History - General

1939: THE LAST SEASON

by Anne de Courcy

read by Jill Johnson

running time 9hrs 45mins

As war clouds gathered over Europe there was nothing to do but wait, and dance. 1939 may have been the last season of peace, but it was also the the last flutter of Thirties Society, marked by balls, house parties, and the pop of champagne corks.

AGENT ZIGZAG

by Ben Macintyre

read by Peter Wickham

running time 11hrs

On a chill December night in 1942, a Nazi parachutist landed in a Cambridgeshire field. His mission: to sabotage the British war effort. His German masters called him Fritz, or Fritzchen. The British police knew him as Eddie Chapman. Within weeks Chapman was in the hands of MI5 and operating as Agent Zigzag.

THE BABY LAUNDRY FOR UNMARRIED MOTHERS

by Angela Patrick

read by Christina Thornhill

running time 7hrs 25mins

London, 1963. Angela Patrick was 19 years old and pregnant. Her parents, strict Catholics, sent her to an imposing convent for unmarried mothers. At eight weeks, her son was taken away from her and put up for adoption. Thirty years later, he contacted her and a reunion was arranged.

CALL THE MIDWIFE

by Jennifer Worth

read by Annie Aldington

running time 12hrs

Jennifer Worth relates her experiences as a midwife in London’s East End during the 1950’s. She witnessed both brutality and tragedy but also met with kindness and understanding, all mixed with a good sprinkling of cockney humour.. The book succeeds in being both funny and very moving.

DAUGHTERS OF BRITANNIA

by Katie Hickman

read by Maureen Marshall

running time 14hrs 15mins

Whilst some wives of British diplomats were famous women, the vast majority were entirely unknown. This entertaining social history tells the story of diplomatic life over the centuries.

THE ELITE

by Ranulph Fiennes

read by Peter Noble

running time 13hrs 15mins

Ranulph Fiennes himself served in Britain's toughest formation, the SAS. Since his military days he has won acclaim as an extraordinary brave and resourceful Arctic adventurer. It is fitting that he now looks back across 5,000 years of military history to pinpoint and celebrate the best elite units that served and fought across the globe.

FAITHFUL HANDMAID

by Hester Davenport

read by Nancy Gower

running time 10hrs 30mins

Fanny Burney was Keeper of the Robes to Queen Charlotte. As such she was able to witness and record the dramas of the court, including the attempt on the King's life and his 'madness'. She also recorded her own life as she gained fame as a novelist.

GIRL IN A GREEN GOWN: THE HISTORY AND MYSTERY OF THE ARNOLFINI PORTRAIT

by Carola Hicks

read by Patricia Mumford

running time 9hrs

The Arnolfini portrait, painted by Jan van Eyck in 1434, is one of the world's most famous paintings. Scholars and the public alike have puzzled over the meaning of this haunting gem of medieval art. Using her acclaimed forensic skills as an art historian, Carola Hicks set out to decode the mystery, uncovering a few surprises along the way.

HEAVEN'S COMMAND

by Jan Morris

read by Roy McMillan

running time 20hrs 10mins

Jan Morris tells the epic story of the rise of the British Empire, from Queen Victoria's accession in 1837 to her Diamond Jubilee in 1897. She subtly traces the impact of empire on places as diverse as Sierra Leone and Fiji, Zululand and the Canadian prairies. Volume 1 of the 'Pax Brittanica' trilogy.

IF WALLS COULD TALK: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF THE HOME

by Lucy Worsley

read by Katherine Shaw

running time 11hrs

Why did the flushing toilet take two centuries to catch on? Why did medieval people sleep sitting up? Why did gas lighting cause Victorian ladies to faint? Why, for centuries, did people fear fruit? All these questions - and more - are answered in this truly intimate history of the home.

JAMBUSTERS

by Julie Summers

read by Jill Johnson

running time 10hrs 30mins

The Second World War was the WI's finest hour. With all the vigour, energy and enthusiasm at their disposal, a third of a million country women set out to make their lives and the lives of those around them more bearable in what they described as 'a period of insanity'.

KEEPING THE MUSIC ALIVE

by Colin Burbidge (editor)

read by Miscellaneous

running time 1hr

Wartime adventures of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Originally compiled and produced as a radio broadcast by Colin Burbidge.

