The Olive Tree
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 Olive Tree
Buy for $25.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Carol Drinkwater
-
By:
-
Carol Drinkwater
About this listen
Troubled by challenges her own South of France farm is experiencing - attack by a virulent pest, the premature ripening of the trees' fruits - Carol realises new approaches to farming are becoming essential. Traditional customs have been set aside while the use of excessive chemicals is putting the harvests of her crops (and others) at risk. Changing patterns within the world's climate demand urgent action.
Carol's quest takes her south through Spain - now the home of more olive trees than anywhere else on earth - Morocco, Algeria and Italy before she finally returns to her farm. As a woman travelling alone, she is frequently vulnerable and never more so than in Algeria where, on her arrival, terrorist bombs are exploding, devastating the capital. Determined not to give up, Carol accepts the support of a network of beekeepers who guide her across troubled territories.
Through her travels and vivid, sometimes unlikely encounters, Carol confronts some of the critical issues of our time - land-care and the harsh realities of diminishing water reserves - and ends her momentous journey in the company of olive growers whose vision for the future is remarkable and ingenious.
©2009 Carol Drinkwater (P)2009 WF Howes LtdListeners also enjoyed...
-
Return to the Olive Farm
- By: Carol Drinkwater
- Narrated by: Carol Drinkwater
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 22
After 16 months of travelling round the Mediterranean in search of the ancient secrets of the olive tree, Carol returns to her beloved olive farm in the south of France. However, the homecoming celebrations are overshadowed by disturbing discoveries.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Another delightful Carol Drinkwater book
- By A. Rettich on 05-14-20
By: Carol Drinkwater
-
The Olive Harvest
- By: Carol Drinkwater
- Narrated by: Carol Drinkwater
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 13
Returning to their home after an extended absence, Carol and her husband, Michel, are looking forward to summer together on the farm. Then a shocking blow leaves Carol alone, and the future looks uncertain. The Olive Harvest takes us beyond the perimeters of her olive groves to where hunters, poets, beekeepers, boars and gypsies abide. In search of the language of troubadours, the dark and sometimes barbarous heart of Provence is revealed.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
great story
- By SEL on 10-11-21
By: Carol Drinkwater
-
The Olive Farm
- By: Carol Drinkwater
- Narrated by: Carol Drinkwater
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 92
For many, Carol Drinkwater will be forever remembered for her part as the wholesome Helen Herriot in the television series 'All Creatures Great and Small'. But since being a successful actress in England, she has spent the past thirteen years in France with her husband Michel.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
An enjoyable listen
- By silkieweaver on 05-09-12
By: Carol Drinkwater
-
An Act of Love
- By: Carol Drinkwater
- Narrated by: Carol Drinkwater
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10
France, 1943. Forced to flee war ravaged Poland, Sara and her parents are offered refuge in a beautiful but dilapidated house in the French Alps. It seems the perfect hideaway, despite haunting traces of the previous occupants who left in haste. But shadows soon fall over Sara's blissful summer and her blossoming romance with local villager Alain. As the Nazis close in, the family is forced to make a harrowing choice that could drive them apart forever, while Sara's own bid for freedom risks several lives.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great Book
- By Lovely Reader on 03-16-23
By: Carol Drinkwater
-
The House on the Edge of the Cliff
- By: Carol Drinkwater
- Narrated by: Carol Drinkwater
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 10
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 9
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 9
No-one else knows what happened that summer. Or so she believes. Grace first came to France a lifetime ago. Young and full of dreams of adventure, she met two very different men. She fell under the spell of one. The other fell under hers. Until one summer night shattered everything. Now, Grace is living an idyllic life with her husband, sheltered from the world in a magnificent Provençal villa perched atop a windswept cliff. Every day she looks out over the sea - the only witness to that fateful night years ago. Until a stranger arrives at the house. A stranger who knows everything.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Engaging
- By Theresa Bowery on 05-24-19
By: Carol Drinkwater
-
Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days
- By: Michael Palin
- Narrated by: Michael Palin
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 222
