Asia Audiobooks | History

The Castaway's War: One Man's Battle Against Imperial Japan

"In the early hours of July 5, 1943, the destroyer USS Strong was hit by a Japanese torpedo. The powerful weapon broke the destroyer's back, flooded her engine room, killed dozens of sailors, and sparked raging fires. While accompanying ships were able to rescue most of Strong's surviving crewmen, scores were submerged in the ocean as the shattered warship sank beneath the waves-and a young officer's harrowing story of survival began. Based on official American and Japanese histories, personal memoirs, and the author's exclusive interviews with key participants, The Castaway's War tells the entirely unique and very personal tale of Navy Lieutenant Hugh Barr Miller's fight for survival against both a hostile environment and an implacable human enemy."

Stephen Harding (Author), Ian Harding (Narrator)

Audiobook

History of China

"In the present time, china is one of the most developed countries in Asia and the world as well. It has gone through a very long phase to be capable of calling itself a super power. Journey of china is thousands of years old. Before the existence of Xia dynasty, china was nothing as a united empire. Most parts of the modern china were ruled by different emperors. It was Xia dynasty, who took the job of uniting various parts of and forming a huge empire. In their period, china was considered one of the most gigantic empires in the world. However, it was nothing compared to modern china. In the ruling periods of Ming and Qing dynasty, modern china was started to take shape. History of china is too long and too descriptive to be entirely included in this short book. However, various important parts are included. History of China is often presented in four major parts. First on is the prehistory. Prehistory describes the period, when china was not unified as a single empire. Various parts surrounding modern Beijing were ruled by multiple independent emperors. In 2100 BC, these parts were conquered by Xia dynasty and empire of china was formed. That indicated the journey of china begun in 2100 BC. Including modern republic of china and People’s Republic of china, china was ruled by more than 20 different dynasties and kingdoms listed below: - Xia dynasty - Shang dynasty - Zhou dynasty - Qin dynasty - Han dynasty - Three kingdoms - Jin dynasty - Northern and southern dynasties - Sui dynasty - Tang dynasty - Five dynasties and ten kingdoms - Song, Liao, Jin and western Xia dynasties - Yuan dynasty - Ming dynasty - Qing dynasty - Republic of china - People’s republic of china This book will take you on a long tour through the history of china. This tour will begin from prehistory of china and progress through ancient china, imperial china and end at modern china. "

Introbooks Team (Author), Andrea Giordani (Narrator)

Audiobook

Asian History

"The significance of the study of the history of Asia requires no exceptional prominence, principally with the rise of China, India and Japan as main supremacies of this continent. The Asian history could be seen as the combined history of many diverse outlying littoral regions such as, South Asia, East Asia, and the Middle East connected by the internal frame of the Eurasian steppe. The littoral border was to some of the world's most primitive civilizations, with each of the three sections evolving early civilizations about the lush river vales. These valleys were rich as the earth there was fertile and could produce several root crops. The civilizations in the Indus Valley, Mesopotamia, and China had many things in common and probably traded expertise and philosophies like mathematics and the wheel. Other concepts like writing probably developed independently in every region. Cities, states and then kingdoms established in these wetlands. The steppe expanse had always been occupied by equestrian nomads, and from the central steppes they could reach any area of they wished to in the Asia. The northern part of the continent, which covered most of Siberia, was also unapproachable to the steppe nomads because of tundra and the dense jungles. These Siberian regions were sporadically populated. The core and boundary were separated by deserts and mountain peaks. The Himalaya, Caucasus, Gobi Desert and Karakum Desert moulded the blockades which the steppe horsemen could cross with struggle. While technically and ethnically the city inhabitants were more radical, they could not do much regimentally to protect against the mounted crowds of the steppe. Nevertheless, the wetlands did not have sufficient open plains to upkeep a big horse bound force. So the wanderers who occupied states in the Middle East were quickly required to familiarize to the native societies. Asia's antiquity would feature drastic expansions seen in other corners of the globe, as well as happenings which would impact those other areas. These comprise the trade of the Silk Road, which spread philosophies, lingoes, belief, and sickness through Afro-Eurasian trade. A different big advancement was the invention of gunpowder in China, which led to progressive combat through the use of guns."

