Masters of the Lost Land
The Untold Story of the Fight to Own the Amazon
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.
Masters of the Lost Land
Buy for $21.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Rebecca Mozo
-
By:
-
Heriberto Araújo
About this listen
Deep in the heart of the Amazon, an entire region has lived under the control of one notorious land baron: JosElio de Barros. JosElio cut a grisly path to success: having arrived in the jungle with a shady past, he quickly made a name for himself as an invincible thug who grabbed massive tracts of public land, burned down the jungle and executed or enslaved anyone trying to stop him.
Enter Dezinho, the leader of a small but robust farm workers' union fighting against land grabs, ecological destruction, and blatant human rights abuses. When Dezinho was killed in a shocking assassination, the local community held its breath. Would JosElio, whom everyone knew had ordered the hit, finally be brought to account? Or would authorities look the other way, as they had hundreds of times before?
Dezinho's widow, Dona Joelma, was not about to let that happen. After his murder, she stepped into the spotlight, orchestrating a huge push to bring national media attention to the injustices in the Amazon.
Set against the backdrop of Bolsonaro's devastating cuts to environmental protections, Brazil's rapidly changing place in the geopolitical spectrum, and the Amazon's crucial role in climate change, Masters of the Lost Land is both a gripping epic into one of the last wild places on Earth and an urgent illustration of how people are fighting for—and winning—justice for their futures and the environment.
©2023 Heriberto Araújo (P)2023 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
-
A Fever in the Heartland
- The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them
- By: Timothy Egan
- Narrated by: Timothy Egan
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,148
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,032
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,031
The Roaring Twenties—the Jazz Age—has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants in equal measure, and took radical steps to keep these people from the American promise. And the man who set in motion their takeover of great swaths of America was a charismatic charlatan named D.C. Stephenson.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is a must read!
- By V. Richmond on 04-14-23
By: Timothy Egan
-
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 5,096
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,506
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,504
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
-
Wanderlust
- An Eccentric Explorer, an Epic Journey, a Lost Age
- By: Reid Mitenbuler
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 19 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 201
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 173
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 173
Deep in the Arctic wilderness, Peter Freuchen awoke to find himself buried alive under the snow. During a sudden blizzard the night before, he had taken shelter underneath his dogsled and become trapped there while he slept. Now, as feeling drained from his body, he managed to claw a hole through the ice only to find himself in even greater danger: his beard, wet with condensation from his struggling breath, had frozen to his sled runners and lashed his head in place, exposing it to icy winds that needed only a few minutes to kill him. If Freuchen could escape that, he could escape anything.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazingly in-depth look at an amazing person.
- By Dave on 06-18-23
By: Reid Mitenbuler
-
The Best Minds
- A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions
- By: Jonathan Rosen
- Narrated by: Jonathan Rosen
- Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 570
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 501
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 501
Acclaimed author Jonathan Rosen’s haunting investigation of the forces that led his closest childhood friend, Michael Laudor, from the heights of brilliant promise to the forensic psychiatric hospital where he has lived since killing the woman he loved. A story about friendship, love, and the price of self-delusion, The Best Minds explores the ways in which we understand—and fail to understand—mental illness.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Overwhelming Tragedy of Mental Illness
- By Elephants Matter on 12-30-23
By: Jonathan Rosen
-
Poverty, by America
- By: Matthew Desmond
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 856
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 755
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 754
The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A testimonial based on facts and witness
- By Alonzo Nightjar on 03-27-23
By: Matthew Desmond
-
Into the Amazon
- The Life of Cândido Rondon, Trailblazing Explorer, Scientist, Statesman, and Conservationist
- By: Larry Rohter
- Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 10
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 10
Cândido Rondon is by any measure the greatest tropical explorer in history. Between 1890 and 1930, he navigated scores of previously unmapped rivers, traversed untrodden mountain ranges, and hacked his way through jungles so inhospitable that even native peoples had avoided them—and led Theodore Roosevelt and his son, Kermit, on their celebrated "River of Doubt" journey in 1913-14. Originally published in Brazil, Into the Amazon is the first comprehensive biography of the Indigenous Brazilian explorer, scientist, stateseman, and conservationist.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic bio
- By Patricia on 06-29-23
By: Larry Rohter
-
A Fever in the Heartland
- The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them
- By: Timothy Egan
- Narrated by: Timothy Egan
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,148
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,032
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,031
The Roaring Twenties—the Jazz Age—has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants in equal measure, and took radical steps to keep these people from the American promise. And the man who set in motion their takeover of great swaths of America was a charismatic charlatan named D.C. Stephenson.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is a must read!
