Lam traces the origins and repercussions of the attempt to purge bourgeois and capitalistic thoughts and tendencies from hundreds of millions of Chinese minds. A million people died, millions more... Read More

Jason Grasl performs Ned Blackhawk's National Book Award-winning history of the Native peoples of what is now known as the United States. From contact with early conquistadors of New Spain to the Indigenous activists of the mid-twentieth century, this sweeping work illuminates the histories of Indigenous peoples. Grasl's performance maintains the listener's attention through... Read More

Robin Miles and Moe Egan do fine work narrating this revealing memoir of Chicago's West Garfield Park and the author's life, family, and experiences with race relations--especially during the 1960s. Egan voices the author, and her timbre, tone, and style are just right. The supremely talented Miles depicts the many African American characters and does them well. This is mostly... Read More

Patrick Joyce writes of the rapidly disappearing, or already vanished, European peasantry--its characteristics and culture--in this thoughtful, quietly analytic, elegiac audiobook. Narrator Philip Bird mirrors the production's best qualities, its sensitivity and intelligence, and lets its essential sadness emerge unobtrusively. His deft narration softens the frustrations of a... Read More

Author/podcaster RJ Young narrates his own work with focused intensity as he deftly recounts the harrowing events of the June 1, 1921, Tulsa Race Massacre, in which dozens of Black men were killed and thousands displaced. More than 40 square blocks of African American homes, businesses, schools, and churches were burned to the ground. These events serve as a jumping off point... Read More

At first, Danielle Cohen's performance and Emma Southon's text both seem to come on too strong, trying too hard to be brassy and smart-alecky. But this history of Rome told through the stories of Roman women, legendary and historical, soon shows itself to be thoughtful and deeply informative, and is often amusing in its snarky, sassy, profane way. Cohen's sharp, sometimes acid,... Read More

This audiobook tour of antiquity's great architectural wonders is rich in detail but somewhat difficult to absorb. Popular historian and narrator Bettany Hughes, who is spirited and personable, investigates both the original and present condition of each site. The narrative is informative, highly visual, and engaging regardless of one's prior knowledge or degree of interest.... Read More

Of the several audiobooks about British sea explorer James Cook, this is one of the most memorable. Peter Noble is a powerful narrator, and he weds himself to this action-packed story with deep empathy and understanding. As the Revolutionary War unfolded on the east side of the North American continent, Cook explored the west, searching in vain for a Northwest Passage. Along... Read More

A business journalist combines flawless narration with intelligent writing to explain how cultural and institutional barriers have blocked U.S. women's access to financial independence and the power that comes with it. Josie Cox's mature-sounding performance and British accent add dignity to her careful research and writing. The stories of pioneers like Betty Friedan, Ruth... Read More