Introbooks Team (Author), Tracy Tupman (Narrator)

Audiobook

[German] - Hiroshima - Atompilz über Japan (Feature)

"Am Morgen des 6. August 1945 wirft eine B-29 der amerikanischen Luftwaffe über Hiroshima die erste Atombombe ab. Die gewaltige Explosion und die anschließenden Hitzewellen verwandeln die Stadt in ein Inferno. Die ganze Wahrheit über die unvorstellbare Zerstörungskraft der neuen Geheimwaffe wird vor der Weltöffentlichkeit zunächst vertuscht. Bis das Schicksal der Explosionsopfer sich nicht länger geheim halten lässt ... Ein fesselndes Feature zu einem der Schlüsselmomente des 20. Jahrhunderts, inszeniert mit Musik, O-Tönen und mehreren Sprechern - diese Dokumentation ruft die verheerende Katastrophe von Hiroshima eindringlich ins Gedächtnis."

David Bernet (Author), Matthias Scherwenikas, Oliver Nitsche, Thomas Morris (Narrator)

Audiobook

One Child: The Story of China's Most Radical Experiment

"When Communist Party leaders adopted the one-child policy in 1980, they hoped curbing birth-rates would help lift China's poorest and increase the country's global stature. But at what cost? Now, as China closes the book on the policy after more than three decades, it faces a population grown too old and too male, with a vastly diminished supply of young workers. Mei Fong has spent years documenting the policy's repercussions on every sector of Chinese society. In One Child, she explores its true human impact, traveling across China to meet the people who live with its consequences. Their stories reveal a dystopian reality: unauthorized second children ignored by the state, only-children supporting aging parents and grandparents on their own, villages teeming with ineligible bachelors, and an ungoverned adoption market stretching across the globe. Fong tackles questions that have major implications for China's future: whether its 'Little Emperor' cohort will make for an entitled or risk-averse generation; how China will manage to support itself when one in every four people is over sixty-five years old; and above all, how much the one-child policy may end up hindering China's growth."

Mei Fong (Author), Janet Song (Narrator)

Audiobook

Monkey

"Considered one of China’s great classical novels, Wu Ch’êng-ên's Journey to the West was translated by Arthur Waley in abridged form as Monkey in 1942 and has delighted English readers ever since. It is a riveting adventure story about a priest's quest to obtain holy Buddhist scriptures for the Tang emperor; joining him on this rollicking journey: Sandy, Pigsy and the mischievous Monkey King, Sun Wukong, whose flying cloud and magic cudgel are never far from his infamous deeds. Waley's accessible rendition of Wu Ch’êng-ên's novel has become a classic in its own right: Gods, demons and disobedient monkey spirits all come alive in this entertaining work."

Wu Ch'êng-ên (Author), Kenneth Williams (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Buddha and the Sahibs: The men who discovered India's lost religion

"The Buddha and the Sahibs: The Men Who Discovered India’s Lost Religion by Charles Allen. For nearly 1,000 years, from the destruction of temples and monasteries by Muslim invaders in the 11th and 12th centuries, followed by Hinduism’s increasing power, Buddhism vanished from the country of its origin. Though hugely influential throughout Asia, the religion was forgotten in India. This is the story of the men from the British Raj who rediscovered the history of the Buddha and his teachings and the role played by key Buddhist rulers such as Ashoka. British rule brought soldiers, administrators and adventurers to India. From the late 18th century, a handful of remarkable individuals, amateur linguists, archaeologists and explorers - who became known as the Orientalists - began investigating the subcontinent’s lost past. By deciphering scripts, excavating and dating massive stone ruins and discovering huge and richly decorated monastic cave complexes, these men returned Buddhism to its place in Indian history. Charles Allen's audiobook is a mixture of detective work and storytelling, as this acknowledged master of British Indian history pieces together early Buddhist history to bring a handful of extraordinary characters to life."

Charles Allen (Author), Sam Dastor (Narrator)

Audiobook

Midnight's Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India's Partition

"Nobody expected the liberation of India and birth of Pakistan to be so bloody—it was supposed to be an answer to the dreams of Muslims and Hindus who had been ruled by the British for centuries. Jawaharlal Nehru, Gandhi's protégé and the political leader of India, believed that Indians were an inherently nonviolent, peaceful people. Pakistan's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was a secular lawyer, not a firebrand. But in August 1946, exactly a year before Independence, Calcutta erupted in street-gang fighting. A cycle of riots—targeting Hindus, then Muslims, then Sikhs—spiraled out of control. As the summer of 1947 approached, all three groups were heavily armed and on edge, and the British rushed to leave. Hell let loose. Trains carried Muslims west and Hindus east to their slaughter. Some of the most brutal and widespread ethnic cleansing in modern history erupted on both sides of the new border, searing a divide between India and Pakistan that remains a root cause of many evils. From jihadi terrorism to nuclear proliferation, the searing tale told in Midnight's Furies explains all too many of the headlines we read today."

