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THE EMPIRE OF NECESSITY

SLAVERY, FREEDOM, AND DECEPTION IN THE NEW WORLD

A shipboard slave revolt in 1804 and the lives of its principal instigators are the springboard for this unique examination of slavery. Luis Moreno's voice fits the storyline: expansive and emotive as needed, flowing with the Spanish words and phrases, straightforward and descriptive as he unwinds the unique circumstances of the revolt and its aftermath. However, his pacing suffers throughout as he pauses all too often, sounding halting and unpracticed. This extensive examination of slavery, which includes the Spanish colonies and both the transatlantic and transpacific trade, demonstrates the degree to which the age of freedom in the New World and the development of an international economy were inexorably linked to slavery.

Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2014

Duration: 11 hrs, 15 mins

DD ISBN: 9781490602387

Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.

Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026

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    FLY, WILD SWANS

    MY MOTHER, MYSELF AND CHINA

    Andoh gives a magnetic performance for fans of Wild Swans and anyone interested in learning about China.

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    British actress Adjoa Andoh’s robust, smooth voice elevates Chang’s follow-up to her bestselling 1991 book Wild Swans, resulting in an engrossing and thought-provoking listen. Chang chronicles her life after 1978, when she became a British citizen and began researching and writing about China and Mao Zedong. She reflects on China’s political shifts and on her mother’s guidance as Chang navigates a suspicious and sometimes hostile government. Andoh narrates the more academic passages with a measured pace. In more personal sections, such as Chang’s battle with breast cancer and her recollections of her father’s imprisonment, Andoh ups the emotion.

    Andoh gives a magnetic performance for fans of Wild Swans and anyone interested in learning about China.

    Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026

    Duration: 10 hrs, 30 mins

    DD ISBN: 9780063480070

    Publisher: Harper Audio

    Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2026

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      CAPITALISM

      A GLOBAL HISTORY

      Highly engaging for a wide variety of listeners. 

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      Four exceptional narrators unfailingly capture the full relevance of every sentence and broad idea in this epic audiobook. With this monumental economic and social history, the author traces the growth of capitalism’s decisive impact on human society, from 15th-century traders to the invention of money and the seemingly unstoppable power of capital markets today. Beckert describes capitalism’s fraught relationship with forced and paid labor as it changed with advances in agriculture, transportation, industry, and political trends. Despite the idealized dream of free markets under capitalism, Beckert shows how it flourished only with the cooperation of governments that enforced the social and economic order necessary for wealth accumulation.

      Highly engaging for a wide variety of listeners. 

      Pub Date: Nov. 25, 2025

      Duration: 42 hrs, 30 mins

      DD ISBN: 9798217163571

      Publisher: Penguin Audio

      Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2026

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