Peter Ackroyd works his usual magic on this most majestic city. It's fascinating to learn that Venetians often feel they’re not part of Italy. Narrator Simon Vance remains understated as he describes the glorious city and its influence on the works of Bellini, Titian, and Tintoretto. His sublime pronunciation of Italian words and names adds to the Venetian flair. It’s exciting to realize that St. Martin's and St. Peter's churches have always had a rivalry, that there are multiple words to describe the fog that often shrouds the city, and that glassblowers were banished to Murano with fire safety in mind. Like Venice itself, the book and narration are multifaceted and are perfect for both tourist and armchair traveler.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2010
Duration: 14 hrs
Publisher: Tantor Media
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Andoh gives a magnetic performance for fans of Wild Swans and anyone interested in learning about China.
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
Highly engaging for a wide variety of listeners.
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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