Frederick Davidson has narrated 71 audiobooks on Listento.it by 51 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.4★ across 443 ratings. The most-rated is War and Peace.
The Great Terror
Summary
The definitive work on Stalin's purges, The Great Terror was universally acclaimed when it first appeared in 1968. While the original volume had relied heavily on unofficial sources, later developments within the Soviet Union provided an avalanche of new material, which Conquest has mined to write this revised and updated edition of his classic work. Under the light of fresh evidence, it is remarkable how many of Conquest's most disturbing conclusions have been verified. Many details have also been added, including hitherto secret information on the three great "Moscow Trials", the purge of writers and other members of the intelligentsia, life in the labor camps, and many other key matters. Both a leading Sovietologist and a highly respected poet, Conquest blends profound research with evocative prose to create a compelling and eloquent chronicle of one of the 20th century's most tragic events.
©1990 Robert Conquest (P)1992 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Darwin on Trial
Summary
Darwin's theory of evolution is accepted by most educated Americans as simple fact. This easy acceptance, however, hides from us the many ways in which evolution - as an idea - shapes our thinking about a great many things. What if this idea is wrong? What if "evolution" is just a word that covers up scientific ignorance of how the wonders of the living world could have been created? Berkeley law professor Phillip Johnson looks at the evidence for Darwinistic evolution the way a lawyer would - with a cold dispassionate eye for logic and proof. His discovery is that scientists have put the cart before the horse. They prematurely accepted Darwin's theory as fact and have been scrambling to find evidence for it - mostly unsuccessfully. As the evidentiary difficulties have piled up, scientists have clung to the theory out of fear of encouraging religious fundamentalism, and in the process have turned belief in Darwinism into their own religion.
©1991 by Phillip E. Jackson (P)1992 by Blackstone Audiobooks
The Mating Season
Summary
When Gussie Fink-Nottle, after a convivial evening with "Catsmeat" Pinbright, was sentenced to 14 days without the option for wading in the fountain at Trafalgar Square, Bertie Wooster saw the red light. For Gussie was an expected guest at Deverill Hall, and clearly his enforced absence would give rise to immediate inquiries. From this point it would be but a short step to complete revelation of the scandalous details of his escapade; and Bertram well knew what would be the effect of this intelligence on Gussie's fiancei, Madeline. As always when a rift appeared in her love affairs, Madeline would transfer her simpering affection to Bertram, and the grim prospect of having to endure the grand passion of this female stimulated Bertie to the sternest of endeavors to forestall catastrophe. But as usual, Bertie's involvement causes further entanglement, which only Jeeves can unravel.
(P)1995 by Blackstone Audiobooks
The Decameron
Summary
Giovanni Boccaccio, Dante, and Petrarch were the leading lights in a century that is considered the beginning of the Italian Renaissance. The Decameron, or Ten Days' Entertainment, is his most famous work, a collection of stories considered representative of the Middle Ages, as well as a product of the Renaissance. This collection of tales is set in 1348, the year of the Black Death. Florence is a dying, corrupt city, described plainly in all of its horrors. Seven ladies and three gentlemen meet in a church and decide to escape from the charnel house of reality by staying in the hills of Fiesole; there they pass the time telling stories for 10 days. They set up a working arrangement whereby each would be king or queen for a day; each day the ruler commanded a story be told following certain stipulations. Their existence is that of the enchanted medieval dreamworld: a paradise of flowers, ever-flowing fountains, shade trees, soft breezes, where all luxuries of food and drink abound. Virtue reigns along with medieval gentilesse in its finest sense. The stories they weave, however, differ from their own idyllic sojourn. They tell tales about ordinary people, tales marked by intense realism in a world where dreams and enchanted gardens have little place. Boccaccio draws on the actual geography of the region to bring the stories alive; different social classes are portrayed with their own language and clothing. Within the stories told by his 10 refugees from Florence, the satire often bites deep, Boccaccio's comic mood embracing evil and holiness alike with sympathy and tolerance. Like Chaucer, he is indulgent, exposing moral and social corruption but leaving guilty characters to condemn themselves. In its frank, open-minded treatment of flesh as flesh, its use of paradox, cynicism, and realistic handling of character, this work transcends the medieval period and, going beyond the Renaissance, takes its place as universal art.
