Narrator Sunil Malhotra reads this dramatic audiobook, a Pulitzer Prize winner, with a reportorial style, deftly handling the tongue-twisting Middle Eastern names. This approach allows him to illuminate the foundations of the most dangerous terror organization on the planet--known in the West as ISIS. His measured delivery lets the story tell itself, with all its horrific facts. This audiobook closely follows the course of jihadist terror since 9/11, focusing on the past five years. The listener comes away with the ISIS origins story (bombings, beheadings, and betrayals) leavened with fascinating profiles of its prime movers--terrorists like Abu Mussab al Zarqawi and Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi; regional power brokers like Jordan's King Abdullah II and Syria's Bahsar al-Assad; and important Americans like CIA operative Nada Bakos and diplomat Robert S. Ford.
Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2015
Duration: 13 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781101923542
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Buckley offers a reasonable proposal for a national service program without jail or criminal penalties. Narrator Lawrence reads with a slow and careful announcer's voice; one wishes Buckley were reading this one himself. Books on Tape does its usual quality job with formatting, packaging and tape-turning instructions. The reader repeats the last sentence at such times, so you're sure you haven't missed anything. Popular nonfiction collections will appreciate Gratitude, and the topic is likely to prove timely in the years ahead.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 5 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Kozol’s shocking exposé of inequities in the funding of our public schools contrasts white suburban schools with those serving black and Hispanic populations. Interviews with students, teachers, and school administrators add eloquent testimony to Kozol’s disturbing presentation of facts. Narration by Jack Winston is clear and brisk, but the pace is unrelenting, with little pause for transition between scenes or chapters. Winston’s cool, detached voice contrasts with Kozol’s impasssioned and outraged message. The sheer repetition and magnitude of Kozol’s damning evidence is numbing; the narration gives no relief. Powerful medicine, most easily taken in small doses. Music signalling tape changes is jarringly inappropriate.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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