Browse audiobooks narrated by Mark Elstob, listen to samples and when you're ready head over to Audiobooks.com where you can get 3 FREE audiobooks on us
Money and Promises: A History of the World in Seven Deals
In the twelfth-century, Pisa was a thriving metropolis, a powerhouse of global trade, and a city that stood at the centre of Mediaeval Europe. But Pisa had a problem. It was running out of coins. In the face of financial crisis, it was here that the foundations of modern banking were born. In Money and Promises, the distinguished financier, entrepreneur and historian Paolo Zannoni examines the fascinating, complex relationship between states and banks. He draws upon seven case studies: the republic of twelfth-century Pisa, seventeenth-century Venice, the infant years of the Bank of England, Imperial Spain, the Kingdom of Naples, the nascent USA during the American Revolution, and Bolshevik Russia in 1917-1921. Spanning a multitude of countries, political systems, and historical eras, Zannoni shows that at the heart of these institutions is an intricate exchange of debt and promises that allowed the modern world as we know it to take shape. Featuring fresh insights and innovative research, this authoritative yet extremely accessible book explores the vital relationship upon which all individual, financial, and political systems still depend.
Paolo Zannoni (Author), Mark Elstob (Narrator)
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The Eastern Front: A History of the First World War
Coming soon
Nick Lloyd (Author), Mark Elstob, TBD (Narrator)
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The Children of Athena: Greek writers and thinkers in the Age of Rome, 150 BC–AD 400
A compelling and fascinating portrait of the continuing intellectual tradition of Greek writers and thinkers in the Age of Rome. In 146 BC, Greece yielded to the military might of the Roman Republic; sixty years later, when Athens and other Greek city-states rebelled against Rome, the general Lucius Cornelius Sulla destroyed the city of Socrates and Plato, laying waste to the famous Academy where Aristotle had studied. However, the traditions of Greek cultural life would continue to flourish during the centuries of Roman rule that followed, in the lives and work of a distinguished array of philosophers, doctors, scientists, geographers, travellers and theologians. Charles Freeman's accounts of such luminaries as the physician Galen, the geographer Ptolemy and the philosopher Plotinus are interwoven with contextual 'interludes' that showcase a sequence of unjustly neglected and richly influential lives. Like the author's The Awakening, The Children of Athena is a cultural history on an epic scale: the story of a rich and vibrant tradition of Greek intellectual inquiry across a period of more than five hundred years, from the second century BC to the start of the fifth century AD.
Charles Freeman (Author), Mark Elstob, TBD (Narrator)
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Around the World in 80 Games: A mathematician unlocks the secrets of the greatest games
'Brilliantly clear and captivating prose' Stephen Fry An award-winning mathematician explores the maths behind the games we love and why we love to play them. Where should you move first in Connect 4? What is the best property in Monopoly? And how can pi help you win rock paper scissors? Spanning millennia, oceans and continents, countries and cultures, Around the World in 80 Games gleefully explores how mathematics and games have always been deeply intertwined. Marcus du Sautoy investigates how games provided the first opportunities for deep mathematical insight into the world, how understanding maths can help us play games better, and how both maths and games are integral to human psychology and culture. For as long as there have been people, there have been games, and for nearly as long, we have been exploring and discovering mathematics. A grand adventure, Around the World in 80 Games teaches us not just how games are won, but how they, and the maths behind them, shape who we are.