(P)1998 Blackstone Audio Inc.
The Civilization of the Middle Ages
Summary
In 1963, Norman F. Cantor published his breakthrough narrative history of the Middle Ages. Here is a significant revision, update, and expansion of that work. The Civilization of the Middle Ages incorporates current research, recent trends in interpretation, and novel perspectives, especially on the foundations of the Middle Ages and the Later Middle Ages of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. A sharper focus on social history, Jewish history, women’s roles in society, and popular religion and heresy distinguish the book. While the first and last sections of the book are almost entirely new and many additions have been incorporated in the intervening sections, Cantor has retained the powerful narrative flow that made earlier editions so accessible.
©1963 1993 by Norman F. Cantor (P)1994 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Rumpole of the Bailey
Summary
Horace Rumpole, the irreverent, iconoclastic, claret-swilling, poetry-spouting barrister at law, is among the most beloved characters of English crime literature. He is not a particularly gifted attorney, nor is he particularly fond of the law by courts if it comes to that, but he’d rather be swinging at a case than bowing to his wife Hilda, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. In this first title of the popular series featuring Rumpole, all of the major characters who occupy the Rumpole stories make their introductions: the sneaky, slightly effeminate Erskine-Brown, the bumbling Guthrie Featherstone and various and sundry other lawyers and clerks whose lives weave in and out of these stories. These six stories include the "Younger Generation", the "Alternative Society", the "Honourable Member", the "Married Lady", the "Learned Friends", and the "Heavy Brigade".
©1978 Advanpress, Ltd (P)1991 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
The Sultans
Summary
This brilliantly readable work of history tells the bizarre story of the Ottoman Empire as seen through the lives of its extravagant and tyrannical sultans. With their absolute power, their love of pomp, and their overwhelming venality and corruption, rarely has a great empire been ruled by such grotesque and awesome figures. There was Suleiman the Magnificent, who allowed his wife to persuade him to murder his eldest son and his best friend; Murad III, who left 103 children behind him when he died; Mustafa, who was kept in a cage, attended by deaf-mutes, until he ascended to the throne. There were sultans who practiced their archery on living people; sultans who drowned the ladies of their harem by the score; and sultans who gave the reins of empire to their favorite eunuchs. For 400 years, they fought wars, terrorized their subjects, made Turkey into a great empire, and then allowed her to decline into ostentatious and impotent decay.
©1973 Noel Barber (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
My Experiments with Truth
Summary
Mohandas Gandhi inspired the spiritual and political souls of millions of people. His concept of nonviolent resistance propelled numerous struggles throughout the world, including the civil rights movement in America. Written after his release from prison and first published in English in 1927, My Experiments with Truth is Gandhi's autobiography, documenting his spiritual journey amidst the political strife of his times.
©1993 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (P)2009 HighBridge
Peter Simple
Summary
In this seminal story of naval life during the Napoleonic wars, Frederick Marryat's young hero embarks upon a life at sea and finds it to be a rough school indeed. Simple's trials and triumphs, with his faithful mentor, Terence O'Brien, at his side, mirror Marryat's personal experiences. Among the exciting events depicted are the hand-to-hand combat of "cutting-out" missions, the devastating hurricane off St. Pierre, and a mutiny aboard the Rattlesnake. Peter Simple is a towering tale from the great age of sail, filled with keen wit, vivid characters, and thrilling adventure.
