Biography & Memoir Audiobooks

The Daring Heart of David Livingstone: Exile, African Slavery, and the Publicity Stunt That Saved Mi

The captivating, untold story of the great explorer, David Livingstone: his abiding faith and his heroic efforts to end the African slave trade Saint? Missionary? Scientist? Explorer? The titles given to David Livingstone since his death are varied enough to seem dubious-and with good reason. In view of the confessions in his own journals, saint is out of the question. Even missionary is tenuous, considering he made only one convert. And despite his fame as a scientist and explorer, Livingstone left his most indelible mark on Africa in an arena few have previously examined: slavery. His impact on abolishing what he called "this awful slave-trade" has been shockingly overlooked as the centerpiece of his African mission. Until now. The Daring Heart of David Livingstone tells his story from the beginning of his time in Africa to the publicity stunt that saved millions after his death.

Jay Milbrandt (Author), Tristan Wright (Narrator)

Audiobook

Dark Victory: Ronald Reagan, MCA, and the Mob

Founded in 1924, the Music Corporation of America got its start booking acts into speakeasies run by such notorious Chicago mobsters as Al Capone. How then, in only a few decades, did MCA become the driving force behind music publishing, radio, recording artists, Hollywood, and the burgeoning television industry? Enter Ronald Reagan. By the late 1950s, Reagan was a passe movie actor. As president of the Screen Actors Guild, he was also MCA's key client. With Reagan's help, MCA would become the most powerful entertainment conglomerate in the world. And with MCA's help, Reagan would secure a fortune (resulting in a federal grand jury hearing), be marketed to the public as a viable politician, and ascend to the presidency of the United States. But according to reporter Dan E. Moldea, there had always been another catalyst behind MCA: Ties to organized crime that reached back to the company's inception-and through Reagan's Teamster-backed candidacy-had never been severed. From the author of The Hoffa Wars, this is an epic and serpentine investigation into the insidious links among Hollywood, the Mob, and politics. Contains mature themes.

Dan E. Moldea (Author), Lee Goettl (Narrator)

Audiobook

Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "An insightful read…Walters is a larger-than-life character." —Sports Illustrated * "This book is going to become the sports gambling bible…The formula's in the book." —Pat McAfee The wild and massively entertaining autobiography of Billy Walters—"the greatest and most controversial sports gambler ever" (ESPN)—who shares his extraordinary life story, reveals the secrets to his fiercely protected betting system, and breaks his silence about Phil Mickelson. Anybody can get lucky. Nobody controls the odds like Billy Walters. Widely regarded as "the Michael Jordan of sports betting," Walters is a living legend in Las Vegas and among sports bettors worldwide. With an unmatched winning streak of thirty-six consecutive years, Walters has become fabulously wealthy by placing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in gross wagers, including one Super Bowl bet of $3.5 million alone. Competitors desperate to crack his betting techniques have tried hacking his phones, cloning his beepers, rifling through his trash, and bribing his employees. Now, after decades of avoiding the spotlight and fiercely protecting the keys to his success, Walters has reached the age where he wants to pass along his wisdom to future generations of sports wagerers. Gambler is more than a traditional autobiography. In addition to sharing his against-all-odds American dream story, Walters reveals in granular detail the secrets of his proprietary betting system, which will serve as a master class for anyone who wants to improve their odds at betting on sports. Walters also breaks his silence about his long and complicated relationship with Hall of Fame professional golfer Phil Mickelson. On a typical weekend gameday packed with college and pro sports, Walters will bet $10 million—a small sum for someone as wealthy as he is today, but an unbelievable fortune for the child who was raised by his grandmother in extreme poverty in rural Kentucky. By the age of nine, Walters became a shark at hustling pool and pitching pennies. As a young adult, he set records as a used-car salesman, hustled golf, and dabbled in bookmaking. He eventually moved to Las Vegas, where he revolutionized sports betting strategy and became a member of the famed Computer Group, the first syndicate to apply sophisticated algorithms and data analysis to sports gambling. He became extraordinarily wealthy while overcoming addictions and outmaneuvering organized crime figures made infamous by Martin Scorsese's film Casino. In Gambler, Walters passes along everything he's learned about sports betting. First, he shows bettors how to mine the information we have at our fingertips to develop a sophisticated betting strategy and handicapping system of our own. He explains how even avid bettors often do not grasp all of the variables that go into making an informed wager—factors such as home field advantage, individual player values, injuries or illness, weather forecasts, each team's previous schedule (bye weeks, multiple away games in a row, etc.), travel distance/difficulty, stadium quirks, turf types, and more. Not every bettor has access to Walters's team of expert analysts, but every bettor can follow his guidelines on how to measure the detailed information available online and look for unique situations that could affect a game's outcome more than usual. Variable by variable, Walters breaks down the formulas, point systems, and principles that he's developed over decades of improving his craft. A self-made man who's repeatedly won it all, lost it all, and earned it all back again, Walters has lived a singular and wildly appealing American life, of the outlaw variety. Gambler is at once a gripping autobiography, a blistering tell-all, and an indispensable playbook for coming out on top.

