The City and the Tsar
Peter the Great and the Move to the West: 1648-1762
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.
The City and the Tsar
Buy for $30.80
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Charlton Griffin
-
By:
-
Harold Lamb
About this listen
Harold Lamb's superb story-telling and clear, sharp scholarship are focused on Peter the Great, his gigantic labors to raise Russia in one generation to cultural equality with Europe, and his efforts to mold and shape a sprawling empire.
At the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648, the city of Moscow had extended its sway eastward through the Asiatic continent. People began to ask, "Will the city control the continent?" or "Will the continent control the city?" These were crucial questions...questions that continue to bedevil Russians to this day.
Lamb describes graphically this Empire of Settlements, the sporadic revolutions that broke out from time to time, and the stubborn resistance of the Manchu Dynasty in China, along with numerous primitive tribes that checked Muscovite expansion.
The story of Alexis Romanov, Peter's father, who tried to change the despotic Muscovite rule, is also part of this epic history. But most vital of all, The City and the Tsar sets forth the drama of Peter the Great himself, and the final decision he made between east and west.
The author has done a brilliant job in pictorializing the essential link between the confused realm of Ivan the Terrible and the final defeat of the remnants of the Mongol Khans.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©1948 Harold Lamb (P)2022 Audio ConnoisseurListeners also enjoyed...
-
The March of Muscovy
- Ivan the Terrible and the Growth of the Russian Empire: 1400-1648
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 9
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 9
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 9
The March of Muscovy begins with a strange, exotic narrative of an isolated, primitive Slavic people living alongside an insignificant river on the edge of the great Eurasian forest belt. Lamb has skillfully called forth the voices of contemporary visitors, merchants, Cossack explorers, diplomats from far away European courts, exiled priests, and the words from among the most acute Russian observers themselves. Lamb has a way of breathing life into the past, of combining the best of scholarly research with an artistic vitality and narrative velocity.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Masterful
- By Bato443 on 09-02-23
By: Harold Lamb
-
The Flame of Islam
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 17 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 59
A history of the Crusades. Out of the chaos of Muslim tribal warfare and regional animosity arose a military genius such as Islam had never known: Saladin. Uniting the sultanates of Cairo and Damascus, Saladin created a single powerful state. Luring the crusaders into an ill-considered confrontation, he destroyed their army at the Battle of Hattin in 1187, leaving the few remaining crusaders clinging perilously to a series of towns and forts along the Levantine coast. Into this desperate situation stepped the most formidable warrior of the age, Richard the Lion-Hearted.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An absolute Joy to read
- By gzak on 03-06-15
By: Harold Lamb
-
Charlemagne
- The Legend and the Man
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
Charlemagne was easily one of the most fascinating figures of Western civilization, as well as the most heroic and romantic. The 47 years of his reign marked some of the most significant and far reaching events of the Middle Ages. Undoubtedly, it was his enlightened vision for Europe that resulted in the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of cultural flowering that never really ceased to develop, and which led in a straight line directly to that period of astonishing achievement we now call the High Gothic. Even in the 21st century, we still hear the echoes of his deeds in the historical events that unfold today.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Charlton Griffin was outstanding as always
- By Amazon Customer on 10-13-18
By: Harold Lamb
-
Suleiman the Magnificent: Sultan of the East
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
Suleiman the Magnificent is the story of the Ottoman Turks' greatest leader. He came to power at the early age of 25 in 1520. Before his death in 1566, he had altered the power structure and geography of Eastern Europe, and Turkey had become the dominant naval power in the Mediterranean. Suleiman's reign would mark the high tide of Turkish power in Asia Minor and Europe.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Great look into Suleiman The Magnificent & the Ottoman Empire
- By L Young on 08-14-19
By: Harold Lamb
-
Hannibal
- One Man Against Rome
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,440
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 806
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 807
This is the breathtaking adventure of the great Carthaginian general who shook the foundations of Rome. In the world's first "global" conflict, Hannibal Barca marched up and down the Italian peninsula for 18 years, appearing well nigh invincible to a Rome which began to doubt itself for the first time in its history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating - not to be missed!
