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Shadow of the Silk Road
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
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- A Novel of the Ancient World
- By: Steven Saylor
- Narrated by: Stephen Plunkett
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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USA Today hails Steven Saylor as a “modern master of historical fiction.” Rich in intrigue and period detail, his novels set in ancient Rome have garnered acclaim the world over. A prequel to his epic Roma Sub Rosa series, The Seven Wonders follows series star Gordianus the Finder as an 18-year-old traveling the Mediterranean to witness the wonders of that fabled age. At each stop, the young investigator finds a beguiling mystery that pushes his powers of deduction to the limit.
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Interesting History, Not much of a story
- By Mark on 08-10-12
By: Steven Saylor
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The Stories of Eva Luna
- By: Isabel Allende
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Pena
- Length: 2 hrs and 44 mins
- Abridged
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Immerse yourself in a world of love, vengeance, compassion, and irony with the evocative stories of Eva Luna. Author Isabel Allende introduced this well-loved character to audiences in her earlier novel, Eva Luna. Listen to Allende talk about the role of writing in her life in Giving Birth, Finding Form. This program also features Alice Walker and Jean Shinoda Bolen.
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Better some Allende than no Allende
- By Perschon on 12-04-14
By: Isabel Allende
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Midnight's Children
- By: Salman Rushdie
- Narrated by: Lyndam Gregory
- Length: 24 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Salman Rushdie holds the literary world in awe with a jaw-dropping catalog of critically acclaimed novels that have made him one of the world's most celebrated authors. Winner of the prestigious Booker of Bookers, Midnight's Children tells the story of Saleem Sinai, born on the stroke of India's independence.
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Outstanding book, superb narration
- By MarcS on 06-09-09
By: Salman Rushdie
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Sovietistan
- Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan
- By: Erika Fatland
- Narrated by: Jill Rolls
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan became free of the Soviet Union in 1991. But though they are new to modern statehood, this is a region rich in ancient history, culture, and landscapes unlike anywhere else in the world. Traveling alone, Erika Fatland is a true adventurer in every sense. In Sovietistan, she takes the listener on a compassionate and insightful journey to explore how their Soviet heritage has influenced these countries, with governments experimenting with both democracy and dictatorships.
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Outstanding book
- By George MP on 04-24-22
By: Erika Fatland
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The Garden of Evening Mists
- By: Tan Twan Eng
- Narrated by: Anna Bentinck
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Malaya, 1951. Yun Ling Teoh, the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle-fringed tea plantations of Cameron Highlands. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the emperor of Japan. Despite her hatred of the Japanese, Yun Ling seeks to engage Aritomo to create a garden in memory of her sister, who died in the camp.
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The best
- By Susan Gardner Bowers on 03-11-13
By: Tan Twan Eng
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Chronicle in Stone
- A Novel
- By: Ismail Kadare
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Masterful in its simplicity, Chronicle in Stone is a touching coming-of-age story and a testament to the perseverance of the human spirit. Surrounded by the magic of beautiful women and literature, a boy must endure the deprivations of war as he suffers the hardships of growing up. His sleepy country has just thrown off centuries of tyranny, but new waves of domination inundate his city.
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Wonderful
- By Shqipe on 05-30-15
By: Ismail Kadare
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HorrorBabble's Dream Cycle
- By: H. P. Lovecraft
- Narrated by: Ian Gordon
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
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This collection comprises H. P. Lovecraft's main and undisputed Dream Cycle stories, including "Polaris", "The White Ship", "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath", and "The Outsider".
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Ian Gordon was destined for this.
- By Books and Sports guy on 04-19-20
By: H. P. Lovecraft
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The Hundred-Year Walk
- An Armenian Odyssey
- By: Dawn Anahid MacKeen
- Narrated by: Neil Shah, Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
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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.
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Everything a memoir should be. You will enjoy it!
- By Jakk on 02-19-18
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The terrible conflict that dominated the mid-19th century, the Crimean War, killed at least 800,000 men and pitted Russia against a formidable coalition of Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. It was a war for territory, provoked by fear that if the Ottoman Empire were to collapse then Russia could control a huge swathe of land from the Balkans to the Persian Gulf. But it was also a war of religion, driven by a fervent, populist and ever more ferocious belief by the Tsar and his ministers that it was Russia's task to rule all Orthodox Christians and control the Holy Land.
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For more than two millennia, Istanbul has stood at the crossroads of the world, perched at the very tip of Europe, gazing across the shores of Asia. The history of this city - known as Byzantium, then Constantinople, now Istanbul - is at once glorious, outsized, and astounding. Founded by the Greeks, its location blessed it as a center for trade but also made it a target of every empire in history, from Alexander the Great and his Macedonian Empire, to the Romans and later the Ottomans.
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A History Without People
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The Great Game
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The Great Game between Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia was fought across desolate terrain from the Caucasus to China, over the lonely passes of the Parmirs and Karakorams, in the blazing Kerman and Helmund deserts, and through the caravan towns of the old Silk Road - both powers scrambling to control access to the riches of India and the East. When play first began, the frontiers of Russia and British India lay 2000 miles apart; by the end, this distance had shrunk to 20 miles at some points.
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Desperately Needs a PDF Map of Region at the Time
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The Silk Roads
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Peter Frankopan, number one best-selling author and historian, explores the connections made by people, trade, disease, war, religion, adventure, science and technology in this extraordinary book about how the East married the West with a remarkable voyage at its heart - the journey along the Silk Roads.
