-
Children Are Diamonds
- An African Apocalypse
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Children Are Diamonds
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Alas, Babylon
- By: Pat Frank
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13,330
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11,449
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11,429
This true modern masterpiece is built around the two fateful words that make up the title and herald the end - “Alas, Babylon.” When a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly. But for one small town in Florida, miraculously spared, the struggle is just beginning, as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness....
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
One apocalypse--hold the zombies
- By Lesley on 01-07-14
By: Pat Frank
-
American War
- A Novel
- By: Omar El Akkad
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,319
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,108
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,102
Sarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana, is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that Louisiana is half underwater, that unmanned drones fill the sky. And when her father is killed and her family is forced into Camp Patience for displaced persons, she quickly begins to be shaped by her particular time and place until, finally, through the influence of a mysterious functionary, she is turned into a deadly instrument of war.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best listen in years
- By odin on 04-08-17
By: Omar El Akkad
-
The Devil's Highway
- A True Story
- By: Luis Alberto Urrea
- Narrated by: Luis Alberto Urrea
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,364
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,211
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,209
In May 2001, a group of men attempted to cross the Mexican border into the desert of southern Arizona, through the deadliest region of the continent, the "Devil's Highway." Three years later, Luis Alberto Urrea wrote about what happened to them. The result was a national bestseller, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a "book of the year" in multiple newspapers, and a work proclaimed as a modern American classic.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
My Favorite Author to Listen to
- By C. F. Eastman on 03-08-18
-
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places
- A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace
- By: Le Ly Hayslip, Jay Wurts
- Narrated by: Nancy Kwan
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 100
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
This haunting memoir tells the brutal story of the Vietnam War from the perspective of an innocent victim whose childhood was dominated by violence, devastation, and conflicts between the teachings of her culture and the realities of war. The youngest in a close-knit Buddhist family, Le Ly Hayslip was 12 years old when U.S. helicopters landed in her village. She was raped and "ruined" for marriage by Viet Cong soldiers, imprisoned and tortured by the South Vietnamese, and sentenced to death by the Viet Cong. Ultimately fleeing to the U.S. with her children, she finally found peace, and in 1986, she was reunited with her family in Vietnam. The story of her homecoming, interwoven with her memories of the war years, paints a vivid picture of a noble, optimistic woman and her native country.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Difficult to listen to
- By heatherhg on 07-01-07
By: Le Ly Hayslip, and others
-
A House in the Sky
- A Memoir
- By: Amanda Lindhout, Sara Corbett
- Narrated by: Amanda Lindhout
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,074
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,862
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,859
Amanda Lindhout reads her spectacularly dramatic memoir of a woman whose curiosity about the world led her from rural Canada to imperiled and dangerous countries on every continent, and then into 15 months of harrowing captivity in Somalia - a story of courage, resilience, and extraordinary grace. In August 2008, she traveled to Mogadishu, Somalia - "the most dangerous place on Earth." On her fourth day in the country, she and her photojournalist companion were abducted.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Drawing Strength from an Empty Well
- By Mel on 09-12-13
By: Amanda Lindhout, and others
-
All Things Must Fight to Live
- Stories of War and Deliverance in Congo
- By: Bryan Mealer
- Narrated by: Karl Miller
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 21
In All Things Must Fight to Live, Bryan Mealer takes listeners on a harrowing 2000 mile journey through Congo, where gun-toting militia still rape and kill with impunity. Amidst burnt-out battlefields where armies still wrestle for control, into the dark corners of the forests, and along the high savanna, where thousands have been slaughtered and quickly forgotten, Mealer searches for signs that Africa's most troubled state will soon rise from ruin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding story and narration
- By Cthulhu's slobber on 09-19-19
By: Bryan Mealer
-
Alas, Babylon
- By: Pat Frank
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13,330
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11,449
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11,429
This true modern masterpiece is built around the two fateful words that make up the title and herald the end - “Alas, Babylon.” When a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly. But for one small town in Florida, miraculously spared, the struggle is just beginning, as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness....
