-
Study Guide
- Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, SuperSummary
- Narrated by: Michelle Morgan
- Length: 1 hr and 17 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
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Study Guide
Buy for $6.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
A Land So Strange
- The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca
- By: Andres Resendez
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,387
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,040
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,042
In 1528, a mission set out from Spain to colonize Florida. But the expedition went horribly wrong: Delayed by a hurricane, knocked off course by a colossal error of navigation, and ultimately doomed by a disastrous decision to separate the men from their ships, the mission quickly became a desperate journey of survival. Of the 300 men who had embarked on the journey, only four survived - three Spaniards and an African slave.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A worthwhile listen
- By Blake on 07-10-13
By: Andres Resendez
-
Notes of a Native Son
- By: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,308
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,129
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,125
Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his twenties, the essays collected in Notes of a Native Son capture a view of Black life and Black thought at the dawn of the civil rights movement and as the movement slowly gained strength through the words of one of the most captivating essayists and foremost intellectuals of that era.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Masterful Essayist
- By Andre on 09-30-16
By: James Baldwin
-
Into Africa
- The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone
- By: Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,283
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,715
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,707
"Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" So goes the signature introduction of New York Herald star journalist Henry Morton Stanley to renowned explorer Dr. David Livingstone, who had been missing for six years in the wilds of Africa. Into Africa ushers us into the meeting of these remarkable men. In 1866, when Livingstone journeyed into the heart of the African continent in search of the Nile's source, the land was rough, unknown to Europeans, and inhabited by man-eating tribes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Riveting
- By Gene on 04-01-04
By: Martin Dugard
-
River of the Gods
- Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile
- By: Candice Millard
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,466
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,285
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,280
For millennia the location of the Nile River’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe—and extend their colonial empires.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good book by Millard, narrator ruined it
- By Tally D Lykins on 05-25-22
By: Candice Millard
-
The Source of Self-Regard
- Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations
- By: Toni Morrison
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 184
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 148
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 142
Arguably the most celebrated and revered writer of our time now gives us a new nonfiction collection - a rich gathering of her essays, speeches, and meditations on society, culture, and art, spanning four decades.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Refreshing thoughts
- By Amazon Customer on 04-02-19
By: Toni Morrison
-
How to Live
- Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer
- By: Sarah Bakewell
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 615
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 524
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 525
This question obsessed Renaissance writers, none more than Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, perhaps the first recognizably modern individual. A nobleman, public official, and winegrower, he wrote free-roaming explorations of his thought and experience, unlike anything written before. He called them essays, meaning “attempts” or “tries.” He put whatever was in his head into them: his tastes in wine and food, his childhood memories, the way his dog’s ears twitched when it was dreaming, as well as the religious wars....
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting and in parts Inspired.
- By Darwin8u on 05-21-12
By: Sarah Bakewell
-
A Land So Strange
- The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca
- By: Andres Resendez
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,387
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,040
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,042
In 1528, a mission set out from Spain to colonize Florida. But the expedition went horribly wrong: Delayed by a hurricane, knocked off course by a colossal error of navigation, and ultimately doomed by a disastrous decision to separate the men from their ships, the mission quickly became a desperate journey of survival. Of the 300 men who had embarked on the journey, only four survived - three Spaniards and an African slave.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A worthwhile listen
- By Blake on 07-10-13
By: Andres Resendez
-
Notes of a Native Son
- By: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,308
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,129
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,125
Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his twenties, the essays collected in Notes of a Native Son capture a view of Black life and Black thought at the dawn of the civil rights movement and as the movement slowly gained strength through the words of one of the most captivating essayists and foremost intellectuals of that era.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Masterful Essayist
- By Andre on 09-30-16
By: James Baldwin
-
Into Africa
- The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone
- By: Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,283
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,715
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,707
"Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" So goes the signature introduction of New York Herald star journalist Henry Morton Stanley to renowned explorer Dr. David Livingstone, who had been missing for six years in the wilds of Africa. Into Africa ushers us into the meeting of these remarkable men. In 1866, when Livingstone journeyed into the heart of the African continent in search of the Nile's source, the land was rough, unknown to Europeans, and inhabited by man-eating tribes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Riveting
- By Gene on 04-01-04
By: Martin Dugard
-
River of the Gods
- Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile
- By: Candice Millard
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,466
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,285
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,280
For millennia the location of the Nile River’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe—and extend their colonial empires.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good book by Millard, narrator ruined it
- By Tally D Lykins on 05-25-22
By: Candice Millard
-
The Source of Self-Regard
- Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations
- By: Toni Morrison
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 184
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 148
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 142
Arguably the most celebrated and revered writer of our time now gives us a new nonfiction collection - a rich gathering of her essays, speeches, and meditations on society, culture, and art, spanning four decades.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Refreshing thoughts
- By Amazon Customer on 04-02-19
By: Toni Morrison
-
How to Live
- Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer
- By: Sarah Bakewell
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 615
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 524
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 525
This question obsessed Renaissance writers, none more than Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, perhaps the first recognizably modern individual. A nobleman, public official, and winegrower, he wrote free-roaming explorations of his thought and experience, unlike anything written before. He called them essays, meaning “attempts” or “tries.” He put whatever was in his head into them: his tastes in wine and food, his childhood memories, the way his dog’s ears twitched when it was dreaming, as well as the religious wars....