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 197
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 195
In the autumn of 1988, Michael Palin set out from the Reform Club with an ambitious plan: to circumnavigate the world, following the route taken by Jules Verne's fictional hero Phileas Fogg 115 years earlier. The rules were simple. He had to make the journey in 80 days using only forms of transport that would have been available to Fogg.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
music incredibly distracting and annoying
- By LJ on 05-18-19
By: Michael Palin
-
Return to the Olive Farm
- By: Carol Drinkwater
- Narrated by: Carol Drinkwater
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 22
After 16 months of travelling round the Mediterranean in search of the ancient secrets of the olive tree, Carol returns to her beloved olive farm in the south of France. However, the homecoming celebrations are overshadowed by disturbing discoveries.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Another delightful Carol Drinkwater book
- By A. Rettich on 05-14-20
By: Carol Drinkwater
-
The Olive Harvest
- By: Carol Drinkwater
- Narrated by: Carol Drinkwater
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 13
Returning to their home after an extended absence, Carol and her husband, Michel, are looking forward to summer together on the farm. Then a shocking blow leaves Carol alone, and the future looks uncertain. The Olive Harvest takes us beyond the perimeters of her olive groves to where hunters, poets, beekeepers, boars and gypsies abide. In search of the language of troubadours, the dark and sometimes barbarous heart of Provence is revealed.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
great story
- By SEL on 10-11-21
By: Carol Drinkwater
-
The Olive Farm
- By: Carol Drinkwater
- Narrated by: Carol Drinkwater
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 92
For many, Carol Drinkwater will be forever remembered for her part as the wholesome Helen Herriot in the television series 'All Creatures Great and Small'. But since being a successful actress in England, she has spent the past thirteen years in France with her husband Michel.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
An enjoyable listen
- By silkieweaver on 05-09-12
By: Carol Drinkwater
-
An Act of Love
- By: Carol Drinkwater
- Narrated by: Carol Drinkwater
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10
France, 1943. Forced to flee war ravaged Poland, Sara and her parents are offered refuge in a beautiful but dilapidated house in the French Alps. It seems the perfect hideaway, despite haunting traces of the previous occupants who left in haste. But shadows soon fall over Sara's blissful summer and her blossoming romance with local villager Alain. As the Nazis close in, the family is forced to make a harrowing choice that could drive them apart forever, while Sara's own bid for freedom risks several lives.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great Book
- By Lovely Reader on 03-16-23
By: Carol Drinkwater
-
The House on the Edge of the Cliff
- By: Carol Drinkwater
- Narrated by: Carol Drinkwater
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 10
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 9
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 9
No-one else knows what happened that summer. Or so she believes. Grace first came to France a lifetime ago. Young and full of dreams of adventure, she met two very different men. She fell under the spell of one. The other fell under hers. Until one summer night shattered everything. Now, Grace is living an idyllic life with her husband, sheltered from the world in a magnificent Provençal villa perched atop a windswept cliff. Every day she looks out over the sea - the only witness to that fateful night years ago. Until a stranger arrives at the house. A stranger who knows everything.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Engaging
- By Theresa Bowery on 05-24-19
By: Carol Drinkwater
-
Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days
- By: Michael Palin
- Narrated by: Michael Palin
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 222
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 197
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 195
In the autumn of 1988, Michael Palin set out from the Reform Club with an ambitious plan: to circumnavigate the world, following the route taken by Jules Verne's fictional hero Phileas Fogg 115 years earlier. The rules were simple. He had to make the journey in 80 days using only forms of transport that would have been available to Fogg.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
music incredibly distracting and annoying
- By LJ on 05-18-19
By: Michael Palin
-
Turn Right at Machu Picchu
- Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
- By: Mark Adams
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,946
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,734
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,734
