Outposts
Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire
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Narrated by:
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Simon Winchester
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By:
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Simon Winchester
About this listen
The New York Times best-selling author of Krakatoa and The Professor and the Madman takes listeners on a quirky and charming tour of the last outpost of the British empire
Originally published in 1985, Outposts is Simon Winchester's journey to find the vanishing empire, "on which the sun never sets". In the course of a three-year, 100,000 mile journey - from the chill of the Antarctic to the blue seas of the Caribbean, from the South of Spain and the tip of China to the utterly remote specks in the middle of gale-swept oceans - he discovered such romance and depravity, opulence and despair that he was inspired to write what may be the last contemporary account of the British empire.
Written with Winchester's captivating style and breadth, here are conversations and anecdotes, myths and political analysis, scenery and history - a poignant and colorful record of the lingering beat of what was once the heart of the civilized world.
©1985, 2003 Simon Winchester (P)2005 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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4 out of 5 stars
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Not Long Enough
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5 out of 5 stars
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3 out of 5 stars
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This is ABRIDGED
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,529
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2 out of 5 stars
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Good book by Millard, narrator ruined it
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By: Candice Millard
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Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,945
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1 out of 5 stars
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Full of Sound and Fury....signifying nothing
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By: Brian Herbert, and others
Editorial reviews
Simon Winchester travels to the far reaches of the British Empire. Winchester reads his own sometimes oddball tales. He tells of a cricket match on St. Helena in which a fielder falls off the edge and thus is "retired, dead." On Ascension Island, an island so small it was considered a ship - the H. Ascension - any baby born was considered born at sea. Winchester's nicely modulated voice is perfect for narrating this history/travelogue. He is engaging while narrating the history and perpetually amused at the quirks of keeping the Empire alive no matter the discomfort. The production concludes with an interview in which Winchester discusses his delight at discovering that readers share his fascination with geology.
Critic reviews
"Funny, masterly, fine....Superbly written." (The New York Times Book Review)
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-
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.
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3 out of 5 stars
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An interesting but mild disappointment
- By Jeanette Finan on 06-11-14
By: Jan Morris
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Pacific
- Silicon Chips and Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires, and the Coming Collision of the World's Superpowers
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 817
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 737
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 730
Best-selling author Simon Winchester offers an enthralling biography of the Pacific Ocean and its role in the modern world, exploring our relationship with this imposing force of nature. Winchester's personal experience is vast and his storytelling second to none. And his historical understanding of the region is formidable, making Pacific a paean to this magnificent sea of beauty, myth, and imagination that is transforming our lives.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Political Asides Have Become Bombastic Didactic
- By Mark Patterson on 12-25-15
By: Simon Winchester
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Atlantic
- Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms,and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 756
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 567
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 566
Atlantic is a biography of a tremendous space that has been central to the ambitions of explorers, scientists, and warriors, and continues profoundly to affect our character, attitudes, and dreams. Spanning the ocean's story, from its geological origins to the age of exploration, from World War II battles to today's struggles with pollution and overfishing, Winchester's narrative is epic, intimate, and awe inspiring.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Starts Better Than it Finishes
- By Ray on 12-18-10
By: Simon Winchester
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Travels in Siberia
- By: Ian Frazier
- Narrated by: Ian Frazier
- Length: 20 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 421
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 307
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Story4 out of 5 stars 306
Ian Frazier trains his eye for unforgettable detail on Siberia, that vast expanse of Asiatic Russia. He explores many aspects of this storied, often grim region. He writes about the geography, the resources, the native peoples, the history, the 40-below midwinter afternoons, the bugs. The book brims with Mongols, half-crazed Orthodox archpriests, fur seekers, ambassadors of the czar bound for Peking, tea caravans, German scientists, American prospectors, intrepid English nurses, and prisoners and exiles of every kind....
