Paul Hecht has narrated 41 audiobooks on Listento.it by 40 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.4★ across 214 ratings. The most-rated is Stalin, Volume I.
Stalin, Volume I
Summary
A magnificent new biography that revolutionizes our understanding of Stalin and his world. It has the quality of myth: A poor cobbler's son, a seminarian from an oppressed outer province of the Russian Empire, reinvents himself as a revolutionary and finds a leadership role within a small group of marginal zealots. When the old world is unexpectedly brought down in a total war, the band seizes control of the country, and the new regime it founds as the vanguard of a new world order is ruthlessly dominated from within by the former seminarian until he stands as the absolute ruler of a vast and terrible state apparatus, with dominion over Eurasia. We think we know the story well. Remarkably, Stephen Kotkin's epic new biography shows us how much we still have to learn. Volume One of Stalin begins and ends in January 1928 as Stalin boards a train bound for Siberia, about to embark upon the greatest gamble of his political life. He is now the ruler of the largest country in the world, but a poor and backward one, far behind the great capitalist countries in industrial and military power, encircled on all sides. In Siberia, Stalin conceives of the largest program of social reengineering ever attempted: the root-and-branch uprooting and collectivization of agriculture and industry across the entire Soviet Union. To stand up to the capitalists he will force into being an industrialized, militarized, collectivized great power is an act of will. Millions will die, and many more will suffer, but Stalin will push through to the end against all resistance and doubts. Where did such power come from? The product of a decade of scrupulous and intrepid research, Stalin contains a host of astonishing revelations. Kotkin gives an intimate first-ever view of the Bolshevik regime’s inner geography, bringing to the fore materials from Soviet military intelligence and the secret police.
©2014 Stephen Kotkin (P)2014 Recorded Books
The Divided Mind
Summary
The Divided Mind is the crowning achievement of Dr. John E. Sarno's long and successful career as a groundbreaking medical pioneer. While his earlier books dealt almost exclusively with musculoskeletal pain disorders, here Dr. Sarno addresses the entire spectrum of psychosomatic (mind-body) disorders. In Dr. Sarno's view, the crucial interaction between the reasonable, rational, ethical, moral conscious mind and the repressed feelings of emotional pain, hurt, sadness, and anger characteristic of the unconscious mind is the basis for many mind-body disorders. The Divided Mind traces the history of psychosomatic medicine, including Freud's crucial role as well as his failures. Most important, it describes the psychology of the human condition that is responsible for the broad range of psychosomatic illness. Dr. Sarno believes that the failure of medicine's practitioners to recognize and appropriately treat mind-body disorders has produced public health and economic problems of major proportions in the United States. One of the most interesting and important aspects of psychosomatic phenomena is the fact that knowledge and awareness of the process clearly have healing powers.
©2006 John E. Sarno, M.D. (P)2006 Audio Evolution, LLC
Stalin, Volume II
Summary
Pulitzer Prize finalist Stephen Kotkin continues his definitive biography of Stalin, from collectivization and the Great Terror through to the coming of the conflict with Hitler's Germany that is the signal event of modern world history. When we left Stalin at the end of Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928, it was 1928, and he had finally climbed the mountaintop and achieved dictatorial power of the Soviet empire. The vastest peasant economy in the world would be transformed into socialist modernity, whatever it took. What it took, or what Stalin believed it took, was the most relentless campaign of shock industrialization the world has ever seen. This is the story of the five-year plans, the new factory towns, and the integration of an entire system of penal labor into the larger economy. With the Great Depression throwing global capital into crisis, the Soviet Union's New Man looked like nothing so much as the man of the future. As the shadows of the '30's deepen, Stalin's drive to militarize Soviet society takes on increasing urgency, and the ambition of Nazi Germany becomes the predominant geopolitical reality he faces when Hitler claims that communism is a global "Judeo-Bolshevik" conspiracy to bring the Slavic race to power. But just because they're out to get you doesn't mean you're not paranoid. Stalin's paranoia is increasingly one of the most horrible facts of life for his entire country. Stalin's obsessions drive him to violently purge almost a million people, including military leadership, diplomatic corps, and intelligence apparatus, to say nothing of a generation of artistic talent. And then came the pact that shocked the world and demoralized leftists everywhere: Stalin's pact with Hitler in 1939, the carve-up of Poland, and Stalin's utter inability to see Hitler's buildup to the invasion of the USSR. Yet for all that, in just 12 years of total power, Stalin has taken this country from a peasant economy to a formidable modern war machine that rivaled anything else in the world. When the invasion came, Stalin wasn't ready, but his country would prove to be prepared. That is a dimension of the Stalin story that has never adequately been reckoned with before, and it looms large here. Stalin: Waiting for Hitler: 1929-1941 is, like its predecessor, nothing less than a history of the world from Stalin's desk. It is also, like its predecessor, a landmark achievement in the annals of its field and in the biographer's art.