- By Karen on 04-29-03
By: Harold Lamb
-
Alexander of Macedon
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 313
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 154
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 155
The enigma of Alexander the Great has remained with us for 2,300 years. In spite of the best efforts of historians, Alexander is no less a mystery to us now than he probably was during his own lifetime. There was no one like him before or since. In the pages of Harold Lamb's intriguing Alexander of Macedon, we find some of the answers to the great riddle of his character.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Read Arrian first
- By cbrann on 10-16-05
By: Harold Lamb
-
The March of Muscovy
- Ivan the Terrible and the Growth of the Russian Empire: 1400-1648
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 9
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 9
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 9
The March of Muscovy begins with a strange, exotic narrative of an isolated, primitive Slavic people living alongside an insignificant river on the edge of the great Eurasian forest belt. Lamb has skillfully called forth the voices of contemporary visitors, merchants, Cossack explorers, diplomats from far away European courts, exiled priests, and the words from among the most acute Russian observers themselves. Lamb has a way of breathing life into the past, of combining the best of scholarly research with an artistic vitality and narrative velocity.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Masterful
- By Bato443 on 09-02-23
By: Harold Lamb
-
The Flame of Islam
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 17 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 59
A history of the Crusades. Out of the chaos of Muslim tribal warfare and regional animosity arose a military genius such as Islam had never known: Saladin. Uniting the sultanates of Cairo and Damascus, Saladin created a single powerful state. Luring the crusaders into an ill-considered confrontation, he destroyed their army at the Battle of Hattin in 1187, leaving the few remaining crusaders clinging perilously to a series of towns and forts along the Levantine coast. Into this desperate situation stepped the most formidable warrior of the age, Richard the Lion-Hearted.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An absolute Joy to read
- By gzak on 03-06-15
By: Harold Lamb
-
Charlemagne
- The Legend and the Man
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
Charlemagne was easily one of the most fascinating figures of Western civilization, as well as the most heroic and romantic. The 47 years of his reign marked some of the most significant and far reaching events of the Middle Ages. Undoubtedly, it was his enlightened vision for Europe that resulted in the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of cultural flowering that never really ceased to develop, and which led in a straight line directly to that period of astonishing achievement we now call the High Gothic. Even in the 21st century, we still hear the echoes of his deeds in the historical events that unfold today.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Charlton Griffin was outstanding as always
- By Amazon Customer on 10-13-18
By: Harold Lamb
-
Suleiman the Magnificent: Sultan of the East
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
Suleiman the Magnificent is the story of the Ottoman Turks' greatest leader. He came to power at the early age of 25 in 1520. Before his death in 1566, he had altered the power structure and geography of Eastern Europe, and Turkey had become the dominant naval power in the Mediterranean. Suleiman's reign would mark the high tide of Turkish power in Asia Minor and Europe.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Great look into Suleiman The Magnificent & the Ottoman Empire
- By L Young on 08-14-19
By: Harold Lamb
-
Hannibal
- One Man Against Rome
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,440
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 806
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 807
This is the breathtaking adventure of the great Carthaginian general who shook the foundations of Rome. In the world's first "global" conflict, Hannibal Barca marched up and down the Italian peninsula for 18 years, appearing well nigh invincible to a Rome which began to doubt itself for the first time in its history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating - not to be missed!
