Audiobooks narrated by Clive Chafer

The Man with the Poison Gun: A Cold War Spy Story

In the fall of 1961, KGB assassin Bogdan Stashinsky defected to West Germany. After spilling his secrets to the CIA, Stashinsky was put on trial in what would be the most publicized assassination case of the entire Cold War. The publicity stirred up by the Stashinsky case forced the KGB to change its modus operandi abroad and helped end the career of Aleksandr Shelepin, one of the most ambitious and dangerous Soviet leaders. Stashinsky's testimony, implicating the Kremlin rulers in political assassinations carried out abroad, shook the world of international politics. Stashinsky's story would inspire films, plays, and books-including Ian Fleming's last James Bond novel, The Man with the Golden Gun. A thrilling tale of Soviet spy craft, complete with exploding parcels, elaborately staged coverups, double agents, and double crosses, The Man with the Poison Gun offers unparalleled insight into the shadowy world of Cold War espionage.

Serhii Plokhy (Author), Clive Chafer (Narrator)

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The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Vol. 3: Defender of the Realm, 1940–1965

Spanning the years 1940 to 1965, Defender of the Realm, the third volume of William Manchester’s The Last Lion, picks up shortly after Winston Churchill became prime minister—when his tiny island nation stood alone against the overwhelming might of Nazi Germany. The Churchill portrayed by Manchester and Reid is a man of indomitable courage, lightning-fast intellect, and an irresistible will to action. This volume brilliantly recounts how Churchill organized his nation’s military response and defense, compelled President Roosevelt to support America’s beleaguered cousins, and personified the “never surrender” ethos that helped the Allies win the war, while at the same time adapting himself and his country to the inevitable shift of world power from the British Empire to the United States. More than twenty years in the making, The Last Lion presents a revelatory and unparalleled portrait of this brilliant, flawed, and dynamic leader. This is popular history at its most stirring.

Paul Reid, William Manchester (Author), Clive Chafer (Narrator)

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A Bridge Too Far

The classic account of one of the most dramatic battles of World War II A Bridge Too Far is Cornelius Ryan's masterly chronicle of the Battle of Arnhem, which marshaled the greatest armada of troop-carrying aircraft ever assembled and cost the Allies nearly twice as many casualties as D-day. In this compelling work of history, Ryan narrates the Allied effort to end the war in Europe in 1944 by dropping the combined airborne forces of the American and British armies behind German lines to capture the crucial bridge across the Rhine at Arnhem. Focusing on a vast cast of characters-from Dutch civilians to British and American strategists to common soldiers and commanders-Ryan brings to life one of the most daring and ill-fated operations of the war. A Bridge Too Far superbly recreates the terror, suspense, heroism, and tragedy of this epic operation, which ended in bitter defeat for the Allies.

Cornelius Ryan (Author), Clive Chafer (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Vol. 3: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965

Spanning the years 1940 to 1965, Defender of the Realm, the third volume of William Manchester's The Last Lion, picks up shortly after Winston Churchill became prime minister-when his tiny island nation stood alone against the overwhelming might of Nazi Germany. The Churchill portrayed by Manchester and Reid is a man of indomitable courage, lightning-fast intellect, and an irresistible will to action. This volume brilliantly recounts how Churchill organized his nation's military response and defense, compelled President Roosevelt to support America's beleaguered cousins, and personified the "never surrender" ethos that helped the Allies win the war, while at the same time adapting himself and his country to the inevitable shift of world power from the British Empire to the United States. More than twenty years in the making, The Last Lion presents a revelatory and unparalleled portrait of this brilliant, flawed, and dynamic leader. This is popular history at its most stirring.

