This is history for the modern listener, clear, efficient, and reliable.
There’s something calming about listening to ancient history, as this well-researched audiobook amply demonstrates. Mark Elstob’s polished, quietly nuanced narration maintains distance and balance while giving full weight to the narrative’s many fine details. Elstob has narrated two of Goldsworthy’s previous audiobooks, companion histories of the long competition between Rome and Persia. He perfectly matches this prolific popular historian’s lucid and impartial narrative style and his knack for balancing a panoramic view with a close recreation of place and action. The long, contentious rivalry between Athens and Sparta turned victory over Persia into division and civil strife.
This is history for the modern listener, clear, efficient, and reliable.Pub Date: May 12, 2026
Duration: 20 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781549135439
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: May 12, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2026
Carol Matthau epitomizes a glamour and lifestyle not associated with the 1990's. Here is a life of privilege, tragedy and worry about what friends would think of her new frock or lover. Matthau possesses a voice and delivery that simply could not be improved on. In her coy whisper, she tells compelling stories involving everyone from William Saroyan (husband #1) and Truman Capote to Carson McCullers, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Walter Matthau (husband #2). This excellent audio presentation will leave you wanting to read the entire book to discover what juicy tidbits were left out.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: The Publishing Mills
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A fascinating look into the beginnings of true-crime writing.
In this audio original, author Dawson (American Sherlock, 2020) turns her attention to a series of brutal crimes that led to breakthroughs in crime-solving using forensics. With a serviceable and intelligent narration, Dawson focuses on two horrific crimes known as the Ratcliffe Highway Murders. In 1811, two families living five blocks apart were slaughtered in their homes. These senseless, apparently motiveless murders not only inspired new methods of police investigation, they also piqued the imaginations of notable writers. Dawson connects the Ratcliffe Highway Murders to Poe’s “Murders in the Rue Morgue” and Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet.
A fascinating look into the beginnings of true-crime writing.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2026
Duration: 3 hrs
DD ISBN: 9798217355594
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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