Ask the Past
Pertinent and Impertinent Advice From Yesteryear
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
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Ask the Past
Buy for $11.69
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Graeme Malcolm
-
Elizabeth Archibald
About this listen
Want to know how to garden with lobsters? How to sober up? Grow a beard? Or simply how to make a perfect omelet? Look no further. Rather, look backward. Based on the popular blog, Ask the Past is full of the wisdom of the ages - as well as the fad diets, zany pickup lines, and bacon Band-Aids of the ages. Drawn from centuries of antique texts by historian and bibliophile Elizabeth P. Archibald, Ask the Past offers a delightful array of advice both wise and weird. Whether it's 18th-century bedbug advice (sprinkle bed with gunpowder and let smolder), budget fashion tips of the Middle Ages (save on the clothes, splurge on the purse) or a 16th-century primer on seduction (hint: Do no pass gas), Ask the Past is a wildly entertaining guide to life from the people who lived it first.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
©2015 Elizabeth P. Archibald (P)2015 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Jamaican Patois
- An Easy Guide to Patwah Words, Phrases, & Proverbs
- By: Patsy Stewart
- Narrated by: Shevon Amos
- Length: 2 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 48
Jamaican Patois: An Easy Guide to Patwah Words, Phrases, & Proverbs teaches you the language of Jamaica. It teaches Jamaican everyday Patois words, phrases, and proverbs.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant!
- By Arletta Sigel on 02-20-23
By: Patsy Stewart
-
Oryx and Crake
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Campbell Scott
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,769
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,150
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,172
The narrator of Atwood's riveting novel calls himself Snowman. When the story opens, he is sleeping in a tree, wearing an old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. He searches for supplies in a wasteland where insects proliferate and pigoons and wolvogs ravage the pleeblands, where ordinary people once lived, and the Compounds that sheltered the extraordinary. As he tries to piece together what has taken place, the narrative shifts to decades earlier. How did everything fall apart so quickly?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant Science Fiction
- By Michael on 05-20-03
By: Margaret Atwood
-
Alias Grace
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Margaret Atwood, Sarah Gadon
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,939
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,432
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,416
It's 1843, and Grace Marks has been convicted for her involvement in the vicious murders of her employer and his housekeeper and mistress. Some believe Grace is innocent; others think her evil or insane. Now serving a life sentence, Grace claims to have no memory of the murders. An up-and-coming expert in the burgeoning field of mental illness is engaged by a group of reformers and spiritualists who seek a pardon for Grace. He listens to her story while bringing her closer and closer to the day she cannot remember.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautiful and Intense Story
- By Aparries on 11-27-17
By: Margaret Atwood
-
Perfume
- The Story of a Murderer
- By: Patrick Süskind, John E. Woods - translator
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,650
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,458
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,459
In the slums of 18th-century France, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift - an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects. Then one day, he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume" - the scent of a beautiful young virgin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is an unusual, highly entertaining story.
- By Kay Tracy on 02-13-19
By: Patrick Süskind, and others
-
Zorba the Greek
- By: Nikos Kazantzakis
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,077
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 956
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 954
A wonderful tale of a young man’s coming of age, Zorba the Greek has been a classic of world literature since it was first translated into English in 1952 and made into an unforgettable movie with Anthony Quinn. Zorba, an irrepressible, earthy hedonist, sweeps his young disciple along as he wines, dines, and loves his way through a life dedicated to fulfilling his copious appetites. Zorba is irresistible in this charming audio production by veteran narrator George Guidall.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Drink life to the lees
- By Scot Potts on 04-25-13
-
The Swiss Family Robinson
- By: Johann Wyss
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 529
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 379
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 382
After the Robinsons - a minister, his wife, and their 4 young sons - are shipwrecked on a desert island, they must adapt to their new environment, which includes exotic birds and animals, but none of the comforts they enjoyed in their native Switzerland. Without modern conveniences or even clocks and calendars, the Robinsons must use common sense to build a home, find food, and tame the island's wild animals.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome version!!!!!!!
- By Tabatha on 01-26-05
By: Johann Wyss
-
Jamaican Patois
- An Easy Guide to Patwah Words, Phrases, & Proverbs
- By: Patsy Stewart
- Narrated by: Shevon Amos
- Length: 2 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 48
Jamaican Patois: An Easy Guide to Patwah Words, Phrases, & Proverbs teaches you the language of Jamaica. It teaches Jamaican everyday Patois words, phrases, and proverbs.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant!
