Europe Audiobooks | Travel

The Forge of Christendom: The End of Days and the Epic Rise of the West

At the approach of the first millennium, the Christians of Europe did not seem likely candidates for future greatness. Weak, fractured, and hemmed in by hostile nations, they saw no future beyond the widely anticipated Second Coming of Christ. But when the world did not end, the peoples of Western Europe suddenly found themselves with no choice but to begin the heroic task of building a Jerusalem on earth. In The Forge of Christendom, Tom Holland masterfully describes this remarkable new age, a time of caliphs and Viking sea kings, the spread of castles and the invention of knighthood. It was one of the most significant departure points in history: the emergence of Western Europe as a distinctive and expansionist power.

Tom Holland (Author), James A. Gillies (Narrator)

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The Forbidden Daughter

The unforgettable true story of one Jewish orphan’s survival against impossible odds, and her lifelong quest for family, safety and a sense of belonging. Elida Friedman was never supposed to have been born. In the Kovno Ghetto in Lithuania, Nazi law forbade Jewish women from giving birth. Yet despite the danger they faced, Dr. Jonah Friedman and his wife Tzila, choose to bring a daughter into the world – a little girl they name Elida, meaning non-birth in Hebrew. To ensure her survival, the couple must smuggle their precious baby out of the ghetto into the arms of strangers. So begins a life of constant upheaval, with Elida changing families, countries, continents and even names, countless times. Surviving the war and the Holocaust that stole her parents, the young woman never gives up hope of finding a sense of family, and the chance to belong. A moving, powerful chronicle of overcoming impossible odds, The Forbidden Daughter is the true story of one unforgettable girl and her will to survive.

Zipora Klein Jakob (Author), Robin Siegerman (Narrator)

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The Folkungs

Based on 14th Century Scandinavian actual events, The Folkungs --Sweden's royal family--is a generational saga interwoven with jealousy, conspiracy, rivalry, treason, regicide, exorcism, paganism, torture, witchcraft, shamanism, Falconry, folklore, power struggles, and deeply touching love stories. It begins at Nykoping Castle, Sweden, 1291. King Magnus is dead and his three young sons--Birger (eleven), Erik (nine), and Valdemar (eight)--await the arrival of the appointed Regent of Sweden, a powerful noble and celebrated warrior, who will teach them the arts of governing, knighthood and skills of war until the young king, Birger, comes of age. Under his tutelage, Erik, the middle child, will show himself to be the most intelligent and skilful of the three; Valdemar, the youngest, will look on in admiration, while the fledgling King, will bridle with jealousy. Kristina, all innocence, is entering a world where personal desires are sacrificed to political necessity. Marriage is about forging international alliances so Birger, King of Sweden, will marry Princess Marta of Denmark; the King of Denmark will marry Princess Ingeborg of Sweden while Dukes Valdemar and Erik will marry a Norwegian princess or a princess from one of the German principalities. Kristina cannot but wonder what her own future will hold. As the young princes mature, King Birger proves himself to be increasingly inept and manipulated by the self-seeking Regent. He accuses his innocent brothers of treachery and wages war against them as punishment, wreaking unnecessary bloodshed on the land. For Erik this is intolerable. Can Sweden be left prey to his brother's weak rule? Alliances are formed across the borders as t

M.E. Javits (Author), Wyn Delano (Narrator)

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The Florentines

A sweeping 400-year history of the Florentines who gave birth to the Renaissance, by the author of The Medici and The Borgias. Between the birth of Dante in 1265 and the death of Galileo in 1642 something happened which transformed the entire culture of western civilisation. Painting, sculpture and architecture would all visibly change in such a striking fashion that there could be no going back on what had taken place. Likewise, the thought and self-conception of humanity would take on a completely new aspect. Sciences would be born, or emerge in an entirely new guise. The ideas which broke this mould largely began, and continued to flourish, in the city of Florence in the province of Tuscany in northern central Italy. These ideas, which placed an increasing emphasis on the development of our common humanity - rather than other-worldly spirituality - coalesced in what came to be known as humanism. This philosophy and its new ideas would eventually spread across Italy, yet wherever they took hold they would retain an element essential to their origin. And as they spread further across Europe this element would remain. Transformations of human culture throughout western history have remained indelibly stamped by their origins. The Reformation would always retain something of central and northern Germany. The Industrial Revolution soon outgrew its British origins, yet also retained something of its original template. Closer to the present, the IT revolution which began in Silicon Valley remains indelibly coloured by its Californian origins. Paul Strathern shows how Florence, and the Florentines, played a similar role in the Renaissance. Praise for the author: "Strathern strikes a successful balance between gorblimey Horrible Histories and the reverence due to Renaissance men. Don't be beside a pool or under a loggia in Italy this summer without a copy from which to read (luridly) aloud... This history of ruthlessness, intrigue and men broken on Fortune's Wheel is a wickedly entertaining read." THE TIMES on THE BORGIAS "A vivid insight into the hothouse world of papal politics in the tumultuous years before the Reformation." DAILY TELEGRAPH on THE BORGIAS