LADY ALMINA AND THE REAL DOWNTON ABBEY

by Lady Fiona Carnarvon

read by Grace Dives

running time 11hrs

Lady Fiona Carnarvon, chatelaine of Highclere Castle - the setting for the hit TV show 'Downton Abbey' - discovers a fascinating history of the place and the extraordinary people who lived there over the centuries.

MAGNIFICENT WOMEN AND THEIR REVOLUTIONARY MACHINES

by Henrietta Heald

read by Lara J West

running time 8hrs

In 1919, in the wake of the First World War, a group of extraordinary women came together to create the Women's Engineering Society. They were trailblazers, pioneers and boundary breakers, but many of their stories have been lost to history. This is not just the story of the women themselves, but also the era in which they lived and charts the changing attitudes towards women in society and in the workplace.

THE NARROW SEA: BARRIER, BRIDGE AND GATEWAY TO THE WORLD

by Peter Unwin

read by Michael St. John

running time 16hrs

Because of its size, the English Channel could seem an insignificant piece of water, but it has a history that is complicated and vital. This book explores over nine thousand years of the history of the gateway to Europe.

OBERAMMERGAU

by James Shapiro

read by John Hunter

running time 9hrs

A fascinating portrait of a German village and its controversial Passion Play, which has been held every ten years since the seventeenth century.

PALACES OF PLEASURE

by Lee Jackson

read by Grace Dives

running time 14hrs

In this engaging account of Victorian mass entertainment, Lee Jackson charts the rise of well-known institutions such as gin palaces, music halls, seaside resorts and football clubs, as well as the more peculiar attractions of the pleasure garden and human zoos, to theme park thrill rides. The Victorians' unbounded love of leisure created a nationally significant and influential economic force: the modern entertainment industry.

QUEST FOR ADVENTURE: REMARKABLE FEATS OF EXPLORATION AND ADVENTURE

by Chris Bonington

read by Nigel Bonynge

running time 17hrs

A collection of stories written by Sir Chris Bonington looking at the adventurous impulse which has driven men and women to achieve the impossible in the face of Earth’s elements: crossing its oceans, deserts and poles; canoeing its rivers; climbing its mountains and descending into its caves.

RABBIT-PROOF FENCE

by Doris Pilkington

read by Rebekah Germain

running time 4hrs 20mins

The captivating true story of the author's mother, Molly, one of three young sisters uprooted from their community in South-western Australia and taken to a native settlement, where they were taught to be culturally white. The girls escaped and followed a 1,000 mile long rabbit-proof fence back to their home.

SAFE PASSAGE

by Ida Cook

read by Grace Dives

running time 9hrs

No one would have predicted such glamorous and daring lives for Ida and Louise Cook, two decidedly ordinary women who lived quiet lives in the London suburbs. But throughout the 1930s, the remarkable sisters rescued dozens of Jews facing persecution and death by posing as eccentric opera fans.

TEA: ADDICTION, EXPLOITATION AND EMPIRE

by Roy Moxham

read by Michael St. John

running time 12hrs 15mins

In 1960 the author began work managing a 500-acre tea plantation in Nyasaland. This experience led him to investigate the history of tea, a tale which reflects badly on the British Empire.

THE UNRELIABLE LIFE OF HARRY THE VALET: THE GREAT VICTORIAN JEWEL THIEF

by Duncan Hamilton

read by Bob Rollett

running time 10hrs 20mins

The true story of the most notorious Victorian jewel thief, who eluded London’s top detectives for five years but who was brought down by his love for the woman he would steal and lie for.

THE VANISHED LANDSCAPE

by Paul Johnson

read by Jim Swingler

running time 8hrs

Historian Paul Johnson grew up in the Potteries in the 1930s. Here he describes his free and un-supervised childhood, and the strange beauty of the industrial landscape around Stoke-on-Trent.

WALKING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK: A DISTRICT NURSE'S LIFE JOURNEY

by Dinah Latham

read by Grace Dives

running time 6hrs

Retired district nurse and midwife, Dinah, reflects on her life whilst walking with her close companion Harriet the dog, through the changing seasons of the Chiltern countryside. The reader will both laugh and cry as the author recounts many moving stories of patients cared for in 1960s London.