Audiobooks narrated by Daniel Houle

Yuri Bezmenov: The Life and Legacy of the Influential KGB Informant Who Defected to the West

The KGB is one of the most famous abbreviations of the 20th century, and it has become synonymous with the shadowy and often violent actions of the Soviet Union’s secret police and internal security agencies. In fact, it is often used to refer to the Soviet state security agencies throughout its history, from the inception of the inception of the Cheka (Extraordinary Commission) in 1917 to the official elimination of the KGB in 1992. Whether it’s associated with the Russian Civil War’s excesses, Stalin’s purges, and even Vladimir Putin, the KGB has long been viewed as the West’s biggest bogeyman during the second half of the 20th century. Yuri Bezmenov was among the first Soviet whistleblowers to attract attention on a global scale, and interest in his story has recently been revived thanks to his surprising cameo in the teaser trailer for Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War in August 2020. This came despite the fact he was far from the first ex-KGB agent or Russian to pull back the curtains on the Russian government and reveal the harrowing “truths” they were once sworn to harbor, as well as the disconcerting covert operations of which they once allegedly partook. In fact, the history of Russian defectors who later emerged as informants in the name of public interest stretches back to the 16th century, when Andrey Kurbsky, a former boyar, high-ranking military commander, and trusted adviser to Tsar Ivan the Terrible, decamped to Lithuania on April 30, 1564.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

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Woolly Mammoths: The History and Legacy of the Most Famous Extinct Elephant Species

It was a frosty, wintry September morning in 2012 when 11-year-old Yevgeny “Zhenya” Salinder donned his warmest quilted jacket, a knitted woolen cap, and matching mittens and headed out the door with his faithful, tail-wagging dogs in tow. Like most mornings, the kid ambled about near the Sopkarga polar weather station, an isolated region in the northern Russian Taymyr Peninsula where he resided, but this particular morning, his pace was slowed by a foul, almost eye-watering stench. Intrigued, Salinder and the dogs sniffed out the source of the strange miasma, and in the process they stumbled upon a defrosted pair of heels from an unknown creature protruding from the cold earth. By the time Zhenya made the discovery, people had been quite familiar with the extinct giants for many years, and people across the world have seen models and depictions of them to go along with the fossils. Since Georges Cuvier recognized the specimens as an extinct elephant species near the end of the 18th century, various finds of mammoth fossils, particularly in places where they were well preserved in the cold, have made the woolly mammoth perhaps the most popular extinct animal outside of the dinosaurs. Standing around 10 feet tall and weighing several tons, woolly mammoths seem like the stuff of legend, but ancient cave art indicated that unlike dinosaurs, woolly mammoths were contemporaries of early humans, with the last ones going extinct only about 4,000 years ago. All of that explains why people have long been fascinated by woolly mammoths and have even envisioned bringing them back to life via genetics sometime in the future.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

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What if Carthage Won the Punic Wars? An Alternative History of the Conflict Between Rome and Carthag

The Punic Wars spanned more than a century, brought the loss of approximately 400,000 lives, and eventually led to the utter defeat and destruction of Carthage, but it was no easy victory for Rome, and on several occasions the young Roman Republic was close to annihilation. Given what happened in the wake of the Punic Wars, historians have long been left to ponder what might have happened had the Carthaginians won, especially given how close Hannibal came to accomplishing such a victory against Rome during the Second Punic War. What if Carthage Won the Punic Wars? An Alternative History of the Conflict Between Rome and Carthage profiles the conflict and examines how events may have gone quite differently for Europe if Rome had been defeated.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

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Weird Rome: A Collection of Mysterious Stories, Odd Anecdotes, and Strange Superstitions from the An

