Ralph Cosham has narrated 45 audiobooks on Listento.it by 34 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.7★ across 638 ratings. The most-rated is The Beautiful Mystery.
![Cover art for The Canterbury Tales [Blackstone]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51hYW6lZBaL._SL500_.jpg)
The Canterbury Tales [Blackstone]
Summary
At the Tabard Inn, 30 travelers of widely varying classes and occupations are gathering to make the annual pilgrimage to Becket's shrine at Canterbury. It is agreed that each traveler will tell four tales to help pass the time and that the host of the inn will judge the tales and reward the best storyteller with a free supper upon their return. Thus we hear, translated into modern English, 20-some tales, told in the voices of knight and merchant, wife and miller, squire and nun, and many more. Some are bawdy, some spiritual, some romantic, some mysterious, some chivalrous. Between the stories, the travelers converse, joke, and argue, revealing much about their individual outlooks on life, as well as what life was like in late 14th-century England.
©2003 Gavin Menzies (P)2008 Blackstone Audio
Doctor Who: Wheel of Ice
Summary
The Wheel. A ring of ice and steel turning around a moon of Saturn, and home to a mining colony supplying a resource-hungry Earth. It's a bad place to grow up. The colony has been plagued by problems. Maybe it's just gremlins, just bad luck. But the equipment failures and thefts of resources have been increasing, and there have been stories among the children of mysterious creatures glimpsed aboard the Wheel. Many of the younger workers refuse to go down the warren-like mines anymore.
©2012 Stephen Baxter (P)2012 AudioGO Ltd
In Flanders Field and Other Poems About War
Summary
In World War I, possibly the most horrific modern war, two soldier poets put down their thoughts in poetry telling us much about wars and the people who fight them. This is a wonderful production with a very timely subject.
(P)In Audio
The Wind in the Willows
Summary
These are the exploits of Toad and the efforts of his friends, Ratty, Mole, Badger, and Otter, to control the rascal.
(P) Commuter's Library
The Snow Goose
Summary
On the desolate Essex marshes, a young girl named Fritha arrives at a remote lighthouse seeking help from its lonely inhabitant: Philip Rhayader, a crippled artist who has established a bird sanctuary on his land. The girl brings to him a wounded snow goose, which the gentle Philip takes under his care. Soon a friendship blossoms as he and Fritha nurse the bird back to health, though as the years pass, Fritha visits the lighthouse only when the snow goose is there. Then the outbreak of World War II draws Philip away from his home to help in the war effort - and suddenly Fritha has a new reason to return to the lighthouse. Beautifully written all the way through to its powerful ending, The Snow Goose has been in print since its original publication in 1941.
©2014 Paul Gallico (P)2013 Blackstone Audiobooks
Thinking the Twentieth Century
Summary
Here is the final book of unparalleled historian Tony Judt. Where Judt’s masterpiece Postwar redefined the history of modern Europe by uniting the stories of its eastern and western halves, Thinking the Twentieth Century unites the century’s conflicted intellectual history into a single soaring narrative. The 20th century comes to life as the age of ideas - a time when, for good or for ill, the thoughts of the few reigned over the lives of the many. Judt presents the triumphs and the failures of public intellectuals, adeptly extracting the essence of their ideas and explaining the risks of their involvement in politics. Spanning the entire era and all currents of thought, this is a triumphant tour de force that restores clarity to the classics of modern thought with the assurance and grace of a master craftsman. The exceptional nature of this work is evident in its very structure - a series of luminous conversations between Judt and his friend and fellow historian Timothy Snyder, grounded in the texts of their trade and focused by the intensity of their vision. Judt’s astounding eloquence and range of reference are on display as never before. Traversing the century’s complexities with ease, he and Snyder revive both thoughts and thinkers, guiding us through the debates that made our world. As forgotten treasures are unearthed and overrated thinkers are dismantled, the shape of a century emerges. Judt and Snyder make us partners in their project as we learn the ways to think like a historian or even like a public intellectual. We begin to experience the power of historical perspective for the critique and reform of society and for the pursuit of the good from day to day. In restoring - and exemplifying - the best of the intellectual life of the 20th century, Thinking the Twentieth Century charts a pathway for moral life in the 21st. An incredible achievement, this book is about the life of the mind - and the mindful life.
©2012 the Estate of Tony Judt. Introduction 2012 by Timothy Snyder (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
The Jungle Book I & II
Summary
Children everywhere have read and loved Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book—and continue to do so. Here Blackstone offers this collection of moral fables in its entirety. Tales of Mowgli, the boy raised by animals in the exotic jungles of India; Rikkitikkitavi, a courageous young mongoose who battles the sinister black cobra Nag; Toomai, the boy who works with elephants; and more will delight listeners both young and old. These classic stories brim with adventure and thrills as the lively characters fend off ferocious tigers and deadly snakes, slip through the jungle to watch elephants dance, and seek refuge from dangerous hunters.