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
One apocalypse--hold the zombies
- By Lesley on 01-07-14
By: Pat Frank
-
American War
- A Novel
- By: Omar El Akkad
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,319
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,108
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,102
Sarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana, is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that Louisiana is half underwater, that unmanned drones fill the sky. And when her father is killed and her family is forced into Camp Patience for displaced persons, she quickly begins to be shaped by her particular time and place until, finally, through the influence of a mysterious functionary, she is turned into a deadly instrument of war.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best listen in years
- By odin on 04-08-17
By: Omar El Akkad
-
The Devil's Highway
- A True Story
- By: Luis Alberto Urrea
- Narrated by: Luis Alberto Urrea
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,364
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,211
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,209
In May 2001, a group of men attempted to cross the Mexican border into the desert of southern Arizona, through the deadliest region of the continent, the "Devil's Highway." Three years later, Luis Alberto Urrea wrote about what happened to them. The result was a national bestseller, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a "book of the year" in multiple newspapers, and a work proclaimed as a modern American classic.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
My Favorite Author to Listen to
- By C. F. Eastman on 03-08-18
-
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places
- A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace
- By: Le Ly Hayslip, Jay Wurts
- Narrated by: Nancy Kwan
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 100
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
This haunting memoir tells the brutal story of the Vietnam War from the perspective of an innocent victim whose childhood was dominated by violence, devastation, and conflicts between the teachings of her culture and the realities of war. The youngest in a close-knit Buddhist family, Le Ly Hayslip was 12 years old when U.S. helicopters landed in her village. She was raped and "ruined" for marriage by Viet Cong soldiers, imprisoned and tortured by the South Vietnamese, and sentenced to death by the Viet Cong. Ultimately fleeing to the U.S. with her children, she finally found peace, and in 1986, she was reunited with her family in Vietnam. The story of her homecoming, interwoven with her memories of the war years, paints a vivid picture of a noble, optimistic woman and her native country.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Difficult to listen to
- By heatherhg on 07-01-07
By: Le Ly Hayslip, and others
-
A House in the Sky
- A Memoir
- By: Amanda Lindhout, Sara Corbett
- Narrated by: Amanda Lindhout
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,074
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,862
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,859
Amanda Lindhout reads her spectacularly dramatic memoir of a woman whose curiosity about the world led her from rural Canada to imperiled and dangerous countries on every continent, and then into 15 months of harrowing captivity in Somalia - a story of courage, resilience, and extraordinary grace. In August 2008, she traveled to Mogadishu, Somalia - "the most dangerous place on Earth." On her fourth day in the country, she and her photojournalist companion were abducted.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Drawing Strength from an Empty Well
- By Mel on 09-12-13
By: Amanda Lindhout, and others
-
All Things Must Fight to Live
- Stories of War and Deliverance in Congo
- By: Bryan Mealer
- Narrated by: Karl Miller
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 21
In All Things Must Fight to Live, Bryan Mealer takes listeners on a harrowing 2000 mile journey through Congo, where gun-toting militia still rape and kill with impunity. Amidst burnt-out battlefields where armies still wrestle for control, into the dark corners of the forests, and along the high savanna, where thousands have been slaughtered and quickly forgotten, Mealer searches for signs that Africa's most troubled state will soon rise from ruin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding story and narration
- By Cthulhu's slobber on 09-19-19
By: Bryan Mealer
-
Enrique's Journey
- By: Sonia Nazario
- Narrated by: Catherine Byers
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 715
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 580
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 582
Based on the Los Angeles Times newspaper series that won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for feature writing and another for feature photography, Enrique's Journey is the timeless story of families torn apart, the yearning to be together again, and a boy who will risk his life to find the mother he loves.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Missing Chapter 8 and Epilogue!
- By Bobby Reed on 07-01-14
By: Sonia Nazario
-
What Is the What
- By: Dave Eggers
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 20 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,666
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,122
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,123
Valentino's travels, truly Biblical in scope, bring him in contact with government soldiers, janjaweed-like militias, liberation rebels, hyenas and lions, disease and starvation, and a string of unexpected romances. Ultimately, Valentino finds safety in Kenya and, just after the millennium, is finally resettled in the United States, from where this novel is narrated.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Story Aching to be Told
- By Susan on 04-24-13
By: Dave Eggers
-
I, Who Did Not Die
- A Sweeping Story of Loss, Redemption, and Fate
- By: Zahed Haftlang, Najah Aboud
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
Khorramshahr, Iran, May 1982 - It was the bloodiest battle of one of the most brutal wars of the twentieth century, and Najah, a 29-year-old wounded Iraqi conscript, was face to face with a 13-year-old Iranian child soldier who was ordered to kill him. Instead, the boy committed an astonishing act of mercy. It was an act that decades later would save his own life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
- By jennie on 04-10-24
By: Zahed Haftlang, and others
-
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun
- A Memoir of Africa
- By: Peter Godwin
- Narrated by: Peter Godwin
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 64
After his father's heart attack in 1984, Peter Godwin began a series of pilgrimages back to Zimbabwe, the land of his birth, from Manhattan, where he now lives. On these frequent visits to check on his elderly parents, he bore witness to Zimbabwe's dramatic spiral downward into the jaws of violent chaos, presided over by an increasingly enraged dictator. And yet long after their comfortable lifestyle had been shattered and millions were fleeing, his parents refuse to leave, steadfast in their allegiance to the failed state that has been their adopted home for 50 years.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Worth the listen.
