Biography & Memoir audiobooks

Plutarch's Lives—Excerpts

By: Plutarch

Narrated by: Ray Atherton

Length: 7 hours 22 minutes

Abridged: No

Plutarch (circa A.D.45-A.D.130) traveled in Greece and Egypt, served as a diplomat in Rome, and wrote this collection of biographical portraits of 46 Greeks and Romans. This audio edition contains accounts of the lives of four of these legendary figures: Mark Antony, Cicero, Theseus, and Romulus. Read more

Geronimo

By: Geronimo

Narrated by: Pat Bottino

Length: 3 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

Here is one of the most extraordinary and invaluable documents in the annals of Native American history: the authentic testament of a remarkable “war shaman” who, for several years, held off both Mexico and the United States in fierce defense of Apache lands.During 1905 and 1906, Geronimo, the legendary Apache warrior and honorary war chief,... Read more

The Memoirs of William T. Sherman—Excerpts

By: William Sherman

Narrated by: Nelson Runger

Length: 4 hours 24 minutes

Abridged: No

He's been called the first modern general-the first military leader to understand that in the future, wars would be won not by fighting, but by the movement of troops. His memoirs rank with Grant's as the greatest of the Civil War. In vigorous, frank, and powerful prose, Sherman reveals his strategic planning for battles such as Bull Run,... Read more

Memoranda During the War

By: Walt Whitman

Narrated by: Robert Gorman

Length: 4 hours 3 minutes

Abridged: No

"The real war will never get in the books," Walt Whitman wrote in this diary he kept during the Civil War. Whitman chronicled his visits to Washington, D.C. hospitals where he comforted wounded men and assisted nurses and doctors. This journal, written by one of America's greatest poets and writers, captures the details and ironies of war. Read more

Madame Hillary

By: R. Emmett Tyrrell & Mark Davis

Narrated by: Richard Rohan

Length: 6 hours 29 minutes

Abridged: No

From R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., founder and editor-in-chief of The American Spectator, comes the first focused analysis of former First Lady and current United States Senator Hillary Clinton. A main selection of the Book of the Month Club, Madame Hillary is a thought-provoking examination of one of the most polarizing American politicians of all... Read more

Rumi - Erkenntnis durch Liebe (Ungekürzte Fassung)

By: Rumi

Narrated by: Christoph Bantzer

Length: 1 hour 17 minutes

Abridged: No

Rumi gilt als der bedeutendste Lyriker Persiens. Die vorliegende Auswahl aus seiner Gedichtssammlung Der Diwan zeugt von Rumis poetischer Meisterschaft: Ungekünstelt, frisch und spontan spricht er von Sehnsucht, Verzweiflung und Hoffnung und fasst die höchsten Wahrheiten wie die alltäglichsten Dinge in Verse von unübertroffener Schönheit. Mit... Read more

Standing tall

By: C. Vivian Stringer & Laura Tucker

Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo

Length: 10 hours 15 minutes

Abridged: No

“Work hard, and don’t look for excuses,” C. Vivian Stringer’s parents told her, “and you can achieve anything.” But her faith and perseverance would be tested many times. A gifted athlete, she had to fight for a place on an all-white cheerleading squad in the sixties. In 1981, just as her coaching career was taking off, her fourteen-month-old... Read more

A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland

By: Samuel Johnson & James Boswell

Narrated by: Alexander Spencer & Patrick Tull

Length: 4 hours 22 minutes

Abridged: No

In 1773, an unlikely pair-a dominant figure of English literature and a young lawyer-set out on horseback to follow roads and cattle-trails across the Highlands to the Western Islands of Scotland. Their conversation and accounts are filled with curious detail, flashing wit and fascinating encounters with the high and low of the country. Read more

Marie Therese, Child of Terror

By: Susan Nagel

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

Length: 18 hours 13 minutes

Abridged: No

In December 1795, on the midnight stroke of her seventeenth birthday, Marie-Thérèse, the only surviving child of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, fled Paris’s notorious Temple Prison. Kept in solitary confinement after her parents’ brutal execution during the Terror, she had been unaware of the fate of her family, save the cries she heard of her... Read more

Standing Tall - Abridged

By: C. Vivian Stringer & Laura Tucker

Narrated by: Karen Chilton & Vivian Stringer

Length: 5 hours 43 minutes

Abridged: Yes

“Lots of people have dreams, but C. Vivian Stringer is the dream—a coalminer’s daughter who believed when her Poppa told her there was no obstacle she could not surmount. And she lives that dream, teaching others to rise up to meet challenges, turning underdogs into champions again and again—on and off the court. This is the quintessential... Read more

I'm Looking Through You

By: Jennifer Finney Boylan

Narrated by: Jennifer Finney Boylan

Length: 9 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

For Jennifer Finney Boylan, creaking stairs, fleeting images in the mirror, and the remote whisper of human voices were everyday events in the Pennsylvania house in which she grew up in the 1970s. But these weren't the only specters beneath the roof of the mansion known as the "Coffin House." Jenny herself—born James—lived in a haunted body, and... Read more

