Lucy Paterson's confident narration lends authority to anthropologist Judith Scheele's wide-ranging exploration of the Sahara Desert. Scheele's mission is to complicate Western notions of the region by introducing listeners to its cultural, environmental, historical, economic, and ethnic complexity. Spanning the width of North Africa, the region's languages include both colonial (mostly Arabic and French) and indigenous tongues. Paterson's navigation of Scheele's liberal use of non-English words and phrases is mostly fluid, though occasional pauses before place names may momentarily distract listeners. Overall, however, her delivery is worthy of a BBC News broadcast, and listeners unfamiliar with the region (particularly those who keep a map handy) will emerge with a far greater appreciation of the land and its peoples than reductive stereotypes of men on camels.
Pub Date: June 3, 2025
Duration: 13 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781668650493
Publisher: Hachette 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
Quite interesting, if ancient history is one’s interest.
Born in Wales, Llewellyn-Jones is professor of ancient history at Cardiff University, and his narration is both heavily accented and professorial. His history of one of the world's first great metropolises is based on hard archeological evidence and is in equal parts a debunking and a rehabilitation. Much of Babylon still remains, in fact. While all those layers of grit are still being sifted and those thousands of mostly mundane cuneiform tablets translated, what Llewellyn-Jones focuses on here is primarily a line of kings and some epics. His research is thorough, scrupulous, and detailed. A particular high point is his retelling of the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Quite interesting, if ancient history is one’s interest.Pub Date: July 7, 2026
Duration: 19 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798318569005
Publisher: Tantor Media
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2026
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