Eric Garner, Paul Reid, William Manchester (Author), Clive Chafer (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Bridge Too Far

The classic account of one of the most dramatic battles of World War II. A Bridge Too Far is Cornelius Ryan's masterly chronicle of the Battle of Arnhem, which marshaled the greatest armada of troop-carrying aircraft ever assembled and cost the Allies nearly twice as many casualties as D-day. In this compelling work of history, Ryan narrates the Allied effort to end the war in Europe in 1944 by dropping the combined airborne forces of the American and British armies behind German lines to capture the crucial bridge across the Rhine at Arnhem. Focusing on a vast cast of characters-from Dutch civilians to British and American strategists to common soldiers and commanders-Ryan brings to life one of the most daring and ill-fated operations of the war. A Bridge Too Far superbly recreates the terror, suspense, heroism, and tragedy of this epic operation, which ended in bitter defeat for the Allies. "I know of no other work of literature of World War II as moving, as awesome, and as accurate in its portrayal of human courage."-General James M. Gavin

Cornelius Ryan (Author), Clive Chafer (Narrator)

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Dear Theo: The Autobiography of Vincent van Gogh

Each night, when the hours of painting and drawing were over, Vincent van Gogh put pen to paper and poured out his heart through letters to his beloved brother Theo, his confidant and companion. No thought was too small, no element of his craft too insignificant, no happening too trivial. It was all scrupulously recorded and shared. In these letters, Van Gogh reveals himself as artist and man. Even more than if he had purposely intended to tell his life story, Van Gogh's letters lay bare his deepest feelings, as well as his everyday concerns and his views of the world of art. Irving Stone has edited the letters of Vincent in such a way as to retain every line of beauty, significance, and importance. "It is my humble opinion that Vincent was as great a writer and philosopher," Stone says, "as he was a painter." Edited by Irving Stone, with Jean Stone "An extraordinary book...and a great one."-New York Times

Irving Stone, Jean Stone, Vincent Van Gogh (Author), Clive Chafer (Narrator)

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Candide and Zadig

These two classic coming-of-age stories by Voltaire parody the romanticism of his day with the ruthless wit that has made him the undisputed master of social commentary. Candide, which is alternately titled Optimism, is a merciless satire and exposé of the ideas and institutions men live by. In this philosophical fantasy, the naïve Candide comes to witness and to suffer such misfortune that he rejects the philosophy of his tutor, Dr. Pangloss, who claims that "all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds." Zadig is the story of another optimist-young, rich, beautiful, and engaged to a woman he loves. When his early hopes and assets are destroyed, he embarks on a journey that will systematically explore science, religion, and the military, contributing to each, betrayed by all. Through these trials, he will eventually win the kingdom of Babylon. "A masterful satire on the follies and vices of men."- Masterpieces of World Literature on Candide

Voltaire (Author), Clive Chafer (Narrator)

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Rebellion: The History of England from James I to the Glorious Revolution

Peter Ackroyd has been praised as one of the greatest living chroniclers of Britain and its people. In Rebellion, he continues his dazzling account of the history of England, beginning the progress south of the Scottish king James VI, who on the death of Elizabeth I became the first Stuart king of England, and ending with the deposition and flight into exile of his grandson James II. The Stuart monarchy brought together the two nations of England and Scotland into one realm, albeit a realm still marked by political divisions that echo to this day. More importantly perhaps, the Stuart era was marked by the cruel depredations of civil war and the killing of a king. Shrewd and opinionated, James I was eloquent on matters as diverse as theology, witchcraft, and the abuses of tobacco, but his attitude to the English parliament sowed the seeds of the division that would split the country during the reign of his hapless heir, Charles I. Ackroyd offers a brilliant, warts-and-all portrayal of Charles’s nemesis, Oliver Cromwell, Parliament’s great military leader and England’s only dictator, who began his career as a political liberator but ended it as much of a despot as “that man of blood,” the king he executed. England’s turbulent seventeenth century is vividly laid out before us, but so too is the cultural and social life of the period, notable for its extraordinarily rich literature, including Shakespeare’s late masterpieces, Jacobean tragedy, the poetry of John Donne and Milton, and Thomas Hobbes’s great philosophical treatise, Leviathan. Rebellion also gives us a very real sense of the lives of ordinary English men and women, lived out against a backdrop of constant disruption and uncertainty.