- By Karen on 04-29-03
By: Harold Lamb
-
Alexander of Macedon
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 313
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 154
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 155
The enigma of Alexander the Great has remained with us for 2,300 years. In spite of the best efforts of historians, Alexander is no less a mystery to us now than he probably was during his own lifetime. There was no one like him before or since. In the pages of Harold Lamb's intriguing Alexander of Macedon, we find some of the answers to the great riddle of his character.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Read Arrian first
- By cbrann on 10-16-05
By: Harold Lamb
-
Tamerlane
- Conqueror of the Earth
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 313
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 212
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 209
In yet another superb historical work, Harold Lamb brings the mighty Tatar leader to vivid life and shows how this ruthless commander used his superior intellect and magnetic leadership to overcome one obstacle after another. Tamerlane was truly one of the most remarkable personalities ever to emerge from the steppes of Central Asia.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The man that conquered Afganistan
- By curt on 12-23-08
By: Harold Lamb
-
The Thirty Years War
- Europe's Tragedy
- By: Peter H. Wilson
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 33 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 139
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 115
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 115
The Thirty Years War devastated seventeenth-century Europe, killing nearly a quarter of all Germans and laying waste to towns and countryside alike. Peter Wilson offers the first new history in a generation of a horrifying conflict that transformed the map of the modern world.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
TMI But Not Enough Human Perspective
- By Lynn on 01-07-24
By: Peter H. Wilson
-
The Hundred Years War
- The English in France 1337-1453
- By: Desmond Seward
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 205
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 170
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 169
From 1337 to 1453 England repeatedly invaded France on the pretext that her kings had a right to the French throne. Though it was a small, poor country, England for most of those "100 years" won the battles, sacked the towns and castles, and dominated the war. Desmond Seward's critically acclaimed account of the Hundred Years War brings to life all of the intrigue, beauty, and royal to-the-death-fighting of that legendary century-long conflict.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Superb narrator and fascintating history
- By Julie Seavello on 05-30-21
By: Desmond Seward
-
1453
- The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West
- By: Roger Crowley
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,041
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 932
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 928
The fall of Constantinople in 1453 signaled a shift in history and the end of the Byzantium Empire. Roger Crowley's listenable and comprehensive account of the battle between Mehmed II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and Constantine XI, the 57th emperor of Byzantium, illuminates the period in history that was a precursor to the current jihad between the West and the Middle East.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A well written narrative with bizarre and biased commentary
- By Patrick D. Flynn on 08-17-17
By: Roger Crowley
-
Rivers of Gold
- The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan
- By: Hugh Thomas
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 27 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4
From one of the greatest historians of the Spanish world, here is a fresh and fascinating account of Spain's early conquests in the Americas. Hugh Thomas shows Spain at the dawn of the sixteenth century as a world power on the brink of greatness. For Spain and for the world, the decision to send Christopher Columbus west was epochal—the dividing line between the medieval and the modern.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
History I did not know, but now seems essential that I know about Spain’s discovery and conquest of the new world.
- By Discerning buyer on 07-18-24
By: Hugh Thomas
-
Conquerors
- How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire
- By: Roger Crowley
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 732
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 636
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 635
Conquerors tells the almost forgotten story of how Portugal's navigators cracked the code of the Atlantic winds, launched the expedition of Vasco da Gama to India, and beat the Spanish to the spice kingdoms of the East - then set about creating the first long-range maritime empire.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully balanced
- By Nigel Roberts on 05-08-16
By: Roger Crowley
-
The Burgundians
- A Vanished Empire: A History of 1111 Years and One Day
- By: Bart van Loo, Nancy Forest-Flier - translator
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 21 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 136
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 118
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 118