Paul Strathern (Author), Rupert Bush (Narrator)

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The Fisherman's Tomb: The True Story of the Vatican's Secret Search

A Texas oilman. A brilliant female archaeologist. An unknown world underneath the Vatican. In 1939, a team of workers beneath the Vatican unearthed an early Christian grave. This surprising discovery launched a secret quest that would last decades a quest to discover the long-lost burial place of the Apostle Peter. From earliest times, Christian tradition held that Peter a lowly fisherman from Galilee, whom Christ made leader of his Church was executed in Rome by Emperor Nero and buried on Vatican Hill. But his tomb had been lost to history. Now, funded anonymously by a wealthy American, a small army of workers embarked on the dig of a lifetime. The incredible, sometimes shocking, story of the 75-year search and its key players has never been fully told until now. The quest would pit one of the 20th century's most talented archaeologists a woman against top Vatican insiders. The Fisherman's Tomb is a story of the triumph of faith and genius against all odds. ABOUT THE AUTHOR John O'Neill is a lawyer and #1 New York Times bestselling author. He has spent much of his life visiting and researching early Christian sites. He is a 1967 graduate of the Naval Academy, a former law clerk to Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, and senior partner at a large international law firm.

John O'neill (Author), Paul Michael (Narrator)

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The First World War: A Comprehensive History of World War I, The Great War.

Are you looking for an in-depth, comprehensive book about the First World War? This book covers all the major events of the war, from the Western Front to the Eastern Front, from the Central Powers to the Allied Powers, and from trench warfare to U-Boat warfare. This book covers WW1, or World War 1, in detail. We understand that the events of WW1 were complicated and far-reaching, and so we wrote this book to break down the events into an easily understandable and comprehensive format. The book covers all the major battles, events, and outcomes in a clear, concise fashion, and it provides detailed analyses of the decisions that led to the war and the Treaty of Versailles. Our book also provides an in-depth look at the major players in the war, the Central Powers and the Allied Powers. You will learn more about their strategies and decisions. Finally, We take a look at the human cost of the war, and the impact of the war on people and society. So, if you are looking for a comprehensive and detailed look at the events of the First World War, then buy this book today!

Days Of History (Author), Theo Dawson (Narrator)

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The First Victory: The Second World War and the East Africa Campaign

Surprisingly neglected in accounts of Allied wartime triumphs, in 1941 British and Commonwealth forces completed a stunning and important victory in East Africa against an overwhelmingly superior Italian opponent. A hastily formed British-led force, never larger than 70,000 strong, advanced along two fronts to defeat nearly 300,000 Italian and colonial troops. This compelling book draws on an array of previously unseen documents to provide both a detailed campaign history and a fresh appreciation of the first significant Allied success of the war. Andrew Stewart investigates such topics as Britain's African wartime strategy; how the fighting forces were assembled (most from British colonies, none from the U.S.); General Archibald Wavell's command abilities and his difficult relationship with Winston Churchill; the resolute Italian defense at Keren, one of the most bitterly fought battles of the entire war; the legacy of the campaign in East Africa; and much more.

Andrew Stewart (Author), Michael Page (Narrator)

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The First Soldier: Hitler as Military Leader

A leading expert reexamines history to offer a stunningly original portrait of Hitler as a competent military commander and strategist. After Germany's humiliating World War II defeat, numerous German generals published memoirs claiming that their country's brilliant military leadership had been undermined by the Führer's erratic decision making. The author of three highly acclaimed books on the era, Stephen Fritz upends this characterization of Hitler as an ill-informed fantasist and demonstrates the ways in which his strategy was coherent and even competent. That Hitler saw World War II as the only way to retrieve Germany's fortunes and build an expansionist Thousand-Year Reich is uncontroversial. But while his generals did sometimes object to Hitler's tactics and operational direction, they often made the same errors in judgment and were in agreement regarding larger strategic and political goals. A necessary volume for understanding the influence of World War I on Hitler's thinking, this work is also an eye-opening reappraisal of major events like the invasion of Russia and the battle for Normandy.

