Audiobooks narrated by Ben Cura

"Bloomsbury presents The Knife Maker of Venice by David Gilman read by Ben Cura and Davild Gilman, and featuring an exclusive interview between them. A young Englishman captured by slavers must survive the snakepit that is seventeenth-century Venice. 1604. As pirates seeking slaves to sell in the markets of North Africa terrorise the coasts of Europe, headstrong Richard Sheriff and his sister Elizabeth are torn from their Devonshire home and thrust into a waking nightmare. Richard’s skills as a blacksmith see him fetch a high price, but the pirate captain has other plans for Elizabeth and once they are separated, Richard has no idea of his sister's fate. They must both learn to survive on a deadly voyage into the unknown. Sold into servitude in Venice: glittering, vicious city of secrets, he is apprenticed to a knife maker. Richard’s talents soon win him renown... but haunted by his sister’s absence, he vows never to stop looking for her, knowing she would do the same for him. First he must survive that city of ghosts. Will the siblings live to see each other again, or will they join the myriads lost to Venice, where life is cheap, profit is all, and escape nigh-on impossible? A powerful historical adventure perfect for fans of Kate Mosse, Ken Follett and Robert Harris. Reviews for THE KNIFE MAKER OF VENICE 'An unforgettable adventure' Clare Whitfield 'Relentless suspense against the backdrop of a stunningly realized Renaissance-era Venice' Boyd and Beth Morrison 'Fantastic... A dark, compelling story that cuts through like a blade [and] grips from the very first page.' S.W. Perry P 2026 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC C 2026 David Gilman"

David Gilman (Author), Ben Cura, David Gilman (Narrator)

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A Sicilian Man: Leonardo Sciascia, the Rise of the Mafia and the Struggle for Italy’s Soul

"Brought to you by Penguin. Corruption, sleaze and violence were woven into the fabric of twentieth-century Sicilian life, as the Mafia rose to dominance; this is the story of one man who stood in opposition. In 1986, the largest Mafia trial in Italy’s history took place in Sicily. The maxi-processo saw 471 men and 4 women take the stand, accused of kidnapping, extortion, drug trafficking and many thousands of murders. Sitting in the galley was Leonardo Sciascia, then aged sixty-five. One of the greatest European writers of the twentieth century, he had published the first Mafia novel, The Day of the Owl, in 1961, and was widely seen by Italians as a true moral figure in a country where corruption had seeped into every corner of public and private life. Sciascia was born in 1921 and came of age as the Mafia grew to prominence across Sicily. Widespread poverty and hardship following the First World War meant that many Sicilians no longer recognised Rome’s leadership, which had left a void for local gangsters to fill. Witnessing the scale of corruption and violence, Sciascia predicted it would soon spread north, and he was right: by the 1980s, the Mafia had infiltrated every level of Italian politics and grown into an international, highly successful business. In A Sicilian Man, prize-winning historian and biographer Caroline Moorehead charts Sciascia’s life against the rise of the Mafia, and lays out the thrilling and devastating struggle that ensued for Italy’s soul. 'This feels like the book [Moorehead] was destined to write' LUCY HUGHES-HALLETT 'Magnificent and deeply affecting' PHILIP HENSHER © Caroline Moorehead 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026"

Caroline Moorehead (Author), Ben Cura (Narrator)

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The Silver Book: The glittering new queer love story and noirish thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author

"Brought to you by Penguin. ‘It is dangerous to want someone this much. He has always known it, from the very first night.’ It is September 1974. Two men meet by chance in Venice. One is a young English artist, in panicked flight from London. The other is Danilo Donati, the magician of Italian cinema, the designer responsible for realising the spectacular visions of Fellini and Pasolini. Donati is in Venice to produce sketches for Fellini’s Casanova. A young – and beautiful – apprentice is just what he needs. He sweeps Nicholas to Rome, into the looking-glass world of Cinecittà, the studio where Casanova’s Venice will be ingeniously assembled. Then in the spring, the lovers move together to the set of Salò, Pasolini’s horrifying fable of fascism. But Nicholas has a secret and in this world of constant illusion, his real nature passes unseen. Amidst the rising tensions of Italy’s ‘Years of Lead’, he acts as an accelerant, setting in motion a tragedy he didn’t intend. The Silver Book is at once a queer love story and a noirish thriller, set in the dream factory of cinema. It’s a fictional account of real things, and an investigation into the difficult relationship between artifice and truth, illusion and reality, love and power. © Olivia Laing 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Olivia Laing (Author), Ben Cura (Narrator)