Writer for the New York Times and GQ, Mark Adams is also the acclaimed author of Mr. America. In this fascinating travelogue, Adams follows in the controversial footsteps of Hiram Bingham III, who’s been both lionized and vilified for his discovery of the famed Lost City in 1911—but which reputation is justified?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Spellbounding, exceptional vocals
- By KLewis on 09-19-15
By: Mark Adams
-
Street Without a Name
- Childhood and Other Misadventures in Bulgaria
- By: Kapka Kassabova
- Narrated by: Emily Gray
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 53
Kassabova was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and grew up under the drab, muddy, gray mantle of one of communism’s most mindlessly authoritarian regimes. Escaping with her family as soon as possible after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, she lived in Britain, New Zealand, and Argentina, and several other places. But when Bulgaria was formally inducted to the European Union she decided it was time to return to the home she had spent most of her life trying to escape. What she found was a country languishing under the strain of transition. This two-part memoir of Kapka’s childhood and return explains life on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good start, but ended up not liking the author
- By Giselle on 11-02-21
By: Kapka Kassabova
-
Border
- A Journey to the Edge of Europe
- By: Kapka Kassabova
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
In this extraordinary work of narrative reportage, Kapka Kassabova returns to Bulgaria to explore the border it shares with Turkey and Greece. When she was a child, the border zone was rumored to be an easier crossing point into the West than the Berlin Wall, and it swarmed with soldiers and spies. On holidays in the "Red Riviera" on the Black Sea, she remembers playing on the beach only miles from a bristling electrified fence whose barbs pointed inward toward the enemy: the citizens of the totalitarian regime.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Repetition
- By Diane Bloomer on 06-02-24
By: Kapka Kassabova
-
Himalaya
- By: Michael Palin
- Narrated by: Michael Palin
- Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 195
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 61
In his most challenging journey to date, Palin tackles the Himalayas, the greatest mountain range on earth. It is a virtually unbroken wall of rock stretching 1,800 miles from the borders of Afghanistan to south-west China. Penetrated but never conquered, it remains the world's most majestic natural barrier, a magnificent wilderness that shapes the history and politics of Asia to this day.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Summer Must-Have
- By James on 05-05-05
By: Michael Palin
-
Here, There, Elsewhere
- Stories from the Road
- By: William Least Heat-Moon
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 63
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 55
Here, There, Elsewhere draws together for the first time William Least Heat-Moon's greatest short-form travel writing. Taking us from Japan, England, Italy, and Mexico to Long Island, Oregon, Arizona, and more, , Here, There, Elsewhere is a sharply observed, funny, and touching series of uncommon adventures narrated by America's keenest writer of place, people, and sublime connection. For decades, William Least Heat-Moon's readers have been clamoring for him to gather his shorter pieces; now, that wait is over.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Pretty Good, But Not Blue Highways
- By John on 01-28-23
-
Drive Nacho Drive
- A Journey from the American Dream to the End of the World
- By: Brad Van Orden, Sheena Van Orden
- Narrated by: Sheena Van Orden, Brad Van Orden
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 94
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 86
Drive Nacho Drive tells the hilarious and sometimes harrowing story of what happens when Brad and Sheena Van Orden trade in the American dream for a year on the roads of Central and South America aboard “Nacho”, their quirky and somewhat temperamental Volkswagen van. As a result of questionable decision-making skills and intermittent bad luck, Brad and Sheena repeatedly find themselves in over their heads.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Starts very slowly, but worth it in the end
- By Ann on 03-20-17
By: Brad Van Orden, and others
-
Ghost Train to the Eastern Star
- By: Paul Theroux
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 24 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 237
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 172
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 170
In Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Paul Theroux retraces the steps he took thirty years ago in his classic The Great Railway Bazaar. From the Eurostar in London, he once again sets out on a journey to the East, travelling overland through Eastern Europe, India and Asia. Infused with the changes that have shaped the exterior landscape and enriched with developments to his own perceptions and psychology, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star is an absorbing and beautifully written follow-up to The Great Railway Bazaar.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
ghost train to the eastern star
- By roger w patton on 07-22-09
By: Paul Theroux
-
An Arabian Journey
- One Man's Quest Through the Heart of the Middle East
- By: Levison Wood
- Narrated by: Levison Wood
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 100
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 86
Starting in a city in Northern Syria, Wood set forth on a 5,000-mile trek through the most contested region on the planet. He moved through the Middle East for six months, from ISIS-occupied Iraq through Kuwait and along the jagged coastlines of the Emirates and Oman; across a civil-war-torn Yemen and on to Saudia Arabia, Jordan, and Israel, before ending on the shores of the Mediterranean in Lebanon. Like his predecessors, Wood traveled through some of the harshest and most beautiful environments on Earth, seeking to challenge our perceptions of this misunderstood part of the world.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Learning about people
- By B Tidball on 07-13-21
By: Levison Wood
-
Through Sand & Snow
- A Man, a Bicycle, and a 43,000-Mile Journey to Adulthood via the Ends of the Earth
- By: Charlie Walker
- Narrated by: Charlie Walker
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 184
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 159
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 158
At age 22, Charlie Walker left home in search of adventure. Fleeing the boredom that comes with comfort, he set off on a secondhand bicycle. The aim was simple: to pedal to the furthest point in each of Europe, Asia, and Africa. He didn’t train or plan. He just started. The journey was an escape from an unremarkable existence, a pursuit of hardship, and a chance to shed the complacency of middle England. From the brutality of winter on the Tibetan plateau, to the claustrophobia of the Southeast Asian jungle, the quest provided Charlie with ample opportunity to test his mettle.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved this tale of adventure!
- By Harry Santa-Olalla on 04-09-19
By: Charlie Walker
-
Sovietistan
- Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan
- By: Erika Fatland
- Narrated by: Jill Rolls
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 59
Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan became free of the Soviet Union in 1991. But though they are new to modern statehood, this is a region rich in ancient history, culture, and landscapes unlike anywhere else in the world. Traveling alone, Erika Fatland is a true adventurer in every sense. In Sovietistan, she takes the listener on a compassionate and insightful journey to explore how their Soviet heritage has influenced these countries, with governments experimenting with both democracy and dictatorships.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding book
- By George MP on 04-24-22
By: Erika Fatland
-
Indonesia, Etc.
- Exploring the Improbable Nation
- By: Elizabeth Pisani
- Narrated by: Jan Cramer
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 185
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 154
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 153
Bewitched by Indonesia for twenty-five years, Elizabeth Pisani recently traveled 26,000 miles around the archipelago in search of the links that bind this impossibly disparate nation. Fearless and funny, Pisani shares her deck space with pigs and cows, bunks down in a sulfurous volcano, and takes tea with a corpse. Along the way, she observes Big Men with child brides, debates corruption and cannibalism, and ponders "sticky" traditions that cannot be erased.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Bill Bryson channels Margaret Mead
- By John S. on 09-01-14
By: Elizabeth Pisani
-
The Great Railway Bazaar
- By: Paul Theroux
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 506
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 432
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 426
The Great Railway Bazaar is Paul Theroux's account of his epic journey by rail through Asia. Filled with evocative names of legendary train routes - the Direct-Orient Express, the Khyber Pass Local, the Delhi Mail from Jaipur, the Golden Arrow to Kuala Lumpur, the Hikari Super Express to Kyoto, and the Trans-Siberian Express - it describes the many places, cultures, sights and sounds he experienced and the fascinating people he met.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Just about as good as it gets...
- By david d. on 03-27-11
By: Paul Theroux
Related to this topic
-
Sahara
- By: Michael Palin
- Narrated by: Michael Palin
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 142
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A wonderful journey.