- By SEE on 09-06-21
By: Peter Godwin
-
The Coroner’s Lunch
- The Dr. Siri Investigations, Book 1
- By: Colin Cotterill
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,714
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,499
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,495
Laos, 1975: The Communist Pathet Lao has taken over this former French colony. Dr. Siri Paiboun, a 72-year-old Paris-trained doctor, is appointed national coroner. Although he has no training for the job, there is no one else: the rest of the educated class have fled.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Something a little different
- By We4Williams on 11-22-11
By: Colin Cotterill
-
When the Stars Fall to Earth
- A Novel of Africa
- By: Rebecca Tinsley
- Narrated by: Holly Villaire
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
When the Stars Fall to Earth is the story of five young Darfuris trying to make sense of their changing world in a time of war. Their lives come together in a tale of love and loss, self-reliance and courage, fear and violence. They overcome the ultimate challenge: to become proud survivors with a future rather than defeated victims, despite the tragedy enveloping them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
International Disgrace: Our Disinterest in Darfur
- By P. Burdge on 04-17-13
By: Rebecca Tinsley
-
A Primate's Memoir
- A Neuroscientist’s Unconventional Life Among the Baboons
- By: Robert Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,092
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 970
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 967
"I had never planned to become a savanna baboon when I grew up; instead, I had always assumed I would become a mountain gorilla," writes Robert Sapolsky in this witty and riveting chronicle of a scientist's coming-of-age in remote Africa. An exhilarating account of Sapolsky's twenty-one-year study of a troop of rambunctious baboons in Kenya, A Primate's Memoir interweaves serious scientific observations with wry commentary about the challenges and pleasures of living in the wilds of the Serengeti-for man and beast alike.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
One of the best books I've ever read.
- By Jan on 07-06-15
By: Robert Sapolsky
-
Finding Moon
- By: Tony Hillerman
- Narrated by: Erik Bergmann
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 239
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 221
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 217
Until the telephone call came for him on April 12, 1975, the world of Moon Mathias had settled into a predictable routine. He knew who he was. He was the disappointing son of Victoria Mathias, the brother of the brilliant, recently dead Ricky Mathias and a man who could be counted on to solve small problems. But the telephone caller was an airport security officer, and the news he delivered handed Moon a problem as large as Southeast Asia. His mother, who should be in her Florida apartment, is fighting for her life in a Los Angeles hospital - stricken while en route to the Philippines to bring home a grandchild they hadn't known existed.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not the Tony Hillerman I Know
- By David on 08-15-14
By: Tony Hillerman
-
The Fear
- By: Peter Godwin
- Narrated by: Peter Godwin
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
Born in what’s now called Zimbabwe, journalist Peter Godwin returns to his homeland in 2008 after three decades of Robert Mugabe’s brutal economic and human destruction. Hoping to “dance on Mugabe’s political grave” in the wake of the tyrant’s defeat at the polls, Godwin instead risks his life to secretly chronicle Mugabe’s ruthless backlash of torture and terror locals call “The Fear.”
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Read at your own Risk!