(P)1998 Blackstone Audio Inc
Something Fresh
Summary
As Wodehouse himself once noted, "Blandings has impostors like other houses have mice." On this particular occasion, there are two imposters, both intent on a dangerous enterprise. Lord Emsworth's secretary, the Efficient Baxter, is on the alert and determined to discover what is afoot - despite the distractions caused by the Honorable Freddie Threepwood's hapless affair of the heart.Freddie is engaged to marry the daughter of a wealthy American who is a passionate collector of ancient Egyptian relics. When one treasure goes missing and a thousand-pound reward is offered for its return, Blandings becomes a madhouse as friends turn rivals in the scramble to retrieve the object.
(P)1995 Blackstone Audio Inc.
A Gentleman of Leisure
Summary
When Jimmy Pitt bets an actor friend that any fool could burgle a house, a feat which he offers to demonstrate that very night, he puts his reputation on the line. Although he hires the services of a professional burglar, the difficulty is increased when he has the misfortune to select Police Captain McEachern's house. And imagine Jimmy's consternation when he learns that McEachern's daughter is none other than the beautiful Molly, whom he worshipped from afar for quite some time. From New York the action of the story moves to Dreever Caslte in Shropshire, England, where Jimmy's bird comes home to roost - with a vengeance. Filled with the sights, smells, and sounds of rural England, A Gentleman of Leisure also contains all the wit and humor we have come to expect from the inimitable P.G. Wodehouse.
(P)1993 by Blackstone Audiobooks
The Thirty-Nine Steps
Summary
Perhaps more than any other book, The Thirty-Nine Steps has set the pattern for the story of the chase for a wanted man. And, of the many writers who have attempted this kind of thing since Buchan, only a very few, like Graham Greene, have managed to sustain the tension in the same way. The story's extended chase scene inspired Alfred Hitchcock's movie of the same name. Buchan's best-known thriller introduces his most enduring hero, Richard Hannay - who, despite claiming to be an "ordinary fellow", is caught up in a dangerous race against a plot to devastate the British war effort. It begins calmly enough with a rather boring trip to London. Returning to his flat, Richard is shocked to find his neighbor dead on the floor with a knife in his back. Near the deceased is a small black notebook containing cryptic notes about the "thirty-nine steps" and a black stone. As the situation escalates, Hannay is mistaken for a secret agent by the police. Now Hannay is running for his life across the Scottish Highlands, thinking his way through narrow escapes while trying to decode the thirty-nine steps. With wit and flair, this old-fashioned roller coaster ride proffers soaring suspense with a comic touch.
Public Domain (P)1994 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Germinal
Summary
A father and three of his seven children work brutal hours in a mine, facing hazards such as landslides, fire, and poisoned air, to scrape together enough money for food. When their lodger, Étienne, shares ideas about a workers' revolt, the family gradually embraces his plans. Soon the settlement is aflame with resolve to strike for better wages and working conditions. Savage and horrifying events ensue as miners clash with management and with each other. With flawless construction and impeccable detail, Zola chronicles the conflicts, lusts, and deprivation of life in the coal fields of 19th-century France. Published in 1885, Germinal helped establish Emile Zola — an artist of unsparing candor — as the leading figure in the French school of naturalistic fiction. André Gide chose this masterpiece as one of the ten best novels in the French language.
(P)1996 Blackstone Audio Inc.
Vistas of History
Summary
In 1963, Samuel Eliot Morison, long one of our most distinguished historians, was awarded the first Balzan Prize in History, a prize that rivals the Nobel Prize in splendor and munificence. To receive the award, Admiral Morison had to go to Rome, where he delivered an address, "The Experiences and Principles of an Historian." This book includes the address he gave, as well a fascinating account of the award ceremonies, of which he was a central figure. Morison also draws from his own published work to illustrate how a master historian deals with a variety of problems. There are examples from social history, biography, political history, and military history. The entire collection demonstrates brilliantly the breadth of interests, depth of scholarship, and sureness of writing that earned Admiral Morison his great reputation.