Billy Walters (Author), Billy Walters (Narrator)

Audiobook

Historical Biographies: Michael Faraday, Nostradamus, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Jane Austen, and

These 6 biographies will blow your mind! Michael Faraday: Michael Faraday was born in Newington Butts, Surrey, on September twenty-second, 1791. (which is now part of the London District of Southwark). He originated from a bad home. His dad, James, was a Christian who came from the Glasite sect. Nostradamus: Michel de Nostredame, referred to as Nostradamus in Latin, was a French astronomer, doctor, and presumed seer mostly known for his work Les Prophéties, a collection of 942 poetic quatrains supposedly predicting future events. In the year 1555, the book was first released. Charles Dickens: Charles Dickens is often remembered because of his Christmas Carol. And even though that is a very interesting novel, it wasn’t even his favorite. Oscar Wilde: Oscar Wilde was a wild one. His statements were bold, his career was successful, and his tongue was sharp. Not only did he disturb the common narrative of the nuclear family, the Catholic church, and the idea of patriotism, but he also blew many people away with his defense of his principles, his criticism on the state, philosophies on life itself, and more. Jane Austen: Jane Austen is well-known for some famous books, among which the popular “Pride and Prejudice.” As an author in the early 1800s, many people may envision pretty dresses and fancy demeanor, but the reality of her life included some hardships as well that may not be so obvious by reading her novels. Mark Twain: Mark Twain is arguably one of the most famous authors in the United States, with his books Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. His characters were a typical and yet deviant episode of the time period in which he lived, depicting the circumstances under which many people lived.

Kelly Mass (Author), Chris Newman (Narrator)

Audiobook

Why We Need to Be Wild: One Woman's Quest for Ancient Human Answers to 21st Century Problems

A bold examination of how Paleolithic wisdom could solve our 21st century problems Jessica Carew Kraft, an urban wife and mom of two, was firmly rooted in the modern world, complete with a high-powered career in tech and the sneaking suspicion that her lifestyle was preventing her and her family from truly thriving. Determined to find a better way, Jessica quit her job and set out to learn about “rewilding” from people who reject the comforts and convenience of civilization by using ancient tools and skills to survive. Along the way, she learned how to turn sticks into fire, stones into axes, and bones into tools for harvesting wild food—and found an entire community walking the path back from our technologyfocused, anxiety-ridden way of life to a simpler, more human experience. Weaving deep research and reportage with her own personal journey, Jessica tells the remarkable story of the potential benefits rewilding has for us and our planet and questions what it truly means to be a human in today’s world. Why We Need to Be Wild is a thought-provoking, unforgettable narrative that illuminates how we survived in the past, how we live now, and how each of us can choose to thrive in the years ahead.