At the end of the fifteenth century, Burgundy was extinguished as an independent state. It had been a fabulously wealthy, turbulent region situated between France and Germany, with close links to the English kingdom. Torn apart by the dynastic struggles of early modern Europe, this extraordinary realm vanished from the map. But it became the cradle of what we now know as the Low Countries, modern Belgium and the Netherlands. This is the story of a thousand years, a must-listen narrative history of ambitious aristocrats, family dysfunction, treachery, savage battles, luxury, and madness.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Extraordinary story, expertly told and skillfully narrated
- By Daniel Vergara on 03-01-24
By: Bart van Loo, and others
-
Empires of the Sea
- The Contest for the Center of the World
- By: Roger Crowley
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,132
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 854
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 856
Empires of the Sea tells the story of the 50-year world war between Islam and Christianity for the Mediterranean: one of the fiercest and most influential contests in European history. It traces events from the appearance on the world stage of Suleiman the Magnificent through "the years of devastation" when it seemed possible that Islam might master the whole sea, to the final brief flourishing of a united Christendom in 1571.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant detail, exciting story
- By Tad Davis on 08-17-08
By: Roger Crowley
-
Iron and Blood
- A Military History of the German-Speaking Peoples Since 1500
- By: Peter H. Wilson
- Narrated by: Rory Alexander
- Length: 34 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
German military history is typically viewed as an inexorable march to the rise of Prussia and the two world wars, the road paved by militarism and the result a specifically German way of war. Peter Wilson challenges this narrative. Looking beyond Prussia to German-speaking Europe across the last five centuries, Wilson finds little unique or preordained in German militarism or warfighting. Iron and Blood takes as its starting point the consolidation of the Holy Roman Empire, which created new mechanisms for raising troops but also for resolving disputes diplomatically.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome
- By Will Georgiadis on 04-11-23
By: Peter H. Wilson
-
The Blazing World
- A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689
- By: Jonathan Healey
- Narrated by: Oliver Hembrough
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
The seventeenth century was a revolutionary age for the English. It started as they suddenly found themselves ruled by a Scotsman, and it ended in the shadow of an invasion by the Dutch. Under James I, England suffered terrorism and witch panics. Under his son Charles, state and society collapsed into civil war, to be followed by an army coup and regicide. For a short time—for the only time in history—England was a republic. There were bitter struggles over faith and Parliament asserted itself like never before. There were no boundaries to politics.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Been looking for this book for a long time
- By cmurrell on 07-30-23
By: Jonathan Healey
-
The Anarchy
- The Relentless Rise of the East India Company
- By: William Dalrymple
- Narrated by: Sid Sagar
- Length: 15 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,164
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 968
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 963
The Anarchy tells the remarkable story of how one of the world’s most magnificent empires disintegrated and came to be replaced by a dangerously unregulated private company, based thousands of miles overseas in one small office, five windows wide, and answerable only to its distant shareholders. In his most ambitious and riveting audiobook to date, William Dalrymple tells the story of the East India Company as it has never been told before, unfolding a timely cautionary tale of the first global corporate power.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
excellent book but awkward narration
- By TexasVC on 02-25-20
-
Crusaders
- The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 16 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 715
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 632
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 629
For more than 1,000 years, Christians and Muslims lived side by side, sometimes at peace and sometimes at war. When Christian armies seized Jerusalem in 1099, they began the most notorious period of conflict between the two religions. Depending on who you ask, the fall of the holy city was either an inspiring legend or the greatest of horrors. In Crusaders, Dan Jones interrogates the many sides of the larger story, charting a deeply human and avowedly pluralist path through the crusading era.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Gripping but not tidy
- By Tad Davis on 01-06-20
By: Dan Jones
Critic reviews
"Whether read as history, partial explanation of Russian aggression, or sheer golden story-telling, it is a delight."–The New York Times
Related to this topic
-
The Venetians
- A New History: From Marco Polo to Casanova
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 113
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 94
The Republic of Venice was the first great economic, cultural, and naval power of the modern Western world. After winning the struggle for ascendency in the late 13th century, the Republic enjoyed centuries of unprecedented glory and built a trading empire which at its apogee reached as far afield as China, Syria, and West Africa. This golden period only drew to an end with the Republic's eventual surrender to Napoleon. The Venetians illuminates the character of the Republic during these illustrious years by shining a light on some of the most celebrated personalities of European history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Mesmerizing
- By Gary R. Frank on 08-24-15
By: Paul Strathern
-
Lords of the Horizons
- A History of the Ottoman Empire
- By: Jason Goodwin
- Narrated by: Grahame Edwards