©2017 Stephen Kotkin (P)2017 Recorded Books
Far and Wide
Summary
Thirty five concerts. Seventeen thousand motorcycle miles. Three months. One lifetime. In May 2015 the veteran Canadian rock trio Rush embarked on their 40th anniversary tour, R40. For the band and their fans, R40 was a celebration and, perhaps, a farewell. But for Neil Peart, each tour is more than just a string of concerts; it's an opportunity to explore backroads near and far on his BMW motorcycle. So if this was to be the last tour and the last great adventure, he decided it would have to be the best one, onstage and off. This third volume in Peart's travel series shares all-new tales that transport the listener across North America and through memories of 50 years of playing drums. From the scenic grandeur of the American West to a peaceful lake in Quebec's Laurentian Mountains to the mean streets of Midtown Los Angeles, each story is shared in an intimate narrative voice that has won the hearts of many listeners. Thoughtful and ever engaging, Far and Wide is an elegant scrapbook of people and places, music and laughter, from a fascinating road - and a remarkable life.
©2016 Neal Peart (P)2016 Recorded Books
Time and Again
Summary
One of the most beloved tales of our time! Science fiction, mystery, a passionate love story, and a detailed history of Old New York blend together in Jack Finney's spellbinding story of a young man enlisted in a secret Government experiment. Transported from the mid-20th century to New York City in the year 1882, Si Morley walks the fashionable "Ladies' Mile" of Broadway, is enchanted by the jingling sleigh bells in Central Park, and solves a 20th-century mystery by discovering its 19th-century roots. Falling in love with a beautiful young woman, he ultimately finds himself forced to choose between his lives in the present and the past. A story that will remain in the listener's memory, Time and Again is a remarkable blending of the troubled present and a nostalgic past, made vivid and extraordinarily moving by the images of a time that was... and perhaps still is.
©1970 Jack Finney (P)2011 Simon & Schuster
To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Riverworld Saga, Book 1
Summary
Original and provocative, To Your Scattered Bodies Go won the 1971 Hugo Award for outstanding science fiction novel and has continued to be a favorite of generations of new listeners. For explorer Richard Francis Burton, Alice Liddell Hargreaves - the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland - and the rest of humanity, death is nothing like they expected. Instead of heaven, hell, or even the black void of nothingness, all of the 36 billion people who ever lived on Earth are simultaneously resurrected on a world that has been transformed into a giant river valley. With hunger and disease eliminated, Burton and the others appear to have everything they need - except an answer to the question "Why?" Both swashbuckling adventure and insightful examination into mankind's constant search for answers to the unanswerable, To Your Scattered Bodies Go is voiced by narrator Paul Hecht to emphasize every thrilling moment of discovery.
©1971 Philip José Farmer (P)2000 Recorded Books
The Cave and the Light
Summary
The Cave and the Light reveals how two Greek philosophers became the twin fountainheads of Western culture, and how their rivalry gave Western civilization its unique dynamism down to the present.
©2013 Arthur Herman (P)2013 Recorded Books
Hunting Eichmann
Summary
Best-selling author Neal Bascomb has garnered critical acclaim for such riveting nonfiction as Higher and Red Mutiny. Based on extensive interviews and previously classified details, Hunting Eichmann is a compelling account of the relentless hunt for the nefarious Adolf Eichmann.
©2009 Neal Bascomb (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC
The Poison King
Summary
A National Book Award finalist for this epic work, Adrienne Mayor delivers a gripping account of Mithradates, the ruthless visionary who began to challenge Rome’s power in 120 B.C. Machiavelli praised his military genius. Kings coveted his secret elixir against poison. Poets celebrated his victories, intrigues, and panache. But until now, no one has told the full story of his incredible life.
©2010 Adrienne Mayor (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC
Revolution 1989
Summary
Revolution 1989 by British journalist Victor Sebestyen is a comprehensive and revealing account of those dizzying days that toppled Soviet tyranny and changed the World. For more than 40 years, communism held eight European nations in its iron fist. Yet by the end of 1989, all of these nations had thrown off communism, declared independence, and embarked on the road to democracy.
©2009 Victor Sebestyen (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC
The Terminal Experiment
Summary
An experiment has gone terribly wrong. Dr. Peter Hobson has created three electronic simulations of his own personality. One will test life after death; another, immortality. The third one is the control unit. But now all three have escaped from Hobson's computer into the worldwide electronic matrix. And one of them is a killer. Robert Sawyer has won many awards for his science fiction, which is praised for its blend of high-tech mystery and suspenseful pacing.
©1995 Robert J. Sawyer (P)2003 Recorded Books
Eisenhower in War and Peace
Summary
Author of the best-seller FDR, Jean Edward Smith is a master of the presidential biography. Setting his sights on Dwight D. Eisenhower, Smith delivers a rich account of Eisenhower’s life using previously untapped primary sources. From the military service in WWII that launched his career to the shrewd political decisions that kept America out of wars with the Soviet Union and China, Smith reveals a man who never faltered in his dedication to serving America, whether in times of war or peace.