- By V. Richmond on 04-14-23
By: Timothy Egan
-
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 5,096
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,506
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,504
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
-
Wanderlust
- An Eccentric Explorer, an Epic Journey, a Lost Age
- By: Reid Mitenbuler
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 19 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 201
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 173
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 173
Deep in the Arctic wilderness, Peter Freuchen awoke to find himself buried alive under the snow. During a sudden blizzard the night before, he had taken shelter underneath his dogsled and become trapped there while he slept. Now, as feeling drained from his body, he managed to claw a hole through the ice only to find himself in even greater danger: his beard, wet with condensation from his struggling breath, had frozen to his sled runners and lashed his head in place, exposing it to icy winds that needed only a few minutes to kill him. If Freuchen could escape that, he could escape anything.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazingly in-depth look at an amazing person.
- By Dave on 06-18-23
By: Reid Mitenbuler
-
The Best Minds
- A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions
- By: Jonathan Rosen
- Narrated by: Jonathan Rosen
- Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 570
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 501
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 501
Acclaimed author Jonathan Rosen’s haunting investigation of the forces that led his closest childhood friend, Michael Laudor, from the heights of brilliant promise to the forensic psychiatric hospital where he has lived since killing the woman he loved. A story about friendship, love, and the price of self-delusion, The Best Minds explores the ways in which we understand—and fail to understand—mental illness.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Overwhelming Tragedy of Mental Illness
- By Elephants Matter on 12-30-23
By: Jonathan Rosen
-
Poverty, by America
- By: Matthew Desmond
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 856
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 755
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 754
The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A testimonial based on facts and witness
- By Alonzo Nightjar on 03-27-23
By: Matthew Desmond
-
Into the Amazon
- The Life of Cândido Rondon, Trailblazing Explorer, Scientist, Statesman, and Conservationist
- By: Larry Rohter
- Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 10
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 10
Cândido Rondon is by any measure the greatest tropical explorer in history. Between 1890 and 1930, he navigated scores of previously unmapped rivers, traversed untrodden mountain ranges, and hacked his way through jungles so inhospitable that even native peoples had avoided them—and led Theodore Roosevelt and his son, Kermit, on their celebrated "River of Doubt" journey in 1913-14. Originally published in Brazil, Into the Amazon is the first comprehensive biography of the Indigenous Brazilian explorer, scientist, stateseman, and conservationist.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic bio
- By Patricia on 06-29-23
By: Larry Rohter
-
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
-
A Thread of Violence
- A Story of Truth, Invention, and Murder
- By: Mark O'Connell
- Narrated by: Mark O'Connell
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 29
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
Malcolm Macarthur was a well-known Dublin socialite. Suave and urbane, he passed his days mingling with artists and aristocrats, reading philosophy, living a life of the mind. But by 1982, his inheritance had dwindled to almost nothing, a desperate threat to his lifestyle. Macarthur hastily conceived a plan: He would commit bank robbery, of the kind that had become frightfully common in Dublin at the time. But his plan spun swiftly out of control, and he needlessly killed two innocent civilians.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
A meandering waste of time
- By Kate on 01-06-24
By: Mark O'Connell
-
Cobalt Red
- How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives
- By: Siddharth Kara
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 507
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 432
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 432
Cobalt Red is the searing first-ever exposé of the immense toll taken on the people and environment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by cobalt mining, as told through the testimonies of the Congolese people themselves. Activist and researcher Siddharth Kara has traveled deep into cobalt territory to document the testimonies of the people living, working, and dying for cobalt.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A must read
- By Anonymous User on 02-01-23
By: Siddharth Kara
-
Fancy Bear Goes Phishing
- The Dark History of the Information Age, in Five Extraordinary Hacks
- By: Scott J. Shapiro
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 94
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
It’s a signal paradox of our times that we live in an information society but do not know how it works. And without understanding how our information is stored, used, and protected, we are vulnerable to having it exploited. In Fancy Bear Goes Phishing, Scott J. Shapiro draws on his popular Yale University class about hacking to expose the secrets of the digital age. With lucidity and wit, he establishes that cybercrime has less to do with defective programming than with the faulty wiring of our psyches and society.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
I can't seem to like this book...
