History audiobooks

Chasing the Thrill

By: Daniel Barbarisi

Narrated by: Daniel Barbarisi

Length: 11 hours

Abridged: No

“Daniel Barbarisi plunges into an adventure from another era when he goes in search of buried treasure, guided only by a cryptic poem, a mischievous art collector, and the footsteps another pursuer who died on the quest… Every page draws you deeper into this no-man’s-land where fortune—or tragedy—awaits.” —Christopher McDougall, author of Born... Read more

Proof of Life

By: Daniel Levin

Narrated by: Will Collyer

Length: 9 hours 25 minutes

Abridged: No

​“Truly thrilling. Daniel Levin brilliantly conveys both the menace and the evil of Middle Eastern intrigue, and some victories of human kindness over cruelty and despair.”
—Daniel Kahneman, New York Times bestselling author of Thinking, Fast and Slow 
  
“In laying bare the raw human toll of the ferocious and cruel Syrian conflict, Proof of... Read more

Facing the Mountain

By: Daniel James Brown

Narrated by: Louis Ozawa

Length: 17 hours 39 minutes

Abridged: No

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
One of NPR's "Books We Love" of 2021
Longlisted for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography 

Winner of the Christopher Award 
 
“Masterly. An epic story of four Japanese-American families and their sons who volunteered for military service and displayed uncommon heroism… Propulsive and gripping, in part because... Read more

The First Fossil Hunters

By: Adrienne Mayor

Narrated by: Donna Postel

Length: 8 hours 59 minutes

Abridged: No

Griffins, cyclopes, monsters, and giants—these fabulous creatures of classical mythology continue to live in the modern imagination through the vivid accounts that have come down to us from the ancient Greeks and Romans. But what if these beings were more than merely fictions? Through careful research and meticulous documentation, Adrienne Mayor... Read more

The Princess Spy

By: Larry Loftis

Narrated by: Kate Reading

Length: 9 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: No

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER

“As exciting as any spy novel” (Daily News, New York), The Princess Spy follows the hidden history of an ordinary American girl who became one of the OSS’s most daring World War II spies before marrying into European nobility. Perfect for fans of A Woman of No Importance and... Read more

Long Time Coming

By: Michael Eric Dyson

Narrated by: Michael Eric Dyson

Length: 4 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: No

"As a narrator, the reverence and tenderness Dyson communicates in his letters--addressed to victims of racist violence Elijah McClain, Emmett Till, Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor, Hadiya Pendleton, Sandra Bland, and the Rev. Clementa Pinckney--invoke the experience of listening in on a holy epistle. Don't miss this." -- AudioFile Magazine

This... Read more

Oak Flat

By: Lauren Redniss

Narrated by: Lauren Redniss, Darrell Dennis, Kyla Garcia, Ki...

Length: 4 hours 15 minutes

Abridged: No

A powerful work of visual nonfiction about three generations of an Apache family struggling to protect sacred land from a multinational mining corporation, by MacArthur “Genius” and National Book Award finalist Lauren Redniss, the acclaimed author of Thunder & Lightning.

Oak Flat is a serene high-elevation mesa that sits above the... Read more

ArtCurious

By: Jennifer Dasal

Narrated by: Jennifer Dasal

Length: 9 hours 48 minutes

Abridged: No

A wildly entertaining and surprisingly educational dive into art history as you've never seen it before, from the host of the beloved ArtCurious podcast

We're all familiar with the works of Claude Monet, thanks in no small part to the ubiquitous reproductions of his water lilies on umbrellas, handbags, scarves, and dorm-room posters. But did you... Read more

Deep Delta Justice

By: Matthew Van Meter

Narrated by: Brad Sanders

Length: 8 hours 36 minutes

Abridged: No

Finalist for 2021 Audie Award in History/Biography

The book that inspired the documentary A Crime on the Bayou

2021 Chautauqua Prize Finalist

The "arresting, astonishing history" of one lawyer and his defendant who together achieved a "civil rights milestone" (Justin Driver).

In 1966 in a small town in Louisiana, a 19-year-old black man named Gary... Read more

The Sirens of Mars

By: Sarah Stewart Johnson

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 7 hours 56 minutes

Abridged: No

“Sarah Stewart Johnson interweaves her own coming-of-age story as a planetary scientist with a vivid history of the exploration of Mars in this celebration of human curiosity, passion, and perseverance.”—Alan Lightman, author of Einstein’s Dreams

WINNER OF THE PHI BETA KAPPA AWARD FOR SCIENCE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New... Read more

Action Park

By: Andy Mulvihill & Jake Rossen

Narrated by: Michael Satow

Length: 9 hours 41 minutes

Abridged: No

"Citizen Kane does Adventureland." —The Washington Post

The outlandish, hilarious, terrifying, and almost impossible-to-believe story of the legendary, dangerous amusement park where millions were entertained and almost as many bruises were sustained, told through the eyes of the founder's son.