©2012 Jean Edward Smith (P)2012 Recorded Books, LLC
Prague Fatale
Summary
Philip Kerr’s thrilling mystery series starring private detective Bernie Gunther has been hailed as “one of the great historical crime series” by Bookmarks Magazine. Set in 1941, Prague Fatale follows Gunther as he investigates a murder at the country estate of his old boss, SD member Reinhard Heydrich. Heydrich was throwing a dinner party for senior German officers when the victim was discovered - the body mysteriously locked in a room from the inside.
©2011 Philip Kerr (P)2012 Recorded Books, LLC
Meditations on First Philosophy
Summary
A landmark in the history of thought, Rene Descartes' Meditations helped bring critical thinking and skepticism to the Western world. Modern philosophers are still captivated by Descartes' radical and controversial departure from his previous beliefs, which has both inspired reverence and provoked anger.
©2008 Michael Moriarty (P)2008 Recorded Books,LLC
Field Gray
Summary
Philip Kerr crafts a thrilling chapter from his critically acclaimed Bernie Gunther series. In Field Gray, Bernie finds himself imprisoned in 1954—and told he can either work for French intelligence or he can hang. Accepting his new job, Bernie begins interviewing POWs returning from Germany. And things get interesting when he meets a French war criminal and member of the French SS who has been posing as a German Wehrmacht officer.
©2011 Philip Kerr (P)2011 Recorded Books, LLC
The Double Agents
Summary
W. E. B. Griffin’s iconoclastic OSS heroes face an historic challenge in the brand-new volume of the New York Times best-selling series. Critics and fans alike welcomed the return of the "shrewd, sharp, rousing" (Kirkus Reviews) Men at War series: "The Saboteurs is good entertainment and the fast-paced and exciting novel Griffin’s readers have come to expect. This is Griffin’s 36th novel and his son’s first; one wonders how prolific a force Griffin & Son will be!” (Library Journal) Now, Dick Canidy and colleagues in the Office of Strategic Services face an even greater task - to convince Hitler and the Axis powers that the invasion of the European continent will take place anywhere but on the beaches of Nazi-occupied France. "Wild Bill" Donovan’s men have several tactics in mind, but some of the people they must use are not the most reliable - are, in fact, most likely spying for both sides - so the deceptions require layer upon layer of intrigue, and all it will take is one slip to send the whole thing tumbling down like a house of cards. Are the OSS agents up to it? They certainly think so. And then the body is found floating off the coast of Spain.... Filled to the brim with action, character, and the deep understanding of the military heart and mind that have made Griffin’s books so outstanding, The Double Agents is irresistible storyteller from a master of the craft.
©2007 W. E. B. Griffin (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc. and Books on Tape. All rights reserved.
A Quiet Flame
Summary
Philip Kerr’s intricate novels featuring former Berlin homicide detective Bernie Gunther have earned ahallowed place in the hearts of mystery fans. It’s 1950, and Bernie has arrived in Argentina seeking asylum after being falsely identified as a Nazi war criminal. There he investigates the murder of a wealthy banker’s daughter ina case reminiscent of one he worked in Germany 18 years before.
©2009 Philip Kerr (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC
Looking for Madeleine
Summary
Looking for Madeleine is the not-to-be-missed account that the online haters tried to silence. Its award-winning authors, Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan, feature in the Netflix series The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The audiobook: Identifies the blunders made during the police search for Madeleine Draws on confidential police sources Analyses the thousands of pages of the Portuguese police dossier Pinpoints the misreading of forensic evidence that - for a time - turned Kate and Gerry McCann into formal suspects Follows the clues indicating that the McCanns' apartment was watched, that the apartment had been visited by a phony 'charity collector' Reports, in frightening detail, on the many earlier sex assaults on British children in the area Twelve years on, as Scotland Yard and Portuguese investigators continue their work, the Yard is reportedly focusing on a specific suspect. A senior officer told the authors: 'The case is solvable'.
©2014 Anthony Summers & Robbyn Swan (P)2019 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
The Fabulous Riverboat
Summary
The second entry in the Riverworld series, The Fabulous Riverboat tells of a world where all of humanity has been mysteriously resurrected on the banks of one mighty river. Samuel Clemens (a.k.a.Mark Twain) is tasked with finding a fallen meteorite and using its ore to build a massive riverboat. But in order to succeed, he'll have to outwit some of history's most nefarious villains.
©1971 Philip José Farmer (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC
From Time to Time
Summary
The long-awaited sequel to Time and Again . Si Morley is back and the world may never be the same. When Time and Again was published in 1970, it immediately developed a loyal following that has grown with each passing year. With this book, Jack Finney returned to the same magical territory and finds Ruben Prien still at work with the Project, still dreaming of altering man's fate by going back in time to adjust events... to interfere, some might say, with destiny. Once again, the conduit to that bygone era is Simon Morley, the man who actually proved himself capable of traveling back and forth in time. This time, he does so with a grand purpose: an attempt to prevent World War I. From Time to Time is a tale that is both thrilling and nostalgic, magical and terrifying, charming and full of suspense.
©1995 Jack Finney (P)2011 Simon & Schuster