- By Jim on 05-05-15
By: Peter Godwin
-
Guernica
- A Novel
- By: Dave Boling
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 125
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
Calling to mind such timeless war-and-love classics as Corelli's Mandolin and The English Patient, Guernica is a transporting novel that thrums with the power of storytelling and is peopled with characters driven by grit and heart.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Guernica a good historical novel
- By ARLEENE on 04-26-11
By: Dave Boling
-
Travels with Myself and Another
- A Memoir
- By: Martha Gellhorn
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman, Harry Nangle
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 48
"Martha Gellhorn was so fearless in a male way, and yet utterly capable of making men melt," writes New Yorker literary editor Bill Buford. As a journalist, Gellhorn covered every military conflict from the Spanish Civil War to Vietnam and Nicaragua. She also bewitched Eleanor Roosevelt's secret love and enraptured Ernest Hemingway with her courage as they dodged shell fire together.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Annoying but actually very honest
- By CB on 11-23-21
By: Martha Gellhorn
-
Love, Africa
- A Memoir of Romance, War, and Survival
- By: Jeffrey Gettleman
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 191
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 167
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 169
A seasoned war correspondent, Jeffrey Gettleman has covered every major conflict over the past 20 years, from Afghanistan to Iraq to the Congo. For the past decade, he has served as the East Africa bureau chief for the New York Times, fulfilling his teenage dream of living in Africa. Love, Africa is the story of how he got there - and of his difficult, winding path toward becoming a good reporter and a better man.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved this book!!!
- By Benjamin on 05-26-17
Editorial reviews
"In Africa, everything is an emergency," begins Edward Hoagland's powerful novel Children Are Diamonds. Quietly and thoughtfully performed by award-winning voice actor Jonathan Davis, the rest of the story sets out to prove that statement, devastating listeners in the process. In 1995, a roguish American high school teacher named Hickey begins work as an aide worker in Nairobi, and during his work, befriends Ruth, a middle-aged woman who mans an aid station in Southern Sudan. When the region dissolves into chaos, Hickey has to rescue her, leading to a heart-stopping, anguishing climax. Davis easily lends himself to Hickey's voice, capturing his wonder at the beauty of Africa and his horror at the violence that tears it apart.
Publisher's summary
An African apocalypse by "one of the very best writers of his generation" (Saul Bellow).
This is not the Africa of Isak Dinesen, nor the Africa of Joy Adamson. This is the Africa of civil wars and tribal massacres, where the Lord’s Resistance Army recruits child-soldiers after forcing them to kill their parents and eat their hearts. The aid workers who voluntarily subject themselves to life here are a breed of their own.
Meet Hickey, an American school teacher in his late 30s, an American school teacher who burns his bridges with the school board and goes to Africa as an aid worker. Working for an agency in Nairobi, one of his jobs is to drive food and medical supplies to Southern Sudan to an aid station run by Ruth, a middle-aged woman, who acts as nurse, doctor, hospice worker, feeder of starving children, and witness. Ruth is gruff but efficient, and Hickey, who is usually drawn to youth and beauty, is struck by her devotion. Returning to Nairobi, he can’t forget what he has seen.
When the violence and chaos in the region increase to a fever pitch and aid workers are being slaughtered or evacuated, Hickey is asked to save Ruth overland by Jeep. What happens to them and the children that have joined their journey is the searing climax of this novel. Hoagland paints an unflinching portrait of a living hell at its worst, and yet amid that suffering there is hope in the form of humility, sacrifice, and life-affirming friendship.
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places
- A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace
- By: Le Ly Hayslip, Jay Wurts
- Narrated by: Nancy Kwan
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 100
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
This haunting memoir tells the brutal story of the Vietnam War from the perspective of an innocent victim whose childhood was dominated by violence, devastation, and conflicts between the teachings of her culture and the realities of war. The youngest in a close-knit Buddhist family, Le Ly Hayslip was 12 years old when U.S. helicopters landed in her village. She was raped and "ruined" for marriage by Viet Cong soldiers, imprisoned and tortured by the South Vietnamese, and sentenced to death by the Viet Cong. Ultimately fleeing to the U.S. with her children, she finally found peace, and in 1986, she was reunited with her family in Vietnam. The story of her homecoming, interwoven with her memories of the war years, paints a vivid picture of a noble, optimistic woman and her native country.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Difficult to listen to
- By heatherhg on 07-01-07
By: Le Ly Hayslip, and others
-
I, Who Did Not Die
- A Sweeping Story of Loss, Redemption, and Fate
- By: Zahed Haftlang, Najah Aboud
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
Khorramshahr, Iran, May 1982 - It was the bloodiest battle of one of the most brutal wars of the twentieth century, and Najah, a 29-year-old wounded Iraqi conscript, was face to face with a 13-year-old Iranian child soldier who was ordered to kill him. Instead, the boy committed an astonishing act of mercy. It was an act that decades later would save his own life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
- By jennie on 04-10-24
By: Zahed Haftlang, and others
-
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun
- A Memoir of Africa
- By: Peter Godwin
- Narrated by: Peter Godwin
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 64
After his father's heart attack in 1984, Peter Godwin began a series of pilgrimages back to Zimbabwe, the land of his birth, from Manhattan, where he now lives. On these frequent visits to check on his elderly parents, he bore witness to Zimbabwe's dramatic spiral downward into the jaws of violent chaos, presided over by an increasingly enraged dictator. And yet long after their comfortable lifestyle had been shattered and millions were fleeing, his parents refuse to leave, steadfast in their allegiance to the failed state that has been their adopted home for 50 years.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Worth the listen.