Jessica Carew Kraft (Author), Jessica Carew Kraft (Narrator)

Audiobook

Nothing Ever Just Disappears: Seven Hidden Histories

Brought to you by Penguin. Nothing Ever Just Disappears retraces the footsteps of some of the twentieth century's most remarkable queer writers and artists. Moving through their homes and haunts, it explores the deep connections between where they lived, who they were and the iconoclastic art and literature they created. In search of a new history of queer culture, Diarmuid Hester travels from Cambridge's ancient cloisters to the smoky clubs of Jazz Age Paris, through the bunkers of Nazi-occupied Jersey to the newly-liberated gaybourhoods of New York and beyond. Authoritative and not a little irreverent, Hester brings to life the bars and basements, homes and studios, cities and landscapes that shaped the sexual identities of such extraordinary figures as E. M. Forster, Josephine Baker, James Baldwin and Derek Jarman. A provocative argument for the centrality of space to any consideration of queer history, culture and politics, the book also attests to all that is lost when queer spaces are forgotten. Nothing Ever Just Disappears is the first trade book from an astonishing writer and thinker. Featuring Derek Jarman, E. M. Forster, London's queer suffragettes, Josephine Baker, Claude Cahun, James Baldwin, Jack Smith and Kevin Killian. ©2023 Diarmuid Hester (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Diarmuid Hester (Author), Diarmuid Hester (Narrator)

Audiobook

Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life

SLEEK. CHIC. NOTORIOUSLY GUARDED. WELCOME TO THE SECRET WORLD OF COCO CHANEL. Justine Picardie’s definitive biography explores the dark mysteries hidden beneath the shimmering surface of a fabled fashion icon. Unveiling remarkable details about Coco Chanel’s traumatic childhood and her flight into unconventional adulthood, this beautifully constructed portrait reveals her passionate and painful past, her turbulent loves and losses, her quest for fame and fortune, and how she transformed herself into her own most powerful creation. Feared and revered by her contemporaries, Chanel died in 1971, but her legacy lives on as an enduring global brand. Drawing on interviews with her last surviving friends and relatives, and unprecedented archival research, Justine Picardie brings Chanel out of hiding, unpicking the seams between reality and myth, and telling a timeless story that uncovers the true art and heart of fashion. This special new edition has been extensively revised and updated, and offers a uniquely authoritative account of the greatest designer in the world. Adding fresh insights and discoveries, it comes complete with a compelling array of previously unseen images from the Chanel archives.

Justine Picardie (Author), Karen Cass (Narrator)

Audiobook

Flawed Hero

The shocking story of the case against Australia's most highly decorated soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG, and the defamation trial of the century. With a Victoria Cross and Medal for Gallantry, Ben Roberts-Smith was the most highly decorated Australian soldier, the best of the best. When he returned to civilian life, he became a poster boy for a nation hungry for warrior heroes. He embodied the myth of the classic Anzac, seven-foot-tall and bulletproof. But as his public reputation continued to grow, inside the army rumours were circulating. Gold Walkley Award winning journalist Chris Masters was the first to investigate the rumours of summary executions, bloodings and bullying, and began to examine more closely the man we wanted to hero-worship. When the stories hit the headlines, and with a billionaire media baron's backing, Ben Roberts-Smith sued. So commenced the defamation trial of the century, a courtroom contest of tightrope tactics and fierce wit. Chris Masters tells the extraordinary story of Ben Roberts-Smith, the man at the centre of this de facto war crimes trial, from the battlegrounds of Afghanistan to the front lines of the Federal Court. ‘After 40 years of producing landmark journalism, Masters is still doing it. And he's still obsessive about the truth, relentless and fearless.' Nick McKenzie 'If there was a Victoria Cross for bravery in journalism, Chris Masters deserves to receive it.' Phillip Adams 'There's seriously no one else in Australia with the knowledge that Chris Masters has in relation to Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan.' Former Commando Major

Chris Masters (Author), David Tredinnick (Narrator)

