Narrator Jonathan Keeble deftly conveys the majesty of the Amur River, which runs between Russia and China, while also realistically introducing 80-year-old author Colin Thubron. Listeners accompany him and various escorts, guides, and locals through Mongolia and Russia. Keeble's evocative descriptions of the vastly different settings, food and drink (aplenty), and colorful characters are center stage. Riveting historical, political, and geographical details abound, and the mutual hatred between the Chinese and Russians is palpable. Most pleasurable are Thubron's well-rendered conversations with individuals, some in Mandarin and Russian. The Amur--still a highly contested border--is always gloriously present, adding to this exhilarating listen.
Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
Duration: 10 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063099715
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
As an audiobook author, historian Matthew Restall is spirited, witty, highly informed, and full of insights and revelations. As a narrator, he's more subdued, even a bit flat. But no matter. Restall's steady, evenhanded narration reenforces the balance and objectivity of his history of the "nine lives of Christopher Columbus." Over five centuries, Columbus has been hailed and reviled, a discoverer and a destroyer, one century symbolized as Columbia and paired with Washington on statuary, the next denounced for perpetuating the Spanish devastation of the New World. Restall's restraint keeps the focus on the historical processes at work, and on his richly layered portrait of Columbus. History is fluid, it seems, and malleable--something this well-researched, well-told history demonstrates.
Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
Duration: 11 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9798318519789
Publisher: Tantor Media
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Mark Bramhall gives an excellent performance of this WWII story. Nina Willner weaves the lives of her father, Eddie Willner, and his Jewish family in Germany with the lives of several American GIs who saved his life at the end of the war. Her father and another companion were found by members of the 32nd Armored Regiment just before V-E Day. The two Germans assisted the GIs in the final weeks of the war. Willner describes the parallel tracks of all their lives and how Providence brought them all together. Bramhall provides a steady delivery and effective accents for the characters. Willner, who has a winsome voice, narrates like a pro as she splendidly recounts how she tracked down the GIs who rescued her father.
Pub Date: July 22, 2025
Duration: 9 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217076901
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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