New Reviews: History

Byron Wagner sounds mostly straightforward as he tells listeners of possible Viking visits along the Canadian and New England coasts. Author Martyn Whittock thoroughly presents the archaeological finds and Norse sagas that raise this possibility. At the same time, he observes how Vikings have landed in the American psyche--whether in the right-wing assertions of groups such as... Read More

What makes Dominic Hoffman such a fine narrator is the clarity of his delivery and his vocal agility. He sounds like he is inside Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s, brilliant mind, and he moves adroitly from the author's knowing perspective to "signifying" in the style of African American folklore. His voice is conversational and his tone thoughtful as he takes the listener from the... Read More

This compelling audiobook about the beginning of the Civil War gains resonance from its parallels with today's divisions and drift toward violence. Will Patton's narration fits Larson's authorial voice, which is frank, factual, and artfully judicious in tone. Patton suggests historical voices, but his delivery is nuanced and understated, never showy. Brief chapters track the... Read More

Shamaan Casey brings a deep, captivating voice to his stellar performance of this recounting of one of America's first prisons for profit. The story includes the 1846 murders that resulted from its operators' greed and brutality. William Freeman, serving five years in the Auburn, New York, penal institution, was left brain damaged and partially deaf after guards beat him. He... Read More

Annabelle Hirsch's feminist look at history through 101 idiosyncratic objects is given a captivating performance by the author and 100 narrators. The choice of performers, including actors, authors, and commentators, is as clever as the short essays about the objects. We have an anecdote about a healed femur from 30,000 BCE, narrated by Gillian Anderson; a fifth-century BCE... Read More

History buffs will relish this well-narrated history of Britain's wartime disinformation campaign against Germany, but it also speaks to a broader listenership. The author is Ukrainian born, a respected British journalist, and a disinformation expert. He focuses on Thomas Sefton Delmer, a Britisher born and raised in Germany, and a master of German speech and slang. Delmer's... Read More

It's difficult not to recommend an audiobook this well researched and performed but just as difficult to recommend a history so unrelentingly horrific. Author Anna Reid is a gifted narrator and an equally fine storyteller--brisk, forceful, incisive. Her account of the civil war that followed the 1917 Russian Revolution portrays the international force that was sent to topple... Read More

L.J. Ganser narrates this wonderful historical look at the rise of baseball in New York City with his usual interested style. You can tell when Ganser is reading a quotation, but he never imposes a campy tone or a vocal imitation. He sounds involved without being overly animated as he delivers the narrative, which starts in the nineteenth century and moves through... Read More

This long and personal account of the Ukrainian-Russian War is narrated ably by David Furr. Trofimov's family has lived in Kiev/Kyiv for many generations, and he is a Ukrainian patriot who has spent much time at the front, interviewing numerous individuals to compile the story of the Ukrainian people's struggle in this horrific war. The current war between eastern Slavs, or... Read More

Mao Zedong's ten-year Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) forever changed Chinese society and family structure. With a deliberate, evenhanded delivery, Asian American narrator Rebecca Lam traces the origins and repercussions of the attempt to purge bourgeois and capitalistic thoughts and tendencies from hundreds of millions of Chinese minds. A million people died, millions more... Read More

Jason Grasl performs Ned Blackhawk's National Book Award-winning history of the Native peoples of what is now known as the United States. From contact with early conquistadors of New Spain to the Indigenous activists of the mid-twentieth century, this sweeping work illuminates the histories of Indigenous peoples. Grasl's performance maintains the listener's attention through... Read More

Author/podcaster RJ Young narrates his own work with focused intensity as he deftly recounts the harrowing events of the June 1, 1921, Tulsa Race Massacre, in which dozens of Black men were killed and thousands displaced. More than 40 square blocks of African American homes, businesses, schools, and churches were burned to the ground. These events serve as a jumping off point... Read More

At first, Danielle Cohen's performance and Emma Southon's text both seem to come on too strong, trying too hard to be brassy and smart-alecky. But this history of Rome told through the stories of Roman women, legendary and historical, soon shows itself to be thoughtful and deeply informative, and is often amusing in its snarky, sassy, profane way. Cohen's sharp, sometimes acid,... Read More

Peter Noble's English accent gives an authoritative quality to this history of the Soviet Union in the decade-and-a-half from Stalin's death in 1953 to the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Hornsby describes the great upheavals of the "thaw" that happened after Stalin's death and the Soviet feats in the space race. He also describes how the life of the common citizen changed... Read More

Of the several audiobooks about British sea explorer James Cook, this is one of the most memorable. Peter Noble is a powerful narrator, and he weds himself to this action-packed story with deep empathy and understanding. As the Revolutionary War unfolded on the east side of the North American continent, Cook explored the west, searching in vain for a Northwest Passage. Along... Read More