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Mexico: A History

"Brought to you by Penguin. This sweeping new history of Mexico spans 500 dramatic years of conquest, innovation and revolution It begins in 1511 with the shipwreck of two Spanish sailors in Yucatán. Only ten years later, an army of European adventurers and indigenous rebels seized the island city of Tenochtitlán, seat of one of the world’s great empires. It would become Mexico City, and marked the collision of two radically different worlds. Spaniards discovered tomatoes, chocolate and the most sophisticated city they had ever seen. For Mexicans the encounter brought horses, wheels, but also lethal germs – sparking a cataclysmic century of disease that would kill a majority of the indigenous population. Paul Gillingham’s superb history chronicles how this convulsion led to a startling recombination of cultures. He shows how the industrial mining of Mexico’s silver transformed the wealth and trade of the world, making it the centre of the first truly global economy. We then see how independence from Spain went on to bring calamitous wars with the United States and France. One of the world’s great social revolutions then remade Mexico and ushered in a one-party state that, whatever its shortcomings, brought peace throughout many of the global horrors of the twentieth century – before the country collapsed into violence in the drug wars of the 2000s. Mexico: A History uses the latest research to dazzling effect, showing how often Mexico has been one of the world’s great innovators; a dynamic and vital shaper of world affairs. © Paul Gillingham 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Paul Gillingham (Author), Ben Cura (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Better World: Stories of Democracy and Consumerism Retold: Four full-cast BBC Radio Dramas inspired by Das Kapital, News from Nowhere & more

"Four full-cast BBC Radio dramas inspired by classic texts about democracy, consumerism and our future Sarah Woods has developed a reputation for taking seemingly un-dramatisable non-fiction classics and turning them into gripping and immersive audio drama. Four seminal political books are here brought to life and into the twenty-first century, and ideas that have been fascinating and shaping society for hundreds of years are developed into brilliant, insightful dramas. How does humanity's success also mean its potential destruction? And what do we need to turn from this danger, and instead develop a global system that's positive, sustainable, and better for the masses rather than the few? In Das Kapital, Karl Marx's iconic work is reinterpreted as we imagine what Marx would make of our current global economy and its key commodity: the smartphone. From the cobalt mines of Africa to the tech firms of the UK, the story carries us from political concept to everyday object, forming our behaviours, economies, and our planet in a way perhaps only Marx foresaw. This captivating adaptation was nominated for both an Audio Drama Award and the Prix Europa 2018. Starring David Threlfall and Kimberley Nixon. The Limits to Growth is based on the work of Donella Meadows, lead author of the seminal 1972 report on Earth's capacity to support human unchecked economic expansion. Still incredibly relevant today, the drama it inspired follows the experiences of Donella and Dennis Meadows as they write their ground-breaking report and come to fundamentally reassess the way they live, steering towards a hopeful, sustainable future. Starring Samantha Dakin and Ben Cura. News from Nowhere was originally published in 1890 by artist, designer and socialist William Morris, and is movingly updated here for the 21st century. Using Morris's central idea that society needs to re-discover the value of work and thrive on beauty over consumerism, the story is given a new perspective when modern-day man Will Guest travels into a future utopia and discovers love for both a woman and society at large. Starring Ron Cook. Democracy is one of the most influential political texts ever written, asking whether democracy can offer us the world, and the leaders, that we need. In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville travelled to the USA on a nine-month trip that led him to conclude that democracy was unstoppable and would spread across Europe. His concerns about democracy - the dangers of self-interest and materialism; the tendencies towards mediocrity; the risk of populist, despotic leaders and the silencing of minorities - echo clearly into the present day. In this drama, set in the present day UK, an elderly man turns up at a Preston hospital who doesn’t seem to be registered with a GP and won’t give his address. He says his name’s Alexis de Tocqueville and that he needs to find out what has happened to democracy. Starring Philippe Spall and Catherine Ayers. Sarah Woods is an award-winning playwright and systems thinker who communicates current issues through innovative drama. She has written over 30 plays, series, adaptations and drama-documentaries for BBC Radio, including Borderland, which won the Tinniswood Award for Best Audio Drama at the 2018 BBC Audio Drama Awards. ©2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Sarah Woods (Author), Ben Cura, Catherine Ayers, David Threlfall, Full Cast, Kimberley Nixon, Philippe Spall, Ron Cook, Samantha Dakin (Narrator)