The ambitious and fearless emperors who built the legendary Roman Empire from scratch, the broad-shouldered and bronzed gladiators with their iconic plume helmets and glinting swords, and elaborate parties attended by toga-wearing Romans fueled by alcohol, violence, orgies, and other godless acts all paint a picture of Roman life. Indeed, many people are well-versed with these unique scenes of Roman history, but few are familiar with the equally riveting years preceding the dawn of the Roman Republic, and even less people are acquainted with the fabled Seven Hills sitting east of the Tiber River – the core geographical components of Rome, and the very foundations that the Eternal City was built on. Ancient Rome is understandably an object of enduring fascination, and its legacy still survives today, especially in the West, where Roman architecture, law, and philosophy all influence modern societies. But the Romans were also startlingly different - a deeply superstitious society, they believed in all sorts of omens and magic spells, while their leaders were capable of cruelties that would make a modern war criminal blush. Regular Romans performed strange religious practices, and they engaged in even stranger sexual practices. Weird Rome: A Collection of Mysterious Stories, Odd Anecdotes, and Strange Superstitions from the Ancient Romans looks at the more bizarre sides of Roman civilization, helping people understand the true nature of Rome and examining aspects that documentaries and museum exhibitions tend to gloss over.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

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Wall Street Bombing of 1920, The: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Anarchist Attack on New Yo

One September day, New York City suffered a devastating act of domestic terrorism, but that day was not the 11th, and the attack took place over 80 years before the most notorious terrorist attack on America. In 1920, an explosion in the Financial District of New York City killed 38 people, injured hundreds more, and caused damage that is still visible on some of Wall Street’s most famous buildings today. Although the attack has largely been forgotten, in terms of casualties, it was the worst act of terrorism in the United States until the bombing in Oklahoma City conducted by Timothy McVeigh in 1995. The investigation into the bombing involved 10 government agencies and extended across the world, yet after three years of intensive work, investigators were finally forced to admit that they had no idea who had planted the bomb. Subsequent investigations have uncovered many suspects, but no one was ever charged with offenses related to the explosion, even as suspicions have always fallen on anarchists, political activists who sought revolutionary change. In America, which had large immigrant communities, these movements gained increasing numbers of followers, so when a bomb exploded on Wall Street, the heart of the American financial system, it was perhaps natural that suspicions immediately fell on anarchist movements. Was this an attempt to destabilize capitalism in America or even to assassinate leading figures in the financial world? Finding clear answers to those questions proved beyond the capacity of the agencies tasked with investigating the bombing. Even now, there is no certain answer as to who planted the Wall Street bomb, but it has long been attributed to anarchists.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

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Umayyad Caliphate, The: The History and Legacy of the Second Islamic Kingdom Established After Muham

The split between the two forms of Islam was already in the process of forming upon the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad had constructed around himself not only a potent new religious movement but also a powerful young state called the Ummah (the 'Community' for lack of a better translation). Belonging to the Islamic faith also meant belonging to the Ummah, which was governed by its own laws and had many of its own institutions. In his own lifetime, Muhammad had ruled the Ummah through what sociologists call 'charismatic authority,' a term coined by Max Weber that is defined as 'resting on devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person, and of the normative patterns or order revealed or ordained by him.' Hence, Muslims believe Muhammad ruled because he was uniquely chosen and endowed by God as the exemplar of all humanity, giving him a unique (though not perfect or infallible) ability to govern humanity. This was a holistic form of governance because the Prophet did not simply deliver God's words (what became the Holy Qur'an), nor did he simply pronounce upon court cases and create laws. He did all those things, but he also presented in his own person the embodiment of the best that humanity could aspire to. He was fully human, but the finest, most pious example that humans would ever produce. Amid the upheaval in the Islamic world following Muhammad’s death, the Umayyad Caliphate lasted for less than a century, but in that time it managed to become one of the most influential of the major caliphates established following him. Its official existence was from 661-750, and the rulers were the male members of the Umayyad dynasty, roughly translated from Arabic as the “Sons of Umayyah.” Its primary base of power was in Syria following the creation of a dynastic, hereditary rule headed by one of Syria’s long-lasting governors, Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle, Kelly Mcgee (Narrator)

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Toussaint L'Ouverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines: The History and Legacy of the Haitian Revolution’