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting and in parts Inspired.
- By Darwin8u on 05-21-12
By: Sarah Bakewell
-
A Hobbit, A Wardrobe and a Great War
- How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-1918
- By: Joseph Loconte
- Narrated by: Dave Hoffman
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,191
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,073
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,074
The First World War laid waste to a continent and brought about the end of innocence — and the end of faith. Unlike a generation of young writers who lost faith in the God of the Bible, however, J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis found that the Great War deepened their spiritual quest. Both men served as soldiers on the Western Front, survived the trenches, and used the experience of that conflict to ignite their Christian imagination.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
My Tolkien-Lewis students will read this book
- By Orson on 10-14-15
By: Joseph Loconte
-
Over the Edge of the World
- Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe
- By: Laurence Bergreen
- Narrated by: Laurence Bergreen
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 832
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 618
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 618
In 1519 Magellan and his fleet of five ships set sail from Seville, Spain, to discover a water route to the fabled Spice Islands in Indonesia, where the most sought-after commodities (cloves, pepper, and nutmeg) flourished. Three years later, a handful of survivors returned with an abundance of spices from their intended destination, but with just one ship carrying 18 emaciated men. During their remarkable voyage around the world the crew endured starvation, disease, mutiny, and torture. Many men died, including Magellan, who was violently killed in a fierce battle.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
The Reading IS an Issue
- By mcbeene on 12-26-05
-
The Slave Ship
- A Human History
- By: Marcus Rediker
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 294
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 208
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 207
For more than three centuries, slave ships carried millions of people from the coasts of Africa across the Atlantic to the New World. Much is known of the slave trade and the American plantation complex, but little of the ships that made it all possible. In The Slave Ship, award-winning historian Marcus Rediker draws on 30 years of research in maritime archives to create an unprecedented history of these vessels and the human drama acted out on their rolling decks.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
So much misery
- By Michael on 11-07-07
By: Marcus Rediker
-
The Seven Basic Plots
- Why We Tell Stories
- By: Christopher Booker
- Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
- Length: 38 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 61
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 52
This remarkable and monumental book at last provides a comprehensive answer to the age-old riddle of whether there are only a small number of "basic stories" in the world. Using a wealth of examples, from ancient myths and folk tales via the plays and novels of great literature to the popular movies and TV soap operas of today, it reveals that there are seven archetypal themes which recur throughout every kind of storytelling.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Save your time and money, the book is worthless
- By Kindle Customer on 08-20-20
-
Vermeer's Hat
- The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World
- By: Timothy Brook
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 126
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 109
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 107
A Vermeer painting shows a military officer in a Dutch sitting room, talking to a laughing girl. In another canvas, fruit spills from a blue-and-white porcelain bowl. Familiar images that captivate us with their beauty--but as Timothy Brook shows us, these intimate pictures actually give us a remarkable view of an expanding world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A wonderful book
- By Acteon on 07-09-14
By: Timothy Brook
-
Columbus
- The Four Voyages
- By: Laurence Bergreen
- Narrated by: Tim Jerome
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 211
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 168
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 173
From the author of the Magellan biography, Over the Edge of the World, a mesmerizing new account of the great explorer. Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a trading route to China, and his unexpected landfall in the Americas, is a watershed event in world history.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Very Petty and frankly flat out dishonest
- By Jm on 02-16-21
-
All Things Shining
- Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular World
- By: Hubert Dreyfus, Sean Dorrance Kelly
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 173
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 142
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 142