Marcus Du Sautoy (Author), Mark Elstob (Narrator)
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Losing a Kingdom, Gaining the World: The Catholic Church in the Age of Revolution and Democracy
An ambitious, authoritative history of the Roman Catholic Church in the modern age. Despite its many crises, especially in Western Europe, there are still 1.2 billion Catholics in the world and the Church remains a powerful, controversial and defiantly archaic institution. After the French Revolution and the democratic rebellions of 1848, the Church retreated, especially under Pius IX, into a fortress of unreason, denouncing almost every aspect of modern life, including liberalism and socialism. The Pope proclaimed his infallibility; the cult of the Virgin Mary and her apparitions to semi-illiterate shepherds became articles of faith; the Vatican refused all accommodation with the modern state, until a disastrous series of concordats with fascist states in the 1930s. In Losing a Kingdom, Gaining the World, Dr Ambrogio A. Caiani narrates the epic, fascinating, entertaining and horrifying history of the Roman Catholic Church. It is an account of the Church's fraught encounter with modernity in all its forms, from representative democracy and the nation state to science, literature and secular culture. Praise for the author: “In gripping, vivid prose, Caiani brings to life the struggle for power that would shape modern Europe. a historical read which is both original and enjoyable” ANTONIA FRASER
Ambrogio A. Caiani (Author), Mark Elstob, TBD (Narrator)
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Don't Let's Be Beastly to the Germans
The untold history of the British occupation of Germany, told through the eyes of the people who were there. Following the end of the Second World War, between 1945 and 1949, British forces occupied the northern part of what would become West Germany. Here, Daniel Cowling presents a political and military history of this occupation, but also explores the experiences of the thousands of British men and women who were tasked with building a democracy out of the ruins of Hitler's Germany. From reconstructing bridges and schools in the British Zone to tracking down fugitives, their job was to leave no stone unturned in the fight to eradicate Nazism. But this force of civilian and military occupiers soon became entangled in the murky underworld of post-war Europe - rife with black-marketeering, corruption, cover-ups, sex and scandal. In time, they would also find themselves at the frontline of the Cold War, as irreconcilable tensions divided Europe between East and West. Based on a battery of source materials that ranges from newspaper reports to feature films, from declassified Foreign Office documents to private diaries, personal letters and interviews with veterans, Don't Let's Be Beastly to the Germans offers telling insights into Britain's experience of the Second World War and the Cold War, and sheds revelatory light on the development of Britain's relationship with Europe since 1945.
Daniel Cowling (Author), Mark Elstob (Narrator)
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The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin
A major international bestseller. The little-known true story of a Nazi plot to kill Winston Churchill, President Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin at the height of World War II, and how it was averted. In 1943 only three men stood in Hitler's way; Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. As the war against Nazi Germany raged, the Allied leaders desperately needed to meet face-to-face and discuss their strategy. Facing extreme danger, they travelled to Tehran to meet in secret. Yet when the Nazis found out about the meeting, their own covert plan took shape-an assassination plot. A true story filled with daring rescues, body doubles, and political intrigue, The Nazi Conspiracy details this pivotal meeting of the Big Three and the deadly Nazi scheme that could've changed history. In page-turning detail, it shows the greatest political minds of the twentieth century at work and reveals how they strategized to defeat the enemy, all whilst coming close to world-shattering disaster.
Brad Meltzer, Josh Mensch (Author), Mark Elstob (Narrator)
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The Eagle and the Lion: Rome, Persia and an Unwinnable Conflict
The epic story of the imperial rivalry between two of the greatest empires of the ancient world - Parthian and Persian - and how they rose and eventually fell. The Roman empire shaped the culture of the western world against which all other great powers are compared. Stretching from the north of Britain to the Sahara, and from the Atlantic coast to the Euphrates, it imposed peace and prosperity on an unprecedented scale. However, the exception lay in the east, where the Parthian and then Persian empires ruled over great cities and the trade routes to mysterious lands beyond. This was the place Alexander the Great had swept through, creating a dream of glory and conquest which tantalised Greeks and Romans alike. Caesar, Mark Antony and a long succession of emperors longed to follow in Alexander's footsteps. All failed. Only here did the Roman empire slow down and eventually stop because it was unable to go any further. Following seven centuries of conflict that, ultimately, neither Rome nor Persia would win, The Eagle and the Lion delves into the clash, context and journeys of these entities of great power and the people caught in their wider struggle. Praise for the author: 'As successful in meeting its ambitions as Philip's kingship, as sweeping as Alexander's conquests' TOM HOLLAND 'By pairing the two giants of Macedonia, Goldsworthy helps the reader understand Alexander's life all the better, and sheds light on the achievements and character of Philip' ASPECTS OF HISTORY 'Contributes significantly to making these scholarly developments accessible to a very wide audience, through engaging narratives which capture the political complexity of the Greek world' TLS 'Sterling scholarship, engaging prose, insightful analysis, and unbiased assessment' VICTOR DAVIS HANSON 'Belongs on the (sturdy) shelf of any reader interested in military, political or social history' MINERVA MAGAZINE
Adrian Goldsworthy (Author), Mark Elstob (Narrator)
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The Capitalist Manifesto: Why the Global Free Market Will Save the World
Marx and Engels were right when they observed in the Communist Manifesto that free markets had in a short time created greater prosperity and more technological innovation than all previous generations combined. A century and a half later, all the evidence shows that capitalism has lifted millions and millions from hunger and poverty. Today's story about global capitalism, shared by right-wing and left-wing populists, but also by large sections of the political and economic establishment, does not deny that prosperity has been created, but it says it ended up in far too few hands. This in turn has made it popular to talk about the global economy as a geopolitical zero-sum game, where we have to fight to control new innovations, introduce trade barriers and renationalise value chains. While, more broadly, capitalism is accused of fuelling glaring inequality, populist revolts, climate change and China's global conquest. In this incisive and passionate investigation, Johan Norberg instead states the case for capitalism and the vital role played by the free market in today's uncertain world. Ultimately, he argues that that a move away from global capitalism would not only squeeze the growth out of the economy but also deepen an already large social exclusion for the vulnerable - for the world's poor, it would be a killing blow.