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 56
The Ottoman Empire has long exerted a strong pull on Western minds and hearts. For over 600 years the empire swelled and declined, rising from a dusty fiefdom in the foothills of Anatolia to a power which ruled over the Danube and the Euphrates with the richest court in Europe. But its decline was prodigious, protracted and total.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good introduction to the Ottomans, bad narration
- By Skeptical on 06-06-18
By: Jason Goodwin
-
Suleiman the Magnificent: Sultan of the East
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
Suleiman the Magnificent is the story of the Ottoman Turks' greatest leader. He came to power at the early age of 25 in 1520. Before his death in 1566, he had altered the power structure and geography of Eastern Europe, and Turkey had become the dominant naval power in the Mediterranean. Suleiman's reign would mark the high tide of Turkish power in Asia Minor and Europe.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Great look into Suleiman The Magnificent & the Ottoman Empire
- By L Young on 08-14-19
By: Harold Lamb
-
Peter the Great
- His Life and World
- By: Robert K. Massie
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 43 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,205
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,020
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,009
This superbly told story brings to life one of the most remarkable rulers––and men––in all of history and conveys the drama of his life and world. The Russia of Peter's birth was very different from the Russia his energy, genius, and ruthlessness shaped. Crowned co-Tsar as a child of ten, after witnessing bloody uprisings in the streets of Moscow, he would grow up propelled by an unquenchable curiosity, everywhere looking, asking, tinkering, and learning, fired by Western ideas.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Narrater ruins everything
- By BrendaLouQuilts on 12-30-11
By: Robert K. Massie
-
Foundation
- The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors: The History of England, Book 1
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 841
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 763
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 758
In Foundation the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, takes us from the primeval forests of England's prehistory to the death of the first Tudor king, Henry VII, in 1509. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country's most distant past - a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a Saxon tomb, a medieval manor house.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The Most Annoying Narrator EVER
- By JudieBee on 12-25-15
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
The Anarchy
- The Relentless Rise of the East India Company
- By: William Dalrymple
- Narrated by: Sid Sagar
- Length: 15 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,164
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 968
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 963
The Anarchy tells the remarkable story of how one of the world’s most magnificent empires disintegrated and came to be replaced by a dangerously unregulated private company, based thousands of miles overseas in one small office, five windows wide, and answerable only to its distant shareholders. In his most ambitious and riveting audiobook to date, William Dalrymple tells the story of the East India Company as it has never been told before, unfolding a timely cautionary tale of the first global corporate power.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
excellent book but awkward narration
- By TexasVC on 02-25-20
-
The Venetians
- A New History: From Marco Polo to Casanova
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 113
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 94
The Republic of Venice was the first great economic, cultural, and naval power of the modern Western world. After winning the struggle for ascendency in the late 13th century, the Republic enjoyed centuries of unprecedented glory and built a trading empire which at its apogee reached as far afield as China, Syria, and West Africa. This golden period only drew to an end with the Republic's eventual surrender to Napoleon. The Venetians illuminates the character of the Republic during these illustrious years by shining a light on some of the most celebrated personalities of European history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Mesmerizing
- By Gary R. Frank on 08-24-15
By: Paul Strathern
-
Lords of the Horizons
- A History of the Ottoman Empire
- By: Jason Goodwin
- Narrated by: Grahame Edwards
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 56
The Ottoman Empire has long exerted a strong pull on Western minds and hearts. For over 600 years the empire swelled and declined, rising from a dusty fiefdom in the foothills of Anatolia to a power which ruled over the Danube and the Euphrates with the richest court in Europe. But its decline was prodigious, protracted and total.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good introduction to the Ottomans, bad narration
- By Skeptical on 06-06-18
By: Jason Goodwin
-
Suleiman the Magnificent: Sultan of the East
- By: Harold Lamb
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
Suleiman the Magnificent is the story of the Ottoman Turks' greatest leader. He came to power at the early age of 25 in 1520. Before his death in 1566, he had altered the power structure and geography of Eastern Europe, and Turkey had become the dominant naval power in the Mediterranean. Suleiman's reign would mark the high tide of Turkish power in Asia Minor and Europe.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Great look into Suleiman The Magnificent & the Ottoman Empire
