Fragile Cargo
The World War II Race to Save the Treasures of China's Forbidden City
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Fragile Cargo
Buy for $20.24
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Adam Brookes
-
By:
-
Adam Brookes
About this listen
The “gripping and meticulously researched” (The Times, London) true story of the determined museum curators who saved the priceless treasures of China’s Forbidden City in the years leading up to World War II and beyond.
Spring 1933: The silent courtyards and palaces of Peking’s Forbidden City, for centuries the home of Chinese emperors, are tense with fear and expectation. Japan’s aircrafts drone overhead, its troops and tanks are only hours away. All-out war between China and Japan is coming, and the curators of the Forbidden City are faced with an impossible question: how will they protect the vast imperial art collections in their charge? A difficult and monumental decision is made: to safeguard the treasures, they will need to be evacuated.
The magnificent collections contain a million pieces of art—objects that carry China’s deepest and most ancient memories. Among them are irreplaceable artefacts: exquisite paintings on silk, rare Ming porcelain, and the extraordinary Stone Drums of Qin, which are adorned with 2,500-year-old inscriptions of cultural significance.
For sixteen years, under the quiet leadership of museum director Ma Heng, the curators would go on to transport the imperial art collections thousands of miles across China—up rivers of white water, across mountain ranges, and through burning cities. In their search for safety the curators and their fragile, invaluable cargo journeyed through the maelstrom of violence, chaos, and starvation that was China’s Second World War.
Told for the first time in English and playing out across a vast historical canvas, this “compelling story of art, war, and adventure” (Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The Romanovs: 1613-1918) follows the small group of men and women who, when faced with war’s onslaught on civilization, chose to resist.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Empress of the Nile
- The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt's Ancient Temples from Destruction
- By: Lynne Olson
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 74
In the 1960s, the world’s attention was focused on a nail-biting race against time: the international campaign to save a dozen ancient Egyptian temples from drowning in the floodwaters of the gigantic new Aswan High Dam. But the coverage of this unprecedented rescue effort completely overlooked the daring French archaeologist who made it all happen. Without the intervention of Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, the temples—including the Temple of Dendur, now at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art—would currently be at the bottom of a vast reservoir.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting but annoying
- By evan k pinto on 03-27-24
By: Lynne Olson
-
The Princes in the Tower
- Solving History's Greatest Cold Case
- By: Philippa Langley
- Narrated by: Philippa Langley
- Length: 16 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 62
Philippa Langley reveals the findings of a remarkable new research initiative: ‘The Missing Princes Project'. In the summer of 1483, Edward V (aged 12) and his brother Richard Duke of York (aged 9), disappeared from the Tower of London. For over 500 years, history has judged that they were murdered on the orders of their uncle Richard III. Following years of intensive research in UK, American and European archives, astonishing new archival discoveries have been uncovered that change what we know about the fate of the Princes in the Tower.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Narrator
- By The Rev. Craig on 12-07-23
By: Philippa Langley
-
Elon Musk
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 7,653
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6,697
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6,690
When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
megalomania on display
- By JP on 09-12-23
By: Walter Isaacson
-
The Peking Express
- The Bandits Who Stole a Train, Stunned the West, and Broke the Republic of China
- By: James M. Zimmerman
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11
In 1923 Shanghai, native and foreign travelers alike are enthralled by the establishment of a new railway line to distant Peking. With this new line comes the Peking Express, a luxurious express train on the cutting edge of China’s continental transportation. Among those drawn to the train are oil heiress Lucy Aldrich, journalist John Benjamin Powell, and vacationing Army Majors Roland Pinger and Robert Allen, wives and children in tow. All anticipate an idyllic overnight journey in first class. But the train’s passengers are not the only ones enchanted by the Peking Express.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Might be better to read physically than listen to
- By Peggy Mason on 04-16-23
-
Emperor of Rome
- Ruling the Ancient World
- By: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Mary Beard
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 269
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 240
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 240
In her international bestseller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome. Now she shines her spotlight on the emperors who ruled the Roman empire, from Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Emperor of Rome is not your usual chronological account of Roman rulers, one after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wasn't sure but won me over
- By John S. on 01-26-24
By: Mary Beard
-
The Ship Beneath the Ice
- The Discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance
- By: Mensun Bound
- Narrated by: Mensun Bound - preface, Charles Armstrong
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 115
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 100
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 100