- By David on 05-22-05
By: Michael Palin
-
Full Circle
- A Pacific Journey with Michael Palin
- By: Michael Palin
- Narrated by: Michael Palin
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 113
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
Following the hugely popular and successful Around the World in 80 Days and Pole to Pole, Michael Palin set off to meet another challenge: an anti-clockwise circumnavigation of the world's largest ocean, the Pacific.
-
out of 5 stars
-
Excellent, per usual
- By Enroute8 on 06-03-07
By: Michael Palin
-
Sovietistan
- Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan
- By: Erika Fatland
- Narrated by: Jill Rolls
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 59
Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan became free of the Soviet Union in 1991. But though they are new to modern statehood, this is a region rich in ancient history, culture, and landscapes unlike anywhere else in the world. Traveling alone, Erika Fatland is a true adventurer in every sense. In Sovietistan, she takes the listener on a compassionate and insightful journey to explore how their Soviet heritage has influenced these countries, with governments experimenting with both democracy and dictatorships.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding book
- By George MP on 04-24-22
By: Erika Fatland
-
Indonesia, Etc.
- Exploring the Improbable Nation
- By: Elizabeth Pisani
- Narrated by: Jan Cramer
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 185
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 154
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 153
Bewitched by Indonesia for twenty-five years, Elizabeth Pisani recently traveled 26,000 miles around the archipelago in search of the links that bind this impossibly disparate nation. Fearless and funny, Pisani shares her deck space with pigs and cows, bunks down in a sulfurous volcano, and takes tea with a corpse. Along the way, she observes Big Men with child brides, debates corruption and cannibalism, and ponders "sticky" traditions that cannot be erased.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Bill Bryson channels Margaret Mead
- By John S. on 09-01-14
By: Elizabeth Pisani
-
In Manchuria
- A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China
- By: Michael Meyer
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 45
For three years Meyer rented a home in the rice-farming community of Wasteland, hometown of his wife's family, and their personal saga mirrors the tremendous change most of rural China is undergoing in the form of a privately held rice company that has built new roads, introduced organic farming, and constructed high-rise apartments into which farmers can move in exchange for their land rights.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
If you liked the Wonder Years...?
- By Judas Mallory on 05-19-15
By: Michael Meyer
-
Lost on Planet China
- By: J. Maarten Troost
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 754
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 506
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 506
When the travel bug bit, J. Maarten Troost took on the world's most populous and intriguing nation. As Troost relates his gonzo adventure - dodging deadly drivers in Shanghai, eating yak in Tibet, deciphering restaurant menus (offering local favorites such as cattle penis with garlic), and visiting with Chairman Mao (still dead) - he reveals a vast, complex country on the brink of transformation that will soon shape the way we all work, live, and think.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I love Troost but...
- By Abigail on 02-25-09
-
Sahara
- By: Michael Palin
- Narrated by: Michael Palin
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 142
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A wonderful journey.
- By David on 05-22-05
By: Michael Palin
-
Full Circle
- A Pacific Journey with Michael Palin
- By: Michael Palin
- Narrated by: Michael Palin
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 113
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
Following the hugely popular and successful Around the World in 80 Days and Pole to Pole, Michael Palin set off to meet another challenge: an anti-clockwise circumnavigation of the world's largest ocean, the Pacific.
-
out of 5 stars
-
Excellent, per usual
- By Enroute8 on 06-03-07
By: Michael Palin
-
Sovietistan
- Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan
- By: Erika Fatland
- Narrated by: Jill Rolls
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 59
Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan became free of the Soviet Union in 1991. But though they are new to modern statehood, this is a region rich in ancient history, culture, and landscapes unlike anywhere else in the world. Traveling alone, Erika Fatland is a true adventurer in every sense. In Sovietistan, she takes the listener on a compassionate and insightful journey to explore how their Soviet heritage has influenced these countries, with governments experimenting with both democracy and dictatorships.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding book
- By George MP on 04-24-22
By: Erika Fatland
-
Indonesia, Etc.