- By L Young on 08-14-19
By: Harold Lamb
-
Peter the Great
- His Life and World
- By: Robert K. Massie
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 43 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,205
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,020
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,009
This superbly told story brings to life one of the most remarkable rulers––and men––in all of history and conveys the drama of his life and world. The Russia of Peter's birth was very different from the Russia his energy, genius, and ruthlessness shaped. Crowned co-Tsar as a child of ten, after witnessing bloody uprisings in the streets of Moscow, he would grow up propelled by an unquenchable curiosity, everywhere looking, asking, tinkering, and learning, fired by Western ideas.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Narrater ruins everything
- By BrendaLouQuilts on 12-30-11
By: Robert K. Massie
-
Foundation
- The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors: The History of England, Book 1
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 841
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 763
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 758
In Foundation the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, takes us from the primeval forests of England's prehistory to the death of the first Tudor king, Henry VII, in 1509. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country's most distant past - a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a Saxon tomb, a medieval manor house.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The Most Annoying Narrator EVER
- By JudieBee on 12-25-15
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
The Anarchy
- The Relentless Rise of the East India Company
- By: William Dalrymple
- Narrated by: Sid Sagar
- Length: 15 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,164
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 968
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 963
The Anarchy tells the remarkable story of how one of the world’s most magnificent empires disintegrated and came to be replaced by a dangerously unregulated private company, based thousands of miles overseas in one small office, five windows wide, and answerable only to its distant shareholders. In his most ambitious and riveting audiobook to date, William Dalrymple tells the story of the East India Company as it has never been told before, unfolding a timely cautionary tale of the first global corporate power.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
excellent book but awkward narration
- By TexasVC on 02-25-20
-
The Hundred Years War
- The English in France 1337-1453
- By: Desmond Seward
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 205
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 170
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 169
From 1337 to 1453 England repeatedly invaded France on the pretext that her kings had a right to the French throne. Though it was a small, poor country, England for most of those "100 years" won the battles, sacked the towns and castles, and dominated the war. Desmond Seward's critically acclaimed account of the Hundred Years War brings to life all of the intrigue, beauty, and royal to-the-death-fighting of that legendary century-long conflict.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Superb narrator and fascintating history
- By Julie Seavello on 05-30-21
By: Desmond Seward
-
Civilizations
- A Novel
- By: Laurent Binet, Sam Taylor - translator
- Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 100
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
Freydis is the leader of a band of Viking warriors who get as far as Panama. Nobody knows what became of them. Five hundred years later, Christopher Columbus is sailing for the Americas, dreaming of gold and conquest. Even after he is captured by the Tainos, his faith in his superiority and his mission is unshaken. Thirty-nine years after that, Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor, arrives in Europe.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A BRILLIANT BLEND OF HISTORY AND FICTION
- By Amazon Customer on 09-25-21
By: Laurent Binet, and others
-
The Greek Revolution
- 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe
- By: Mark Mazower
- Narrated by: John Lee, Mark Mazower
- Length: 20 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 83
As Mark Mazower shows us in his enthralling and definitive new account, myths about the Greek War of Independence outpaced the facts from the very beginning, and for good reason. This was an unlikely cause, against long odds, a disorganized collection of Greek patriots up against what was still one of the most storied empires in the world, the Ottomans. The revolutionaries needed all the help they could get.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent, had it not been for the narrator
- By Jean N on 05-15-22
By: Mark Mazower
-
Alexander the Great
- His Life and His Mysterious Death
- By: Anthony Everitt
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 14 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 296
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 255
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 254
In Alexander the Great, Anthony Everitt judges Alexander’s life against the criteria of his own age and considers all his contradictions. We meet the Macedonian prince who was naturally inquisitive and fascinated by science and exploration, as well as the man who enjoyed the arts and used Homer’s great epic, the Iliad, as a bible. As his empire grew, Alexander exhibited respect for the traditions of his new subjects and careful judgment in administering rule over his vast territory. But his career also had a dark side.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Alexander never gets...old.