On November 21, 1914, after sailing more than ten thousand miles from Norway to the Antarctic Ocean, the Endurance finally succumbed to the surrounding ice. Ernest Shackleton and his crew had navigated the 144-foot, three-masted wooden vessel to Antarctica to become the first to cross the barren continent, but early season pack ice trapped them in place offshore. They watched in silence as the ship’s stern rose twenty feet in the air and disappeared into the frigid sea, then spent six harrowing months marooned on the ice in its wake.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Dragged out story
- By Bill on 09-14-23
By: Mensun Bound
-
Empress of the Nile
- The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt's Ancient Temples from Destruction
- By: Lynne Olson
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 74
In the 1960s, the world’s attention was focused on a nail-biting race against time: the international campaign to save a dozen ancient Egyptian temples from drowning in the floodwaters of the gigantic new Aswan High Dam. But the coverage of this unprecedented rescue effort completely overlooked the daring French archaeologist who made it all happen. Without the intervention of Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, the temples—including the Temple of Dendur, now at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art—would currently be at the bottom of a vast reservoir.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting but annoying
- By evan k pinto on 03-27-24
By: Lynne Olson
-
The Princes in the Tower
- Solving History's Greatest Cold Case
- By: Philippa Langley
- Narrated by: Philippa Langley
- Length: 16 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 62
Philippa Langley reveals the findings of a remarkable new research initiative: ‘The Missing Princes Project'. In the summer of 1483, Edward V (aged 12) and his brother Richard Duke of York (aged 9), disappeared from the Tower of London. For over 500 years, history has judged that they were murdered on the orders of their uncle Richard III. Following years of intensive research in UK, American and European archives, astonishing new archival discoveries have been uncovered that change what we know about the fate of the Princes in the Tower.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Narrator
- By The Rev. Craig on 12-07-23
By: Philippa Langley
-
Elon Musk
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 7,653
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6,697
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6,690
When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
megalomania on display
- By JP on 09-12-23
By: Walter Isaacson
-
The Peking Express
- The Bandits Who Stole a Train, Stunned the West, and Broke the Republic of China
- By: James M. Zimmerman
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11
In 1923 Shanghai, native and foreign travelers alike are enthralled by the establishment of a new railway line to distant Peking. With this new line comes the Peking Express, a luxurious express train on the cutting edge of China’s continental transportation. Among those drawn to the train are oil heiress Lucy Aldrich, journalist John Benjamin Powell, and vacationing Army Majors Roland Pinger and Robert Allen, wives and children in tow. All anticipate an idyllic overnight journey in first class. But the train’s passengers are not the only ones enchanted by the Peking Express.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Might be better to read physically than listen to
- By Peggy Mason on 04-16-23
-
Emperor of Rome
- Ruling the Ancient World
- By: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Mary Beard
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 269
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 240
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 240
In her international bestseller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome. Now she shines her spotlight on the emperors who ruled the Roman empire, from Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Emperor of Rome is not your usual chronological account of Roman rulers, one after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wasn't sure but won me over
- By John S. on 01-26-24
By: Mary Beard
-
The Ship Beneath the Ice
- The Discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance
- By: Mensun Bound
- Narrated by: Mensun Bound - preface, Charles Armstrong
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 115
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 100
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 100
On November 21, 1914, after sailing more than ten thousand miles from Norway to the Antarctic Ocean, the Endurance finally succumbed to the surrounding ice. Ernest Shackleton and his crew had navigated the 144-foot, three-masted wooden vessel to Antarctica to become the first to cross the barren continent, but early season pack ice trapped them in place offshore. They watched in silence as the ship’s stern rose twenty feet in the air and disappeared into the frigid sea, then spent six harrowing months marooned on the ice in its wake.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Dragged out story
- By Bill on 09-14-23
By: Mensun Bound
-
Unruly
- The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: David Mitchell
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 714
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 643
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 642
In Unruly, David Mitchell explores how early England’s monarchs, while acting as feared rulers firmly guiding their subjects’ destinies, were in reality a bunch of lucky bastards who were mostly as silly and weird in real life as they appear today in their portraits.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Hugely Entertaining (If You Like English History)
- By Jean Ogg on 10-09-23
By: David Mitchell
-
Party of One
- The Rise of Xi Jinping and China's Superpower Future
- By: Chun Han Wong
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