- Exploring the Improbable Nation
- By: Elizabeth Pisani
- Narrated by: Jan Cramer
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 185
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 154
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 153
Bewitched by Indonesia for twenty-five years, Elizabeth Pisani recently traveled 26,000 miles around the archipelago in search of the links that bind this impossibly disparate nation. Fearless and funny, Pisani shares her deck space with pigs and cows, bunks down in a sulfurous volcano, and takes tea with a corpse. Along the way, she observes Big Men with child brides, debates corruption and cannibalism, and ponders "sticky" traditions that cannot be erased.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Bill Bryson channels Margaret Mead
- By John S. on 09-01-14
By: Elizabeth Pisani
-
In Manchuria
- A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China
- By: Michael Meyer
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 45
For three years Meyer rented a home in the rice-farming community of Wasteland, hometown of his wife's family, and their personal saga mirrors the tremendous change most of rural China is undergoing in the form of a privately held rice company that has built new roads, introduced organic farming, and constructed high-rise apartments into which farmers can move in exchange for their land rights.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
If you liked the Wonder Years...?
- By Judas Mallory on 05-19-15
By: Michael Meyer
-
Lost on Planet China
- By: J. Maarten Troost
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 754
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 506
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 506
When the travel bug bit, J. Maarten Troost took on the world's most populous and intriguing nation. As Troost relates his gonzo adventure - dodging deadly drivers in Shanghai, eating yak in Tibet, deciphering restaurant menus (offering local favorites such as cattle penis with garlic), and visiting with Chairman Mao (still dead) - he reveals a vast, complex country on the brink of transformation that will soon shape the way we all work, live, and think.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I love Troost but...
- By Abigail on 02-25-09
-
Street Without a Name
- Childhood and Other Misadventures in Bulgaria
- By: Kapka Kassabova
- Narrated by: Emily Gray
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 53
Kassabova was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and grew up under the drab, muddy, gray mantle of one of communism’s most mindlessly authoritarian regimes. Escaping with her family as soon as possible after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, she lived in Britain, New Zealand, and Argentina, and several other places. But when Bulgaria was formally inducted to the European Union she decided it was time to return to the home she had spent most of her life trying to escape. What she found was a country languishing under the strain of transition. This two-part memoir of Kapka’s childhood and return explains life on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good start, but ended up not liking the author
- By Giselle on 11-02-21
By: Kapka Kassabova
-
Travels in Siberia
- By: Ian Frazier
- Narrated by: Ian Frazier
- Length: 20 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 421
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 307
-
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....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I Loved This Book
- By Sara on 01-05-14
By: Ian Frazier
-
A Year in Provence
- By: Peter Mayle
- Narrated by: Peter Mayle
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 419
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 343
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 342
Peter Mayle and his wife had been to Provence as tourists. They had dreamed of one day trading the long, grey winters and damp summers of England for the blue skies and sunshine of the coast of southern France. And then they made it happen. They moved into an old farmhouse at the foot of the Luberon mountains and embarked on a wonderful, if at times bewildering, new life.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Ban abridged versions
- By marlowe on 03-30-15
By: Peter Mayle
-
Finding George Orwell in Burma
- By: Emma Larkin
- Narrated by: Emily Durante
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 49
Over the years the American writer Emma Larkin has spent traveling in Burma, she has come to know all too well the many ways this police state can be described as "Orwellian". The life of the mind exists in a state of siege in Burma, and it long has. The connection between George Orwell and Burma is not simply metaphorical, of course; Orwell's mother was born in Burma, and he was shaped by his experiences there as a young man working for the British Imperial Police.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Orwell's Horrors Brought to Life
- By Roger on 09-21-10
By: Emma Larkin
-
House of Stone
- A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East
- By: Anthony Shadid
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 78
