Narrator Gerard Doyle performs this work as if he has an intimate knowledge of its content, leaving little doubt that he and the author are of like mind. Almost a hundred years after the infamous assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, British author Tim Butcher recounts his journey across modern-day Bosnia and Serbia on the trail of the triggerman, Gavrilo Princip, who fired the shot that started WWI. Doyle presents the many interesting facts the author discovers in his travels. He has lengthy conversations with Princip's relatives and discovers new writings about the events before and after the shooting. Doyle gives each interviewee a unique voice, which adds to the authenticity of the work. Listeners will be interested to hear that Princip was shocked that his actions started the chain reaction that would bring the world into a grim, deadly conflict.
Pub Date: June 12, 2014
Duration: 9 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Tantor Media
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
GENERAL HISTORY | WORLD | MILITARY | HISTORY
This highly informative history of prehistory tells a new story of how Homo sapiens settled down and started civilizing.
This is historian and popular podcaster Wyman’s second audiobook, after The Verge (2021), which spanned the years 1490-1530 during the European Renaissance. Here his focus is 10,000 years earlier, at the end of the Ice Age, and the spread of what could now be called humans. The story of how, all over the globe, they gave up the migratory life, settled, and started building is wonderfully, richly told in this outstanding history. Wyman doesn’t have the smoothest or most melodic of voices, but he easily wins over the ear and the imagination with his solid research and his adept storytelling.
This highly informative history of prehistory tells a new story of how Homo sapiens settled down and started civilizing.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
Duration: 14 hrs, 55 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063256514
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: yesterday
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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