World Audiobooks | History

Ian Hislop’s Oldest Jokes: A BBC Radio 4 Series

Ian Hislop takes a hilarious look at some of Britain's oldest jokes The British are rather proud of their sense of humour - but where has that pride come from and what makes it unique? With the help of contemporary comedians, scholars and an appetite for enduring humour, Ian Hislop tracks down the earliest examples of enduring British comedy tropes and jokes, and guides us through some of the vital elements that make up that most curious thing: the British sense of humour. Join Ian as he begins his quest in the dark ages, admittedly not known as a well-spring of comic opportunity. Nevertheless, in the pages of the Venerable Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England, there is wordplay potent enough to have a part in the naming of a nation. How his fellow monks must have laughed. Travelling across the UK, Ian admires the Bishop's seat and discovers the filth hidden behind the Double entendre of the Exeter Book of Riddles. He looks for the earliest examples of visual humour under the seats of New College Oxford Chapel, and wooden carvings that suggest those who made them were never happier than when making people laugh. He discovers the set of a 15th century entertainer who performed for audiences in Nottinghamshire at the time of the Wars of the Roses, and the famous medieval Bestiary which describes the Bonnacon, a mythical beast that appears to have no biblical message beyond its capacity to make the reader laugh. Ian delves into Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th century humble-brag parody, the Tale of Sir Topaz, before arriving in the 17th century, when printing and changes in censorship laws ushered in a new and energetic form of comedy. Finally, Ian explores satirical cartoons and a collection of comic songs with hilarious consequences. This is a must listen for anyone who loves a good belly laugh. Presenter and writer Ian Hislop is perhaps best known for his appearances on the satirical news quiz Have I Got News for You, and he has been the editor of Private Eye since 1986. He’s presented many shows on television and radio and is the author of several books. This series also features contributions from Nina Conti, Paul Whitehouse, comedy song writing duo Jo and Joan and parodist Craig Brown. Written and presented by Ian Hislop Produced by Tom Alban First broadcast 22 January-2 February 2024 ©2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Ian Hislop (Author), Ian Hislop (Narrator)

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Thorns, Lust and Glory: The betrayal of Anne Boleyn

Brought to you by Penguin. A queen on the edge. Anne Boleyn has mesmerised the English public for centuries. Her tragic execution, orchestrated by her own husband, never ceases to intrigue. How did this courtier's daughter become the queen of England, and what was it that really tore apart this illustrious marriage, making her the whore of England, an abandoned woman executed on the scaffold? While many stories of Anne Boleyn's downfall have been told, few have truly traced the origins of her tragic fate. In Thorns and Glory, Estelle Paranque takes us back to where it all started: to France, where Anne learned the lessons that would set her on the path to becoming one of England's most infamous queens. At the court of the French king as a resourceful teenage girl, Anne's journey to infamy began, and this landmark biography explores the world that shaped her, and how these loyalties would leave her vulnerable, leading to her ruin at the court of Henry VIII. A fascinating new perspective on Tudor history's most enduring story, Thorns and Glory is an unmissable account of a queen on the edge. ©2024 Estelle Paranque (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Estelle Paranque (Author), Anna Wilson-Jones, TBD (Narrator)

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The War We Won Apart: The Untold Story of Two Elite Agents Who Became One of the Most Decorated Coup

Love, betrayal, and a secret war: the untold story of two elite agents, one Canadian, one British, who became one of the most decorated couples of WWII. On opposite sides of the pond, Sonia Butt, an adventurous young British woman, and Guy d'Artois, a French-Canadian soldier and thunderstorm of a man, are preparing for war. From different worlds, their lives first intersect during clandestine training to become agents with Winston Churchill's secret army, the Special Operations Executive. As the world's deadliest conflict to date unfolds, Sonia and Guy learn how to parachute into enemy territory, how to kill, blow up rail lines, and eventually . . . how to love each other. But not long after their hasty marriage, their love is tested by separation, by a titanic invasion-and by indiscretion. Writing in vivid, heart-stopping prose, Ayed follows Sonia as she plunges into Nazi-occupied France and slinks into black market restaurants to throw off occupying Nazi forces, while at the same time participating in sabotage operations against them; and as Guy, in another corner of France, trains hundreds into a resistance army. Reconstructed from hours of unpublished interviews and hundreds of archival and personal documents, the story Ayed tells is about the ravaging costs of war paid for disproportionately by the young. But more than anything, The War We Won Apart is a story about love: two secret agents who were supposed to land in enemy territory together, but were fated to fight the war apart.

