Audiobooks narrated by John Hopkins

Sword: D-Day – Trial by Battle Audiobook

‘The messy, dirty, bloody reality of Operation Overlord comes alive in Sword, Hastings’s portrait of the individual soldiers who risked their lives on the beaches of Normandy. He brings these men to life with sensitivity and beautiful prose' THE TIMES On 6 June 1944 when the Allied armies landed on D-Day, the Second World War had already lasted almost five years. Yet many of the British and American troops who invaded Normandy were virgin soldiers, never before committed to battle. They quit England in summertime to face within hours a storm of machine-gun and mortar fire. They witnessed scenes, above all of sudden death, such as no exercise had prepared them for. In Sword, veteran chronicler of war Max Hastings explores with extraordinary vividness the actions of the Commando brigade and Montgomery’s 3rd Infantry and 6th Airborne divisions on and around a single beach. He describes their frustrations, hopes, loves and fears through the apparently interminable years training and preparing in England, then their triumphs and tragedies on the beach and beyond. Here are the airborne assaults on the Caen Canal bridge and Merville Battery, the battles on the shoreline and against the German strongpoints inland, narrated and explained with all the insights that Hastings’ decades of study, veterans’ interviews and new archive research enable him to deploy. The book offers a searching analysis of why British troops did not reach Caen on 6 June, as Montgomery had promised Churchill that they would – and the story of the brigadier who was sacked for that failure. There is also a host of personal portraits of key figures from Commando leader Lord Lovat, famously brave but supremely arrogant, to Colonel Jim Eadie, whose tanks of the Staffordshire Yeomanry repulsed a panzer division in the last hours of 6 June, and some of the humbler participants to whom extraordinary things happened. This is the story of D-Day as you have never read it before, with the blend of narrative, analysis and human insight that made Max Hastings’ last book Operation Biting, like many of his earlier works, a Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller.

Max Hastings (Author), John Hopkins (Narrator)

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Operation Biting

Operation Biting was one of the most thrilling British commando raids of World War II, and probably the most successful. In February 1942 RAF intelligence was baffled by a newly-identified radar network on the coast of Nazi-occupied Europe, codenamed Würzburg. The brilliant scientist Dr RV Jones proposed an assault to capture key components. The nearest accessible enemy set stood upon a steep cliff at Bruneval in Normandy. Winston Churchill enthused, as did Lord Louis Mountbatten, chief of Combined Operations. A company of the newly-formed Airborne Forces was committed to the operation, which took place on the night of 27/28 February. Amid heavy snow 120 men landed, some of whom were misdropped almost two miles from their objective. They nonetheless launched the assault, dismantled the German radar, and after three nail-biting hours in France and a fierce battle with Wehrmacht defenders, escaped in the nick of time by landing-craft across stormy seas to Portsmouth. Max Hastings recounts this cliffhanging tale in a wealth of previously unchronicled detail. He portrays its remarkable personalities: the ‘boffin’ RV Jones; the peacock Mountbatten; the troubled husband of Daphne Du Maurier, Gen. ’Boy’ Browning, who commanded the Airborne Division; ‘Colonel Remy’, the French secret agent whose men reconnoitered Bruneval at mortal risk; Major John Frost, who led the paras into action; Charlie Cox, the little RAF technician who stripped the Würzburg and became an unexpected hero; Wing-Commander Charles Pickard, a legendary bomber pilot who led the drop squadron. Seldom have so many fascinating personalities been brought together to fulfil a mission that became a front-page triumph in a season of British defeats. Recounted in Hastings’ familiar best-selling blend of top-down and bottom-up action detail, Operation Biting tells a story that has become almost forgotten yet deserves to rank among the epic tales of courage and daring that took place in the greatest conflict in history.

Max Hastings (Author), John Hopkins, TBD (Narrator)

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Abyss: The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962

From the #1 bestselling historian Max Hastings ‘the heart-stopping story of the missile crisis’ Daily Telegraph ‘A story that grabs from the get-go – the moments in which the world teetered on the brink of total annihilation come alive as they would if this were the very best fiction’ Justin Webb, Mail on Sunday ‘The most gripping narrative of the crisis… frightening but hopelessly addictive’ Gerald DeGroot, Times The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was the most perilous event in history, when mankind faced a looming nuclear collision between the United States and Soviet Union. During those weeks, the world gazed into the abyss of potential annihilation. Max Hastings’s graphic new history tells the story from the viewpoints of national leaders, Russian officers, Cuban peasants, American pilots and British disarmers. Max Hastings deploys his accustomed blend of eye-witness interviews, archive documents and diaries, White House tape recordings, top-down analysis, first to paint word-portraits of the Cold War experiences of Fidel Castro’s Cuba, Nikita Khrushchev’s Russia and Kennedy’s America; then to describe the nail-biting Thirteen Days in which Armageddon beckoned. Hastings began researching this book believing that he was exploring a past event from twentieth century history. He is as shocked as are millions of us around the world, to discover that the rape of Ukraine gives this narrative a hitherto unimaginable twenty-first century immediacy. We may be witnessing the onset of a new Cold War between nuclear-armed superpowers. To contend with today’s threat, which Hastings fears will prove enduring, it is critical to understand how, sixty years ago, the world survived its last glimpse into the abyss. Only by fearing the worst, he argues, can our leaders hope to secure the survival of the planet.

