Europe Audiobooks | Travel

The Balkans: A Captivating Guide to the History of the Balkan Peninsula, Starting from Classical Ant

Did you know that the Balkans is home to some of the oldest cities in the world? Many have heard the term “Balkans” tossed about but likely don’t know a whole lot about the region. The saga of the Balkans is profound yet incredibly complicated. Bordered by both the Balkan Mountains of southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, this region holds a strong place in the history of Western civilization and is also a major crossroads of Eastern civilization as well. The Balkans have been the stomping grounds of both Byzantine emperors and Ottoman sultans. And both Christianity and Islam call this place home. Sadly, it was this clash of culture and religion that would lead to much of the struggles in the history of the Balkans. Similar fault lines of conflict occurred in more recent years, especially when the Balkans erupted in bloodshed in the 1990s. The Balkans had just thrown off the fetters of decades of communism to embrace an uncertain future, only to be haunted by terrible demons from its past. This audiobook takes a look at both the ancient past of this important part of the world, as well as more recent events. In this audiobook, you will learn about: - The people who first called the Balkans home; - The role and impact Alexander the Great had on the region; - What life was like for the people of the Balkans during the Roman and Byzantine Empires; - What changes did the Ottoman administration bring to the Balkans; - The interesting roles the Balkans played during the two world wars; - How communism penetrated into the Balkans and its influence today; - What the Balkan states have been up to in more recent years; - And much more! Scroll up and click the “add to cart” button to learn more about the Balkans!

Captivating History (Author), Jason Zenobia (Narrator)

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The Balkan Wars: A Comprehensive Overview - Examining the Milestones and Turning Points of the Regio

Discover the complex and often turbulent history of the Balkans with this fascinating book. From ancient times to the present day, this book covers the key events and factors that have shaped the region, and provides a nuanced and complex understanding of the ongoing challenges faced by the Balkans today. The book begins with the impact of Ottoman rule on the Balkans, which lasted for nearly 500 years and left a lasting imprint on the region's culture and identity. From the 18th century onward, various Balkan states began to push for independence from the Ottoman Empire, leading to a series of conflicts and wars that eventually resulted in the establishment of independent Balkan states. The book then moves on to explore the role of the Balkans in World War I and II, including the experiences of Serbian soldier and nationalist Gavrilo Princip, whose assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand sparked the First World War. The Second World War saw the region caught in the crossfire between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, with devastating consequences for the region's people and economy. With detailed research and engaging writing, this book is an essential read for anyone interested in the history of the Balkans and the complex factors that have led to its ongoing conflict and division. Get your copy now and discover the fascinating history of the Balkans.

History Retold (Author), Dean Ericson (Narrator)

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The Balfour Declaration: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Issued in London in 1917, the Balfour Declaration was one of the key documents of the twentieth century. It committed Britain to supporting the establishment in Palestine of “a National Home for the Jewish people,” and its reverberations continue to be felt to this day. Now the entire fascinating story of the document is revealed in this impressive work of modern history. With new material retrieved from historical archives, scholar Jonathan Schneer recounts in dramatic detail the public and private battles in the early 1900s for a small strip of land in the Middle East, battles that started when the governing Ottoman Empire took Germany’s side in World War I. The Balfour Declaration paints an indelible picture of how Arab nationalists, backed by Britain, fought for their future as Zionists in England battled diplomatically for influence. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to either side or even to most members of the British government, Prime Minister David Lloyd George was telling Turkey that she could keep her flag flying over the disputed territory if only she would agree to a separate peace. The key players in this watershed moment are rendered here in nuanced and detailed relief: Sharif Hussein, the Arab leader who secretly sought British support; Chaim Weizmann, Zionist hero, the folksmensch who charmed British high society; T. E. Lawrence, the legendary “super cerebral” British officer who “set the desert on fire” for the Arabs; Basil Zaharoff, the infamous arms dealer who was Britain’s most important back channel to the Turks; and the other generals and prime ministers, soldiers and negotiators, who shed blood and cut deals to grab or give away the precious land. A book crucial to understanding the Middle East as it is today, The Balfour Declaration is a rich and remarkable achievement, a riveting volume about the ancient faiths and timeless treacheries that continue to drive global events.

Jonathan Schneer (Author), Nicholas Guy Smith (Narrator)

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The Axmann Conspiracy: The Nazi Plan for a Fourth Reich and How the U.S. Army Defeated It

A trusted member of Hitler's inner circle, Artur Axmann, the head of the Hitler Youth, witnessed the Führer commit suicide in Berlin-but he would not let the Reich die with its leader. Evading capture, and with access to remnants of the regime's wealth, Axmann had enough followers to reestablish the Nazi party in the very heart of Allied-occupied Germany-and position himself to become dictator of the Fourth Reich. U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps Officer Jack Hunter was the perfect undercover operative. Fluent in German, he posed as a black marketeer to root out Nazi sympathizers and saboteurs after the war, and along with other CIC agents uncovered the extent of Axmann's conspiracy. It threatened to bring the Nazis back into power-and the task fell to Hunter and his team to stop it. The Axmann Conspiracy is the previously untold true story of the Nazi threat that continued in the wake of World War II, the espionage that defeated it, and two fascinating men whose lives forever altered the course of history.