Peter Ackroyd (Author), Clive Chafer (Narrator)

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The Merry Misogynist

In 1978 in poverty-stricken Laos, a man from the city with a truck was somebody—a catch for even the prettiest village virgin. The corpse of one of these bucolic beauties turns up in Dr. Siri's morgue, and his curiosity is piqued. The victim was tied to a tree and strangled, but she had not, as the doctor had expected, been raped. And though the victim had smooth, pale skin over most of her body, her hands and feet were gnarled, callused, and blistered. "It is part of Colin Cotterill's skill that he grips the reader by intercutting between the cerebral deductions of Siri and the determined planning of the killer…Tight plotting and a background full of the sounds and color of the Orient make this a fascinating read."—Independent (London) On a trip to the hinterlands, Siri discovers that many women have been killed in this way. He sets out to investigate this unprecedented phenomenon—a serial killer in peaceful Buddhist Laos—only to discover, when he has identified the murderer, that not only pretty maidens are at risk: seventy-three-year-old coroners can be victims too.

Colin Cotterill (Author), Clive Chafer (Narrator)

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The Longest Day: June 6, 1944

The classic account of the Allied invasion of Normandy. The Longest Day is Cornelius Ryan's unsurpassed account of D-day, a book that endures as a masterpiece of military history. In this compelling tale of courage and heroism, glory and tragedy, Ryan painstakingly re-creates the fateful hours that preceded and followed the massive invasion of Normandy to retell the story of an epic battle that would turn the tide against world fascism and free Europe from the grip of Nazi Germany. This book, first published in 1959, is a must for anyone who loves history, as well as for anyone who wants to better understand how free nations prevailed at a time when darkness enshrouded the earth. "What I write about is not war but the courage of man."-Cornelius Ryan

Cornelius Ryan (Author), Clive Chafer (Narrator)

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Foundation: The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors

In this massive bestseller in England, one of Britain’s most popular and esteemed historians tells the epic story of the birth of the country. Peter Ackroyd, whose work has always been underpinned by a profound interest in and understanding of England's history, now tells the epic story of England itself. In Foundation,the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, takes us from the primeval forests of England’s prehistory to the death of the first Tudor king, Henry VII, in 1509. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country’s most distant past—a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a Saxon tomb, a medieval manor house—and describes in rich prose the successive waves of invaders who made England English, despite being themselves Roman, Viking, Saxon, or Norman French. With his extraordinary skill for evoking time and place and his acute eye for the telling detail, Ackroyd recounts the story of warring kings, civil strife, and foreign wars. But he also gives us a vivid sense of how England’s early people lived: the homes they built, the clothes they wore, the food they ate, even the jokes they told. All are brought vividly to life through the narrative mastery of one of Britain’s finest writers. “[In] Foundation, his rambling, affectionate new history of the remote English past…the history that interests him most is the kind touching on national memory and a sense of place, ‘about longing and belonging,’ in his memorable phrase…In a narrative that is relaxed, unpretentious, and accessible, if at times somewhat hasty, he skillfully digests the work of others without cutting very deep with his own analysis. The early chapters, on the times before William the Conqueror, play especially to his strengths, as he draws on the findings of modern archaeologists who have advanced our understanding of how ancient Britons lived and how the various migrations and invasions changed the nation.”—New York Times Book Review

Peter Ackroyd (Author), Clive Chafer (Narrator)

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Curse of the Pogo Stick: The Dr. Siri Investigations, Book 5

In Vientiane, Laos, a booby-trapped corpse intended for Dr. Siri, the national coroner, has been delivered to the morgue. In his absence, only Nurse Dtui's intervention saves the lives of the morgue attendants, visiting doctors, and Madame Daeng, Dr. Siri's fianc'e. On his way back from a Communist Party meeting in the north, Dr. Siri is kidnapped by seven female Hmong villagers under the direction of the village elder so that he will'in the guise of Yeh Ming, the thousand-year-old shaman with whom he shares his body'exorcise the headman's daughter, whose soul is possessed by a demon, and lift the curse of the pogo stick. 'Like Dr. Siri, Colin Cotterill has a touch of magic about him.''Boston Globe

Colin Cotterill (Author), Clive Chafer (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Clive Chafer