- By Douglas Knops on 09-04-19
By: Anthony Everitt
-
Stick a Flag in It
- 1,000 Years of Bizarre History from Britain and Beyond
- By: Arran Lomas
- Narrated by: Arran Lomas
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 632
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 579
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 580
From the Norman Invasion in 1066 to the eve of the First World War, Stick a Flag in It is a thousand-year jocular journey through the history of Britain and its global empire. Forget what you were taught in school - this is history like you’ve never heard it before, full of captivating historical quirks that will make you laugh out loud and scratch your head in disbelief.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting history, hilariously recounted
- By Tori on 10-14-20
By: Arran Lomas
-
The Last Viking
- The True Story of King Harald Hardrada
- By: Don Hollway
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 115
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 104
Harald Sigurdsson burst into history as a teenaged youth in a Viking battle from which he escaped with little more than his life and a thirst for vengeance. But from these humble origins, he became one of Norway’s most legendary kings. The Last Viking is a fast-moving narrative account of the life of King Harald Hardrada, as he journeyed across the medieval world, from the frozen wastelands of the North to the glittering towers of Byzantium and the passions of the Holy Land, until his warrior death on the battlefield in England.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Just okay
- By Amazon Customer on 06-28-24
By: Don Hollway
-
Conquistador Voices
- The Spanish Conquest of the Americas as Recounted Largely by the Participants, Volume I
- By: Kevin H. Siepel
- Narrated by: Kevin H Siepel
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 56
The Spanish Conquest: What really happened? If you like to use your drive time for education by audiobook, consider this audiobook for widening and deepening your view of an event you studied briefly in school - the Spanish conquest of the Americas. Conquistador Voices, neither glamorizes nor condemns the conquistadors. Somewhat in the manner of a modern film documentary, it treats the so-called conquest as an historical event that’s worth learning about for its own sake, with most of the moralizing left to the listener.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
The Misleading Title is the Most Forgivable Part..
- By Tyler Sanders on 12-19-22
By: Kevin H. Siepel
-
The Conquering Family
- By: Thomas B. Costain
- Narrated by: David Case
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 218
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 156
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 149
Thomas B. Costain's four-volume history of the Plantagenets begins with The Conquering Family and the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, closing with the reign of John in 1216. The troubled period after the Norman Conquest, when the foundations of government were hammered out between monarch and people, comes to life through Costain's storytelling skill and historical imagination.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
An Entrancing History of the Early Plantegenets
- By Peter on 01-20-09
-
The War Queens
- Extraordinary Women Who Ruled the Battlefield
- By: Jonathan W. Jordan, Emily Anne Jordan
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 52
Father-daughter duo Jonathan and Emily Jordan uncover the ingenious wartime tactics of some of history’s most powerful female leaders across millennia and continents, from the stifling battlefields of ancient Egypt to the frigid waters off the Falkland Islands.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting boook.
- By TMK on 11-13-22
By: Jonathan W. Jordan, and others
-
Conquistadores
- A New History of Spanish Discovery and Conquest
- By: Fernando Cervantes
- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 134
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 112
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 112
Over the few short decades that followed Christopher Columbus' first landing in the Caribbean in 1492, Spain conquered the two most powerful civilizations of the Americas: the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru. Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, and the other explorers and soldiers who took part in these expeditions dedicated their lives to seeking political and religious glory, helping to build an empire unlike any the world had ever seen. But centuries later, these conquistadors have become the stuff of nightmares.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A fresh mature perspective on the Spanish conquest
- By Chencheno111 on 03-19-22
-
A History of France
- By: John Julius Norwich
- Narrated by: John Julius Norwich
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 376
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 333
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 331
John Julius Norwich - called a "true master of narrative history" by Simon Sebag Montefiore - returns with the book he has spent his distinguished career wanting to write, A History of France, a portrait of the past two centuries of the country he loves best. Beginning with Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul in the first century BC, this study of French history comprises a cast of legendary characters - Charlemagne, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Joan of Arc, and Marie Antionette, to name a few - as Norwich chronicles France's often violent, always fascinating history.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Kings and Wars
- By Awake Tex on 08-22-19
-
Scandinavia
- A History
- By: Ewan Butler
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 68
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 58
Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, award-winning historian Ewan Butler writes, struggled through unions and separations with both outsiders and each other, developing their own personalities and languages yet retaining their ancient connections.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent History of Scandinavia after the Vikings
- By Arthur on 05-05-17
By: Ewan Butler