From one of the most admired reporters covering China today comes a vital new account of the life and political vision of Xi Jinping, the authoritarian leader of the People’s Republic whose hard-edged tactics have set the rising superpower on a collision with Western liberal democracies. Party of One shatters the many myths that shroud one of the world’s most secretive political organizations and its leader. Many observers misread Xi during his early years in power, projecting their own hopes that he would steer China toward more political openness, rule of law, and pro-market economics.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Worrisome
- By Kelley A. Arasim on 10-30-23
By: Chun Han Wong
-
The Wager
- A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
- By: David Grann
- Narrated by: Dion Graham, David Grann
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,110
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,520
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,518
On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Gasping for Air
- By Jean Engle on 04-19-23
By: David Grann
-
Hong Kong
- By: Jan Morris
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 73
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 73
Hong Kong is the world’s most exciting city, at once fascinating and exasperating, a tangle of contradictions. It is a dazzling amalgam of conspicuous consumption and primitive poverty, the most architecturally incongruous yet undeniably beautiful urban panorama of all. Through firsthand reportage, world-renowned travel writer Jan Morris takes us through the crowded streets of this enigmatic city, offering the most insightful and comprehensive study of Hong Kong thus far. She reviews Hong Kong’s early days as a British opium port controlled by pirates, cutthroats, and scoundrel tycoons, and looks ahead to the city’s future.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
An interesting but mild disappointment
- By Jeanette Finan on 06-11-14
By: Jan Morris
-
The Secret Hours
- By: Mick Herron
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 793
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 708
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 708
Two years ago, a hostile Prime Minister launched the Monochrome inquiry, investigating "historical over-reaching" by the British Secret Service “to investigate historical over-reaching.” Monochrome’s mission was to ferret out any hint of misconduct by any MI5 officer—and allowed Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, the two civil servants seconded to the project, unfettered access to any and all confidential information in the Service archives in order to do so. But MI5’s formidable First Desk did not become Britain’s top spy by accident, and she has successfully thwarted the inquiry at every turn.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Just about perfect
- By June Lapidow on 09-28-23
By: Mick Herron
-
Reading the Glass
- A Captain's View of Weather, Water, and Life on Ships
- By: Elliot Rappaport
- Narrated by: Greg Tremblay
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 14
What’s in a cloud? Did you know that water vapor is invisible and actually lighter than dry air? What separates a tropical storm from a winter blizzard? And what exactly is El Niño? Elliot Rappaport, a professional captain of traditional sailing ships, has spent three decades at sea, where understanding weather is crucial to the safety of vessels and their crews. In Reading the Glass, he offers a sailor’s-eye view of the moving parts of our atmosphere and unveils the larger patterns it holds: global winds, storms, air masses, jet streams, and the longer arc of our climate.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Weather and Sailing!
- By T. Adams on 01-20-24
By: Elliot Rappaport
-
Sparks
- China’s Underground Historians and Their Battle for the Future
- By: Ian Johnson
- Narrated by: Ian Johnson
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 12
The past is a battleground in many countries, but in China it is crucial to political power. In traditional China, dynasties rewrote history to justify their rule by proving that their predecessors were unworthy of holding power. Marxism gave this a modern gloss, describing history as an unstoppable force heading toward Communism's triumph. The Chinese Communist Party builds on these ideas to whitewash its misdeeds and glorify its rule. But in recent years, independent writers, artists, and filmmakers have begun challenging this state-led disremembering.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
brilliant
- By Yangsian on 06-02-24
By: Ian Johnson
-
Battle of Ink and Ice
- A Sensational Story of News Barons, North Pole Explorers, and the Making of Modern Media
- By: Darrell Hartman
- Narrated by: Mack Sanderson
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 33
In the fall of 1909, a pair of bitter contests captured the world’s attention. The American explorers Robert Peary and Frederick Cook both claimed to have discovered the North Pole, sparking a vicious feud that was unprecedented in international scientific and geographic circles. At the same time, the rivalry between two powerful New York City newspapers—the storied Herald and the ascendant Times—fanned the flames of the so-called polar controversy, as each paper financially and reputationally committed itself to an opposing explorer and fought desperately to defend him.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating weaving of journalism and exploration history
- By Jolene Sharp on 11-16-24
By: Darrell Hartman
-
Empires of the Steppes
- By: Kenneth Harl
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 118
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 102
The barbarian nomads of the Eurasian steppes have played a decisive role in world history, but their achievements have gone largely unnoticed. These nomadic tribes have produced some of the world’s greatest conquerors: Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, among others. Their deeds still resonate today. Indeed, these nomads built long-lasting empires, facilitated the first global trade of the Silk Road and disseminated religions, technology, knowledge and goods of every description that enriched and changed the lives of so many across Europe, China and the Middle East.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent material, well-written, interesting, but spoiled by inept narrator.