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too easy to confuse with the full version
- By Alex on 01-10-23
By: Peter Frankopan
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The Silk Road
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- By: Captivating History
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The Silk Road, which has been understood as a generalized route of trade between the East and the West, is different from European, North African, and Near Eastern trade routes because until recently, it has been understood as solely being a land route; in fact, it was believed to be the longest overland trade route in human history. The history of the Silk Road is extremely complex. It cannot be told as a singular chronological narrative.
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What a disappointment
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What listeners say about Shadow of the Silk Road
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Paul
- 11-05-07
prose meets poetry
I never listen to a book twice. As soon as I finished this book, I listened again and enjoyed it as much the second time. His words are like poetry and his descriptions of the places he visits and people he meets are unbelievably beautiful. I wish Audible would have more of his books.
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23 people found this helpful
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Overall
- J. Lyda
- 08-03-09
Breathtaking, at all levels.
This book is wonderful. I have just listened to it for the 2nd time and found it richer and more interesting than the first. The author has good knowledge of the cultures he travels thru, and a very engaging way of writing. He touches on (1) the people he meets along the way, (2) the history of the area itself, and (3) his personal experiences (he can evoke a mental painting of what he sees and hears with a minimum of words - very rich). In addition, the lands he traverses are so mysterious and exotic - he truly made my world seem larger. The readier is tops, with an incredible array of voices and expression. He makes the book come alive. Buy it, listen to it, and take your trip to mysterious parts of our world which are certainly the silk road less traveled.
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12 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Andy
- 05-26-08
Spectacular and delicious prose
Colin Thubron is a magnificent writer and historian. His prose is lyrical, his perceptions astute. I have recommended this book to several people, some of whom are writers themselves, and they have all loved it. It is a fascinating journey through history told with a deep understanding of the cultures and their history. I wish that Audible would record his other works, particularly "Behind the Wall" specifically about China.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Ryan
- 11-15-07
Some pronunciation issues - but a fun story.
The narrator does an absolutely miserable job with pronunciation of chinese words - if you're familiar with China, you'll find this a bit frustrating and frequently ask yourself where he's talking about. I wouldn't expect perfect mandarin pronunciation, but you could anglicize "xinjiang" as "shin jong" (shin like the part of your leg, jong like in Mahjong). I have no idea how to write the word based on the narrator's pronunciation.
This one isn't nearly as interesting to me as Jim Roger's excellent "Adventure Capitalist" which would have been documented about 3 years earlier, and does also spend a lot of time discussing that portion of the silk road.
The book sends an especially lengthy time covering the China portion of the journey, which think many will appreciate. Last, I personally prefer that the author spend more time talking about places he went and things that he heard, and let the reader decide the emotional impact.
If you're an old china hand who's been dreaming of retracing Marco Polo's journey, I would rate this a 3 or so - you'll probably not get the coverage you're looking for. If, on the other hand, you're looking for an exotic story about a far away locale and dream of one day making this journey with a guide, then this one is 5 stars all the way.
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Laura Cohen
- 02-06-11
Great Book, Great Narrator
According to Colin Thubron, ancient Romans, even while wearing silk garments from the East, imagined silk was harvested from a plant, and Easterners lived in an unreachable paradise. Meanwhile, the Chinese suspected Rome was a land without wars. Trade along the Silk Road had the aspect of a relay race. No one merchant traveled from one end to the other. Author Thubron decides to make the entire journey (east to west) and take us along for the ride. The Silk Road, we discover, wasn't just an extensive trade route but an elaborate conduit allowing for an interchange of cultures and religions along with material goods. I intend to read this a second time. Magnificent book!
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Leslie A. Foote
- 06-12-08
Central Asia travelogue
This travel journal is an amazing trip in an amazing part of the world. You get a real flavor of the many regions and their inhabitants but the style is somewhat dry. The author makes a point of contrasting what the histories say of various locations and what the reality is now. It can be a bit discouraging and easy to walk away with a hopeless feeling. I read his other book "heart of central asia" and enjoyed it as well. A good book if you are planning to visit the area or just want a better understanding of what we are up against in that region.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall
- John S.
- 07-21-10
Qualified endorsement
Solid writing, but Thubron doesn't seem to have much of a sense of humor (I wasn't expecting Bill Bryson) - that, along with lots of historical background information, made the story a bit dense for me. Definitely glad I paused halfway (he exits China at the end of the first part) to listen to something different.
I'm torn about the narration: Keeble did what he could with inflection to keep the story interesting, but his pronunciation was a bit ... odd.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Maggie
- 06-03-10
excellent
a travel journal. an historical account of ancient civilizations along this also ancient trade route. a cultural and an anthropological report. and an excellent reader. what more could the armchair traveler want in a book?! no regrets here! highly recommended.
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Overall
- Adelie Manchot
- 03-28-16
An excellent and informative book
Mr. Thurbron uses words as an artist uses paint to paint a beautiful landscape. I could easily "see" the places and things he was describing and the people he met along the way. The portion of the book on Afghanistan and Iran gives an excellent insight into the world we find ourselves in at the moment...an insight that is quite different than what the common belief is on both sides.
I'm going to listen to it again after I finish this review. My mind wants to wander down the Silk Road again.
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Story
- ronemtz
- 06-15-15
A lot of road time
Lots of historical information in a serious story. I did not get the feeling that the author enjoyed the trip. Much more "just the facts". An interesting view on the age of religious mix in various regions and relative strength of belief and how that is represented by the individual. I was reading it for the history of the apple.
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