- By Ken Vanden branden on 07-23-23
By: Scott J. Shapiro
-
We Don't Know Ourselves
- A Personal History of Modern Ireland
- By: Fintan O'Toole
- Narrated by: Aidan Kelly
- Length: 22 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 480
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 404
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 400
In We Don't Know Ourselves, Fintan O'Toole weaves his own experiences into Irish social, cultural, and economic change, showing how Ireland, in just one lifetime, has gone from a reactionary "backwater" to an almost totally open society - perhaps the most astonishing national transformation in modern history. O'Toole narrates the once unthinkable collapse of the all-powerful Catholic Church, brought down by scandal and by the activism of ordinary Irish. He relates the horrific violence of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, which led most Irish to reject violent nationalism.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Relentlessly Negative
- By John on 06-02-22
By: Fintan O'Toole
-
People vs. Donald Trump
- An Inside Account
- By: Mark Pomerantz
- Narrated by: Mark Pomerantz
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 203
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 172
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 171
People vs. Donald Trump is a fascinating inside account of the attempt to prosecute former president Donald Trump, written by one of the lawyers who worked on the case and resigned in protest when Manhattan’s district attorney refused to act.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Bravo - Easy to Understand
- By Trisha on 02-09-23
By: Mark Pomerantz
-
River of the Gods
- Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile
- By: Candice Millard
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,510
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,322
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,317
For millennia the location of the Nile River’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe—and extend their colonial empires.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good book by Millard, narrator ruined it
- By Tally D Lykins on 05-25-22
By: Candice Millard
-
Trust the Plan
- The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America
- By: Will Sommer
- Narrated by: Joe Knezevich
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 217
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 183
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 183
The definitive book on QAnon from the reporter knows them best; Will Sommer explains what it is, how it has gained a mainstream following among Republican lawmakers and ordinary citizens, the threat it poses to democracy, and how we can reach those who have embraced the conspiracy and are disseminating its lies.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The best one so far
- By joey carbo on 03-02-23
By: Will Sommer
-
The Earth Transformed
- An Untold History
- By: Peter Frankopan
- Narrated by: Peter Frankopan
- Length: 29 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
Global warming is one of the greatest dangers mankind faces today. Even as temperatures increase, sea levels rise, and natural disasters escalate, our current environmental crisis feels difficult to predict and understand. But climate change and its effects on us are not new. In a bold narrative that spans centuries and continents, Peter Frankopan argues that nature has always played a fundamental role in the writing of history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Thoughtful History of A Complex Phenomenon
- By Lucy A. Pithecus on 04-21-23
By: Peter Frankopan
-
Unscripted
- The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy
- By: James B. Stewart, Rachel Abrams
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 399
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 320
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 320
In 2016, the fate of Paramount Global’s entertainment empire hung precariously in the balance. Its founder and head, ninety-three-year-old Sumner M. Redstone, was facing a very public lawsuit brought by a former romantic companion, Manuela Herzer, which placed Sumner’s deteriorating health and questionable judgment under a harsh light.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I could t wait for it to end
- By Abbie L. Smith on 03-01-23
By: James B. Stewart, and others
-
Invisible Child
- Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City
- By: Andrea Elliott
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 21 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 709
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 623
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 617