Nisid Hajari (Author), Sunil Malhotra (Narrator)

Audiobook

Marco Polo: The Journey That Changed the World

"In 1271, a young Italian merchant named Marco Polo embarked on a groundbreaking expedition from Venice, through the Middle East and Central Asia to China. His extraordinary reports of his experiences introduced medieval Europe to an exotic new world of emperors and concubines, amazing cities, huge armies, unusual spices and cuisine, and imperial riches. Marco Polo also revealed the wonders of Xanadu, the summer capital of Mongol emperor Kublai Khan. Almost 750 years later, acclaimed author John Man traveled in Marco Polo's footsteps to Xanadu and then on to Beijing and through modern China in search of the history behind the legend. In this enthralling chronicle, Man draws on his own journey, new archaeological findings, and deep archival study to paint a vivid picture of Marco Polo and the great court of Kublai Khan."

John Man (Author), Simon Vance (Narrator)

Audiobook

The China Mirage: The Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia

"From the bestselling author of Flags of our Fathers, Flyboys, and The Imperial Cruise, a spellbinding history of turbulent U.S.-China relations from the 19th century to World War II and Mao's ascent. In each of his books, James Bradley has exposed the hidden truths behind America's engagement in Asia. Now comes his most engrossing work yet. Beginning in the 1850s, Bradley introduces us to the prominent Americans who made their fortunes in the China opium trade. As they -- -good Christians all -- -profitably addicted millions, American missionaries arrived, promising salvation for those who adopted Western ways. And that was just the beginning. From drug dealer Warren Delano to his grandson Franklin Delano Roosevelt, from the port of Hong Kong to the towers of Princeton University, from the era of Appomattox to the age of the A-Bomb, The China Mirage explores a difficult century that defines U.S.-Chinese relations to this day."

James Bradley (Author), Pete Larkin (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Incredible True Story of North Korea and the Most Audacious Kidnapping

"Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of A Kim Jong-Il Production, by Paul Fischer, read by Stephen Park. Before becoming the world's most notorious dictator, Kim Jong-Il ran North Korea's film industry. He directed every film made in the country but knew they were nothing compared to Hollywood. Then he hit on the perfect solution: order the kidnapping of South Korea's most famous actress and her ex-husband, the country's most acclaimed director. In a jaw-dropping mission the couple were kidnapped, held hostage and then 'employed' to make films for the Dear Leader, including a remake of Godzilla. They gained Kim's trust - but could they escape?"

Paul Fischer (Author), Stephen Park (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Porcelain Thief

"In 1938, with the Japanese army approaching from Nanking, Huan Hsu’s great-great grandfather, Liu, and his five granddaughters, were forced to flee their hometown on the banks of the Yangtze River. But before they left a hole was dug as deep as a man, and as wide as a bedroom, in which was stowed the family heirlooms. The longer I looked at that red chrysanthemum plate, the more I wanted to touch it, feel its weight, and run my fingers over its edge, which, like its country’s – and my family’s – history, was anything but smooth. 1938. The Japanese army were fast approaching Xingang, the Yangtze River hometown of Huan Hsu’s great-great-grandfather, Liu. Along with his five granddaughters, Liu prepares to flee. Before they leave, they dig a hole and fill it to the brim with family heirlooms. Amongst their antique furniture, jade and scrolls, was Liu’s vast collection of prized antique porcelain. A decades-long flight across war-torn China splintered the family over thousands of miles. Grandfather Liu’s treasure remained buried along with a time that no one wished to speak of. And no one returned to find it – until now. Huan Hsu, a journalist raised in America and armed only with curiosity, returned to China many years later. Wanting to learn more about not only his lost ancestral heirlooms but also porcelain itself, Hsu set out to separate the layers of fact and fiction that have obscured both China and his heritage and finally completed his family’s long march back home. Melding memoir and travelogue with social and political history, The Porcelain Thief is an intimate and unforgettable way to understand the bloody, tragic and largely forgotten events that defined Chinese history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries."

Huan Hsu (Author), Mike Grady (Narrator)

Audiobook

Asia Audiobooks in History