Stephen Fritz (Author), P.J. Ochlan (Narrator)

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The First Italian War: The History and Legacy of the Italian Wars' Initial Conflict at the Height of

In 1494, there were five sovereign regional powers in Italy: Milan, Venice, Florence, the Papal States and Naples. In 1536, only one remained: Venice. These decades of conflict precipitated great anxiety among Western thinkers, and Italians responded to the fragmentation, forevermore, of Latin Christendom, the end of self-governance for Italians, and the beginning of the early modern era in a myriad of ways. They were always heavily influenced by the lived experience of warfare between large Christian armies on the peninsula. The diplomatic and military history of this 30 year period is a complex one that one eminent Renaissance historian, Lauro Martines, has described as 'best told by a computer, so many and tangled are the treatises, negotiations and battles.'[1] At the same time, the fighting went in tandem with the Renaissance and was influenced by it. Most historians credit the city-state of Florence as the place that started and developed the Italian Renaissance, a process carried out through the patronage and commission of artists during the late 12th century. If Florence is receiving its due credit, much of it belongs to the Medicis, the family dynasty of Florence that ruled at the height of the Renaissance. The dynasty held such influence that some of its family members even became Pope. The First Italian War: The History and Legacy of the Italian Wars' Initial Conflict at the Height of the Renaissance chronicles the various nations and city-states that jousted for power throughout the peninsula during the late 15th century.

Charles River Editors (Author), Colin Fluxman (Narrator)

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The First Italian War of Independence, The: The History and Legacy of the Revolutions that Started t

In the 18th century, Italy was still divided into smaller states, but differently than during medieval times when the political entities were independent and were flourishing economic and cultural centers almost unrivaled in Europe. During the 18th century, all of them were submitted, in one way or another, to one of the greater hegemonic powers. This process of conquest and submission began during the early 16th century, when France was called on by the Duke Milan to intervene in his favor and from there never stopped. Starting from the northwest, the kingdom of Sardinia was controlling the alpine western area and the island from which it took its name and ruled by the Savoy family. The kingdom of Sardinia was the youngest political entity in Italy and, possibly because of that, the strongest and most independent. Milan was found dominating part of the central plane, Venice was in control of the east, and Genova was dominating the coastal area south of the kingdom of Sardinia. Central Italy was ruled by the Duchy of Tuscany and the Papal States, while the south was united under the kingdom of Sicily. While the kingdom of Sardinia and the republic of Venice could be considered independent, Milan was submitted to Austrian direct authority through vassalage. The Duchy of Tuscany was part of their sphere of influence as a vassal state, given as a fiefdom to the Empress Maria of Habsburg's husband. Finally, the southern state, the kingdom of Sicily, was historically a Spanish domain. This was the geopolitical picture in Italy when the tumult of the French Revolution crossed the Alps, and the military campaigns of the legendary Napoleon Bonaparte would initiate a chain of events that would have massive reverberations across Italy throughout the 19th century.

Charles River Editors (Author), Colin Fluxman (Narrator)

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The First Iron Lady: A Life of Caroline of Ansbach

'A brilliant study of a brilliant woman' LUCY WORSLEY History has forgotten Caroline of Ansbach, yet in her lifetime she was compared frequently to Elizabeth I and considered by some as 'the cleverest queen consort Britain ever had'. The intellectual superior of her buffoonish husband George II, Caroline is credited with hastening the Enlightenment to Britain through her sponsorship of red-hot debates about science, religion, philosophy and the nature of the universe. Encouraged by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, she championed inoculation; inspired by her friends Leibniz and Samuel Clarke, she mugged up on Newtonian physics; she embraced a salon culture which promoted developments in music, literature and garden design; she was a regular theatre-goer who loved the opera, gambling and dancing. Her intimates marvelled at the breadth of her interests. She was, said Lord Egmont, 'curious in everything'. Caroline acted as Regent four times while her husband returned to Hanover, and during those periods she possessed authority over all domestic matters. No subsequent royal woman has exercised power on such a scale. So why has history forgotten this extraordinary queen? In this magnificent biography, the first for over seventy years, Matthew Dennison seeks to reverse this neglect. The First Iron Lady uncovers the complexities of Caroline's multifaceted life: the child of a minor German princeling who, through intelligence, determination and a dash of sex appeal, rose to occupy one of the great positions of the world and did so with distinction, élan and a degree of cynical realism. It is a remarkable portrait of an eighteenth-century woman of great political astuteness and ambition, a radical icon of female power.

Matthew Dennison (Author), Clare Corbett (Narrator)

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The First Elizabeth

Elizabeth was not just Queen, she was ruler. In an age of male supremacy she, by sheer force of character, became not only the unchallenged leader of the English but also the first leader of an empire upon which the sun never set. Erickson's biography tells the truth about this extraordinary woman and profiles some amazing people-their personalities and culture.

Carolly Erickson (Author), Nelson Runger (Narrator)

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