Nahlah Ayed (Author), Nahlah Ayed (Narrator)

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Museum Worthy: Nazi Art Plunder in Postwar Western Europe

Art looting is commonly recognized as a central feature of Nazi expropriation. After the war, the famed Monuments Men (and women) recovered several hundred thousand pieces from the Germans' makeshift repositories. Well publicized restitution cases, such as that of Gustav Klimt's luminous painting featured in the film Woman in Gold, illustrate the legacy of Nazi looting in the art world today. But what happened to looted art that was never returned to its rightful owners? In France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, postwar governments appropriated the most coveted unclaimed works for display in various public buildings. Following cultural property norms of the time, the governments created custodianships over the unclaimed pieces, without using archives in their possession to carry out thorough provenance (ownership) research. This policy extended the dispossession of Jewish owners wrought by the Nazis and their collaborators well into the twenty-first century. The custodianships included paintings by traditional and modern masters, such as Rembrandt, Cranach, Rubens, Tiepolo, Picasso, and Matisse. This appropriation of plundered assets endured without controversy until the mid-1990s, when activists and journalists began challenging the governments' right to hold these items, ushering in a period of cultural property litigation that endures to this day.

Elizabeth Campbell (Author), Holly Adams (Narrator)

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A Little History of Psychology

A rich and engaging guide to psychology, the science devoted to understanding human nature What really drives our decisions? Where do language and memory come from? Why do our minds sometimes seem to work against us? Psychologists have long attempted to answer these questions, seeking to understand human behavior, feelings, and thoughts. But how to explore something so elusive? In this fascinating history, leading expert Nicky Hayes tells the story of psychology across the centuries and around the world. Hayes introduces key thinkers, including Carl Jung, Anna Freud, Frantz Fanon, and Daniel Kahneman. We see how they tried to expand our understanding, from Pavlov and his dogs to Milgram and his famous electric shock experiments to the CIA's secret mind-control projects. Hayes explores key concepts like child development, the inferiority complex, and PTSD and shows how psychological research has been used for both good and ill. This Little History shines a light on the ever-advancing study of psychology, how the field has evolved over time-and how much more we need to learn.

Nicky Hayes (Author), Gabrielle Baker (Narrator)

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Everest, Inc.: The Renegades and Rogues Who Built an Industry at the Top of the World

Featuring original interviews with mountain guides and climbers—including Jimmy Chin and Conrad Anker—this vivid and authoritative adventure history chronicles one of the least likely industries on Earth: guided climbing on Mount Everest. Anyone who has read Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air or has seen a recent photo of climbers standing in line to get to the top of Everest may think they have the mountain pretty well figured out. It's an extreme landscape where bad weather and incredible altitude can occasionally kill, but more so an overcrowded, trashed-out recreation destination where rich clients pad their egos—and social media feeds—while exploiting local Sherpas. There's some truth to these clichés, but they're a sliver of the story. Unlike any book to date, Everest, Inc. gets to the heart of the mountain through the definitive story of its greatest invention: the Himalayan guiding industry. It all began in the 1980s with a few boot-strapping entrepreneurs who paired raw courage and naked ambition with a new style of expedition planning. Many of them are still living and climbing today, and as a result of their astonishing success, ninety percent of the people now on Everest are clients or employees of guided expeditions. Studded with quotes from original interviews with more than a hundred western and Sherpa climbers, clients, writers, filmmakers, and even a Hollywood actor, Everest, Inc. foregrounds the voices of the people who have made the mountain what it is today. And while there is plenty of high-altitude drama in unpacking the last forty years of Everest tragedy and triumph, it ultimately transcends stereotypes and tells the uplifting counternarrative of the army of journeymen and women who have made people's dreams come true, and of the Nepalis who are pushing the industry into the future.

Will Cockrell (Author), Pete Simonelli, TBD (Narrator)

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The Book-Makers: A History of the Book in 18 Remarkable Lives

Brought to you by Penguin. The Book-Makers is a celebration of the printed book, from the late fifteenth century to the early twenty-first, told through the lives of eighteenth extraordinary men and women who made the book as we know it - printers and typesetters, publishers and illustrators, paper-makers and library founders, as well as eccentrics and artists who continued to re-invent it. Some of these names are familiar. We meet the jobbing printer Benjamin Franklin who preferred to produce popular almanacs to canonical literature. We witness how William Morris made books as if they were medieval manuscripts, even though that age had long passed. And we encounter the socialite Nancy Cunard, running a small press printing avantgarde titles from a farmhouse in France. Others have been forgotten, even written out of history. We don't remember Sarah Eaves, wife of John Baskerville, and her crucial contribution to the famous typeface named after her husband. Not to speak of Charles Edward Mudie - perhaps the most influential figure in book publishing before Jeff Bezos - the populariser of the circulating library, who created both the 'general reader' and set the standards for literary taste. The history of the book is the story of the men and women who made it. The Book-Makers puts people back into that story: it's not a determinist account of technological change, nor a chronology of inventions, but a narrative teeming with lives, and a history that is full of the contingencies and quirks, the successes and failures, the routes forward and the paths not taken, of eighteen remarkable individuals. ©2024 Adam Smyth (P)2024 Penguin Audiov

Adam Smyth (Author), Adam Smyth, TBD (Narrator)