- By Arletta Sigel on 02-20-23
By: Patsy Stewart
-
Oryx and Crake
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Campbell Scott
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,769
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,150
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,172
The narrator of Atwood's riveting novel calls himself Snowman. When the story opens, he is sleeping in a tree, wearing an old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. He searches for supplies in a wasteland where insects proliferate and pigoons and wolvogs ravage the pleeblands, where ordinary people once lived, and the Compounds that sheltered the extraordinary. As he tries to piece together what has taken place, the narrative shifts to decades earlier. How did everything fall apart so quickly?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant Science Fiction
- By Michael on 05-20-03
By: Margaret Atwood
-
Alias Grace
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Margaret Atwood, Sarah Gadon
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,939
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,432
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,416
It's 1843, and Grace Marks has been convicted for her involvement in the vicious murders of her employer and his housekeeper and mistress. Some believe Grace is innocent; others think her evil or insane. Now serving a life sentence, Grace claims to have no memory of the murders. An up-and-coming expert in the burgeoning field of mental illness is engaged by a group of reformers and spiritualists who seek a pardon for Grace. He listens to her story while bringing her closer and closer to the day she cannot remember.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautiful and Intense Story
- By Aparries on 11-27-17
By: Margaret Atwood
-
Perfume
- The Story of a Murderer
- By: Patrick Süskind, John E. Woods - translator
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,650
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,458
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,459
In the slums of 18th-century France, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift - an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects. Then one day, he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume" - the scent of a beautiful young virgin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is an unusual, highly entertaining story.
- By Kay Tracy on 02-13-19
By: Patrick Süskind, and others
-
Zorba the Greek
- By: Nikos Kazantzakis
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,077
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 956
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 954
A wonderful tale of a young man’s coming of age, Zorba the Greek has been a classic of world literature since it was first translated into English in 1952 and made into an unforgettable movie with Anthony Quinn. Zorba, an irrepressible, earthy hedonist, sweeps his young disciple along as he wines, dines, and loves his way through a life dedicated to fulfilling his copious appetites. Zorba is irresistible in this charming audio production by veteran narrator George Guidall.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Drink life to the lees
- By Scot Potts on 04-25-13
-
The Swiss Family Robinson
- By: Johann Wyss
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 529
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 379
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 382
After the Robinsons - a minister, his wife, and their 4 young sons - are shipwrecked on a desert island, they must adapt to their new environment, which includes exotic birds and animals, but none of the comforts they enjoyed in their native Switzerland. Without modern conveniences or even clocks and calendars, the Robinsons must use common sense to build a home, find food, and tame the island's wild animals.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome version!!!!!!!
- By Tabatha on 01-26-05
By: Johann Wyss
-
Riddles, Brain Teasers, and Trick Questions for Kids
- A Fun Book of Questions for You and Your Friends!
- By: Harold Foster
- Narrated by: Kaeomakana Tiwanak
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 39
This kids’ audiobook is a collection of more than 300 brain-teasing riddles, trick questions, and puzzles for kids. Their purpose is to make children think and stretch their minds. They are designed to test logic, lateral thinking, as well as memory and to engage the brain in seeing patterns and connections between different things and circumstances.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
My son is happy.
- By Melvin on 01-28-20
By: Harold Foster
-
Miss Eliza's English Kitchen
- A Novel of Victorian Cookery and Friendship
- By: Annabel Abbs
- Narrated by: Ell Potter, Bianca Amato
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,253
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,089
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,090
England, 1835. London is awash with thrilling new ingredients, from rare spices to exotic fruits. But no one knows how to use them. When Eliza Acton is told by her publisher to write a cookery book instead of the poetry she loves, she refuses - until her bankrupt father is forced to flee the country. As a woman, Eliza has few options. Although she’s never set foot in a kitchen, she begins collecting recipes and teaching herself to cook. Much to her surprise, she discovers a talent - and a passion - for the culinary arts.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A gem!
- By Sara Shirley on 01-04-22
By: Annabel Abbs
-
The Horologicon
- A Day's Jaunt Through the Lost Words of the English Language
- By: Mark Forsyth
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 401
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 358
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 354
The Horologicon (or book of hours) contains the most extraordinary words in the English language, arranged according to what hour of the day you might need them. From Mark Forsyth, the author of the number-one international best seller The Etymologicon comes an audiobook of weird words for familiar situations. From ante-jentacular to snudge by way of quafftide and wamblecropt, at last you can say, with utter accuracy, exactly what you mean.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
So nerdy!