Andrea Elliott follows eight dramatic years in the life of Dasani, a girl whose imagination is as soaring as the skyscrapers near her Brooklyn shelter. In this sweeping narrative, Elliott weaves the story of Dasani’s childhood with the history of her ancestors, tracing their passage from slavery to the Great Migration north. As Dasani comes of age, New York City’s homeless crisis has exploded, deepening the chasm between rich and poor. She must guide her siblings through a world riddled by hunger, violence, racism, drug addiction, and the threat of foster care.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Narration is completely over the top
- By Heather on 10-14-21
By: Andrea Elliott
-
Waco
- David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and a Legacy of Rage
- By: Jeff Guinn
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 142
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 126
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 125
For the first time in thirty years, more than a dozen former ATF agents who participated in the initial February 28, 1993, raid speak on the record about the poor decisions of their commanders that led to this deadly confrontation. Revelations in this book include why the FBI chose to end the siege with the use of CS gas; how both ATF and FBI officials tried and failed to cover up their agencies’ mistakes; where David Koresh plagiarized his infamous prophecies; and direct links between the Branch Davidian tragedy and the modern militia movement in America.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Another excellent book by Guinn
- By Amazon Customer on 02-19-23
By: Jeff Guinn
Related to this topic
-
Tulsa 1921
- Reporting a Massacre
- By: Randy Krehbiel
- Narrated by: Kevin Meyer
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 99
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
In 1921, Tulsa’s Greenwood District - known then as the nation’s “Black Wall Street” - was one of the most prosperous African American communities in the United States. But on May 31 of that year, a white mob, inflamed by rumors that a young black man had attempted to rape a white teenage girl, invaded Greenwood. By the end of the following day, thousands of homes and businesses lay in ashes, and perhaps, as many as 300 people were dead.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Exceptional and
- By Heath on 03-07-20
By: Randy Krehbiel
-
By Hands Now Known
- Jim Crow's Legal Executioners
- By: Margaret A. Burnham
- Narrated by: Diana Blue
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 37
Margaret A. Burnham challenges our understanding of the Jim Crow era by exploring the relationship between formal law and background legal norms in harrowing cases between 1920 and 1960. From rendition, the legal process by which states make claims to other states for the return of their citizens, to battles over state and federal jurisdiction and the outsize role of local sheriffs in enforcing racial hierarchy, Burnham maps the criminal legal system of the mid-twentieth-century South, and traces the line from slavery to the legal structures of this period—and through to today.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Heartbreaking
- By sharon on 11-24-22
-
The Injustice Never Leaves You
- Anti-Mexican Violence in Texas
- By: Monica Muñoz Martinez
- Narrated by: Kyla García
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
Between 1910 and 1920, vigilantes and law enforcement-including the renowned Texas Rangers - killed Mexican residents with impunity. The full extent of the violence was known only to the relatives of the victims. The Injustice Never Leaves You offers an invaluable account of why these incidents happened, what they meant at the time, and how a determined community ensured that the victims were not forgotten.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Worth the read ! Lots of facts
- By LIZETTE LERMA,LIZETTE LERMA on 10-31-20
-
Let the Lord Sort Them
- The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty
- By: Maurice Chammah
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
In 1972, the United States Supreme Court made a surprising ruling: The country’s death penalty system violated the Constitution. The backlash was swift, especially in Texas, where executions were considered part of the cultural fabric, and a dark history of lynching was masked by gauzy visions of a tough-on-crime frontier. When executions resumed, Texas quickly became the nationwide leader in carrying out the punishment.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very Slanted
- By appreciative reader on 02-07-21
By: Maurice Chammah
-
The Kosher Capones
- A History of Chicago’s Jewish Gangsters
- By: Joe Kraus
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 130
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 117
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 116
The Kosher Capones tells the fascinating story of Chicago’s Jewish gangsters from Prohibition into the 1980s. Author Joe Kraus traces these gangsters through the lives, criminal careers, and conflicts of Benjamin “Zukie the Bookie” Zuckerman, last of the independent West Side Jewish bosses, and Lenny Patrick, eventual head of the Syndicate’s “Jewish wing.”
