For some listeners, this audiobook may be as dry as America was supposed to be when Prohibition was the law of the land. Others may appreciate this carefully researched, provocative account of an era when a noble experiment failed catastrophically. Ambrose focuses on Mabel Willebrandt, U.S. assistant district attorney and Prohibition zealot, and on Pauline Sabin, society lady and Republican politician who eventually led the effort for the amendment's repeal. We learn about these women, the political importance of the newly enfranchised woman voter, corrupt politicians, rumrunners, crooked law enforcement, and the growing public disillusionment through the steady, deliberative voice of Cassandra Campbell. This production sounds like a college lecture with a new slant on an important period in American history.
Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
Duration: 11 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780525641346
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 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
The Gilded Age race to invent automated typesetting was packed with colorful characters and grim reversals of fortune.
Energy more than artistry propels this rich and thoroughly engrossing history of automated printing and its impact on modern media. Author Jarvis isn’t the smoothest of narrators, but his enthusiastic delivery heightens the narrative. And what he delivers sounds very much like a gold rush tale. Setting type remained the final, seemingly impossible step in automating the printing process, and many failures preceded the successful Linotype, which remained the standard for decades thereafter. Mark Twain’s losses after he invested in a competitor are lamentable, but they’re merely tangential to the far more interesting stories of those who succeeded.
The Gilded Age race to invent automated typesetting was packed with colorful characters and grim reversals of fortune.Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2026
Duration: 11 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9798216477341
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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