- By La Californienne Nord on 10-27-23
By: Kenneth Harl
-
The Art Thief
- A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession
- By: Michael Finkel
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Michael Finkel
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 826
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 708
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 708
For centuries, works of art have been stolen in countless ways from all over the world, but no one has been quite as successful at it as the master thief Stéphane Breitwieser. Carrying out more than two hundred heists over nearly eight years—in museums and cathedrals all over Europe—Breitwieser, along with his girlfriend who worked as his lookout, stole more than three hundred objects, until it all fell apart in spectacular fashion.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A book that's steals your attention!
- By samy on 07-23-23
By: Michael Finkel
-
Flirting with Danger
- The Mysterious Life of Marguerite Harrison, Socialite Spy
- By: Janet Wallach
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 20
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 18
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 18
Born a privileged child of America’s Gilded Age, Marguerite Harrison rebelled against her mother’s ambitions, married the man she loved, was widowed at thirty-seven, and set off on a life of adventure. Hired as a society reporter, when America entered World War I she applied to Military Intelligence to work as a spy. Over a decade, Harrison’s mysterious adventures took her to Europe, Baghdad, and the Far East, as a socialite, secret agent, and documentary filmmaker. Janet Wallach captures Harrison’s daring and glamour in this stranger-than-fiction history of a woman drawn to the impossible.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The rich descriptions of the characters brought them to life.
- By askmurphy on 07-10-24
By: Janet Wallach
-
Just Like Heaven
- By: Julia Quinn
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,586
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,245
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,238
Honoria Smythe-Smith is: A) a really bad violinist; B) still miffed at being nicknamed "Bug" as a child; C) not in love with her older brother's best friend, D) all of the above.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very enjoyable!
- By Cathy on 08-30-11
By: Julia Quinn
Related to this topic
-
Hong Kong
- By: Jan Morris
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 73
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 73
Hong Kong is the world’s most exciting city, at once fascinating and exasperating, a tangle of contradictions. It is a dazzling amalgam of conspicuous consumption and primitive poverty, the most architecturally incongruous yet undeniably beautiful urban panorama of all. Through firsthand reportage, world-renowned travel writer Jan Morris takes us through the crowded streets of this enigmatic city, offering the most insightful and comprehensive study of Hong Kong thus far. She reviews Hong Kong’s early days as a British opium port controlled by pirates, cutthroats, and scoundrel tycoons, and looks ahead to the city’s future.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
An interesting but mild disappointment
- By Jeanette Finan on 06-11-14
By: Jan Morris
-
Taking Paris
- The Epic Battle for the City of Lights
- By: Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: Samuel Roukin
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 269
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 241
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 238
May 1940: The world is stunned as Hitler's forces invade France with a devastating blitzkrieg aimed at Paris. Within weeks, the French government has collapsed, and the City of Lights, revered for its carefree lifestyle, intellectual freedom, and love of liberty, has fallen under Nazi control — perhaps forever.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Incorrectly titled
- By Mike From Mesa on 01-11-22
By: Martin Dugard
-
Checkmate in Berlin
- The Cold War Showdown That Shaped the Modern World
- By: Giles Milton
- Narrated by: Giles Milton
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 178
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 147
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 146
From a master of popular history, the lively, immersive story of the race to seize Berlin in the aftermath of World War II as it’s never been told before.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent history of the early days of the Cold War
- By Matt on 08-28-21
By: Giles Milton
-
Black Dragon River
- A Journey Down the Amur River at the Borderlands of Empires
- By: Dominic Ziegler
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 41
Black Dragon River is a personal journey down one of Asia's great rivers. The world's ninth largest river, the Amur serves as a large part of the border between Russia and China. As a crossroads for the great empires of Asia, this area offers journalist Dominic Ziegler a lens with which to examine the societies at Europe's only borderland with East Asia.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
INFORMATIVE
- By JK on 10-14-22
By: Dominic Ziegler
-
Invasion
- The Inside Story of Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's Fight for Survival
- By: Luke Harding
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