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Kind of scattered
- By joey carbo on 10-04-21
By: Joe Kraus
-
The Bourbon King
- The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition's Evil Genius
- By: Bob Batchelor
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
October 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the Volstead Act, which put the enforcement teeth into Prohibition. But the law didn't stop George Remus from cornering the boozy, illegal liquor marketplace and amassing a fortune that eclipsed $200 million (the equivalent of $4.75 billion today). As eminent documentarian Ken Burns proclaimed, "Remus was to bootlegging what Rockefeller was to oil." Author Bob Batchelor has unearthed a treasure trove of untapped historical archives to cover the life, times, and crimes of the man who ran the largest bootlegging operation in America.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing
- By Amazon Customer on 06-02-20
By: Bob Batchelor
-
Tulsa 1921
- Reporting a Massacre
- By: Randy Krehbiel
- Narrated by: Kevin Meyer
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 99
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
In 1921, Tulsa’s Greenwood District - known then as the nation’s “Black Wall Street” - was one of the most prosperous African American communities in the United States. But on May 31 of that year, a white mob, inflamed by rumors that a young black man had attempted to rape a white teenage girl, invaded Greenwood. By the end of the following day, thousands of homes and businesses lay in ashes, and perhaps, as many as 300 people were dead.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Exceptional and
- By Heath on 03-07-20
By: Randy Krehbiel
-
By Hands Now Known
- Jim Crow's Legal Executioners
- By: Margaret A. Burnham
- Narrated by: Diana Blue
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 37
Margaret A. Burnham challenges our understanding of the Jim Crow era by exploring the relationship between formal law and background legal norms in harrowing cases between 1920 and 1960. From rendition, the legal process by which states make claims to other states for the return of their citizens, to battles over state and federal jurisdiction and the outsize role of local sheriffs in enforcing racial hierarchy, Burnham maps the criminal legal system of the mid-twentieth-century South, and traces the line from slavery to the legal structures of this period—and through to today.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Heartbreaking
- By sharon on 11-24-22
-
The Injustice Never Leaves You
- Anti-Mexican Violence in Texas
- By: Monica Muñoz Martinez
- Narrated by: Kyla García
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
Between 1910 and 1920, vigilantes and law enforcement-including the renowned Texas Rangers - killed Mexican residents with impunity. The full extent of the violence was known only to the relatives of the victims. The Injustice Never Leaves You offers an invaluable account of why these incidents happened, what they meant at the time, and how a determined community ensured that the victims were not forgotten.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Worth the read ! Lots of facts
- By LIZETTE LERMA,LIZETTE LERMA on 10-31-20
-
Let the Lord Sort Them
- The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty
- By: Maurice Chammah
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
In 1972, the United States Supreme Court made a surprising ruling: The country’s death penalty system violated the Constitution. The backlash was swift, especially in Texas, where executions were considered part of the cultural fabric, and a dark history of lynching was masked by gauzy visions of a tough-on-crime frontier. When executions resumed, Texas quickly became the nationwide leader in carrying out the punishment.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very Slanted
- By appreciative reader on 02-07-21
By: Maurice Chammah
-
The Kosher Capones
- A History of Chicago’s Jewish Gangsters
- By: Joe Kraus
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 130
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 117
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 116
The Kosher Capones tells the fascinating story of Chicago’s Jewish gangsters from Prohibition into the 1980s. Author Joe Kraus traces these gangsters through the lives, criminal careers, and conflicts of Benjamin “Zukie the Bookie” Zuckerman, last of the independent West Side Jewish bosses, and Lenny Patrick, eventual head of the Syndicate’s “Jewish wing.”
