by Walt Whitman ; read by William Hope ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 17, 2025
This is a wonderful presentation of the passion and philosophy of the most American of all poets.
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Walt Whitman was the first great American free verse poet, and William Hope’s performance makes clear that his work was truly poetry—not prose with line breaks. While only a few of the poems have a formal meter or lines that end with rhymes, listeners can hear the rhythm and the music of Whitman’s language. Leaves of Grass is probably the most influential American poetry collection, as its author intended it to be. He revised and expanded it with each new edition, so this so-called “Deathbed Edition” is its final form, plus an essay by Whitman on how he thought about his work.
This is a wonderful presentation of the passion and philosophy of the most American of all poets.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2025
Duration: 18 hrs, 49 mins
DD ISBN: 9781781985557
Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
by Francis Brett Young ; read by Justin Avoth ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2025
Published in 1927, this lost gem connects the gilded voice of the Edwardian age with the devastation and carnage of WWI.
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Justin Avoth has the voice of England. He just does. And herethat voice embodies a literary world lost between Hardy and Hemingway, when an orphaned adolescent is left with a dour, very Victorian aunt and a grim, miserly grandfather. Clare goes on to find true love, suffer a devastating loss, and carve out her own identity surrounded by melodramatic in-laws, horseless carriages, and prying clergy. Avoth is at his best narrating the detailed, breathless descriptions of the West Midlands, and he is especially vivid when he gives voice to Clare’s maturation as a woman of means and mother of a son wounded in battle.
Published in 1927, this lost gem connects the gilded voice of the Edwardian age with the devastation and carnage of WWI.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2025
Duration: 29 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781781985588
Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2026
by Niccolò Machiavelli ; read by Jonathan Booth ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 31, 2025
Booth delivers an engaging version of a historically significant work that still deserves attention.
Jonathan Booth’s performance of these essays on political and military science clearly and ably presents Machiavelli’s arguments. Machiavelli’s ideas, while based on examples from ancient and Renaissance history, are often still valid and applicable today. Booth’s tone mirrors Machiavelli’s: serious but friendly, thoughtful, and deeply interested in his topic and in conveying it to his audience. Booth’s performance is unobtrusively precise, and he matches his expression, inflection, and emphasis to the meaning of the text. His pace is on the quick side of comfortable, but his energy and his understanding of the material draw the listener along through the occasional dry patch.
Booth delivers an engaging version of a historically significant work that still deserves attention.Pub Date: Dec. 31, 2025
Duration: 15 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781781985762
Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks
Review Posted Online: March 25, 2026
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