Audiobook

They Called Us Exceptional: And Other Lies That Raised Us

An Indian American daughter reveals how the dangerous model minority myth fractured her family in this "searingly honest memoir that manages to be at once a scalding indictment and a heartfelt love letter" (Scott Stossel, author of My Age of Anxiety). ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE SEASON: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Bustle "In examining with boundless love the secrets and sorrows of one family, Gupta shows us the life-altering power of telling one's truth."-Megha Majumdar, author of A Burning How do we understand ourselves when the story about who we are supposed to be is stronger than our sense of self? What do we stand to gain-and lose-by taking control of our narrative? These questions propel Prachi Gupta's heartfelt memoir and can feel particularly fraught for immigrants and their children who live under immense pressure to belong in America. Prachi Gupta's family embodied the American Dream: a doctor father and a nurturing mother who raised two high-achieving children with one foot in the Indian American community, the other in Pennsylvania's white suburbia. But their belonging was predicated on a powerful myth: that Asian Americans have perfected the alchemy of middle-class life, raising tight-knit, ambitious families that are immune to hardship. Molding oneself to fit this perfect image often comes at a steep but hidden cost. In They Called Us Exceptional, Gupta articulates the dissonance, shame, and isolation of being upheld as an American success story while privately navigating traumas invisible to the outside world. Gupta addresses her mother throughout the book, weaving a deeply vulnerable personal narrative with history, postcolonial theory, and research on mental health, to show how she slowly made sense of her reality and freed herself emotionally and physically from the pervasive, reductive myth that had once defined her. But, tragically, the act that liberated Gupta was also the act that distanced her from those she loved most. By charting her family's slow unraveling and her determination to break the cycle, Gupta shows how traditional notions of success keep us disconnected from ourselves and one another-and passionately argues why we must orient ourselves toward compassion over belonging.

Prachi Gupta (Author), Prachi Gupta (Narrator)

Audiobook

Seventeen: The shocking true story of a teacher's affair with her student

It's 1992. Like every other seventeen-year-old boy, Joe has one eye on his studies, the other on his social life - smoking, Britpop, girls. He's looking ahead to a gap year full of travel and adventure before university when his teacher - attractive, mid-thirties - takes an interest in him. It seems like a fantasy come true. For his final two years at school, he is bound to her, a woman twice his age, in an increasingly tangled web of coercion, sex and lies. Their affair, a product of complex grooming and a shocking abuse of authority, is played out in the corridors of one of Britain's major private schools, under the noses of people who suspected, even knew, but said nothing. Thirty years on, this is Joe's gripping record of the illicit relationship that dominated his adolescence and dictated the course of his life for seventeen years. With a heady dose of nineties nostalgia and the perfectly captured mood of those final months at school, Joe charts the enduring legacy of deceit and the indelibility of decisions made at seventeen.

Joe Gibson (Author), Luke Thompson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Unsafe: Damian longs for home, but one man stands in his way

Damian longs for home, but one man stands in his way … Damian is just seven when he is taken in by foster carer Cathy Glass. His mother, Rachel, loves her three young children dearly, but she is vulnerable, naive and unable to cope on her own. Cathy sets about helping Damian overcome his eating issues, with the hope that he will eventually return home. But when Rachel’s new boyfriend, Troy, arrives on the scene, Cathy becomes deeply concerned. She soon realises that Damian and his siblings are in great danger …

Cathy Glass (Author), Denica Fairman (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hope – How Street Dogs Taught Me the Meaning of Life: Featuring Rodney, McMuffin and King Whacker

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Most people think I save dogs, but really they saved me. Niall Harbison is a dog hero based in Thailand. He spends his days feeding, caring for and rescuing the many street dogs he comes across. With every rescue there’s a story. Like the sweet gentle McMuffin who was found with many tumours and hours from death, only to be nursed back to health. She now lives with Niall and is a popular member of the pack. Then there is King Whacker – who escaped a vicious attack and is now ruling the nest living up to his name as the king of the all good dogs. And who could resist the puppy eyes of little Rodney, the beautiful dog with big paws who is melting millions of hearts around the world. Originally from Dublin, Niall was the owner of a successful advertising company. After selling it, he moved to Thailand where his addictions – drugs and alcohol – almost got the better of him. One day he woke up in hospital, close to death, and realised that something had to change. And that was what spurred him on to start saving and helping street dogs. His aim is to help 10,000 street dogs. This is his story.

Niall Harbison (Author), Niall Harbison (Narrator)

Audiobook