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Kind of scattered
- By joey carbo on 10-04-21
By: Joe Kraus
-
The Bourbon King
- The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition's Evil Genius
- By: Bob Batchelor
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
October 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the Volstead Act, which put the enforcement teeth into Prohibition. But the law didn't stop George Remus from cornering the boozy, illegal liquor marketplace and amassing a fortune that eclipsed $200 million (the equivalent of $4.75 billion today). As eminent documentarian Ken Burns proclaimed, "Remus was to bootlegging what Rockefeller was to oil." Author Bob Batchelor has unearthed a treasure trove of untapped historical archives to cover the life, times, and crimes of the man who ran the largest bootlegging operation in America.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing
- By Amazon Customer on 06-02-20
By: Bob Batchelor
-
The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns
- By: Mitzi Szereto - editor
- Narrated by: Holly Palance, Phil Thron
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 49
Whether in Truman Capote’s detailed murder of the Clutter family or Ted Bundy’s small-town charm, criminals have always roamed rural America and towns worldwide. Featuring murder stories, criminal case studies, and more, The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns contains all-new accounts from writers of true crime, crime journalism, and crime fiction. And these entries are not based on a true story - they are true stories. Edited by acclaimed author and anthologist Mitzi Szereto, the stories in this volume span the globe.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Crime in other countries is not my cup of tea.
- By Brenda on 01-03-21
-
Race Against Time
- By: Jerry Mitchell
- Narrated by: Jerry Mitchell
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 187
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 165
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 164
In Race Against Time, Mitchell takes listeners on the twisting, pulse-racing road that led to the reopening of four of the most infamous killings from the days of the Civil Rights Movement, decades after the fact. His work played a central role in bringing killers to justice for the assassination of Medgar Evers, the firebombing of Vernon Dahmer, the 16th Street Church bombing in Birmingham, and the Mississippi Burning case. Mitchell reveals how he unearthed secret documents and found long-lost suspects and witnesses, building up evidence strong enough to take on the Klan.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Absolutely horrible reading
- By Grace O'Malley on 03-14-20
By: Jerry Mitchell
-
State of War
- MS-13 and El Salvador's World of Violence
- By: William Wheeler
- Narrated by: William Wheeler
- Length: 3 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
Born in Los Angeles, the gang MS-13 was founded in the 1980s by Salvadoran refugees who had been hardened in a civil war stoked by American foreign policy. Foreign correspondent William Wheeler tracks MS-13 from LA, where he meets the founders of the gang, to El Salvador, where three generations of Salvadorans have been drawn into an escalating cycle of conflict. State of War tells the tragic story of a brutal civil war that has never ended.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great insight!
- By jose flores on 05-19-23
By: William Wheeler
-
Conviction
- The Murder Trial That Powered Thurgood Marshall's Fight for Civil Rights
- By: Denver Nicks, John Nicks
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 111
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 93
On New Year's Eve, 1939, a horrific triple murder occurred in rural Oklahoma. Within a matter of days, investigators identified several suspects: convicts who had been at a craps game with one of the victims the night before. Also at the craps game was a young black farmer named W. D. Lyons. Political pressure mounted to find a villain. The governor's representative settled on Lyons, who was arrested, tortured into signing a confession, and tried for the murder. The NAACP's new Legal Defense and Education Fund sent its young chief counsel, Thurgood Marshall, to take part in the trial.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
What a piece of history 💕
- By Private on 01-12-21
By: Denver Nicks, and others
-
The Year of Dangerous Days
- Riots, Refugees, and Cocaine in Miami 1980
- By: Nicholas Griffin
- Narrated by: Pete Simonelli
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 130
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 111
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 112
In the tradition of The Wire, the “utterly absorbing” (The New York Times) story of the cinematic transformation of Miami, one of America’s bustling cities - rife with a drug epidemic, a burgeoning refugee crisis, and police brutality - from journalist and award-winning author Nicholas Griffin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Forty Years Ago or Yesterday?
