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The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 1

• UNABRIDGED (41 hrs and 6 mins)
• By Edward Gibbon
• Narrated By Bernard Mayes
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Considered one of the finest historical works in the English language, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is lauded for its graceful, elegant prose style as much as for its epic scope. Remarkably accurate for its day, Gibbon's treatise holds a high place in the history of literature and remains an enduring subject of study.

Gibbon's monumental work traces the history of more than 13 centuries, covering the great events as well as the general historical progression. This first volume covers A.D. 180 to A.D. 395, which includes the establishment of Christianity and the Crusades.

A.D. 381: Heretics, Pagans, and the Dawn of the Monotheistic State

• UNABRIDGED (9 hrs and 43 mins)
• By Charles Freeman
• Narrated By Robert Blumenfeld
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In A.D. 381, Theodosius, emperor of the eastern Roman empire, issued a decree in which all his subjects were required to subscribe to a belief in the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This edict defined Christian orthodoxy and brought to an end a lively and wide-ranging debate about the nature of God; all other interpretations were now declared heretical.

The Autobiography of Henry VIII

• UNABRIDGED (41 hrs and 20 mins)
• By Margaret George
• Narrated By David Case

Margaret George's novel brings into focus the larger-than-life King Henry VIII, monarch of prodigious appetites for wine, women, and song.

Silent Running: My Years on a World War II Attack Submarine

• UNABRIDGED (10 hrs and 30 mins)
• By James F. Calvert
• Narrated By Kevin Patrick

In this riveting personal account, an authentic American hero relives the perils and triumphs of eight harrowing patrols aboard one of America's most successful World War II submarines. Courageous deeds and terror-filled moments - as well as the endless hard work of maintaining and operating a combat sub - are vividly recalled in Calvert's candid portrait.

The Metamorphoses

• UNABRIDGED (16 hrs and 16 mins)
• By Ovid
• Narrated By Charlton Griffin

An undeniable masterpiece of Western Civilization, The Metamorphoses is a continuous narrative that covers all the Olympian legends, seamlessly moving from one story to another in a splendid panorama of savage beauty, charm, and wit. All of the gods and heroes familiar to us are represented. Such familiar legends as Hercules, Perseus and Medusa, Daedelus and Icarus, Diana and Actaeon, and many others, are breathtakingly recreated.

I, Claudius

• UNABRIDGED (16 hrs and 48 mins)
• By Robert Graves
• Narrated By Nelson Runger

Here is one of the best historical novels ever written. Lame, stammering Claudius, once a major embarrassment to the imperial family and now emperor of Rome, writes an eyewitness account of the reign of the first four Caesars: the noble Augustus and his cunning wife, Livia; the reptilian Tiberius; the monstrous Caligula; and finally old Claudius himself. Filled with poisonings, betrayal, and shocking excesses, I Claudius is history that rivals the most exciting contemporary fiction.

Medieval People

• UNABRIDGED (7 hrs and 4 mins)
• By Eileen Power
• Narrated By Roe Kendall

In this classic of social history, the author describes the lives of six obscure men and women of the Middle Ages. She draws on account books, records, letters, diaries, and wills to make the life of those times as concrete and comprehensible as our own.

The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern Mind

• UNABRIDGED (11 hrs and 31 mins)
• By Justin Pollard, Howard Reid
• Narrated By Simon Vance
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Founded by Alexander the Great and built by self-styled Greek pharaohs, the city of Alexandria at its height dwarfed both Athens and Rome. It was the marvel of its age, legendary for its vast palaces, safe harbors, and magnificent lighthouse. But it was most famous for the astonishing intellectual efflorescence it fostered and the library it produced. If the European Renaissance was the "rebirth" of Western culture, then Alexandria, Egypt, was its birthplace.