Narrator Derek Perkins's clear, strong voice has an edge that reinforces the harshness of Bregman's historical discussion of Arab-Israeli relations from 1967 to 2007. The author, a former Israeli military officer, seems cynical and hostile toward his native land, justifiably or not, in this brisk but information-laden history. Perkins's edgy tone provides a service to the text, in representing it truly, and a disservice, since a softer tone might have made Bregman's work seem more evenhanded. Despite Perkins's almost brusque manner, his admirable reading, like the book itself, is clear, intelligent, incisive, and briskly paced. But between the tone of the text itself and the narration, those who have not made up their minds against Israel may be put off.
Pub Date: May 15, 2015
Duration: 13 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781483084947
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
GENERAL HISTORY | WORLD | JEWISH | HISTORY
A beautifully written and narrated work.
Brangan narrates her own history of the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland with great empathy. The laundries were in operation all over Ireland from 1922 until 1996—and were in fact locked institutions run by the Catholic Church to ostensibly save “fallen” unwed pregnant women from ruin. In her lovely Irish brogue, Brangan follows several women throughout their experiences in the laundries. Her tone becomes subtly harsher when recounting the stories of those who looked the other way while the Church continued to imprison women and girls in plain sight. The story of the laundries has been told frequently in recent years, but never quite so thoroughly and compassionately.
A beautifully written and narrated work.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
Duration: 9 hrs, 14 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668121375
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
This highly informative history of prehistory tells a new story of how Homo sapiens settled down and started civilizing.
This is historian and popular podcaster Wyman’s second audiobook, after The Verge (2021), which spanned the years 1490-1530 during the European Renaissance. Here his focus is 10,000 years earlier, at the end of the Ice Age, and the spread of what could now be called humans. The story of how, all over the globe, they gave up the migratory life, settled, and started building is wonderfully, richly told in this outstanding history. Wyman doesn’t have the smoothest or most melodic of voices, but he easily wins over the ear and the imagination with his solid research and his adept storytelling.
This highly informative history of prehistory tells a new story of how Homo sapiens settled down and started civilizing.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
Duration: 14 hrs, 55 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063256514
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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