Scott Andrew Selby (Author), Don Hagen (Narrator)

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The Axis Powers’ Nuclear Weapons Programs: The History of Germany and Japan’s Efforts to Build an At

The Manhattan Project would ultimately yield the “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” bombs that released more than 100 Terajoules of energy at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but as it turned out, the Axis were not far behind with their own nuclear weapons program. When the Nazis’ quest for a nuclear weapon began in earnest in 1939, no one really had a handle on how important nuclear weapons would prove to war and geopolitics. The attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, along with the Cold War-era tests and their accompanying mushroom clouds, would demonstrate the true power and terror of nuclear weapons, but in the late 1930s these bombs were only vaguely being thought through, particularly after the successful first experiment to split the atom by a German scientist. The nuclear age itself was in its infancy, barely 35 years old, but within a few short years the advent of nuclear war loomed over the world and the prospect of the enemy winning the nuclear race kept Allied leaders awake at night. In November 1921, roughly a year after the Treaty of Versailles came into effect, Japan, Britain, and the United States gathered to sign another treaty of disarmament at the Washington Naval Conference. However, Japan opted against renewing the pact in the mid-1930s, and around the same time, Germany openly breached the terms of the former treaty and began to restock their weapons. This gave rise to the birth of a new and unprecedented arms race, one that had catastrophically disastrous consequences about a decade later. Although their project is typically overlooked given the American use of the bombs and then the Soviets following suit early on in the Cold War, the Japanese avidly pursued nuclear weapons as well.

Charles River Editors (Author), Elias Anderson (Narrator)

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The Auschwitz Protocols: Ceslav Mordowicz and the Race to Save Hungary's Jews

As Adolf Eichmann sent hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz gas chambers, the Jews of Budapest needed the eyewitness testimony of Auschwitz escapees Ceslav Mordowicz and Arnost Rosinto save them. The clock was ticking on the Nazi plan to annihilate the last group of the Hungarian Jewry. But after nearly suffocating in an underground bunker, Auschwitz prisoners Ceslav Mordowicz and Arnost Rosin escaped and told Jewish leaders what they had seen. Their testimony in early June, 1944, corroborated earlier hard-to-believe reports of mass killing in Auschwitz by lethal gas and provided eyewitness accounts of record daily arrivals of Hungarian Jews meeting the same fate. It was the spark needed to stir a call for action to pressure Hungary's premier to defy Hitler-just hours before more than 200,000 Budapest Jews were to be deported.

Fred R. Bleakley (Author), David De Vries (Narrator)

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The Audacious Crimes of Colonel Blood: The Spy Who Stole the Crown Jewels and Became the King's Secr

The gripping story of one of the most enigmatic and alluring figures in British history: a dangerous double agent and Irish rogue in King Charles II's court One morning in May 1671, a man disguised as a parson daringly attempted to seize the crown jewels from the Tower of London. Astonishingly, he managed to escape with the regalia and crown before being apprehended. And yet he was not executed for treason. Instead, the king granted him a generous income and he became a familiar strutting figure in the royal court's glittering state apartments. This man was Colonel Thomas Blood, a notorious turncoat and fugitive from justice. Nicknamed the "Father of All Treasons," he had been involved in an attempted coup d'etat in Ireland as well as countless plots to assassinate Charles II. In an age when gossip and intrigue ruled the coffee houses, the restored Stuart king decided Blood was more useful to him alive than dead. But while serving as his personal spy, Blood was conspiring with his enemies. At the same time he hired himself out as a freelance agent for those seeking to further their political ambition. In The Audacious Crimes of Colonel Blood, bestselling historian Robert Hutchinson paints a vivid portrait of a double agent bent on ambiguous political and personal motivation, and provides an extraordinary account of the perils and conspiracies that abounded in Restoration England. "A carefully researched piece of popular history. Hutchinson sifts the various theories with characteristic thoroughness and lightness of touch."-Daily Mail (London)

Jamie Brenner (Author), Ralph Lister (Narrator)

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The Assassination of the Archduke: Sarajevo 1914 and the Romance That Changed the World