Max Hastings (Author), John Hopkins (Narrator)

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The Age of The Strongman: How the Cult of the Leader Threatens Democracy around the World

Brought to you by Penguin. In The Age of the Strongman, Gideon Rachman finds global coherence in the chaos of the new nationalism, leadership cults and hostility to liberal democracy. We are in a new era: authoritarian leaders have become a central feature of global politics. Since 2000, self-styled strongmen have risen to power in capitals as diverse as Moscow, Beijing, Delhi, Brasilia, Budapest, Ankara, Riyadh and Washington. These leaders are nationalists and social conservatives, with little tolerance for minorities, dissent or the interests of foreigners. At home, they claim to be standing up for ordinary people against globalist elites; abroad, they posture as the embodiments of their nations. And everywhere they go, they encourage a cult of personality. What's more, these leaders are not just operating in authoritarian political systems but have begun to emerge in the heartlands of liberal democracy. While in the West the EU referendum and the election of Donald Trump in 2016 mark a watershed, the new era started at the beginning of the new millennium, when Vladimir Putin took power in Russia. How and why did this new style of strongman leadership arrive? How likely is it to lead the world into war or economic collapse? And what liberal forces are in place not only to keep these strongmen in check but to reverse the trend? From Trump, Putin and Bolsonaro to Erdogan, Xi and Modi, Gideon Rachman pays full attention to the strongman phenomenon around the world and uncovers the complex and often surprising interaction between these leaders. Whilst others have tried to understand the emergence of these new leaders individually, The Age of the Strongman provides the first truly global treatment of the new nationalism, underpinned by an exceptional level of access to key actors in this drama: Gideon Rachman has been in the same room with most of these strongmen and reported from their countries over a long journalistic career. © Gideon Rachman 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Gideon Rachman (Author), Gideon Rachman, John Hopkins (Narrator)

Audiobook

Little Sister: Is she witness, victim or killer? A nail-biting thriller with twists you'll never see

Brought to you by Penguin. Two sisters went missing. Only one of them came back... Detective Jonah Sheens is enjoying a moment of peace and quiet, when a teenage girl wanders out of the wood. She's striking, with flame-red hair and a pale complexion. She's also covered in blood. She insists she's fine. It's her sister he needs to worry about. Jonah quickly discovers that Keely and her sister, Nina, disappeared from a children's home a week ago. Now, Keely is here - but Nina's still missing. Keely likes to play games. She knows where her sister is - but before she tells, she wants Jonah's full attention. Is she killer, witness, or victim? And will Jonah find out what Keely's hiding, in time to save Nina? Praise for Gytha Lodge: 'Gripped me from the first page and kept me turning the pages long into the night' Erin Kelly 'Fast-paced but never rushed, with clues and twists to keep you absolutely hooked from the first page to the last' Jane Casey 'Filled with twists and turns made to suck you in and prove once again that Gytha Lodge is a master of crime detective stories' 5**** reader review © Gytha Lodge 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Gytha Lodge (Author), Eleanor Tomlinson, John Hopkins (Narrator)

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This is the Night They Come For You: Bestselling author of The Fine Art of Invisible Detection

Brought to you by Penguin. On a stifling afternoon at Police HQ in Algiers, Superintendent Taleb, coasting towards retirement, with not even an air-conditioned office to show for his long years of service, is handed a ticking time bomb of a case which will take him deep into Algeria's troubled past and its fraught relationship with France. To his dismay, he is assigned to work with Agent Hidouchi, an intimidating representative of the country's feared secret service, who makes it clear she intends to call the shots. They are instructed to pursue a former agent, now on the run after twenty years in prison for his part in a high-level corruption scandal. But their search will lead them inexorably towards a greater mystery, surrounding a murder that took place in Paris more than fifty years ago. Uncovering the truth may be his responsibility, but Taleb is well aware that no-one in Algeria wants to be reminded of the dark deeds carried out in the struggle for independence - or in the violence that has racked the nation since. Before long, he will face a choice he has long sought to avoid, between self-preservation and doing the right thing. And, ultimately, the choice may not even be his to make. 'The world's greatest storyteller' THE GUARDIAN 'One of the finest crime writers of any generation' DAILY MAIL © Robert Goddard (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Robert Goddard (Author), John Hopkins, Philip Arditti (Narrator)