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Then & Now: Business Case Studies from 2015 to Today

Fast Company's Editors And Writers (Author), TBD (Narrator)

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The Lost Paths: A History of How We Walk From Here To There

Brought to you by Penguin. Discover the rich history of Britain's millennia-old network of pathways, and it will be impossible to take an unremarkable walk again... Hundreds of thousands of miles of paths reach into, and connect, communities across England and Wales. By 2026, 10,000 miles of undiscovered footpaths around Britain stand to be lost. Jack Cornish has dedicated the last five years of his life to walking these forgotten routes, and this book, The Lost Paths, is the result. It is Jack Cornish's hope that The Lost Paths will show just how special these forgotten rights of way are, and how embedded each path is in the history of Britain. Footpaths, tracks, country lanes and urban streets illuminate how our ancestors interacted with and shaped their landscapes in the pursuit of commerce, salvation, escape, war, and leisure. Paths are an often-overlooked part of our everyday life and our country's history, crucial to understanding the cultural and environmental history of us in the landscape. After dedicating his time and energy to fighting for their survival, The Lost Paths is Jack's personal journey and exploration of the deep history of English and Welsh footways. This narrative history takes us through ancient forests, exposed mountainsides, urban back streets and coastal vistas to reveal how this millennia-old network was created and has been transformed. This is a celebration of an ancient network and a rallying cry to reclaim what has been lost and preserve it for future generations. © Jack Cornish 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Jack Cornish (Author), Jack Cornish (Narrator)

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Sound Tracks: Uncovering Our Musical Past

Brought to you by Penguin. Sound Tracks tells the history of our relationship with music in 60 detective stories, each focusing on the discovery of a musical instrument in archaeological digs around the world. Taking us from the present day back to the dawn of time, long-lost music is here reconstructed as we enter the worlds of its makers. We feel a child's delight at playing with a water-filled pot that chirps like a bird in Peru in 700 AD; we appreciate the challenge of a soldier sending signals by trumpet along Hadrian's Wall; we hear the chiming of 64 bells buried in a tomb in 5th century China. Graeme Lawson leads us on a grand tour of the world's greatest musical discoveries, revealing that music is part of our DNA - not just in its role as pastime, entertainment or religious expression but also in how we commemorate our pasts and communicate with each other. It shapes all our lives and identities. Filling past silences with a treasure hoard of forgotten sounds and voices, Sound Tracks is an enthralling, astonishing alternative history of humanity. ©2024 Graeme Lawson (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Graeme Lawson (Author), Graeme Lawson, TBD (Narrator)

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The Secret Lives of Booksellers & Librarians

Brought to you by Penguin. To be a bookseller or librarian . . . You have to play detective. Be a treasure hunter. A matchmaker. A brilliant listener. A person who creates a kind of magic by pulling a book from a shelf, handing it to someone and saying, 'You've got to read this. You're going to love it'. In this love letter to the heroes of literacy, James Patterson uncovers true stories from booksellers and librarians. Prepare to enter a world where you can feed your curiosities, discover new voices, and find whatever you need. Meet the smart and talented people who live between the shelves - and who can't wait to help you find your next great read. PRAISE FOR JAMES PATTERSON 'No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades.' LEE CHILD 'James Patterson is The Boss. End of.' IAN RANKIN 'The master storyteller of our times' HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON ©2024 James Patterson (P)2024 Penguin Audio

James Patterson (Author), Amy Jensen, Daniel Henning, Deanna Anthony, Jane Oppenheimer, Jenn Lee, Jennifer Pickens, Marni Penning, Nancy Peterson, Rob Reider, Susan Hanfield, TBD, Tom Force (Narrator)

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Lotharingia: A Personal History of Europe's Lost Country

A Sunday Times History Book of the Year 2019 Shortlisted for The Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award 'No Briton has written better than Winder about Europe' - Sunday Times In AD 843, the three surviving grandsons of the great Emperor Charlemagne met at Verdun. After years of bitter squabbles over who would inherit the family land, they finally decided to divide the territory and go their separate ways. In a moment of staggering significance, one grandson inherited what became France, another Germany and the third Lotharingia: the chunk that initially divided the other two. The dynamic between these three great zones has dictated much of our subsequent fate. In this beguiling, hilarious and compelling book we retrace how both from west and from east any number of ambitious characters have tried and failed to grapple with these Lotharingians, who ultimately became Dutch, German, Belgian, French, Luxembourgers and Swiss. Over many centuries, not only has Lotharingia brought forth many of Europe's greatest artists, inventors and thinkers, but it has also reduced many a would-be conqueror to helpless tears of rage and frustration. Joining Germania and Danubia in Simon Winder's endlessly fascinating retelling of European history, Lotharingia is a personal, wonderful and gripping story.

Simon Winder (Author), Peter Noble, TBD (Narrator)

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World Audiobooks in History