History audiobooks

Gasping for Airtime - Abridged

By: Jay Mohr

Narrated by: Jay Mohr

Length: 2 hours 44 minutes

Abridged: Yes

A hilarious look at what life was really like inside Saturday Night Live

When 21-year old Jay Mohr moved from New Jersey to New York City to pursue his dream of stand-up stardom, he never thought the first real job he'd land would be on Saturday Night Live. But, surprisingly, that's just what he did. What followed were two unbelievable, grueling,... Read more

The Wisdom of Crowds - Abridged

By: James Surowiecki

Narrated by: Erik Singer

Length: 5 hours 53 minutes

Abridged: Yes

“No one in this world, so far as I know, has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.”  —H. L. Mencken
 
H. L. Mencken was wrong.

In this endlessly fascinating book, New Yorker columnist James Surowiecki explores a deceptively simple idea that has profound implications: large groups of people are... Read more

Scribbling the Cat

By: Alexandra Fuller

Narrated by: Lisette Lecat

Length: 9 hours 27 minutes

Abridged: No

When Alexandra ("Bo") Fuller was home in Zambia a few years ago, visiting her parents for Christmas, she asked her father about a nearby banana farmer who was known for being a "tough bugger." Her father's response was a warning to steer clear of him; he told Bo: "Curiosity scribbled the cat." Nonetheless, Fuller began her strange friendship... Read more

Blood Done Sign My Name - Abridged

By: Timothy B. Tyson

Narrated by: Timothy B. Tyson

Length: 5 hours 53 minutes

Abridged: Yes

The “riveting”* true story of the fiery summer of 1970, which would forever transform the town of Oxford, North Carolina—a classic portrait of the fight for civil rights in the tradition of To Kill a Mockingbird
 
*Chicago Tribune

On May 11, 1970, Henry Marrow, a twenty-three-year-old black veteran, walked into a crossroads store owned by Robert... Read more

Washington's Crossing

By: David Hackett Fischer

Narrated by: Nelson Runger

Length: 18 hours 12 minutes

Abridged: No

Six months after the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution was all but lost. A powerful British force had routed the Americans at New York, occupied three colonies, and advanced within sight of Philadelphia. Yet, as David Hackett Fischer recounts in this riveting history, George Washington--and many other Americans--refused to let... Read more

Absolutely American - Abridged

By: David Lipsky

Narrated by: David Lipsky

Length: 7 hours 7 minutes

Abridged: Yes

"A superb description of modern military culture, and one of the most gripping accounts of university life.... Powerful.... Wonderfully told." --The New York Times Book Review

As David Lipsky follows a future generation of army officers from their proving grounds to their barracks, he reveals the range of emotions and desires that propels these... Read more

Founding Mothers

By: Cokie Roberts

Narrated by: Cokie Roberts

Length: 6 hours 43 minutes

Abridged: No

Cokie Roberts's #1 New York Times bestseller We Are Our Mothers Daughters examined the nature of women's roles throughout history and led USA Today to praise her as a ""custodian of time-honored values."" Her second bestseller, From This Day Forward, written with her husband, Steve Roberts, described American marriages throughout history. Now... Read more

Beyond Belief - Abridged

By: Elaine Pagels

Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck

Length: 4 hours 53 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Special edition including the complete text of the Gospel of Thomas

Elaine Pagels, one of the world’s most important writers and thinkers on religion and history, and winner of the National Book Award for her groundbreaking work The Gnostic Gospels, now reflects on what matters most about spiritual and religious exploration in the twenty-first... Read more

Grace and Power - Abridged

By: Sally Bedell Smith

Narrated by: Anne Twomey

Length: 5 hours 59 minutes

Abridged: Yes

In GRACE & POWER: THE PRIVATE WORLD OF THE KENNEDY WHITE HOUSE, New York Times bestselling author Sally Bedell Smith takes us inside the Kennedy White House with unparalleled access and insight. Having interviewed scores of Kennedy intimates, including many who have never spoken before, and drawing on letters and personal papers made... Read more

Brothers in Arms - Abridged

By: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Anthony Walton

Narrated by: Peter Francis James

Length: 4 hours 56 minutes

Abridged: Yes

A powerful wartime saga recounting the extraordinary story of the 761st Tank Battalion, the first all-black armored unit to see combat in World War II.
 
“More than a combat story . . . it’s also the story of how black soldiers had to fight (literally and figuratively) for the right to fight the Germans.”—USA Today 
 
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar first... Read more

The Outlaw Sea

By: William Langewiesche

Narrated by: William Langewiesche

Length: 7 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

Riveting stories of our last frontier and the acts of God and man upon it

Even if we live within sight of the sea, it is easy to forget that our world is an ocean world. The open ocean spreads across three-fourths of the globe. It is a place of storms and danger, both natural and manmade. And at a time when every last patch of land is claimed by... Read more

Fanatics and Fools

By: Arianna Huffington

Narrated by: Arianna Huffington

Length: 10 hours 25 minutes

Abridged: No

New York Times best-selling author Arianna Huffington takes another sweeping look at how right wing zealots have taken charge of the Republican Party and the government—and the American leadership who let it happen. Read more

Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy - Abridged

By: Partha Bose

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 5 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Alexander the Great endures as one of the most admired and emulated leaders in world history. In our time, his example of unprecedented and unparalleled success has inspired leaders of business and government, from media mogul Ted Turner (who keeps a bronze bust of Alexander in his office) to Desert Storm commander General Norman Schwarzkopf... Read more

Plan of Attack - Abridged

By: Bob Woodward

Narrated by: Boyd Gaines

Length: 6 hours 39 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Plan of Attack is the definitive account of how and why President George W. Bush, his war council, and allies launched a preemptive attack to topple Saddam Hussein and occupy Iraq. Bob Woodward's latest landmark account of Washington decision making provides an original, authoritative narrative of behind-the-scenes maneuvering, examining the... Read more

Ted Williams - Abridged

By: Leigh Montville

Narrated by: Philip Bosco

Length: 5 hours 58 minutes

Abridged: Yes

He was The Kid. The Splendid Splinter. Teddy Ballgame. One of the greatest figures of his generation, and arguably the greatest baseball hitter of all time. But what made Ted Williams a legend – and a lightning rod for controversy in life and in death? What motivated him to interrupt his Hall of Fame career twice to serve his country as a... Read more

1968

By: Mark Kurlansky

Narrated by: Christopher Cazenove

Length: 15 hours 30 minutes

Abridged: No

National BestsellerMark Kurlansky, New York Times bestselling author of Cod, Salt and The Basque History of the World looks at a pivotal year in our history. From the Viet Cong attack on Saigon to the birth of feminism and women's liberation, from the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bobby Kennedy to riots at the Democratic... Read more

George Herbert Walker Bush

By: Tom Wicker

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

Length: 7 hours 10 minutes

Abridged: No

No one is more qualified to give a fully rounded, objective portrait of our forty-first president than Tom Wicker. A political correspondent for The New York Times for more than thirty years, Wicker was a first-hand witness to and reporter of George H. W. Bush’s political rise and presidential reign. In George Herbert Walker Bush, Wicker... Read more

Losing Bin Laden

By: Richard Miniter

Narrated by: Alan Sklar

Length: 9 hours 56 minutes

Abridged: No

"If Clinton had fought back, the attacks on September 11, 2001, might never have happened."

Years before the public knew about bin Laden, Bill Clinton did. Bin Laden first attacked Americans during Clinton's presidential transition in December 1992. He struck again at the World Trade Center in February 1993. Over the next eight years the... Read more

St. Patrick of Ireland

By: Philip Freeman

Narrated by: Alan Sklar

Length: 6 hours 17 minutes

Abridged: No

Ireland's patron saint has long been shrouded in legend: he drove the snakes out of Ireland; he triumphed over Druids and their super-natural powers; he used a shamrock to explain the Christian mystery of the Trinity. But his true story is more fascinating than the myths.

Late in the 4th century Irish pirates captured a young, British citizen... Read more

Raid on the Sun - Abridged

By: Rodger Claire

Narrated by: Adam Grupper

Length: 5 hours 51 minutes

Abridged: Yes

From the earliest days of his dictatorship, Saddam Hussein had vowed to destroy Israel. So when France sold Iraq a top-of-the-line nuclear reactor in 1975, the Israelis were justifiably concerned. The reactor formed the heart of a huge nuclear plant situated twelve miles from Baghdad, 1,100 kilometers from Tel Aviv. By 1981, the reactor was on... Read more

Terrible Terry Allen - Abridged

By: Gerald Astor

Narrated by: Reathel Bean

Length: 1 hour 43 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Terry de la Mesa Allen’s mother was the daughter of a Spanish officer, and his father was a career U.S. Army officer. Despite this impressive martial heritage, success in the military seemed unlikely for Allen as he failed out of West Point—twice—ultimately gaining his commission through Catholic University’s R.O.T.C. program. In World War I,... Read more

Sixty Days in Combat - Abridged

By: Dean Joy

Narrated by: Don Hastings

Length: 1 hour 44 minutes

Abridged: Yes

“The infantryman’s war is . . . without the slightest doubt the dirtiest, roughest job of them all.”

He went in as a military history buff, a virgin, and a teetotaler. He came out with a war bride, a taste for German beer, and intimate knowledge of one of the darkest parts of history. His name is Dean Joy, and this was his war.

For two months in... Read more

Mekong First Light - Abridged

By: Joseph W. Callaway, Jr.

Narrated by: Richard Ferrone

Length: 2 hours 8 minutes

Abridged: Yes

“Before we got to Vietnam, the troops all thought you would be the first lieutenant killed, and in the end, you were the only one left. We were all wrong. You were the best.”
—Sgt. Lonnie “Tallman” Caldwell

December, 1966: Platoon leader Lt. Joseph Callaway had just turned twenty-three when he arrived in Vietnam to lead forty-two untested men into... Read more

All the Way to Berlin - Abridged

By: James Megellas

Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson

Length: 2 hours 33 minutes

Abridged: Yes

In mid-1943 James Megellas, known as “Maggie” to his fellow paratroopers, joined the 82d Airborne Division, his new “home” for the duration. His first taste of combat was in the rugged mountains outside Naples.

In October 1943, when most of the 82d departed Italy to prepare for the D-Day invasion of France, Lt. Gen. Mark Clark, the Fifth Army... Read more