Drawing on unpublished letters and rare primary sources, King and Woolmans tell the true story behind the tragic romance and brutal assassination that sparked World War I In the summer of 1914, three great empires dominated Europe: Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. Four years later all had vanished in the chaos of World War I. One event precipitated the conflict, and at its heart was a tragic love story. When Austrian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand married for love against the wishes of the emperor, he and his wife, Sophie, were humiliated and shunned; yet they remained devoted to each other and to their children. The two bullets fired in Sarajevo not only ended their love story but also led to war and a century of conflict. Set against a backdrop of glittering privilege, The Assassination of the Archduke combines royal history, touching romance, and political murder in a moving portrait of the end of an era. One hundred years after the event, it offers the startling truth behind the Sarajevo assassinations, including Serbian complicity, and examines rumors of conspiracy and official negligence. Events in Sarajevo also doomed the couple’s children to lives of loss, exile, and the horrors of Nazi concentration camps, their plight echoing the horrors unleashed by their parents’ deaths. Challenging a century of myth, The Assassination of the Archduke resonates as a very human story of love destroyed by murder, revolution, and war. “The vilified heir to the Hapsburg throne wins a touching rehabilitation in this nonscholarly look at his love match and sad demise…An entertaining challenge to a century of misconceptions.”—Kirkus Reviews

Greg King, Sue Woolmans (Author), Malcolm Hillgartner (Narrator)

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The Art of the English Murder: From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfre

Murder: a dark, shameful deed, the last resort of the desperate or a vile tool of the greedy—and a very strange, very English obsession. But where did this fixation develop? And what does it tell us about ourselves? In The Art of the English Murder, Lucy Worsley explores this phenomenon in forensic detail, revisiting notorious crimes like the Ratcliff Highway Murders, which caused a nationwide panic in the early nineteenth century, and the case of Frederick and Maria Manning, the suburban couple who were hanged after killing Maria's lover and burying him under their kitchen floor. Our fascination with crimes like these became a form of national entertainment, inspiring novels and plays, prose and paintings, poetry and true-crime journalism. The Art of the English Murder is a unique exploration of the art of crime—and a riveting investigation into the English criminal soul.

Lucy Worsley (Author), Anne Flosnik (Narrator)

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The Art Of Monarchy

The Royal Collection is one of the most wide-ranging collections of art and artefacts in the world and provides an intriguing insight into the minds of the monarchs who have assembled it. In this series, BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz examines dozens of these unique objects, in a quest to 'use the Collection as a prism through which to better understand the art of being a monarch'. From intimate portraits to epic tapestries, from the Coronation pen to the Investiture sword, from a treatise against Martin Luther to the first televised Christmas message, each has an absorbing history. Famous objects such as the Gold State Coach and the Imperial State Crown rub shoulders with lesser-known but still fascinating artefacts such as the Exeter Salt and the Wriothesley Garter Book. With the help of historians, academics and Royal Collection curators, Gompertz selects choice items to find out what secrets they reveal about the art of monarchy.

Will Gompertz (Author), Will Gompertz (Narrator)

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The Arms of Krupp: 1587-1968

In this narrative of extraordinary richness, depth, and authority, America's preeminent biographer/historian explored the German national character as no other writer has done. The Arms of Krupp brings to life Europe's wealthiest, most powerful family, a four-hundred-year German dynasty that developed the world's most technologically advanced weapons, from cannons to submarines to anti-aircraft guns; provided arms to generations of German leaders, including the kaiser and Hitler; operated private concentration camps during the Nazi era; survived conviction at Nuremberg; and wielded enormous influence on the course of world events. William Manchester's galvanizing account of the rise and fall of the Krupp dynasty is history as it should be written-alive with all its terrifying power.

William Manchester (Author), Paul Boehmer (Narrator)

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The Anglo-Zulu War: The History and Legacy of the British Empire's Conflict with the Zulu Kingdom in

The modern history of Africa was, until very recently, written on behalf of the indigenous races by the white man, who had forcefully entered the continent during a particularly hubristic and dynamic phase of European history. In 1884, Prince Otto von Bismarck, the German chancellor, brought the plenipotentiaries of all major powers of Europe together, to deal with Africa's colonization in such a manner as to avoid provocation of war. This event-known as the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885-galvanized a phenomenon that came to be known as the Scramble for Africa. The conference established two fundamental rules for European seizure of Africa. There were some exceptions to this, however, and the most notable was the Zulu Kingdom, a centralized monarchy of enormous military prowess that would require a full-fledged war for the British to pacify. At the height of its power in the southern part of Africa, the Zulu could rely on an army of 40,000 warriors, presenting a formidable obstacle to the designs of the British, who eventually engaged in a full-scale conflict with the Zulu due to their own geopolitical concerns. When the fighting started at the beginning of 1879, British military leader Lord Chelmsford assured, "'If I am called upon to conduct operations against them, I shall strive to be in a position to show them how hopelessly inferior they are to us in fighting power, altho' numerically stronger." Less than 10 days later, Chelmsford had lost nearly 33% of his fighting force at the Battle of Isandlwana. From that point forward, the British began to take the Zulu more seriously, and over the next half year, they subdued the Zulu nation.

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

Audiobook

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