For those who love audiobooks regardless of genre or subject, this illuminating history of the loss, preservation, and rediscovery of ancient books will be one of the year’s memorable listening experiences. Written for a general audience, Stephen Greenblatt’s narrative is a model of classical grace and clarity, and demonstrates how superior authorship can breathe life and immediacy into the most arcane of subjects. Narrated with equal grace and command by Edoardo Ballerini, the history of the book attains added dimension in audio. The listener cannot help but compare today’s slim devices to the precarious history of books, handwritten, preserved often in single copies in monasteries, many—most—lost or destroyed after centuries of war and neglect. Ballerini is a gifted reader, attuned to every nuance and inflection of the prose. You feel at every moment that his is the perfect rendering for this word, this sentence, this book.
Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2011
Duration: 9 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781461846901
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A fresh look at Europe’s long, contentious history.
Hearing all of European history compressed into 14 hours could be comparable to seeing Earth from outer space. Everything is familiar, yet wondrous and new. Even those familiar with the history will find this audiobook to be a unique listening experience. Actor and narrator Alisdair Simpson is a familiar voice from dozens of British documentaries, and his performance here is highly polished, exacting, and attuned to every word. History compressed becomes history clarified. Drama is lost—the Huns, Charlemagne, the fall of Constantinople, all here and gone in a minute. At the same time, patterns emerge. Simpson’s flawless voice carries listeners effortlessly into a wider and more timeless perspective.
A fresh look at Europe’s long, contentious history.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
Duration: 14 hrs, 10 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668656204
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
Buruma’s subtle and effective narration style is essential to this chronicle.
Bard College historian Buruma has a personal link to WWII-era Berliners, his Dutch father having been a forced laborer in wartime Berlin. Buruma’s account highlights instances of the survival and rescue of Jews and of the Berlin residents who came forward to assist them. But of most Berliners, he says, “Their main aim was to stay out of trouble.” Buruma’s performance as both historian and narrator is a model of restraint and reliance on fact. He shapes a powerful narrative around Germany’s defeat at Stalingrad and year-by-year shifts in civilian morale. As deprivation and disillusion with the Nazi regime set in, the struggle for survival extended to all Berliners.
Buruma’s subtle and effective narration style is essential to this chronicle.Pub Date: March 17, 2026
Duration: 12 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217282210
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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