In a damning, inspiring, and breathtaking narrative of what is likely to be a turning point for Europe—and the world—Guardian correspondent and New York Times bestselling author Luke Harding reports firsthand on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When, just before dawn on February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin launched a series of brutal attacks, Harding was there, on the ground in Kyiv. But this senseless violence was met with astounding resilience—from, among others, the country’s embattled president—and the courage of a people prepared to risk everything to preserve their nation’s freedom.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Pray For Ukraine
- By Tyler 963 on 12-03-22
By: Luke Harding
-
Scholars of Mayhem
- My Father's Secret War in Nazi-Occupied France
- By: Daniel C. Guiet, Timothy K. Smith
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
When Daniel Guiet was a child and his family moved country, as they frequently did, his father had one possession, a tin bread box, that always made the trip. Daniel was admonished never to touch the box, but one day he couldn't resist. What he found astonished him: a .45 automatic and five full clips; three slim knives; a length of wire with a wooden handle at each end; thin pieces of paper with random numbers on them; several passports with his father's photograph, each bearing a different name.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Better than fiction!
- By M. Galloway on 04-04-21
By: Daniel C. Guiet, and others
-
Hong Kong
- By: Jan Morris
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 73
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 73
Hong Kong is the world’s most exciting city, at once fascinating and exasperating, a tangle of contradictions. It is a dazzling amalgam of conspicuous consumption and primitive poverty, the most architecturally incongruous yet undeniably beautiful urban panorama of all. Through firsthand reportage, world-renowned travel writer Jan Morris takes us through the crowded streets of this enigmatic city, offering the most insightful and comprehensive study of Hong Kong thus far. She reviews Hong Kong’s early days as a British opium port controlled by pirates, cutthroats, and scoundrel tycoons, and looks ahead to the city’s future.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
An interesting but mild disappointment
- By Jeanette Finan on 06-11-14
By: Jan Morris
-
Taking Paris
- The Epic Battle for the City of Lights
- By: Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: Samuel Roukin
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 269
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 241
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 238
May 1940: The world is stunned as Hitler's forces invade France with a devastating blitzkrieg aimed at Paris. Within weeks, the French government has collapsed, and the City of Lights, revered for its carefree lifestyle, intellectual freedom, and love of liberty, has fallen under Nazi control — perhaps forever.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Incorrectly titled
- By Mike From Mesa on 01-11-22
By: Martin Dugard
-
Checkmate in Berlin
- The Cold War Showdown That Shaped the Modern World
- By: Giles Milton
- Narrated by: Giles Milton
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 178
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 147
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 146
From a master of popular history, the lively, immersive story of the race to seize Berlin in the aftermath of World War II as it’s never been told before.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent history of the early days of the Cold War
- By Matt on 08-28-21
By: Giles Milton
-
Black Dragon River
- A Journey Down the Amur River at the Borderlands of Empires
- By: Dominic Ziegler
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 41
Black Dragon River is a personal journey down one of Asia's great rivers. The world's ninth largest river, the Amur serves as a large part of the border between Russia and China. As a crossroads for the great empires of Asia, this area offers journalist Dominic Ziegler a lens with which to examine the societies at Europe's only borderland with East Asia.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
INFORMATIVE
- By JK on 10-14-22
By: Dominic Ziegler
-
Invasion
- The Inside Story of Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's Fight for Survival
- By: Luke Harding
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
In a damning, inspiring, and breathtaking narrative of what is likely to be a turning point for Europe—and the world—Guardian correspondent and New York Times bestselling author Luke Harding reports firsthand on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When, just before dawn on February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin launched a series of brutal attacks, Harding was there, on the ground in Kyiv. But this senseless violence was met with astounding resilience—from, among others, the country’s embattled president—and the courage of a people prepared to risk everything to preserve their nation’s freedom.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Pray For Ukraine
- By Tyler 963 on 12-03-22
By: Luke Harding
-
Scholars of Mayhem
- My Father's Secret War in Nazi-Occupied France
- By: Daniel C. Guiet, Timothy K. Smith
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
When Daniel Guiet was a child and his family moved country, as they frequently did, his father had one possession, a tin bread box, that always made the trip. Daniel was admonished never to touch the box, but one day he couldn't resist. What he found astonished him: a .45 automatic and five full clips; three slim knives; a length of wire with a wooden handle at each end; thin pieces of paper with random numbers on them; several passports with his father's photograph, each bearing a different name.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Better than fiction!