When Anthony Shadid—one of four New York Times reporters captured in Libya as the region erupted—was freed, he went home, not to Boston, Beirut, or Oklahoma, where he was raised by his Lebanese American family, but to an ancient estate built by his great-grandfather, a place filled with memories of a lost era when the Middle East was a world of grace, grandeur, and unexpected departures.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Bit depressing
- By Astrid Dahl on 03-17-12
By: Anthony Shadid
-
Around the World in 50 Years
- My Adventure to Every Country on Earth
- By: Albert Podell
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 57
This is the inspiring story of an ordinary guy who achieved two great goals that others had told him were impossible. First, he set a record for the longest automobile journey ever made around the world, during the course of which he blasted his way out of minefields, survived a breakdown atop the Peak of Death, came within seconds of being lynched in Pakistan, and lost three of the five men who started with him - two to disease, one to the Vietcong.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic Adventure
- By CJ on 09-12-18
By: Albert Podell
-
One Year Off
- Leaving It All Behind for a Round-the-World Journey with Our Children
- By: David Cohen
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 24
In One Year Off, you can join the family on a trek up a Costa Rican volcano, cruise the canals of Burgundy by houseboat, and ride ferries through the Greek Islands. Later, as the Cohens wander further off the tourist trail, you can drive through the villages of Rajasthan, traverse the vast Australian Nullarbor, and discover the charms of Cambodia's Angkor Wat and the hidden shangri-las of northern Laos.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
fun filled travellog
- By tarun on 07-22-19
By: David Cohen
-
Walking the Kiso Road
- A Modern-Day Exploration of Old Japan
- By: William Scott Wilson
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 44
Take a trip to old Japan with William Scott Wilson as he travels the ancient Kiso Road, a legendary route that remains much the same today as it was hundreds of years ago. The Kisoji, which runs through the Kiso Valley in the Japanese Alps, has been in use since at least 701 CE. In the 17th century, it was the route that the daimyo (warlords) used for their biennial trips - along with their samurai and porters - to the new capital of Edo (now Tokyo).
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Definitely recommended
- By John S. on 06-28-16
-
Life and Death in the Andes
- On the Trail of Bandits, Heroes, and Revolutionaries
- By: Kim MacQuarrie
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 16 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 64
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
The Andes Mountains are the world's longest mountain chain, linking most of the countries in South America. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and author Kim MacQuarrie takes us on a historical journey through this unique region, bringing fresh insight and contemporary connections to such fabled characters as Charles Darwin, Pablo Escobar, Che Guevara, and many others.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Another Great by Kim MacQuarrie
- By Than on 03-25-24
By: Kim MacQuarrie
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 655
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 425
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 429
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
My new favorite author!
- By L. Worthington on 08-28-07
-
The Marches
- A Borderland Journey Between England and Scotland
- By: Rory Stewart
- Narrated by: Rory Stewart
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 61
Ten years after the walk across Central Asia and Afghanistan that he memorialized in The Places in Between, Rory Stewart set out on a new journey, traversing a thousand miles between England and Scotland. Stewart was raised along the border of the two countries, the frontier taking on poignant significance in his understanding of what it means to be both Scottish and English, of his relationship with his father, who's lived on this land his whole life, and of his ties to the rich history and culture of the region.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Uneven and unexpected, still worth it.
- By Nassir on 04-29-17
By: Rory Stewart
-
Turn Right at Machu Picchu
- Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
- By: Mark Adams
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,946
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,734
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,734
Writer for the New York Times and GQ, Mark Adams is also the acclaimed author of Mr. America. In this fascinating travelogue, Adams follows in the controversial footsteps of Hiram Bingham III, who’s been both lionized and vilified for his discovery of the famed Lost City in 1911—but which reputation is justified?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Spellbounding, exceptional vocals
- By KLewis on 09-19-15
By: Mark Adams
What listeners say about The Olive Tree
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
- Andy
- 01-10-10
tough to follow and listen to
This book seems to be more of a memoir than a story about olive trees. Drinkwater weaves in so much flotsam that its tough to follow the story. Moreover, while I love her English accent, her narration is so high energy, that it is difficult to listen to.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful