History - World

AD AND WAL: VALUES, DUTY, SACRIFICE IN APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA

by Peter Hain

read by Bob Rollett

running time 9hrs 30mins

This is the story of two modest parents who rebelled against the apartheid regime knowing they were putting themselves and their family in grave danger. Peter Hain, MP and former Cabinet minister, tells the story of his parents - campaigners, fighters, exiles - in this searing and inspiring account.

BE LIKE THE FOX: MACHIAVELLI'S LIFELONG QUEST FOR FREEDOM

by Erica Benner

read by Ann Clark

running time 16hrs

Was Niccolò Machiavelli really the cynical schemer of legend - or was he a profound ethical thinker, who tried to save the democratic freedom of Renaissance Florence as it was threatened by ruthless dynasties? This revelatory biography shows us a man of fox-like dissimulation: a master of disguise in dangerous times.

CHERNOBYL: HISTORY OF A TRAGEDY

by Serhii Plokhy

read by Leighton Pugh

running time 13hrs 30mins

On the 26 April 1986 Europe witnessed the worst nuclear disaster in history: the explosion of a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Soviet Ukraine, which put the world on the brink of nuclear annihilation. In the end, less than five percent of the reactor's fuel escaped, but that was enough to contaminate over half of Europe with radioactive fallout. This poignant, fast paced account of the drama of heroes, perpetrators, and victims is the definitive history of the world's worst nuclear disaster.

THE DIARY OF LENA MUKHINA: A GIRL'S LIFE IN THE SIEGE OF LENINGRAD

by Lena Mukhina

read by Rachel Reay

running time 10hrs

Lena Mukhina was an ordinary teenage girl, living in Leningrad, keeping a diary in which she recorded her hopes and dreams. Then, on 22 June 1941, Leningrad was besieged and life became a living hell. Lena records her experiences: the desperate hunt for food, the bitter cold of the Russian winter and the cruel deaths of those she loved, in this truly remarkable account of a terrible era in modern history

EMPRESS OF THE EAST: HOW A SLAVE GIRL BECAME QUEEN OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

by Leslie Peirce

read by Clare Francis

running time 14hrs 30mins

Abducted by slave traders from her home in Ruthenia – modern-day Ukraine – around 1515, Roxelana was brought to Istanbul as a concubine for Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, ruler of the Ottoman Empire and one of the world’s most powerful men. Until now Roxelana has been seen by historians as a seductress who brought ruin to the empire, but historian Leslie Peirce reveals the compelling story of an elusive woman who transformed the Ottoman harem into an institution of imperial rule.

FISHING FLEET, THE: HUSBAND-HUNTING IN THE RAJ

by Anne de Courcy

read by Patricia Mumford

running time 13hrs 25mins

From the late 19th century, when the Raj was at its height, many of Britain's best and brightest young men went out to India to work. Countless young women, suffering at the lack of eligible men, followed in their wake. The women were known as 'the fishing fleet', and this is their story.

GEORGE S. PATTON

by Steven J Zaloga

read by Trevor White

running time 2hrs

George S. Patton Jr. was the iconic American field commander of World War II, and widely regarded as the US Army's finest practitioner of mechanized warfare. This title examines Patton's colorful life and leadership in three wars, with a concentration on his command in World War II.

HIDDEN FIGURES

by Margot Lee Shetterly

read by Robin Miles

running time 10hrs 45mins

Before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” calculated the numbers that would launch rockets into space. Among these were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, and even though they were segregated from their white counterparts, the women helped America achieve a decisive victory over the Soviet Union. These four African American women participated in some of NASA’s greatest successes.

INDIAN SUMMER

by Alex von Tunzelmann

read by Stephen Thorne

running time 14hrs 30mins

At midnight on 15 August, 1947, India left the British Empire. Within hours of the midnight chimes dreams of freedom and democracy would turn to chaos, bloodshed and war. Behind the scenes a secret personal drama was unfolding, as Edwina Mountbatten and Jawaharlal Nehru began a passionate love affair.