Johan Norberg (Author), Mark Elstob (Narrator)
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After his sudden rise to power in the summer of 2019 amid the Brexit deadlock, Boris Johnson presided over the most dramatic period of British history in almost a century. From the controversial prorogation of Parliament in August 2019 to the historic landslide victory later that year, the agonising upheaval of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic - and the scandals unleashed by both - the Afghanistan crisis, and the conflict in Ukraine, Johnson's premiership was more turbulent than any other in living memory. This gripping work of contemporary history maps Johnson's time in power across ten decisive moments and sheds light on the most divisive and inscrutable prime minister since Margaret Thatcher. Based on major interviews with key aides and allies, Anthony Seldon and Raymond Newell give the first full account of Boris Johnson's explosive time in office.
Anthony Seldon, Raymond Newell (Author), Mark Elstob (Narrator)
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Numbercrunch: A Mathematician's Toolkit for Making Sense of Your World
'Lucid and entertaining. With barely an equation in sight, Numbercrunch makes a passionate case for how just a little bit more numeracy could help us all' - Tom Whipple, The Times 'The perfect introduction to the power of mathematics - fluent, friendly and practical' - Tim Harford, bestselling author of How to Make the World Add Up In our hyper-modern world, we are bombarded with more facts, stats and information than ever before. So, what can we grasp hold of to make sense of it all? Oliver Johnson reveals how mathematical thinking can help us understand the myriad data all around us. From the exponential growth of viruses to social media filter-bubbles; from share-price fluctuations to growth of computing power; from the datafication of our sports pages to quantifying climate change. Not to mention the things much closer to home: ever wondered when the best time is to leave a party? What are the chances of rain ruining your barbecue this weekend? How about which queue is the best to join in the supermarket? Journeying through the three sections of Randomness, Structure, and Information, we meet a host of brilliant minds such Alan Turing, Enrico Fermi and Claude Shannon, and we learn the tools, tips and tricks to cut through the noise all around us - from the Law of Large Numbers to Entropy to Brownian Motion. Lucid, surprising, and endlessly entertaining, Numbercrunch equips you with a definitive mathematician's toolkit to make sense of your world.
Professor Oliver Johnson (Author), Mark Elstob (Narrator)
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Illiberal Europe: Eastern Europe from the Fall of the Berlin Wall to the War in Ukraine
Eighteen years have passed since ten countries from Central & Eastern Europe joined the European Union and more than three decades since the Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989 - but ignorance about what is popularly still called Eastern Europe is as widespread as ever. Slovenia still gets mixed up with Slovakia, the Slavs remain a mystery in a Europe apparently dominated by Romanic and Germanic nations and a country like the Czech Republic is labelled as Eastern European, although one needs to travel west to get from Vienna to Prague. First published in 2009 under the title What's so eastern about Eastern Europe?, this book is much more than a revised and updated version of the first edition. Its presentation of the political and cultural history of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, written in an accessible language is now complemented with recent developments in the region. The new edition digs into the reasons behind the illiberal turn in Poland, Hungary and elsewhere, putting the alleged democratic backslide into the wider context of European populism. Leon Marc offers a new and fresh perspective in explaining the roots of populism and social conservativism in the region, which the book sees in a mixture of historical factors, economic conditions, the heavy burden of Communist legacy, as well as a reaction to contemporary social developments in the West. Drawing on a wide range of literature, the book calls for more sensibility to these underlying causes, critical examination of the true European values, and for a coalition of defenders of Humanism and Judeo-Christian tradition as key pillars of its identity, in order to save Europe and its liberal democracy. This updated and expanded edition contains a brand new chapter bringing this book up to date with recent events, including Covid-19 and the Ukrainian conflict. 'Comprehensively and concisely, Leon Marc's book presents readers with vital insights into the different dimensions of our common European history and culture' - Professor Dr Jaap W. de Zwaan, Director of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations
Leon Marc (Author), Mark Elstob (Narrator)
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