- By Carrie on 04-02-17
By: Mark Forsyth
-
Cinnamon and Gunpowder
- A Novel
- By: Eli Brown
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 273
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 236
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 236
The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail. To appease the red-haired captain, Wedgwood gets cracking with the meager supplies on board. His first triumph at sea is actual bread, made from a sourdough starter that he leavens in a tin under his shirt throughout a roaring battle, as men are cutlassed all around him. Soon he's making tea-smoked eel and brewing pineapple-banana cider.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not bad-Not terrrific
- By colleen on 06-12-13
By: Eli Brown
-
Chicken Chronicles
- Sitting with the Angels Who Have Returned with My Memories: Glorious, Rufus, Gertrude Stein, Splendor, Hortensia, Agnes of God, The Gladyses, & Babe
- By: Alice Walker
- Narrated by: Alice Walker
- Length: 3 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 76
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 64
For the past several years, on a farm north of San Francisco, the celebrated writer Alice Walker has diligently cared for a flock of chickens. Over time, her blossoming relationship with “her girls” became a source of inspiration, strength, and spiritual discovery, and helped Walker connect more profoundly with her own past as a girl in rural Georgia. Walker has recorded this journey in The Chicken Chronicles, an extraordinary document of personal discovery, political commitment, and the joys of relating to animals.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Dedicated Chicken Enthusiast cannot bear to finish
- By Indianam on 07-03-12
By: Alice Walker
-
French Lessons
- Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew
- By: Peter Mayle
- Narrated by: Simon Jones
- Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 312
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 180
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 182
Armed with knife, fork, and corkscrew, Peter Mayle travels to every corner of France. From bouillabaisse to escargot, here is all the glory and pleasure of the French table in the most satisfying audiobook. Bon appétit!
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Delightful
- By Diane on 02-13-05
By: Peter Mayle
-
The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye
- By: A. S. Byatt
- Narrated by: Virginia Leishman
- Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 179
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 156
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 156
Glowing with narrator Virginia Leishman’s finely tuned phrasing, The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye is the perfect introduction to A.S. Byatt, an author who continues to receive international awards and acclaim. Her wondrous fairy tales are iridescent stories full of spells, marvelous creatures, and beautiful princesses.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The title story is superb
- By Phebe on 12-28-11
By: A. S. Byatt
-
Owls Do Cry
- By: Janet Frame
- Narrated by: Heather Bolton
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Owls Do Cry is Janet Frame's first novel. She describes her idea behind it in the second volume of her autobiography: 'Pictures of great treasure in the midst of sadness and waste haunted me and I began to think, in fiction, of a childhood, home life, hospital life, using people known to me as a base for main characters, and inventing minor characters.'
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
well told but a wee bit depressing.
- By Muzza on 11-03-19
By: Janet Frame
-
Doctoring the Devil
- Notebooks of an Appalachian Conjure Man
- By: Jake Richards
- Narrated by: Micah Hanks
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 36
Who were the old conjurors and witches of Appalachia? What were their practices and beliefs? How can you learn the ways of conjuring for yourself? Appalachian folk magic and conjuring are little known today, but 40 or 50 years ago just about every person you might ask in Appalachia either knew something about it themselves or knew someone who did it. These practices and “superstitions” are at the core of Appalachian culture. In Doctoring the Devil, Jake Richards speaks to those questions and more.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The narrative is definitely different
- By Juan M. on 02-11-25
By: Jake Richards
-
Provence A-Z
- A Francophile's Essential Handbook
- By: Peter Mayle
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 147
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 99
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 99
An indispensable, richly informative, and always entertaining audio sourcebook on Provence, by the writer who has made the region his own. Though organized from A to Z, this is hardly a conventional work of reference. It is rather a selection of those aspects of Provence that Peter Mayle, in almost 20 years there, has found to be the most interesting, curious, delicious, or down-right fun.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A review of all things "Provencale"
- By Dennis on 08-13-08
By: Peter Mayle
-
She Walks in Beauty
- A Woman's Journey Through Poems
- By: Adrienne Rich, Pablo Neruda, Elizabeth Bishop, and others
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd, Campbell Scott, Jane Alexander, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 64
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 59
She Walks in Beauty draws on poetry’s eloquent wisdom to ponder the many joys and challenges of being a woman. Caroline Kennedy has divided the collection into sections that signify to her the most notable milestones, passages, and universal experiences in a woman’s life, and she begins each of these sections with an introduction in which she explores and celebrates the most important elements of life’s journey.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Still struggling with poetry
- By Beatrice on 01-30-12
By: Adrienne Rich, and others
-
Woman on the Edge of Time
- A Novel
- By: Marge Piercy
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 174
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 152
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 153
Connie Ramos is a Mexican American woman living on the streets of New York. Once ambitious and proud, she has lost her child, her husband, her dignity - and now they want to take her sanity. After being unjustly committed to a mental institution, Connie is contacted by an envoy from the year 2137, who shows her a time of sexual and racial equality, environmental purity, and unprecedented self-actualization. But Connie also bears witness to another potential outcome: a society of grotesque exploitation.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great story, needed a narrator who actually speaks Spanish
- By Andrea F on 07-27-19
By: Marge Piercy