LITTLE DAUGHTER: A MEMOIR OF SURVIVAL IN BURMA AND THE WEST

by Zoya Phan

read by Maureen Marshall

running time 13hrs 30mins

Zoya Phan grew up in a small Karen village in the jungles of Burma. When she was 14, her childhood was shattered as the army attacked her village. The family fled and eventually in 2004, she claimed asylum in the UK. After appearing in an interview on the BBC at a Free Burma march she has become the face of a suffering nation.

MADE IN AMERICA

by Bill Bryson

read by Tony Lister

running time 22hrs

In his own inimitable style, Bill Bryson attempts to explain how American language, culture and society developed. Of course he illustrates his serious points with very funny anecdotes.

THE NEW SILK ROADS: THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE WORLD

by Peter Frankopan

read by Simon Evers

running time 7hrs 30mins

The world is changing dramatically, and the isolation and fragmentation permeating the western world stand in sharp contrast to events along the Silk Roads, where ties are being strengthened and mutual cooperation established. This contemporary history provides a timely reminder that we live in a world that is profoundly interconnected. Following the Silk Roads from Europe through to China, by way of Russia and the Middle East, Peter Frankopan assesses the continual shifts in the centre of power - all too often absent from headlines in the west.

ONE SUMMER; AMERICA 1927

by Bill Bryson

read by Bill Bryson

running time 17hrs

Bill Bryson travels back in time to summer 1927, the year America stepped out onto the world stage. A gripping narrative featuring a handful of larger-than-life characters, including Charles Lindbergh, Al Capone, Herbert Hoover, Babe Ruth, Ernest Hemingway and Henry Ford.

PAUL SCOTT'S RAJ

by Robin Moore

read by Michael St. John

running time 10hrs 15mins

A critical view of the British rule in India based on the experience of living under the British Raj by the author of "Jewel in the Crown".

THE RADIUM GIRLS

by Kate Moore

read by Kate Moore

running time 14hrs

As the First World War spread across the world, young American women flocked to work in factories, painting clocks, watches and military dials with a special luminous substance made from radium. However, as the years passed, the women began to suffer from mysterious illnesses. It turned out that their work was slowly killing them: the radium paint was poisonous.Their employers denied all responsibility, but these courageous women became determined to fight for justice.

THE SECRET WAR

by Max Hastings

read by Steven Crossley

running time 30hrs 40mins

Max Hastings examines the espionage and intelligence machines of all sides in World War II and the impact of spies, code breakers and partisan operations on events. With accounts from British, American, German, Russian and Japanese sources he tells the story of a secret war waged unceasingly by men and women whose actions profoundly influenced the outcome.

A TRAIN IN WINTER

by Caroline Moorehead

read by Patience Tomlinson

running time 12hrs

In Paris 1943, 230 French women resisters were rounded up and sent on a train to Auschwitz. The youngest was a schoolgirl of 15, the eldest a farmer's wife of 68. Of the group, 49 survivors would return to France. Here is the story of these women - told for the first time - in this portrait of ordinary people, of their bravery and endurance, and of the friendships that kept so many of them alive.

VIETNAM: AN EPIC HISTORY OF A DIVISIVE WAR 1945-1975

by Max Hastings

read by Peter Noble

running time 33hrs 30mins

Vietnam became the Western world's most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation for France in 1954, then a vastly greater one for the United States in 1975. Max Hastings has spent years interviewing scores of participants on both sides, as well as researching a multitude of American and Vietnamese documents and memoirs, to create this epic narrative of a huge struggle.

WARSPITE: FROM JUTLAND HERO TO COLD WAR WARRIOR

by Iain Ballantyne

read by Bob Rollett

running time 7hrs 30mins

Warspite fought off the entire German fleet at Jutland, survived a mutiny between the wars and then covered herself in glory in action from the Arctic to the Indian Ocean during WW2. But this is not just the story of a warship. It is also the story of the great naval nation which constructed her.