The religious turn to their faith to find meaning. But what about the many people who lead secular lives and are also hungry for meaning? What guides, what approaches are available to them? Distinguished philosophers Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly explain that a secular life charged with meaning is indeed within reach.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent Book that refreshes the classics
- By Tod on 06-14-11
By: Hubert Dreyfus, and others
-
Miyazakiworld
- A Life in Art
- By: Susan Napier
- Narrated by: Susan Napier
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 417
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 356
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 354
A 13th-century toxic jungle, a bathhouse for tired gods, a red haired fish girl, and a furry woodland spirit - what do these have in common? They all spring from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki, one of the greatest living animators, known worldwide for films such as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and The Wind Rises. Japanese culture and animation scholar Susan Napier explores the life and art of this extraordinary Japanese filmmaker to provide a definitive account of his oeuvre.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
An amazing life
- By Michael Charboneau on 05-20-19
By: Susan Napier
-
Looking for the Good War
- American Amnesia and the Violent Pursuit of Happiness
- By: Elizabeth D. Samet
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 50
In Looking for the Good War, Elizabeth D. Samet reexamines the literature, art, and culture that emerged after World War II, bringing her expertise as a professor of English at West Point to bear on the complexity of the postwar period in national life. She exposes the confusion about American identity that was expressed during and immediately after the war, and the deep national ambivalence toward war, violence, and veterans - all of which were suppressed in subsequent decades by a dangerously sentimental attitude toward the United States' "exceptional" history and destiny.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Essential reading for military officers and political decision makers.
- By Arlene S. Burke on 02-23-22
-
The Story Paradox
- How Our Love of Storytelling Builds Societies and Tears Them Down
- By: Jonathan Gottschall
- Narrated by: Joshua Kane
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
Humans are storytelling animals. Stories are what make our societies possible. Countless books celebrate their virtues. But Jonathan Gottschall, an expert on the science of stories, argues that there is a dark side to storytelling we can no longer ignore. Storytelling, the very tradition that built human civilization, may be the thing that destroys it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
You'll Never Look at Stories the Same Way Again
- By Scott Hansen on 01-02-23
-
The Weird and the Eerie
- By: Mark Fisher
- Narrated by: Tom Lawrence
- Length: 4 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 101
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 79
What exactly are the weird and the eerie? In this new essay, Mark Fisher argues that some of the most haunting and anomalous fiction of the 20th century belongs to these two modes. The weird and the eerie are closely related but distinct modes, each possessing its own distinct properties. Both have often been associated with horror, yet this emphasis overlooks the aching fascination that such texts can exercise. The weird and the eerie both fundamentally concern the outside and the unknown, which are not intrinsically horrifying, even if they are always unsettling.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
clear but mispronounced
- By SLV on 01-02-20
By: Mark Fisher
-
Mankind in Amnesia
- By: Immanuel Velikovsky
- Narrated by: Lee Goettl
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 24
Immanuel Velikovsky called this book the "fulfillment of his oath of Hippocrates - to serve humanity." In this book, he returns to his roots as a psychologist and psychoanalytical therapist, yet not with a single person as his patient but with humanity as a whole.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Classic work
- By Erik The Red on 01-24-23
Publisher's summary
SuperSummary, a modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, offers high-quality instructional study guides for challenging works of literature. This audio study guide for Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as imperialism and colonialism, the absurdity of morality, and horror and despondency. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.
Heart of Darkness tells the story of Marlow, who is hired as a steamboat captain for a Belgian colonial firm that trades in ivory in Africa. Along his journey through the Congo, he begins to discover the bureaucracy and the violence of the colonial endeavor, epitomized by Kurtz - an ivory trader who has become untethered from traditional conceptions of morality while in the jungle.
This audio study guide presents the same expert content - written by experienced teachers, professors, and literary scholars - in an easy-to-access audio format. SuperSummary study guides demonstrate an authoritative voice, present expert analysis, offer big picture ideas, and help listeners understand a work’s underlying meanings and conclusions.