The island of Hispaniola is the second largest island in the Antilles chain behind Cuba, and host to the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Haiti, however, covering the western third of the island, is a French-speaking territory while the Dominican Republic, which occupies the other two thirds, is a Spanish-speaking territory. The Dominican Republic, although classified as a developing nation, has never been struck to the same degree by the malaise of poverty, corruption of its neighbor, languishing in the lower ten percent of nations ahead only of some of the most conspicuous failed states in Africa. Many historians and analysts have posed the question of why, and the answer seems to lie in Haiti’s uniquely tortured history. Hispaniola entered the European record in 1492 when Christopher Columbus made landfall on its southern shore during his first trans-Atlantic voyage, and he named his discovery in honor of the Spanish Crown that had funded and sponsored the voyage. Leaving the crew of the wrecked Santa Maria on the island, he returned to Europe, leaving his men to establish the foundations of the settlement of La Navidad and the first beachhead of the European seizure of the Caribbean and the New World. Columbus would revisit the island three times, leading a vanguard of pioneer colonists to commence the exploitation of the New World.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

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Tony Curtis: The Life and Career of a Hollywood Golden Boy

“Shining shoes as a boy, shining on-screen as a star, shining even among the blinding bright lights of Las Vegas that became his adopted home, Tony Curtis was never less than a megawatt personality, one that always seemed lit by a childlike glow of wonderment.” Start naming superstars from the enchanted Golden Age of Hollywood, and chances are that Tony Curtis shared a marquee with them—and when it comes to many of the women, he also shared a bed. Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Burt Lancaster? Yup. Marilyn Monroe, Janet Leigh, Natalie Wood? Yup. Kirk Douglas, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin? Yup. Debbie Reynolds, Yvonne De Carlo…well, you get the idea. Curtis appeared in more than 100 movies, dozens of television series, and on countless talk, variety, and game shows, but despite a prolific career spanning six decades in the ficklest business of all, Curtis could never shake the feeling that he was on the outside looking in. He always had a beautiful woman at his side, but he had trouble committing to one. He mingled with the movers and shakers in the realms of entertainment and politics, but when his phone inevitably stopped ringing, he fell hard into drug and alcohol abuse. He fathered six children, but when his end neared, he bequeathed them nothing. This book profiles how Curtis climbed from the darkest depths of poverty, reached Hollywood’s dizzying heights of fame and fortune, and clung to his pedestal through five marriages, drug, alcohol, and sex addiction, and the tragic death of a son.

Phaistos Publishers (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

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The Wobblies: The History of the Industrial Workers of the World in the Early 20th Century

After finishing with 3% of the presidential vote in 1904, Eugene V. Debs helped organize one of the world’s most notorious unions over the coming year. Debts and a number of other prominent labor activists and socialists in Chicago decided to hold a national conference in June 1905, and they extended invitations to socialists and many of the more radical unions. About 200 activists assembled for the 1905 meeting. Many of the attendees were from the Western Federation of Miners, which had been extremely active in organizing unions and strikes throughout the West, including Big Bill Haywood. A number of notable activists attended, including the famous Mother Jones, as well as Lucy Parsons, an activist since her husband was hanged for his part in the Haymarket Affair in Chicago. The result was the formation of the Industrial Workers of the World, a union better known by the acronym IWW. The IWW’s members have been known for more than a century as the Wobblies, and no one knows how they got the name, although there are stories that an immigrant had trouble pronouncing the letters. That would be appropriate, because the Wobblies went out of their way to unionize immigrants, who formed a sizable percentage of the American labor force in the years the IWW was influential. The Wobblies quickly became a considerable force in American labor and by far the most colorful union of its era, if not always particularly effective. The Wobblies are still around, but the years of their real effectiveness were rather brief, lasting from about 1905-1919. This work tells the story of how they came about, the peak of their influence, and the lasting legacy they forged.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

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The Wars of Alexander the Great: The History of the Campaigns in Persia and India that Established t