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The Couple on Maple Drive

***An exclusive podcast episode included with its very own twisty ending! Get it now!!!*** You think you’d know a killer if you met one? Think again. When Isla McKenzie is brutally mugged, it’s her boyfriend Zach who’s there for her, who moves in to look after her when she can barely bring herself to leave the house. But then something else happens, right on their doorstep. And it’s almost like someone’s out to get her… Can Isla and Zach find out the truth before it’s too late? …Or at least before the secrets they’re hiding from each other surface? Because those could be even deadlier… From the USA Today bestselling author Sam Carrington comes an absolutely compelling psychological thriller that will make you question how well you know those closest to you—and how safe you ever are. Perfect for fans of Behind Closed Doors,The Girl on the Train, and Gillian Flynn. Readers are loving The Couple on Maple Drive: ‘A gripping, on the edge of your seat sort of book helped by the fantastic narration… [it] brought the characters to life and made it all the more engrossing.’ Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Phew! This is a real edge of your seat gripping story. My heart was pounding and I was screaming… Sam Carrington certainly knows how to ramp up the tension!’ Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Wow! This is a fantastic book and I loved it so much!… I found myself listening whenever I had a spare moment… It was so addictive and it really reeled me in…It felt as though I was watching a movie and was part of the show.’ Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I absolutely loved the audio version. The narrator had a voice that captivated you…This is certainly a book you will want to read or even better listen too.’ Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘The narrators… added so much more depth and tension to the story… [It] made me audibly ‘gasp’… creepy, dark, gritty and tense… packs a punch.’ @thebookworm_reviews ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sam Carrington (Author), Beth Chalmers, Elliot Fitzpatrick, Georgia Maguire, John Hopkins, Russell Bentley (Narrator)

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The French Lieutenant's Woman

Brought to you by Penguin. A remarkable performance... As gripping as The Collector and The Magus' Observer Charles Smithson, a respectable engaged man, meets Sarah Woodruff as she stands on the Cobb at Lyme Regis, staring out to sea. Charles falls in love, but Sarah is a disgraced woman, and their romance will defy all the stifling conventions of the Victorian age. Widely acclaimed since publication, The French Lieutenant's Woman is the best-loved of John Fowles's novels. © John Fowles 1969 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

John Fowles (Author), John Hopkins (Narrator)

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SBS – Silent Warriors: The Authorised Wartime History

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ‘A terrific book … It really is one of the most enjoyable histories I’ve read in many a year’ JAMES HOLLAND ‘An absolute must-read if you are a fan of derring-do and Andy McNab. I am going to be telling everyone to buy it’ ROB RINDER, TALK RADIO THE FIRST AUTHORISED HISTORY OF THE SBS. Britain’s SBS – or Special Boat Service – was the world’s first maritime special operations unit. Founded in the dark days of 1940, it started as a small and inexperienced outfit that leaned heavily on volunteers’ raw courage and boyish enthusiasm. It went on to change the course of the Second World War – and has served as a model for special forces ever since. The fledgling unit’s first mission was a daring beach reconnaissance of Rhodes in the spring of 1941. Over the next four years, the SBS and its affiliates would carry out many more spectacular operations in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the Channel and the Far East. These missions – including Operation Frankton, the daredevil attempt by the ‘Cockleshell Heroes’ to paddle up the Garonne river and sink Axis ships in Bordeaux harbour – were some of the most audacious and legendary of the war. Paddling flimsy canoes, and armed only with knives, pistols and a few sub-machine guns, this handful of brave and determined men operated deep behind enemy lines in the full knowledge that if caught they might be executed. Many were. Yet their many improbable achievements – destroying enemy ships and infrastructure, landing secret agents, tying up enemy forces, spreading fear and uncertainty, and, most importantly, preparing the ground for D-Day – helped to make an Allied victory possible. Written with the full cooperation of the modern SBS – the first time this ultra-secretive unit has given its seal of approval to any book – and exclusive access to its archives, SBS: Silent Warriors allows Britain’s original special forces to emerge from the shadows and take their proper and deserved place in our island story.