- By M. Galloway on 04-04-21
By: Daniel C. Guiet, and others
-
The Moth and the Mountain
- A True Story of Love, War, and Everest
- By: Ed Caesar
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 126
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 108
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 108
In the 1930s, as official government expeditions set their sights on conquering Mount Everest, a little-known World War I veteran named Maurice Wilson conceives his own crazy, beautiful plan: He will fly a plane from England to Everest, crash-land on its lower slopes, then become the first person to reach its summit — completely alone.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
this is very misleading as most of it is wwone
- By steve on 12-01-20
By: Ed Caesar
-
Trail of Hope
- The Anders Army, an Odyssey Across Three Continents
- By: Norman Davies
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
In this remarkable work, renowned historian Professor Norman Davies draws from years of meticulous research to recount the compelling story of the Polish II Corps or "Anders Army", and their exceptional journey from the Gulag of Siberia through Iran, the Middle East, and North Africa to the battlefields of Italy to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with Allied forces. Complete with firsthand accounts from the men and women who lived through it, this is a unique record of one of the most fascinating episodes of World War II.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing story of Polish peoples and never giving up hope for free Poland.
- By Peter Chmiel on 09-24-19
By: Norman Davies
-
The Fire and the Darkness
- The Bombing of Dresden, 1945
- By: Sinclair McKay
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
On February 13, 1945 at 10:03 p.m., British bombers began one of the most devastating attacks of WWII: the bombing of Dresden. The first contingent killed people and destroyed buildings, roads, and other structures. The second rained down fire, turning the streets into a blast furnace, the shelters into ovens, and whipping up a molten hurricane in which the citizens of Dresden were burned, baked, or suffocated to death.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Comprehensive account of terror bombing
- By Buretto on 08-14-20
By: Sinclair McKay
-
The Monuments Men
- Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
- By: Robert M. Edsel, Bret Witter
- Narrated by: Jeremy Davidson
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,537
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,303
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,316
In a race against time, behind enemy lines, often unarmed, a special force of American and British museum directors, curators, art historians, and others, called the Monuments Men, risked their lives scouring Europe to prevent the destruction of thousands of years of culture.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting listen
- By Laurie on 12-22-09
By: Robert M. Edsel, and others
-
War of Shadows
- Codebreakers, Spies, and the Secret Struggle to Drive the Nazis from the Middle East
- By: Gershom Gorenberg
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 14 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
As World War II raged in North Africa, General Erwin Rommel was guided by an uncanny sense of his enemies' plans and weaknesses. In the summer of 1942, he led his Axis army swiftly and terrifyingly toward Alexandria, with the goal of overrunning the entire Middle East. Each step was informed by detailed updates on British positions. The Nazis, somehow, had a source for the Allies' greatest secrets.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting history: mediocre narration.