Over the last 2,000 years, ambitious men have dreamed of forging vast empires and attaining eternal glory in battle, but of all the conquerors who took steps toward such dreams, none were ever as successful as antiquity’s first great conqueror. Leaders of the 20th century hoped to rival Napoleon’s accomplishments, while Napoleon aimed to emulate the accomplishments of Julius Caesar. But Caesar himself found inspiration in Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE), the Macedonian king who managed to stretch an empire from Greece to the Himalayas in Asia by the age of 30. It took less than 15 years for Alexander to conquer much of the known world. At one point in antiquity, the Achaemenid Persian Empire was the largest empire the world had ever seen, but aside from its role in the Greco-Persian Wars and its collapse at the hands of Alexander the Great, it has been mostly overlooked. Ever since the famous Persian invasions that had been repelled by the Athenians at Marathon and then by the Spartans at Thermopylae and Plataea, Greece and Persia had been at odds. For the past few years they had enjoyed an uneasy peace, but that peace was shattered when, in 334 BCE, Alexander crossed the Hellespont into Persia. He brought with him an army of 50,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry and a navy of over 100 ships, a mixed force of Macedonians, Greeks, Thracians and Illyrians, all chosen for their specific strengths (the Thessalians, for example, were famous cavalrymen). He was still just 22.Darius III, king of Persia at the time of Alexander’s invasion, was no tactical genius, but he was an intelligent and persistent enemy who had been handed the throne just before the arrival of the indomitable Alexander. His misfortune was to face an enemy at the forefront of military innovation and flexibility, a fighting force that he was not equipped to handle, and the unconquerable will of the Macedonian army, fueled by devotion to their daring and charismatic king.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

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The Tunisian Campaign: The History of the Decisive Battles that Ended the Fighting in North Africa d

The fighting in North Africa during World War II is commonly overlooked, aside from the famous battle at El Alamein that pitted the British under General Bernard Montgomery against the legendary “Desert Fox,” Erwin Rommel. But while the Second Battle of El Alamein would be the pivotal action in North Africa, the conflict in North Africa began all the way back in the summer of 1940 when Italian dictator Benito Mussolini declared Italy’s entrance into the war. Dealing with the Italians was one thing, but the British faced an entirely different monster in North Africa when Erwin Rommel, a German general who had gained much fame for his role in the invasions of Poland and France, was sent to North Africa in February 1941. Rommel’s directives from the German headquarters were to maneuver in a way that would allow him to hide the fact that his ultimate goal was the capture of Cairo and the Suez Canal. The ultimate plan was that Rommel would not reveal the Germans’ true intentions in North Africa until after the Germans had made headway in their invasion of the Soviet Union. ith the Axis forces trying to push through Egypt towards the Suez Canal and the British Mandate of Palestine, American forces landed to their west in North Africa, which ultimately compelled Rommel to try to break through before the Allies could build up and overwhelm them with superior numbers. Given that the combined Allied forces under Montgomery already had an advantage in manpower, Montgomery also wanted to be aggressive, and the fighting would start in late October 1942 with an Allied attack. The ensuing Tunisian Campaign was a complicated, last-ditch, cut-and-thrust effort on the part of the doomed Axis forces. The various Allied forces arriving from the west were heavily bloodied before U.S. and British airborne and commando units began to mop up key ports and landing facilities. Rommel and his army were clearly staring at defeat.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

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The Surveyor Program: The History and Legacy of NASA’s First Successful Moon Landing Missions

The Apollo space program is the most famous and celebrated in American history, but the first successful landing of men on the Moon during Apollo 11 had complicated roots dating back over a decade, and it also involved one of NASA’s most infamous tragedies. Landing on the Moon presented an ideal goal all on its own, but the government’s urgency in designing the Apollo program was actually brought about by the Soviet Union, which spent much of the 1950s leaving the United States in its dust (and rocket fuel). In 1957, at a time when people were concerned about communism and nuclear war, many Americans were dismayed by news that the Soviet Union was successfully launching satellites into orbit. Throughout the 1960s, NASA would spend tens of billions on missions to the Moon, the most expensive peacetime program in American history to that point, and Apollo was only made possible by the tests conducted through the Surveyor Program. Between May 1966 and January 1968, the Surveyor Program launched seven unmanned spacecraft to the lunar surface to gather data and test the feasibility of landing a manned vehicle on the Moon. Although largely forgotten now, without these missions the later series of manned Moon landings would not have been possible. The Surveyor Program: The History and Legacy of NASA’s First Successful Moon Landing Missions examines the origins behind the missions, the space probes involved, and the historic results.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Daniel Houle