- By SEE on 09-06-21
By: Peter Godwin
-
All Things Must Fight to Live
- Stories of War and Deliverance in Congo
- By: Bryan Mealer
- Narrated by: Karl Miller
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 21
In All Things Must Fight to Live, Bryan Mealer takes listeners on a harrowing 2000 mile journey through Congo, where gun-toting militia still rape and kill with impunity. Amidst burnt-out battlefields where armies still wrestle for control, into the dark corners of the forests, and along the high savanna, where thousands have been slaughtered and quickly forgotten, Mealer searches for signs that Africa's most troubled state will soon rise from ruin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding story and narration
- By Cthulhu's slobber on 09-19-19
By: Bryan Mealer
-
Three Cups of Tea
- One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations
- By: Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,735
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 908
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 935
In 1993 Greg Mortenson was the exhausted survivor of a failed attempt to ascend K2, an American climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram Himalaya. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of an impoverished Pakistani village, Mortenson promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time: Greg Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
A Fraud
- By Sara on 02-23-16
By: Greg Mortenson, and others
-
The Fear
- By: Peter Godwin
- Narrated by: Peter Godwin
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
Born in what’s now called Zimbabwe, journalist Peter Godwin returns to his homeland in 2008 after three decades of Robert Mugabe’s brutal economic and human destruction. Hoping to “dance on Mugabe’s political grave” in the wake of the tyrant’s defeat at the polls, Godwin instead risks his life to secretly chronicle Mugabe’s ruthless backlash of torture and terror locals call “The Fear.”
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Read at your own Risk!
- By Jim on 05-05-15
By: Peter Godwin
-
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places
- A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace
- By: Le Ly Hayslip, Jay Wurts
- Narrated by: Nancy Kwan
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 100
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
This haunting memoir tells the brutal story of the Vietnam War from the perspective of an innocent victim whose childhood was dominated by violence, devastation, and conflicts between the teachings of her culture and the realities of war. The youngest in a close-knit Buddhist family, Le Ly Hayslip was 12 years old when U.S. helicopters landed in her village. She was raped and "ruined" for marriage by Viet Cong soldiers, imprisoned and tortured by the South Vietnamese, and sentenced to death by the Viet Cong. Ultimately fleeing to the U.S. with her children, she finally found peace, and in 1986, she was reunited with her family in Vietnam. The story of her homecoming, interwoven with her memories of the war years, paints a vivid picture of a noble, optimistic woman and her native country.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Difficult to listen to
- By heatherhg on 07-01-07
By: Le Ly Hayslip, and others
-
I, Who Did Not Die
- A Sweeping Story of Loss, Redemption, and Fate
- By: Zahed Haftlang, Najah Aboud
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
Khorramshahr, Iran, May 1982 - It was the bloodiest battle of one of the most brutal wars of the twentieth century, and Najah, a 29-year-old wounded Iraqi conscript, was face to face with a 13-year-old Iranian child soldier who was ordered to kill him. Instead, the boy committed an astonishing act of mercy. It was an act that decades later would save his own life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
- By jennie on 04-10-24
By: Zahed Haftlang, and others
-
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun
- A Memoir of Africa
- By: Peter Godwin
- Narrated by: Peter Godwin
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 64
After his father's heart attack in 1984, Peter Godwin began a series of pilgrimages back to Zimbabwe, the land of his birth, from Manhattan, where he now lives. On these frequent visits to check on his elderly parents, he bore witness to Zimbabwe's dramatic spiral downward into the jaws of violent chaos, presided over by an increasingly enraged dictator. And yet long after their comfortable lifestyle had been shattered and millions were fleeing, his parents refuse to leave, steadfast in their allegiance to the failed state that has been their adopted home for 50 years.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Worth the listen.