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5 out of 5 stars
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I Loved This Book
- By Sara on 01-05-14
By: Ian Frazier
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Eighty Days
- Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World
- By: Matthew Goodman
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 151
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 128
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 129
On November 14, 1889, Nellie Bly, the crusading young female reporter for Joseph Pulitzer’s World newspaper, left New York City by steamship on a quest to break the record for the fastest trip around the world. Also departing from New York that day—and heading in the opposite direction by train—was a young journalist from The Cosmopolitan magazine, Elizabeth Bisland.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Who knew?
- By Susan Gardner Bowers on 03-18-13
By: Matthew Goodman
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Headhunters on My Doorstep
- A True Treasure Island Ghost Story
- By: J. Maarten Troost
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 313
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 277
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Story4 out of 5 stars 279
Entertainment Weekly calls acclaimed author and essayist J. Maarten Troost a "funny, candid, and down-to-earth travel companion". Both witty and poignant, Headhunters on My Doorstep follows Troost as he retraces Robert Louis Stevenson’s path through the South Pacific. Somewhere between AA meetings in Tahiti and discovering how the Island of Merrymaking got its name, Troost reconnects with himself, his family, and the beauty of life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Another great South Pacific Book from Mr. Troost
- By Michael on 08-29-13
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Last Train to Paradise
- Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad That Crossed an Ocean
- By: Les Standiford
- Narrated by: Del Roy
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 586
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 470
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 471
The paths of the great American robber barons were paved with riches, and though ordinary citizens paid for them, they also profited. Les Standiford, author of the John Deal thrillers, tells how the man who turned Florida's swamps into the playgrounds of the rich performed the almost superhuman feat of building a railroad from the mainland to Key West at the turn of the century.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A Pleasant Surprise
- By Roy on 04-05-09
By: Les Standiford
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Getting Stoned with the Savages
- A Trip through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu
- By: J. Maarten Troost
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 656
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 426
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 430
After two grueling years on the island of Tarawa, Troost was in no hurry to return to the South Pacific until he began to feel remarkably out of place in modern America. He knew it was time to set off again for parts unknown. Here he tells the story of his time on Vanuatu, a cluster of islands where he struggles against typhoons, earthquakes, and giant centipedes but finds himself swept up in the laid-back, clothing-optional lifestyle of the islanders.
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5 out of 5 stars
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My new favorite author!
- By L. Worthington on 08-28-07
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Essays of E. B. White
- By: E. B. White
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 237
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 210
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 208
Legendary author and essayist E. B. White writes, "The essayist is a self-liberated man, sustained by the childish belief that everything he thinks about, everything that happens to him, is of general interest." Covering a large number of subjects, this classic collection features 31 of White's most memorable essays.
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5 out of 5 stars
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E.B. White writes honestly, fearlessly and clearly
- By Bonny on 09-03-17
By: E. B. White
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Train
- Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World - from the Trans-Siberian to the Southwest Chief
- By: Tom Zoellner
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 105
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 92
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 94
Tom Zoellner loves trains with a ferocious passion. In his new audiobook he chronicles the innovation and sociological impact of the railway technology that changed the world, and could very well change it again. From the frigid Trans-Siberian Railroad to the antiquated Indian Railways to the futuristic maglev trains, Zoellner offers a stirring story of man's relationship with trains. Zoellner examines both the mechanics of the rails and their engines and how they helped societies evolve. Not only do trains transport people and goods in an efficient manner, but they also reduce pollution and dependency upon oil.
