The fog of war, when it ended in Europe in 1918, left four great empires in shambles. The Versailles peace conference, however, merely ushered in what could be called the fog of peace, as the battlefield became the conference table, a fog that continues to our day, as the maps of the Balkans, Africa, and the Middle East attest. What happened to the hopes of the world for justice and self-determination when they met at that table with the competing demands of new and old nationalisms? That is the stuff of Margaret MacMillan's award-winning study. Suzanne Toren's intuitive understanding of MacMillan's text raises her narration from mere reading to a new level of intimacy and immediacy. She is so in tune with the author's irony and nuance that it's difficult to believe we are only listening to history, not the author herself (great-granddaughter of Britain's David Lloyd George) recounting the events and personalities who met that spring and summer in Paris 1919. But history it is--and vital at that, if we are to understand how historic mistakes transform themselves later into world crises. P.E.F.
(c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2003
Duration: 26 hrs
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Addis delivers a satisfying performance that will keep listeners engaged in this commendable history.
Matt Addis narrates Bayliss’ detailed but straightforward history of Sparta, from prehistory to the destruction of the Spartan hegemony in the 360s B.C.E., both ably and amiably. His resonant voice is likeable, if sometimes scratchy. And his manner is so thoroughly friendly that the program seems like history as narrated by a kindly uncle—but an astute one. His understanding and interpretation of the text are precise, and his tones and emphases are correct and helpful. Addis’ pacing is slightly slow, with notable pauses between text blocks, but given the complicated interurban politics of the ancient Greek city-states, moderate pacing is helpful rather than distracting.
Addis delivers a satisfying performance that will keep listeners engaged in this commendable history.Pub Date: May 19, 2026
Duration: 11 hrs, 27 mins
DD ISBN: 9798899749254
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
Kristin Atherton is the absolute right choice to narrate this riveting and complex history of the rise of global terrorism. The research provided here is ambitious, providing a clear-eyed, deeply considered history of the nature of terrorist acts, the motivations for which were hard for news broadcasts of the 1970s to fully capture. Atherton's narration never wavers as Burke covers the well-known events of airplane hijackings, the Munich Olympic attacks, and the Beirut bombings of 1983, "the bloodiest year." The result is an insightful history that gives context to events that may have seemed disparate to casual observers. Atherton maintains a comprehensive, consistent voice throughout this long, gripping audiobook.
Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
Duration: 25 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217018796
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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