- By SEE on 09-06-21
By: Peter Godwin
-
All Things Must Fight to Live
- Stories of War and Deliverance in Congo
- By: Bryan Mealer
- Narrated by: Karl Miller
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 21
In All Things Must Fight to Live, Bryan Mealer takes listeners on a harrowing 2000 mile journey through Congo, where gun-toting militia still rape and kill with impunity. Amidst burnt-out battlefields where armies still wrestle for control, into the dark corners of the forests, and along the high savanna, where thousands have been slaughtered and quickly forgotten, Mealer searches for signs that Africa's most troubled state will soon rise from ruin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding story and narration
- By Cthulhu's slobber on 09-19-19
By: Bryan Mealer
-
Three Cups of Tea
- One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations
- By: Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,735
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 908
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 935
In 1993 Greg Mortenson was the exhausted survivor of a failed attempt to ascend K2, an American climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram Himalaya. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of an impoverished Pakistani village, Mortenson promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time: Greg Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
A Fraud
- By Sara on 02-23-16
By: Greg Mortenson, and others
-
The Fear
- By: Peter Godwin
- Narrated by: Peter Godwin
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
Born in what’s now called Zimbabwe, journalist Peter Godwin returns to his homeland in 2008 after three decades of Robert Mugabe’s brutal economic and human destruction. Hoping to “dance on Mugabe’s political grave” in the wake of the tyrant’s defeat at the polls, Godwin instead risks his life to secretly chronicle Mugabe’s ruthless backlash of torture and terror locals call “The Fear.”
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Read at your own Risk!
- By Jim on 05-05-15
By: Peter Godwin
-
Guernica
- A Novel
- By: Dave Boling
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 125
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
Calling to mind such timeless war-and-love classics as Corelli's Mandolin and The English Patient, Guernica is a transporting novel that thrums with the power of storytelling and is peopled with characters driven by grit and heart.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Guernica a good historical novel
- By ARLEENE on 04-26-11
By: Dave Boling
-
Love, Africa
- A Memoir of Romance, War, and Survival
- By: Jeffrey Gettleman
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 191
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 167
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 169
A seasoned war correspondent, Jeffrey Gettleman has covered every major conflict over the past 20 years, from Afghanistan to Iraq to the Congo. For the past decade, he has served as the East Africa bureau chief for the New York Times, fulfilling his teenage dream of living in Africa. Love, Africa is the story of how he got there - and of his difficult, winding path toward becoming a good reporter and a better man.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved this book!!!
- By Benjamin on 05-26-17
-
The Hundred-Year Walk
- An Armenian Odyssey
- By: Dawn Anahid MacKeen
- Narrated by: Neil Shah, Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 101
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 94
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 95
In the heart of the Ottoman Empire as World War I rages, Stepan Miskjian's world becomes undone. He is separated from his family as they are swept up in the government's mass deportation of Armenians into internment camps. Gradually realizing the unthinkable - that they are all being driven to their deaths - he fights, through starvation and thirst, not to lose hope.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Everything a memoir should be. You will enjoy it!
- By Jakk on 02-19-18
-
The Naked Don't Fear the Water
- An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees
- By: Matthieu Aikins
- Narrated by: Nick Nikon
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 138
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 124
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 124
In this extraordinary book, an acclaimed young war reporter chronicles a dangerous journey on the smuggler’s road to Europe, accompanying his friend, an Afghan refugee, in search of a better future.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Great story, horrible narration
- By AB on 02-25-22
By: Matthieu Aikins
-
Way of the Wolf
- The Vampire Earth, Book 1
- By: E. E. Knight
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel, E. E. Knight (Introduction)
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 953
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 607
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 609
Louisiana, 2065. A lot has changed in the 43rd year of the Kurian Order. Possessed of an unnatural and legendary hunger, the bloodthirsty Reapers have come to Earth to establish a New Order built on the harvesting of enslaved human souls. They rule the planet. They thrive on the scent of fear. And if it is night, as sure as darkness, they will come.
On this pitiless world, the indomitable spirit of mankind still breathes in Lieutenant David Valentine.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Its what you expect, and thats not a bad thing.