©1956 Priscilla Barton Morison (P)1996 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
The Gin Palace
Summary
Abandoned by her lover and left to bring up their two children alone, Gervaise Macquart has to fight to earn an honest living. When she accepts the marriage proposal of Monsieur Coupeau, it seems as though she is on the path to a decent, respectable life at last. But with her husband's drinking and the unexpected appearance of a figure from her past, Gervaise's plans begin to unravel tragically.The Gin Palace is the 7th novel in Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle, about two branches of a French family traced through several generations. Introducing one of the most sympathetic heroines in 19th-century literature, it is also the work that made his reputation.
(P)1997 Blackstone Audio Inc.
Le Morte d'Arthur, Vol. 2
Summary
This monumental work made the Arthurian cycle available for the first time in English. Malory took a body of legends from Celtic folklore that had been adapted into French literature, gave them an English perspective, and produced a work which ever since has had tremendous influence upon literature. The story begins with King Uther Pendragon’s use of enchantment to lay with Igraine, Duchess of Cornwall. Arthur is conceived and taken away in secret, returning as a young man to claim the throne by pulling the sword Excalibur from the stone. In retelling the story of Arthur’s rule of Britain, Malory intertwines the romances of Guinevere and Lancelot, Tristan and Isolde, and Lancelot and Elaine. Sir Galahad’s appearance at Camelot begins the quest for the Holy Grail. Finally, Camelot is brought down by the conflict between King Arthur and his natural son, Mordred.
Public Domain (P)1997 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
John Donne
Summary
The status of John Donne (1572-1631) as one of the greatest poets in the English language is firmly established. He strongly influenced writers of the 17th century, and modern poets such as T.S. Eliot have praised and imitated Donne's work. His poetry is characterized by dramatic, witty, and bold language; by strikingly original imagery; and rhythms based on everyday speech. Like Shakespeare, Donne was a genius at making common words yield up rich, poetic meaning. His thought is complex, but his poems unfold in a logical way.
(P)1992 by Blackstone Audiobooks
Treasure Island
Summary
For plain and pure imaginative delight, Treasure Island is unsurpassed. From the moment narrator Jim Hawkins meets the blind pirate Pew at the Admiral Benbow Inn until the spirited battle for hidden treasure on a tropic island, the novel spawns unforgettable scenes and characters that have thrilled readers young and old since its original publication in 1883. A story that centers around the battle between good and evil, Treasure Island is, in the words of G.K. Chesterton, "the realizaton of an ideal, that which is promised in its provocative and beckoning map; a vision not only of white skeletons but also green palm trees and sapphire seas."
(P)1997 Blackstone Audiobooks
Psmith Journalist
Summary
Cosy Moments did not have a reputation for being controversial. In fact, packed as it was with gut-churning items like "Moments in the Nursery" and "Moments of Mirth," it reconciled Psmith to toothache. Falling in with its deputy editor Billy Windsor, Psmith allows his literary aspirations to run riot and soon Cosy Moments is not cosy at all. With biting attacks on the New York slum problem, the circulation goes up and up, but the owner of the tenements is not amused. He is willing to pay the magazine to pipe down, but the phrase on everyone's lips is "Cosy Moments cannot be muzzled." So the villain has to think of more devious ways of keeping Windsor and Psmith quiet, permanently.
(P)1995 by Blackstone Audiobooks
Robert Browning
Summary
Given Browning's intensely romantic love affair with Elizabeth Barrett, it is characteristic that he should view love as the key to the meaning of life and life's animating force. This view of life is projected throughout his poetry. Included in this collection are "Johannes Agricola in Meditation," "The Pied Piper of Hamelin," "Fra Lippo Lippi," "A Toccata of Galuppi's," "The Lost Leader," "The Statue and the Bust," "How it Strikes a Contemporary," "The Patriot," "Memorabilia," "James Lee's Wife," "Confessions," "Youth and Art," "A Likeness," "Mr. Sludge," "The Medium," "House," "St. Martin's Summer," "The Names," "Beatrice Signorini," "Spring Song," and others.
(P)1992 by Blackstone Audiobooks