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
The Man Who Invented Fiction
- How Cervantes Ushered in the Modern World
- By: William Egginton
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
In the early 17th century, a crippled, graying, almost toothless veteran of Spain's wars against the Ottoman Empire published a novel. It was the story of a poor nobleman, his brain addled from studying too many novels of chivalry, who deludes himself that he is a knight errant and sets off on hilarious adventures. That story, Don Quixote, went on to sell more copies than any other book beside the Bible, making its author, Miguel de Cervantes, the single most-read author in human history.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very Interesting and Informative, but Poorly Read
- By LCorSMT on 06-21-23
By: William Egginton
-
Why Read Moby-Dick?
- By: Nathaniel Philbrick
- Narrated by: Nathaniel Philbrick
- Length: 2 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 179
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 159
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 161
The New York Times best-selling author of seagoing epics now celebrates an American classic.Moby-Dick is perhaps the greatest of the Great American Novels, yet its length and esoteric subject matter create an aura of difficulty that too often keeps readers at bay. Fortunately, one unabashed fan wants passionately to give Melville's masterpiece the broad contemporary audience it deserves.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A beautiful love letter to an amazing novel
- By Darwin8u on 10-20-12
-
Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia
- By: David Graeber
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 37
Pirates have long lived in the realm of romance and fantasy, symbolizing risk, lawlessness, and radical visions of freedom. But at the root of this mythology is a rich history of pirate societies—vibrant, imaginative experiments in self-governance and alternative social formations at the edges of the European empire.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A fun historical analysis of Pirate political systems
- By Ian Turner on 01-30-23
By: David Graeber
-
On the Natural History of Destruction
- By: W. G. Sebald, Anthea Bell - Translator
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
On the Natural History of Destruction is W.G. Sebald's harrowing and precise investigation of one of the least examined "silences" of our time. In it, the acclaimed novelist examines the devastation of German cities by Allied bombardment, and the reasons for the astonishing absence of this unprecedented trauma from German history and culture. This void in history is in part a repression of things - such as the death by fire of the city of Hamburg at the hands of the RAF - too terrible to bear.
By: W. G. Sebald, and others
-
The Arawak: The History and Legacy of the Indigenous Natives in South America and the Caribbean
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Dan Gallagher
- Length: 1 hr and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 71
The Arawak: The History and Legacy of the Indigenous Natives in South America and the Caribbean examines the culture and history of the indigenous groups and what happened when they came into contact with the Europeans. You will learn about the Arawak like never before.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
good content, terrible pronunciation by reader.
- By takajej on 11-04-19
-
The Slave Ship
- A Human History
- By: Marcus Rediker
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 294
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 208
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 207
For more than three centuries, slave ships carried millions of people from the coasts of Africa across the Atlantic to the New World. Much is known of the slave trade and the American plantation complex, but little of the ships that made it all possible. In The Slave Ship, award-winning historian Marcus Rediker draws on 30 years of research in maritime archives to create an unprecedented history of these vessels and the human drama acted out on their rolling decks.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
So much misery
- By Michael on 11-07-07
By: Marcus Rediker
-
The Man Who Invented Fiction
- How Cervantes Ushered in the Modern World
- By: William Egginton
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
In the early 17th century, a crippled, graying, almost toothless veteran of Spain's wars against the Ottoman Empire published a novel. It was the story of a poor nobleman, his brain addled from studying too many novels of chivalry, who deludes himself that he is a knight errant and sets off on hilarious adventures. That story, Don Quixote, went on to sell more copies than any other book beside the Bible, making its author, Miguel de Cervantes, the single most-read author in human history.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very Interesting and Informative, but Poorly Read
- By LCorSMT on 06-21-23
By: William Egginton
-
Why Read Moby-Dick?