Saul David (Author), John Hopkins (Narrator)

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The Unwelcome Guest

‘This was one of the best and most unique books I’ve read all year! I just could not freaking put this book down! 87 stars from me!!!’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ SHE HAD THE PERFECT MARRIAGE. UNTIL HER MOTHER-IN-LAW MOVED IN… Saffron vowed to love Miles no matter what life threw at them both. But when her mother-in-law moves into their happy family home, Saffron’s shiny life begins to tarnish. Even as Caprice’s barbed comments turn to something more sinister, Saffron hopes the new nanny’s arrival will shield her from the worst of it. She’s starting to feel paranoid in her own home. Little does she realise that Caprice longs for a new daughter-in-law – and she’ll do anything to make that happen… The new gripping domestic thriller from the #1 bestselling author, perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Louise Candlish. Readers are GRIPPED by The Unwelcome Guest: ‘A pacy page-turner full of taut toxicity, envy, jealousy and self-interest that I couldn’t put down’ ADRIENNE CHINN ‘Definitely suspenseful and keeps you guessing. A must read!’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A domestic nightmare crackling with unrelieved tension’ PAUL FINCH ‘I just couldn’t put this book down. It hooked me from the very beginning!’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Highly entertaining and will keep you turning the pages – a toxic treat!’ ALICE HUNTER ‘A superb read – the twist at the end was so unexpected!’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Amanda Robson at her best – intriguing, shocking and twisty. An absolute must-read’ JA CORRIGAN

Amanda Robson (Author), Claire Vousden, John Hopkins, Natalie Beran, Olivia Mace, Thomas Delacourt (Narrator)

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The Broken House: Growing up under Hitler

Brought to you by Penguin. In 1965 the German journalist Horst Krüger attended the Auschwitz trial in Frankfurt, where 22 former camp guards were put on trial for the systematic murder of over 1 million men, women and children. Twenty years after the end of the war, this was the first time that the German people were confronted with the horrific details of the Holocaust executed by 'ordinary men' still living in their midst. The trial sent Krüger back to his childhood in the 1930s, in an attempt to understand 'how it really was, that incomprehensible time'. He had grown up in a Berlin suburb, among a community of decent, lower-middle-class homeowners. This was not the world of torch-lit processions and endless ranks of marching SA men. Here, people lived ordinary, non-political lives, believed in God and obeyed the law, but were gradually seduced and intoxicated by the promises of Nazism. He had been, Krüger realised, 'the typical child of innocuous Germans who were never Nazis, and without whom the Nazis would never have been able to do their work'. This world of respectability, order and duty began to crumble when tragedy struck. Krüger's older sister decided to take her own life, leaving the parents struggling to come to terms with the inexplicable. The author's teenage rebellion, his desire to escape the stifling conformity of family life, made him join an anti-Nazi resistance group. He narrowly escaped imprisonment only to be sent to war as Hitler embarked on the conquest of Europe. Step by step, a family that had fallen under the spell of Nazism was being destroyed by it. Written in accomplished prose of lingering beauty, The Broken House is a moving coming-of-age story that provides an unforgettable portrait of life under the Nazis. Yet the book's themes also chime with our own times - how the promise of an 'era of greatness' by a populist leader intoxicates an entire nation, how thin is the veneer of civilisation, and what makes one person a collaborator and another a resister. 'A masterpiece. An astonishing piece of literature' - Thomas Harding © Horst Krüger 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Horst Krüger (Author), John Hopkins (Narrator)

Audiobook

Operation Pedestal: The Fleet that Battled to Malta 1942

The Sunday Times bestseller 'One of the most dramatic forgotten chapters of the war, as told in a new book by the incomparable Max Hastings' DAILY MAIL In August 1942, beleaguered Malta was within weeks of surrender to the Axis, because its 300,000 people could no longer be fed. Churchill made a personal decision that at all costs, the 'island fortress' must be saved. This was not merely a matter of strategy, but of national prestige, when Britain's fortunes and morale had fallen to their lowest ebb. The largest fleet the Royal Navy committed to any operation of the western war was assembled to escort fourteen fast merchantmen across a thousand of miles of sea defended by six hundred German and Italian aircraft, together with packs of U-boats and torpedo craft. The Mediterranean battles that ensued between 11 and 15 August were the most brutal of Britain's war at sea, embracing four aircraft-carriers, two battleships, seven cruisers, scores of destroyers and smaller craft. The losses were appalling: defeat seemed to beckon. This is the saga Max Hastings unfolds in his first full length narrative of the Royal Navy, which he believes was the most successful of Britain's wartime services. As always, he blends the 'big picture' of statesmen and admirals with human stories of German U-boat men, Italian torpedo-plane crews, Hurricane pilots, destroyer and merchant-ship captains, ordinary but extraordinary seamen. Operation Pedestal describes catastrophic ship sinkings, including that of the aircraft-carrier Eagle, together with struggles to rescue survivors and salvage stricken ships. Most moving of all is the story of the tanker Ohio, indispensable to Malta's survival, victim of countless Axis attacks. In the last days of the battle, the ravaged hulk was kept under way only by two destroyers, lashed to her sides. Max Hastings describes this as one of the most extraordinary tales he has ever recounted. Until the very last hours, no participant on either side could tell what would be the outcome of an epic of wartime suspense and courage.

Max Hastings (Author), John Hopkins (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by John Hopkins