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 06-12-22
-
Panama Fever
- By: Matthew Parker
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, William Dufris
- Length: 17 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 130
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 49
The building of the Panama Canal was one of the greatest engineering feats in human history. A tale of exploration, conquest, money, politics, and medicine, Panama Fever charts the challenges that marked the long, labyrinthine road to the building of the canal. Drawing on a wealth of new materials and sources, Matthew Parker brings to life the men who recognized the impact a canal would have on global politics and economics.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good book, marginal narrator
- By CmH - HB, CA on 06-02-08
By: Matthew Parker
-
Spain in Our Hearts
- Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939
- By: Adam Hochschild
- Narrated by: Henry Strozier
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 582
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 523
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 523
For three crucial years in the 1930s, the Spanish Civil War dominated headlines in America and around the world as volunteers flooded to Spain to help its democratic government fight off a fascist uprising led by Francisco Franco and aided by Hitler and Mussolini. Today we're accustomed to remembering the war through Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls and Robert Capa's photographs. But Adam Hochschild has discovered some less familiar yet far more compelling characters who reveal the full tragedy and importance of the war.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great book very well written and narrated
- By James750 on 05-12-16
By: Adam Hochschild
-
Saving Italy
- By: Robert Edsel
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 278
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 247
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 248
When Hitler’s armies occupied Italy in 1943, they also seized control of mankind’s greatest cultural treasures. As they had done throughout Europe, the Nazis could now plunder the masterpieces of the Renaissance, the treasures of the Vatican, and the antiquities of the Roman Empire. On the eve of the Allied invasion, General Dwight Eisenhower empowered a new kind of soldier to protect these historic riches. In May 1944 two unlikely American heroes—artist Deane Keller and scholar Fred Hartt—embarked from Naples on the treasure hunt of a lifetime, tracking billions of dollars of missing art, including works by Michelangelo, Donatello, Titian, Caravaggio, and Botticelli.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
More Personalities than Art Chasing
- By Craig on 01-17-15
By: Robert Edsel
-
Facing the Mountain
- A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II
- By: Daniel James Brown
- Narrated by: Louis Ozawa
- Length: 17 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,354
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,203
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,194
In the days and months after Pearl Harbor, the lives of Japanese Americans across the continent and Hawaii were changed forever. In this unforgettable chronicle of war-time America and the battlefields of Europe, Daniel James Brown portrays the journey of Rudy Tokiwa, Fred Shiosaki, and Kats Miho, who volunteered for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and were deployed to France, Germany, and Italy, where they were asked to do the near impossible. Brown also tells the story of these soldiers' parents, immigrants who were forced to submit to life in concentration camps on U.S. soil.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wow
- By Tbone McCoy on 06-13-21
-
Ghosts of Gold Mountain
- The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad
- By: Gordon H. Chang
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 123
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 110
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 110
From across the sea, they came by the thousands, escaping war and poverty in southern China to seek their fortunes in America. Converging on the enormous western worksite of the Transcontinental Railroad, the migrants spent years dynamiting tunnels through the snow-packed cliffs of the Sierra Nevada and laying tracks across the burning Utah desert. Their sweat and blood fueled the ascent of an interlinked, industrial United States. But those of them who survived this perilous effort would be pushed to the margins of American life and then to the fringes of public memory.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very inspiring, educational, and enlightening!
- By Amazon Customer on 06-25-19
By: Gordon H. Chang
-
The Man Who Loved China
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 605
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 372
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 373
No cloistered don, this tall, married Englishman was a freethinking intellectual, who practiced nudism and was devoted to a quirky brand of folk dancing. In 1937, while working as a biochemist at Cambridge University, he instantly fell in love with a visiting Chinese student, with whom he began a lifelong affair. He soon became fascinated with China, and his mistress swiftly persuaded the ever-enthusiastic Needham to travel to her home country, where he embarked on a series of extraordinary expeditions to the farthest frontiers of this ancient empire.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
turn your watch back 70 years
- By Andy on 05-22-08
By: Simon Winchester
-
Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts
- The American Military in the Air, at Sea, and on the Ground
- By: Robert D. Kaplan
- Narrated by: Don Leslie
- Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 102
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
In this extraordinary audiobook, Robert D. Kaplan lets listeners experience up close the American military worldwide in the air, at sea, and on the ground. Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts provides a riveting ground-level portrait of the Global War on Terrorism on several continents.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Tedious is the Best Description
- By Samuel on 02-15-11
By: Robert D. Kaplan
What listeners say about Fragile Cargo
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Douglas DeBoer
- 02-27-23
Wonderful read
Amazing account of this point in history. I had heard and read stories about parts of this event, but never such a detailed, gripping, and well written account or the historical background of the time. I could not put the book down.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cindy O
- 09-22-24
Beautiful attention to details
Amazing! Loved! These men were heros and I hope the new generation learn about them thru this book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 06-05-23
Excellent!
This book masterfully blends deeply personal stories with the historical tides that pushed and pulled them. It is a moving, thought-provoking, fascinating, and exciting examination of resilience and humanity in dark times. Highly recommend!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!