- By Kevin McLaughlin on 11-26-08
By: E. E. Knight
-
Tears of the Desert
- A Memoir of Survival in Darfur
- By: Halima Bashir, Damien Lewis
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 87
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 67
Halima Bashir was born into the Zaghawa tribe, whose customs have remained unchanged for centuries, in the remote western deserts of Sudan in the region of South Darfur. Halima's father named his daughter after the traditional medicine woman of the village, and she grew up in a happy and close-knit childhood environment. Her father became a wealthy man by his tribe's standards, so he could afford to send Halima to school and university. Halima went on to study medicine, and at 24 she returned to her tribe and began practicing as their first ever qualified doctor.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A story that takes you there
- By Justicepirate on 05-22-17
By: Halima Bashir, and others
-
The Last King of Scotland
- By: Giles Foden
- Narrated by: Mirron E. Willis
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 131
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 71
Shortly after his arrival in Uganda, Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan is called to the scene of a bizarre accident: Idi Amin, careening down a dirt road in his Maserati, has hit a cow. When Garrigan tends to Amin, the dictator, obsessed with all things Scottish, appoints him as his personal physician. So begins a fateful dalliance with the African leader whose Emperor Jones-style autocracy would transform into a reign of terror.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Worst Production Ever
- By James on 01-24-07
By: Giles Foden
-
They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky
- The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan
- By: Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, Benjamin Ajak, and others
- Narrated by: David Henry, David Zinn, Augustino Mayai, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 212
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 176
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 177
Benjamin, Alepho, and Benson were raised among the Dinka tribe of Sudan. Their world was an insulated, close-knit community of grass-roofed cottages, cattle herders, and tribal councils. The lions and pythons that prowled beyond the village fences were the greatest threat they knew. All that changed the night the government-armed Murahiliin began attacking their villages.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Important History
- By Planetary Defense Commander on 02-16-12
By: Benson Deng, and others
-
The Darling
- By: Russell Banks
- Narrated by: Mary Beth Hurt
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 378
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 128
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 133
The Darling is Hannah Musgrave's story, told emotionally and convincingly years later by Hannah herself. A political radical and member of the Weather Underground, Hannah has fled America to West Africa, where she and her Liberian husband become friends and colleagues of Charles Taylor, the notorious warlord and now ex-president of Liberia. When Taylor leaves for the United States in an effort to escape embezzlement charges, he's immediately placed in prison.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Complex and compelling
- By Ellen H. Anderson on 02-05-05
By: Russell Banks
-
The Masked Rider
- Cycling in West Africa
- By: Neil Peart
- Narrated by: Brian Sutherland
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 482
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 425
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 425
The prolific drummer for the rock band Rush travels through African villages, both large and small, and relates his story through journal entries and tales of adventure, while simultaneously addressing issues such as differences in culture, psychology, and labels. Literary and artistic sidekicks such as Aristotle, Dante, and Van Gogh join Peart and his cycling companions, reminding the listener that this is not just another travel book - it is a story of both external and introspective discovery and adventure.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating Trip Across Cameroon
- By Diann Sedam on 11-26-19
By: Neil Peart
-
City of Thorns
- Nine Lives in the World’s Largest Refugee Camp
- By: Ben Rawlence
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 100
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 89
Situated hundreds of miles from any other settlement, deep within the inhospitable desert of Northern Kenya, Dadaab is a city like no other. Its buildings are made from mud, sticks, or plastic; its entire economy is gray; and its citizens survive on rations and luck. Over the course of four years, Ben Rawlence became a firsthand witness to a strange and desperate limbo-land, getting to know many of those who have come there seeking sanctuary.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Compelling but dry
- By Megan on 09-16-16
By: Ben Rawlence
-
The Lightless Sky
- A Twelve-Year-Old Refugee's Harrowing Escape from Afghanistan and His Extraordinary Journey Across Half the World
- By: Gulwali Passarlay
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen, Susan Duerden
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 43
In 2006, after his father was killed, Gulwali Passarlay was caught between the Taliban, who wanted to recruit him, and the Americans, who wanted to use him. To protect her son, Gulwali's mother sent him away. The search for safety would lead the 12-year-old across eight countries, from the mountains of Eastern Afghanistan through Iran and Europe to Britain. Over the course of 12 harrowing months, Gulwali endured imprisonment, hunger, cruelty, brutality, loneliness, and terror - and nearly drowned crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Face for Refugees
- By Daryl on 12-10-16
What listeners say about Children Are Diamonds
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Arna
- 11-13-14
Excellent, engaging read!
I lived for several years in Africa, and from my experiences and readings, this guy really knows what he is talking about. This is a deep, insightful story about the craziness of living and working on the edges of a zone of unthinkable war that has gone on for generations. I had a lot of trouble understanding things while I was there, and this book helped me to understand some things a bit more. It is a great story, and full of truth. Definitely, read!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful