New Reviews: History

Elisabeth Lagelee captures the author's skepticism toward the historical rise of apothecaries and physicians and the decline of home remedies. After all, the developing medical professionals used the same medicinal plants that housewives did. The author celebrates Elizabeth Blackwell, who gained a rare entry into the male-dominated physic garden, and the other women who got... Read More

Johnny Heller's rough-and-tumble voice is the perfect match for Clavin's stories of Western outlaws and their hideouts. Much of the audiobook is devoted to Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch, but there's room for strange detours. Heller's hearty style can make a reportedly true story, such as the story of a robber whose skin became the shoes worn by a governor, take on the... Read More

Imani Perry contemplates the connection between the color blue and African and African American history and culture. From the traditional practice of dying indigo cloth in West Africa to the blues musical tradition in America, Perry posits Black life has always been entangled with the color blue. She performs her stunning narration in a soft, rhythmic voice, drawing listeners... Read More

Melancholy music opens this production, underscoring the pensive nature of Robertson's extraordinary research on safe communities Black people created to remake their lives. Narrator Dion Graham's smooth baritone carries gravitas and emotion as he presents this overview with examples of settlements developed specifically by and for Black men and women from the Reconstruction... Read More

From the time of Louis XIV's Versailles through the 1930s, the world of fashion was dominated by the French. Gail Shalan narrates this fascinating account of the dramatic and permanent changes in the industry instigated by the Nazi invasion of Paris in 1940. Women were most influential in the birth of New York's Seventh Avenue as the heart of new fashion. Shalan describes the... Read More

Golden Voice Juliet Stevenson's wise, somewhat bemused voice has introduced dozens of British classics to a generation of listeners. Her approach is familiar, subdued, precise. She skillfully builds and shapes this unexpectedly compelling history of the world's most performed piece of music. How Handel's MESSIAH came to be is a story with many twists, but it provides a focus... Read More

Elliot Fitzpatrick does a good job of narrating this account of the Siege of Leningrad, 1941-44, which has a slight twist to it. This story focuses on how a small group of botanists and their assistants saved the world's largest seed bank from being consumed. The seed bank was collected by Nikolai Vavilov, who was arrested by the secret police before the war and died in custody... Read More

This brief but delightful and highly informed audiobook begins and ends with blue spheres. First, listeners learn that the blue marble that astronauts photographed from space actually had the South Pole on top until NASA flipped the image. It ends with the ever-present iPhone blue dot that locates Apple map users. Narrator Liam Garrigan has a natural storytelling style, and his... Read More

Listeners who know England's King Henry V primarily through Shakespeare's history plays will be enlightened and only a little disappointed with this authenticated, unromanticized biography of the storied "warrior king." With urbane ease and a gift for telling detail, British popular historian Dan Jones guides listeners through the tangled histories of the Hundred Years War, the... Read More

Janina Edwards's warm voice and calm delivery welcome listeners into this history of the rivalry and struggle that brought about legal birth control in America. Beginning in the 1910s, Margaret Sanger and Mary Ware Dennett waged individual battles for women's reproductive autonomy. Over the years, Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, and Dennett, author of the educational... Read More

Adam Verner narrates the story of the 1924 attempt to fly around the world, which brought together American, British, French, Italian, and South American pilots. The Americans started in California and headed west--the others, east. Their goal: to circumnavigate the earth by air, hopscotching from landing fields over lakes and rivers, icy glaciers and deserts while battling... Read More

Channeling the author's trademark enthusiasm, humor, and curiosity, a host of big-name actors and voice talents such as Ryan Reynolds and Golden Voice Robin Miles narrate selections from Nate DiMeo's singular and popular podcast. DiMeo's stock-in-trade includes Plymouth Rock, the nickel candy bar, and a telescope that could see the canals on Mars as he finds the beauty and... Read More

Jenny Funnell's authoritative performance perfectly suits this lengthy, well-researched history. Her resolute cadence and crisp tone enable listeners to engage with the many stories of women who worked, loved, and served alongside men of the ancient Mediterranean world. Author Daisy Dunn provides Funnell with details of empire builders ranging from the Minoans to the citizens... Read More

Vidish Athavale narrates a lengthy, largely dry examination of how the flow of information has evolved and influenced human existence and evolution. Athavale employs an appealing British-by-way-of-India inflection, rhythm, and tonality, dramatically improving the listening experience. NEXUS, which means connection, trends toward being a niche work for those who are interested... Read More

An admittedly limited survey reveals that practically nobody knows who Charlemagne was, or even what millennium he belonged to. If nothing else, this audiobook will correct that. It will also clear up any misunderstandings concerning the purpose and whereabouts of the Holy Roman Empire--the two being, not coincidentally, closely bound. Narrator Paul Bellantoni, whose past... Read More

Will Damron transports listeners to the cold of the Arctic as polar explorers attempt to reach the North Pole by airship instead of by dog and sled. The story includes triumph and failure, as well as big personalities, fraudulent history, and new media communication directly from the airships. Damron expresses the thrill of Roald Amundsen reaching the North Pole in 1926 in his... Read More

Harry Myers dives into the role of narrator for this "History of the London Police Force's Most Infamous Murder Cases." Beginning with the Ratcliffe Highway Murders in 1811, these detailed accounts of the force and a panoply of murders include Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel Murders. Myers uses a gritty tone and an educated London accent for the narrative and various... Read More

This history of mathematics, a surprisingly accessible listen, is made even more so by Daphne Kouma's upbeat narration. The authors, a math historian and a science journalist, pop the bubble on Eurocentric math history by highlighting overlooked non-Western and female mathematical geniuses. The audiobook moves briskly, thanks to Kouma's friendly tone when delivering... Read More

Jenn Lee does a serviceable narration of this treasure-trove of stories featuring women who created musicals on and off Broadway. Many women were helped by the men in their families--Mary Rodgers, daughter of composer Richard Rodgers, for example--while others were prominent figures of their time, such as Dorothy Parker, who was known for her biting wit. Lee's precise delivery... Read More