Often called "Accident Park," "Class Action Park," or... Read more

The Deviant's War

By: Eric Cervini

Narrated by: Vikas Adam

Length: 15 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

"Vikas Adam draws the listener in, expertly narrating Cervini's work, which charts the beginning of the gay rights movement in the United States...Vikas Adam does an excellent job lending unique voices to real historical figures." -- AudioFile Magazine

A Publishers Weekly most anticipated spring book

From a young Harvard- and... Read more

This Is Chance!

By: Jon Mooallem

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 8 hours 22 minutes

Abridged: No

The thrilling, cinematic story of a community shattered by disaster—and the extraordinary woman who helped pull it back together

“A powerful, heart-wrenching book, as much art as it is journalism.”—The Wall Street Journal
 
“A beautifully wrought and profoundly joyful story of compassion and perseverance.”—BuzzFeed (Best Books of the Year)

In the... Read more

Citizen Reporters

By: Stephanie Gorton

Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed

Length: 11 hours 37 minutes

Abridged: No

A fascinating history of the rise and fall of influential Gilded Age magazine McClure’s and the two unlikely outsiders at its helm—as well as a timely, full-throated defense of investigative journalism in America.The president of the United States made headlines around the world when he publicly attacked the press, denouncing reporters who... Read more

Author in Chief

By: Craig Fehrman

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

Length: 15 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: No

“One of the best books on the American presidency to appear in recent years” (The Wall Street Journal) and based on a decade of research and reporting—a delightful new window into the public and private lives America’s presidents as authors.

Most Americans are familiar with Abraham Lincoln’s famous words in the Gettysburg Address and the... Read more

Early

By: Sarah DiGregorio

Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon

Length: 9 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: No

Inspired by the author’s harrowing experience giving birth to her premature daughter, a compelling and empathetic work that combines memoir with rigorous reporting to tell the story of neonatology—and to meditate on the questions raised by premature birth.The heart of many hospitals is the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). It is a place where... Read more

The Queens of Animation

By: Nathalia Holt

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 11 hours 37 minutes

Abridged: No

From the bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls, the untold, "richly detailed" story of the women of Walt Disney Studios, who shaped the iconic films that have enthralled generations (Margot Lee Shetterly, New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Figures).

From Snow White to Moana, from Pinocchio to Frozen, the animated films of Walt... Read more

More Fun in the New World

By: John Doe & Tom Desavia

Narrated by: John Doe, Tom Desavia & Various

Length: 12 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

Sequel to Grammy-nominated bestseller Under the Big Black Sun, continuing the up-close and personal account of the L.A. punk scene
 
Picking up where Under the Big Black Sun left off, More Fun in the New World explores the years 1982 to 1987, covering the dizzying pinnacle of L.A.'s punk rock movement as its stars took to the national -- and... Read more

Our Band Could Be Your Life

By: Michael Azerrad

Narrated by: Phil Elverum, Stephin Merritt, Jon Wurster, Cor...

Length: 21 hours 6 minutes

Abridged: No

The definitive chronicle of underground music in the 1980s tells the stories of Black Flag, Sonic Youth, The Replacements, and other seminal bands whose DIY revolution changed American music forever.
Our Band Could Be Your Life is the never-before-told story of the musical revolution that happened right under the nose of the Reagan Eighties --... Read more

D-Day Girls

By: Sarah Rose

Narrated by: Sarah Rose

Length: 10 hours 21 minutes

Abridged: No

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The dramatic, untold history of the heroic women recruited by Britain’s elite spy agency to help pave the way for Allied victory in World War II

“Gripping. Spies, romance, Gestapo thugs, blown-up trains, courage, and treachery (lots of treachery)—and all of it true.”—Erik Larson, author of The Devil in the White... Read more

Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments

By: Saidiya Hartman

Narrated by: Allyson Johnson

Length: 10 hours 5 minutes

Abridged: No

In Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, Saidiya Hartman examines the revolution of black intimate life that unfolded in Philadelphia and New York at the beginning of the twentieth century. Free love, common-law and transient marriages, queer relations, and single motherhood were among the sweeping changes that altered the character of everyday... Read more

Across That Bridge

By: John Lewis

Narrated by: Keith David

Length: 5 hours 27 minutes

Abridged: No

From celebrated Congressman John Lewis comes an eyewitness account of history from a key member of the Civil Rights Movement and confidant to Martin Luther King Jr.

In turbulent times Americans look to the Civil Rights Movement as the apotheosis of political expression. As we confront a startling rise in racism and hate speech and remain a... Read more

The World According to Fannie Davis

By: Bridgett M. Davis

Narrated by: Bridgett M. Davis

Length: 10 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

As seen on the Today Show: This true story of an unforgettable mother, her devoted daughter, and their life in the Detroit numbers of the 1960s and 1970s highlights "the outstanding humanity of black America" (James McBride).
In 1958, the very same year that an unknown songwriter named Berry Gordy borrowed $800 to found Motown Records, a pretty... Read more

The Poison Squad

By: Deborah Blum

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 11 hours 5 minutes

Abridged: No

A New York Times Notable Book 

The inspiration for PBS's AMERICAN EXPERIENCE film The Poison Squad.

From Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times-bestselling author Deborah Blum, the dramatic true story of how food was made safe in the United States and the heroes, led by the inimitable Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley, who fought for change

By the end... Read more