- By Anka on 07-20-20
By: Nicholas Griffin
-
The Colony
- Faith and Blood in a Promised Land
- By: Sally Denton
- Narrated by: Ann Richardson
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 115
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 116
On the morning of November 4, 2019, a caravan of women and children was ambushed by masked gunmen on a desolate stretch of road in northern Mexico controlled by the Sinaloa drug cartel. Firing semi-automatic weapons, the attackers killed nine people and gravely injured five more. The victims were members of the LeBaron and La Mora communities-fundamentalist Mormons whose forebears broke from the LDS Church and settled in Mexico when their religion outlawed polygamy in the late nineteenth century.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
More surface level than I would have expected
- By Jessica Baier on 07-06-22
By: Sally Denton
-
Furious Hours
- Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
- By: Casey Cep
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,410
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,208
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,212
Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members for insurance money in the 1970s. With the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative shot him dead at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell's murderer was acquitted—thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the reverend. Casey Cep brings this story to life, from the shocking murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great book, needs a Southern narrator
- By Joseph Wu on 06-06-19
By: Casey Cep
-
The Queen
- The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth
- By: Josh Levin
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 239
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 202
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 200
In this critically acclaimed true crime tale of "welfare queen" Linda Taylor, a Slate editor reveals a "wild, only-in-America story" of political manipulation and murder (Attica Locke, Edgar Award-winning author). Part social history, part true-crime investigation, Josh Levin's mesmerizing book, the product of six years of reporting and research, is a fascinating account of American racism, and an exposé of the "welfare queen" myth, one that fueled political debates that reverberate to this day.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very compelling story!
- By Marilyn on 06-24-19
By: Josh Levin
-
Say Nothing
- A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
- By: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Matthew Blaney
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,031
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 7,082
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 7,032
Jean McConville's abduction was one of the most notorious episodes of the vicious conflict known as The Troubles. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the I.R.A. was responsible. But in a climate of fear and paranoia, no one would speak of it. In 2003, five years after an accord brought an uneasy peace to Northern Ireland, a set of human bones was discovered on a beach. McConville's children knew it was their mother when they were told a blue safety pin was attached to the dress--with so many kids, she had always kept it handy for diapers or ripped clothes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
On a par with I'll Be Gone in the Dark, plus...
- By Grace O'Malley on 03-01-19
-
On the Courthouse Lawn
- Revised Edition
- By: Sherrilyn Ifill, Bryan Stevenson - foreword
- Narrated by: LisaGay Hamilton
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 21
Nearly 5,000 black Americans were lynched between 1890 and 1960. Over 40 years later, Sherrilyn Ifill examines the numerous ways that this racial trauma still resounds across the United States. While the lynchings and their immediate aftermath were devastating, the little-known contemporary consequences, such as the marginalization of political and economic development for black Americans, are equally pernicious. A landmark book, On the Courthouse Lawn is a much-needed and urgent road map for communities finally confronting lynching's long shadow.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Born in Salisbury
- By rondcorbinAmazon Customer on 01-07-20
By: Sherrilyn Ifill, and others
-
Freedom's Detective
- The Secret Service, the Ku Klux Klan and the Man Who Masterminded America's First War on Terror
- By: Charles Lane
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 129
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 115
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 116
Freedom’s Detective reveals the untold story of the Reconstruction-era US Secret Service and their battle against the Ku Klux Klan, through the career of its controversial chief, Hiram C. Whitle.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Evan Review
- By Evan on 06-23-19
By: Charles Lane
-
American Mafia
- A History of Its Rise to Power
- By: Thomas Reppetto
- Narrated by: Paul Costanzo
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
Organized crime - the Italian American kind - has long been a source of popular entertainment and legend. Now Thomas Reppetto provides a balanced history of the Mafia's rise - from the 1880s to the post-World War II era - that is as exciting as it is authoritative. Structuring his narrative around a series of case histories featuring such infamous characters as Lucky Luciano and Al Capone, Reppetto draws on a lifetime of field experience and access to unseen documents to show us a locally grown Mafia.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Mob at its best
- By Thomas on 02-14-23
By: Thomas Reppetto