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4 out of 5 stars
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The world history of trains up to the present
- By matthew on 03-06-14
By: Tom Zoellner
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An Extravagant Life
- An Autobiography Incorporating Blue Water, Green Skipper
- By: Stuart Woods
- Narrated by: Tony Roberts
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4 out of 5 stars 44
Over the last 40 years, Stuart Woods has written more than 90 novels of suspense and intrigue, beginning with the award-winning Chiefs. Featuring iconic crime-fighting and jet-setting leads, the plots are masterfully conceived and wonderfully escapist. What many readers and listeners don’t know is that Woods' very own life was filled with similar stories of adventure.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Stuart Wood’ autobiography
- By Tosh on 09-11-22
By: Stuart Woods
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Sailing Alone Around the World
- By: Joshua Slocum
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 205
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 111
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 114
Joshua Slocum was believed to be the first man to sail single-handed around the world. After a distinguished career, where he worked his way up from cabin boy to captain, Joshua Slocum wrecked his ship off the coast of Brazil. Turning this catastrophe to his advantage, he built a sailing canoe from the wreckage and sailed back to New York. Moreover, he wrote Voyage of the Liberdad, a chronicle of his trip, and earned some literary success.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A REMARKABLE MAN
- By Rod on 05-03-06
By: Joshua Slocum
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Farther Than Any Man
- The Rise and Fall of Captain James Cook
- By: Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: Jack Chekijian
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 394
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 342
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 341
In the annals of seafaring and exploration, there is one name that immediately evokes visions of the open ocean, billowing sails, visiting strange, exotic lands previously uncharted, and civilizations never before encountered - Captain James Cook. Full of realistic action, lush descriptions of places and events, and fascinating historical characters such as King George III and the soon-to-be-notorious Master William Bligh, Dugard's gripping account of the life and death of Captain James Cook is a thrilling story of a discoverer hell-bent on going farther than any man.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Sloppy History
- By Kyle P. Dalton on 04-06-18
By: Martin Dugard
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Ninety Percent of Everything
- Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate
- By: Rose George
- Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 193
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 173
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Story4 out of 5 stars 173
Rose George, acclaimed chronicler of what we would rather ignore, sails from Rotterdam to Suez to Singapore on ships the length of football fields and the height of Niagara Falls; she patrols the Indian Ocean with an anti-piracy task force; she joins seafaring chaplains and investigates the harm that ships inflict on endangered whales. Sharply informative and entertaining, Ninety Percent of Everything reveals the workings and perils of an unseen world that holds the key to our economy, our environment, and our very civilization.
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2 out of 5 stars
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I was quite mislead by the title.....
- By Steve on 10-20-17
By: Rose George
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Sahara
- By: Michael Palin
- Narrated by: Michael Palin
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 142
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
Michael Palin is off again, this time to the seemingly desolate Sahara Desert. There's no easy way across, as he and his team discover on their most challenging expedition yet.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A wonderful journey.
- By David on 05-22-05
By: Michael Palin
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The Railway Man
- By: Eric Lomax
- Narrated by: Bill Paterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 168
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 155
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 153
A naive young man, a railway enthusiast and radio buff, was caught up in the fall of the British Empire at Singapore in 1942. He was put to work on the 'Railway of Death' - the Japanese line from Thailand to Burma. Exhaustively and brutally tortured by the Japanese for making a crude radio, Lomax was emotionally ruined by his experiences.
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5 out of 5 stars
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From hatred to forgiveness
- By 9S on 05-04-12
By: Eric Lomax
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In the Kingdom of Ice
- The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,480
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,162
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,156
In the late nineteenth century, people were obsessed by one of the last unmapped areas of the globe: The North Pole. No one knew what existed beyond the fortress of ice rimming the northern oceans. On July 8, 1879, the USS Jeannette set sail from San Francisco to cheering crowds in the grip of "Arctic Fever." The ship sailed into uncharted seas, but soon was trapped in pack ice. Two years into the harrowing voyage, the hull was breached. Amid the rush of water and the shrieks of breaking wooden boards, the crew abandoned the ship.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Superb tale that unravels at an iceburg's pace
- By Mel on 03-19-15
By: Hampton Sides
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The End of the River
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 1 hr and 23 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 64
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
When it comes to climate-change-inspired threats, it is rising sea levels we hear most about. But if the oceans are, as Herman Melville put it, “the tide-beating heart of the Earth”, rivers are its circulatory system. In the United States, there is no river more storied, symbolic, and vital than the Mississippi, and none, to use Mark Twain’s word, more lawless. The struggle to control it has been going on nearly as long as there has been human civilization on its banks, and the attendant drama and dangers have been memorialized by many writers.