Peace Child

By: Don Richardson

Narrated by: Paul Michael

Length: 7 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: No

In 1962, Don and Carol Richardson risked their lives to share the gospel with the Sawi people of New Guinea. Here is their unforgettable story of living among these headhunters and cannibals who valued treachery through fattening victims with friendship before the slaughter. God gave Don and Carol the key to the Sawi hearts via a redemptive... Read more

Disturber of the Peace, Second Edition

By: William Manchester

Narrated by: Anthony Heald

Length: 14 hours 18 minutes

Abridged: No

This fine biography of H. L. Mencken tells of how, for better or worse, he rose to his unique position as comic genius and preeminent critic of American culture.InDisturber of the Peace, one finds the facts of the stormy Mencken legend: his hectic and hilarious editorship with George Jean Nathan ofThe Smart Set, the memorable saga ofThe American... Read more

Mr. Playboy

By: Steven Watts

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 18 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: No

Gorgeous young women in revealing poses; extravagant mansion parties packed with celebrities; a hot-tub grotto, elegant smoking jackets, and round rotating beds; the hedonistic pursuit of uninhibited sex—put these images together and a single name springs to mind: Hugh Hefner. From his spectacular launch of Playboy magazine and the dizzying... Read more

Let’s Face It

By: Kirk Douglas

Narrated by: Jason Alexander

Length: 5 hours 57 minutes

Abridged: No

Kirk Douglas has been one of the brightest stars in Hollywood, a hard-charging actor whose intensity on the screen has been mirrored in his personal life. In this poignant and inspiring memoir, Douglas contemplates what life is all about, weighing current events from his present frame of mind while summoning the passions of his younger days.Kirk... Read more

Infidel

By: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Narrated by: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Length: 16 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

One of today's most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following the murder of Theo van Gogh by an Islamist who threatened that she would be next. She made headlines again when she was stripped of her citizenship and resigned from the Dutch Parliament. Infidel shows the coming of age... Read more

Faith of My Fathers - Abridged

By: John McCain & Mark Salter

Narrated by: John McCain

Length: 4 hours 50 minutes

Abridged: Yes

John McCain is one of the most admired leaders in the United States government, but his deeply felt memoir of family and war is not a political one and ends before his election to Congress. With candor and ennobling power, McCain tells a story that, in the words of Newsweek, "makes the other presidential candidates look like pygmies."... Read more

Sandhills Boy

By: Elmer Kelton

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 8 hours 13 minutes

Abridged: No

Voted by his peers as the best Western writer of all time and honored with a record seven Spur Awards, Elmer Kelton is the beloved author of such compelling tales as The Good Old Boys. A beautifully written and highly readable memoir, Sandhills Boy reveals the origins of a unique storytelling talent and Texas treasure. "Charming memoir . a... Read more

Myself and Strangers

By: John Graves

Narrated by: Henry Strozier

Length: 8 hours 56 minutes

Abridged: No

The Houston Chronicle once observed, "John Graves' provenance is about as Texas as a writer can get." In this fascinating memoir, one of the Lone Star State's literary icons reflects on the European travels that shaped him as a writer. "Graves is a master of visual detail, and his journey unfolds with the picturesque clarity of a... Read more

Losing It - Abridged

By: Valerie Bertinelli

Narrated by: Valerie Bertinelli

Length: 4 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: Yes

The New York Times #1 bestseller (3 weeks running) is now available in paperback. Losing It is popular actress, Jenny Craig spokeswoman, and America’s sweetheart Valerie Bertinelli's headline-making account of her complicated past and how she took control of her own life to gain self-esteem and happiness.

Valerie Bertinelli, then: bubbly sitcom... Read more

Hillbilly Gothic

By: Adrienne Martini

Narrated by: Christina Moore

Length: 6 hours 51 minutes

Abridged: No

Adrienne Martini is an award-winning freelance writer. In her candid memoir Hillbilly Gothic, she offers a glimpse at mental illness from a personal perspective, and reveals how the women of her Appalachian family invariably suffer postpartum depression. After the birth of her first child, Adrienne found herself spiraling toward a breakdown that... Read more

In an Instant

By: Lee Woodruff & Bob Woodruff

Narrated by: Bob Woodruff & Lee Woodruff

Length: 9 hours 24 minutes

Abridged: No

In January 2006, Lee and Bob Woodruff seemed to have it all-a happy marriage, four beautiful children, and marvelous careers. Bob had just been named co-anchor of ABC's World News Tonight, but then, while he was embedded with the military in Iraq, an improvised explosive device went off near the tank he was riding in. He and his cameraman, Doug... Read more

In Black and White

By: Wil Haygood

Narrated by: Kevin R. Free

Length: 23 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

This biography of entertainment legend Sammy Davis, Jr. is an enthralling portrait of one of the most recognizable figures from the golden age of American show business. Davis, a guarded man who protected his private life with great vigor, lived an extraordinary life in the limelight, while also forging new uncharted paths across racial lines. Read more

A Good Dog

By: Jon Katz

Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte

Length: 6 hours 21 minutes

Abridged: No

In this gripping and deeply touching book, bestselling author Jon Katz tells the story of his lifetime dog, Orson: a beautiful border collie-intense, smart, crazy, and unforgettable. From the moment Katz and Orson meet, when the dog springs from his traveling crate at Newark airport and panics the baggage claim area, their relationship is deep,... Read more