Audiobook

Tomás Nevinson

"Brought to you by Penguin. AFTER THE ACCLAIMED BERTA ISLA COMES JAVIER MARÍAS' LONG-AWAITED NEW NOVEL 'The most subtle and gifted writer in contemporary Spanish literature' Boston Globe Tomás Nevinson has left the secret service and returned to his old job working in the British Embassy in Madrid. Assumed dead by his wife Berta, Tomás attempts to resume his previous life and heal from his psychological wounds. But when he is contacted by his old boss, Bertram Tupra, Nevinson reluctantly becomes involved in a plan to locate and eliminate a woman believed to have helped orchestrate the 1987 Hipercor bombing. Detonated by the ETA, a Basque separatist group, the bomb killed 21 people and injured 45. Full of mesmerising intrigue, Tomás Nevinson offers a deep reflection into the moral dilemma of whether the killing of a presumed criminal can be justified. Marías' meticulous insight and dazzling intellectual vigour show why he is so often said to be Spain's greatest living writer. PRAISE FOR BERTA ISLA: 'A twisty, thought-provoking tale that puts notions of truth and morality under pitiless scrutiny' The Guardian 'Elegant, discursive, persuasively vivid novel . . . powerful and indelible' The National 'Marías weaves a thrilling and desolate meditation on the psychic costs of the deep state's dark arts' 1843 Magazine 'Magical . . . [Marías's] finest novel to date' Alex Clark 'Compelling' Tatler ©2023 Javier Marías (P)2023 Penguin Audio"

Javier Marías (Author), Ben Cura (Narrator)

Audiobook

Chronicle of a Death Foretold

"Brought to you by Penguin. Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a compelling, moving story exploring injustice and mob hysteria by the Nobel Laureate Gabriel García Márquez, author of One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera. 'On the day they were going to kill him, Santiago Nasar got up at five-thirty in the morning to wait for the boat the bishop was coming on' Santiago Nasar is brutally murdered in a small town by two brothers. All the townspeople knew it was going to happen - including the victim. But nobody did anything to prevent the killing. Twenty seven years later, a man arrives in town to try and piece together the truth from the contradictory testimonies of the townsfolk. To at last understand what happened to Santiago, and why. . . 'A masterpiece' Evening Standard 'A work of high explosiveness - the proper stuff of Nobel prizes. An exceptional novel' The Times 'Brilliant writer, brilliant book' Guardian © Gabriel Garcia Marquez 2008 (P) Penguin Audio 2022"

Gabriel García Márquez (Author), Ben Cura (Narrator)

Audiobook

Trafalgar

"Brought to you by Penguin. In the cafes and bars of Rosario, Argentina, there are sure to be many tall tales told. But none, perhaps, quite as spectacular as those recounted by Trafalgar Medrano. With a coffeepot and a pack of cigarettes to hand, he will nonchalantly tell you all about his otherworldly adventures: from studying dancing troglodytes on a mucky planet, to befriending the only chaotic man in a perfectly arranged society, to a close shave in 15th century Spain. The things Trafalgar has seen... Cosmopolitan, wildly imaginative and, above all else, pure fun, Angélica Gorodischer's Trafalgar is an utterly unique work of science fiction. © Angélica Gorodischer 1979 (P) Penguin Audio 2020"

Angélica Gorodischer (Author), Ben Cura (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Ben Cura

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