- By: Nathaniel Philbrick
- Narrated by: Nathaniel Philbrick
- Length: 2 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 179
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 159
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 161
The New York Times best-selling author of seagoing epics now celebrates an American classic.Moby-Dick is perhaps the greatest of the Great American Novels, yet its length and esoteric subject matter create an aura of difficulty that too often keeps readers at bay. Fortunately, one unabashed fan wants passionately to give Melville's masterpiece the broad contemporary audience it deserves.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A beautiful love letter to an amazing novel
- By Darwin8u on 10-20-12
-
Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia
- By: David Graeber
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 37
Pirates have long lived in the realm of romance and fantasy, symbolizing risk, lawlessness, and radical visions of freedom. But at the root of this mythology is a rich history of pirate societies—vibrant, imaginative experiments in self-governance and alternative social formations at the edges of the European empire.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A fun historical analysis of Pirate political systems
- By Ian Turner on 01-30-23
By: David Graeber
-
On the Natural History of Destruction
- By: W. G. Sebald, Anthea Bell - Translator
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
On the Natural History of Destruction is W.G. Sebald's harrowing and precise investigation of one of the least examined "silences" of our time. In it, the acclaimed novelist examines the devastation of German cities by Allied bombardment, and the reasons for the astonishing absence of this unprecedented trauma from German history and culture. This void in history is in part a repression of things - such as the death by fire of the city of Hamburg at the hands of the RAF - too terrible to bear.
By: W. G. Sebald, and others
-
The Arawak: The History and Legacy of the Indigenous Natives in South America and the Caribbean
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Dan Gallagher
- Length: 1 hr and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 71
The Arawak: The History and Legacy of the Indigenous Natives in South America and the Caribbean examines the culture and history of the indigenous groups and what happened when they came into contact with the Europeans. You will learn about the Arawak like never before.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
good content, terrible pronunciation by reader.
- By takajej on 11-04-19
-
The Slave Ship
- A Human History
- By: Marcus Rediker
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 294
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 208
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 207
For more than three centuries, slave ships carried millions of people from the coasts of Africa across the Atlantic to the New World. Much is known of the slave trade and the American plantation complex, but little of the ships that made it all possible. In The Slave Ship, award-winning historian Marcus Rediker draws on 30 years of research in maritime archives to create an unprecedented history of these vessels and the human drama acted out on their rolling decks.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
So much misery
- By Michael on 11-07-07
By: Marcus Rediker
-
Why We Love Pirates
- The Hunt for Captain Kidd and How He Changed Piracy Forever
- By: Rebecca Simon PhD
- Narrated by: Kate Mulligan
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
During his life and even after his death, Captain William Kidd’s name was known around England and the American colonies. He was infamous for the very crime for which he was hanged, piracy. This book by Rebecca Simon dives into the details of the two-year manhunt for Captain Kidd and the events that ensued afterward. Captain Kidd was hanged in 1701, and from that sprung a massive hunt for all pirates led by the British during a period known as the Golden Age of Piracy. Ironically, public executions only led to pirates’ growth in popularity and interest.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
aweful unless a 6th grade book report
- By Mike in NC on 03-13-22
-
Columbus
- The Four Voyages
- By: Laurence Bergreen
- Narrated by: Tim Jerome
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 211
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 168
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 173
From the author of the Magellan biography, Over the Edge of the World, a mesmerizing new account of the great explorer. Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a trading route to China, and his unexpected landfall in the Americas, is a watershed event in world history.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Very Petty and frankly flat out dishonest
- By Jm on 02-16-21
-
Billy Budd, Sailor
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: William Roberts
- Length: 3 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 488
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 407
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 411
Written some 40 years after Moby Dick, Melville's Billy Budd is a moving tale of good versus evil. Set aboard a British navy ship at the end of the eighteenth century, a young, innocent sailor's charm and good nature put the men around him at ease. Ship life agreed with Billy. He made friends quickly and was well liked, which infuriated John Claggart, the ship's cold-blooded superior officer.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A good reading of a classic story
- By Johnny on 06-11-07
By: Herman Melville
-
Looking for the Good War
- American Amnesia and the Violent Pursuit of Happiness
- By: Elizabeth D. Samet
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 50
In Looking for the Good War, Elizabeth D. Samet reexamines the literature, art, and culture that emerged after World War II, bringing her expertise as a professor of English at West Point to bear on the complexity of the postwar period in national life. She exposes the confusion about American identity that was expressed during and immediately after the war, and the deep national ambivalence toward war, violence, and veterans - all of which were suppressed in subsequent decades by a dangerously sentimental attitude toward the United States' "exceptional" history and destiny.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Essential reading for military officers and political decision makers.
- By Arlene S. Burke on 02-23-22
-
The Amistad Rebellion
- An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom
- By: Marcus Rediker
- Narrated by: Peter Jay Fernandez
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
The slave ship Amistad set sail from Havana on July 2, 1839, on a routine delivery of human cargo. A few days into its voyage, the 53 African captives aboard would seize control and steer a new course - one that took them to freedom and ultimately into history. Though the Amistad rebellion has been celebrated in films and books, its story has largely been told through the eyes of white abolitionists, with the Supreme Court victory by the Africans as the ultimate triumph. Now, Marcus Rediker’s captivating new history turns the lens on the Africans themselves.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is a must read for anyone.
- By Laura on 07-24-21
By: Marcus Rediker
-
The Empire of Necessity
- Slavery, Freedom, and Deception in the New World
- By: Greg Grandin
- Narrated by: Luis Moreno
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
One morning in 1805, off a remote island in the South Pacific, Captain Amasa Delano, a New England seal hunter, climbed aboard a distressed Spanish ship carrying scores of West Africans he thought were slaves. They weren' t. Having earlier seized control of the vessel and slaughtered most of the crew, they were staging an elaborate ruse, acting as if they were humble servants. When Delano, an idealistic, anti-slavery republican, finally realized the deception, he responded with explosive violence. Drawing on research on four continents, The Empire of Necessity explores the multiple forces that culminated in this extraordinary event.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
What is the "right thing to do"?
- By Lake on 03-08-14
By: Greg Grandin
-
Between Man and Beast
- An Unlikely Explorer, the Evolution Debates, and the African Adventure that Took the Victorian World By Storm
- By: Monte Reel
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 89
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 77
In 1856 Paul Du Chaillu marched into the equatorial wilderness of West Africa determined to bag an animal that, according to legend, was nothing short of a monster. When he emerged three years later, the summation of his efforts only hinted at what he'd experienced in one of the most dangerous regions on earth. Armed with an astonishing collection of zoological specimens, Du Chaillu leapt from the physical challenges of the jungle straight into the center of the biggest issues of the time.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Extraordinary book! Masterpiece.
- By BVerité on 04-23-13
By: Monte Reel
-
Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest
- By: Matthew Restall
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
Using a wide array of sources, historian Matthew Restall highlights seven key myths, uncovering the source of the inaccuracies and exploding the fallacies and misconceptions behind each myth. This vividly written and authoritative book shows, for instance, that native Americans did not take the conquistadors for gods and that small numbers of vastly outnumbered Spaniards did not bring down great empires with stunning rapidity. We discover that Columbus was correctly seen in his lifetime - and for decades after - as a briefly fortunate but unexceptional participant in efforts.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A good book marred by awful narration
- By Dr. Philip Fowler on 02-23-24
By: Matthew Restall
-
Notes of a Native Son
- By: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,308
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,129
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,125
Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his twenties, the essays collected in Notes of a Native Son capture a view of Black life and Black thought at the dawn of the civil rights movement and as the movement slowly gained strength through the words of one of the most captivating essayists and foremost intellectuals of that era.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Masterful Essayist
- By Andre on 09-30-16
By: James Baldwin
-
One Nation, Under Gods
- A New American History
- By: Peter Manseau
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 17 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
At the heart of the nation's spiritual history are audacious and often violent scenes. But the Puritans and the shining city on the hill give us just one way to understand the United States. Rather than recite American history from a Christian vantage point, Peter Manseau proves that what really happened is worth a close, fresh look.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Tapestry of different pieces makes for a whole
- By Gary on 03-23-15
By: Peter Manseau
-
Vermeer's Hat
- The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World
- By: Timothy Brook
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 126
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 109
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 107
A Vermeer painting shows a military officer in a Dutch sitting room, talking to a laughing girl. In another canvas, fruit spills from a blue-and-white porcelain bowl. Familiar images that captivate us with their beauty--but as Timothy Brook shows us, these intimate pictures actually give us a remarkable view of an expanding world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A wonderful book
- By Acteon on 07-09-14
By: Timothy Brook
-
All Things Shining
- Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular World
- By: Hubert Dreyfus, Sean Dorrance Kelly
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 173
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 142
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 142
The religious turn to their faith to find meaning. But what about the many people who lead secular lives and are also hungry for meaning? What guides, what approaches are available to them? Distinguished philosophers Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly explain that a secular life charged with meaning is indeed within reach.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent Book that refreshes the classics
- By Tod on 06-14-11
By: Hubert Dreyfus, and others