Public Domain (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
The Second Jungle Book
Summary
A continuation of The Jungle Book, these further adventures of Mowgli the man-cub and his animal companions are sure to delight listeners of all ages. Vibrant and crackling with intensity, these stories present Akela the wolf; Baloo the brown bear; Shere Khan, the boastful Bengal tiger who is Mowgli’s enemy; Kaa the python; Bagheera the black panther; and Rikki-tikki-tavi the mongoose, among others. Kipling vividly describes the jungle world and its peculiar animals, richly evoking an Edenic environment. As Mowgli learns the Law of the Jungle among the animals, he matures into self-sufficiency and wisdom.
Public Domain (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Last Seen in Massilia
Summary
In 49 BC, in the city of Massilia (modern-day Marseille), on the coast of southern Gaul, Gordianus the Finder's beloved son Meto has disappeared - branded as a traitor to Caesar and apparently dead. Consumed with grief, Gordianus arrives in the city amid a raging civil war, hoping to discover what happened to his son. But when he witnesses a young woman fall from a precipice called Sacrifice Rock, he becomes entangled in discovering the truth: did she fall or was she pushed? And could she be connected to his missing son? Drawn into the city's treacherous depths, where nothing and no one are what they seem, Gordianus must summon all of his skills to discover his son's fate - and to safeguard his own life. Steven Saylor delivers another excellent episode in the adventures of his distinguished hero, Gordianus the Finder.
©2000 Steven Saylor (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
Summary
First published in 1865, The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland was an immediate success. Carroll's sense of the absurd and his amazing gift for games of logic and language have made the Alice books popular with both adults and children, and they have remained some of the best-known children's books written in English. Commuters Library recaptures the magic in this superb unabridged reading. Follow Alice down the rabbit hole; go with her to meet the Caterpillar, the Mad-Hatter, the Mock Turtle, and the Queen of Hearts. The journey is as strange and wonderful as it has always been. Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There stands alone as a great work of fantasy. Written six years after The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, it is in many ways a more complex and far-ranging story. In the backward land of the looking glass, hear the story of the Jabberwocky and be the guest of Tweedledum and Tweedledee and confront Humpty Dumpty who scornfully states, "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean: neither more nor less."
(P)2002 Commuters Library
Europe Central
Summary
National Book Award, Fiction, 2005In this magnificent work of fiction, William T. Vollmann turns his trenchant eye to the authoritarian cultures of Germany and the USSR in the 20th century. Assembling a composite portrait of these two warring leviathans and the terrible age they defined, the narrative intertwines experiences both real and fictional: a young German who joins the SS to expose its crimes, two generals who collaborate with the enemy for different reasons, the Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich laboring under Stalinist oppression. Through these and other lives, Vollmann offers a daring and mesmerizing perspective on human actions during wartime.
©2005 William T. Vollmann (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
The Triumph of Caesar
Summary
The Roman civil war has come to its conclusion - Pompey is dead, Egypt is firmly under the control of Cleopatra (with the help of Rome's legions), and for the first time in many years Julius Caesar has returned to Rome itself. Appointed by the Senate as dictator, the city abounds with rumors asserting that Caesar wishes to be made king - the first such that Rome has had in centuries - and that not all of his opposition has been crushed.Gordianus, recently returned from Egypt with his wife, Bethesda, is essentially retired from his previous profession of "finder", but even he cannot refuse the call of Calpurnia, Caesar's wife. Troubled by dreams foretelling disaster and fearing a conspiracy against the life of Caesar, she had hired someone to investigate the rumors. But that person, a close friend of Gordianus, has just turned up dead - murdered - on her doorstep.With four successive triumphs for Caesar's military victories scheduled for the coming days, and Caesar more exposed to danger than ever before, Calpurnia wants Gordianus to uncover the truth behind the rumored conspiracies and to protect Caesar's life, before it is too late. No fan of Caesar's, Gordianus agrees to help, but only to find the murderer who killed his friend. But once an investigation is begun, there's no controlling what it will turn up, who it will put in danger, and where it will end. Steven Saylor is the author of the New York Times best seller Roma, as well as the previous books in the Roma Sub Rosa series, featuring Gordianus the Finder. He divides his time between Berkeley, California, and Austin, Texas.
©2008 Steven Saylor (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
The House of the Vestals
Summary
It is ancient Rome, and Gordianus the Finder has a knack for finding trouble. Known to many as the one man in the ancient world who can both keep a secret and uncover one, Gordianus lays bare some of his most intriguing and compelling adventures. The House of the Vestals collects nine of the award-winning stories of Gordianus the Finder by critically acclaimed, best-selling author Steven Saylor. Filling in some of the gaps between novels, this delightful collection ofunique and unforgettable mysteries is Saylor at his finest - revealing the intrigues in the secret history of Rome. In “Little Caesar and the Pirates,” Gordianus must act as a go-between for kidnappers, but he begins to wonder whois really being held hostage. In “The Alexandrian Cat,” a mischievous girl anda tell-tale sneeze reveal an ingenious plot of murder and thievery. In “The House of the Vestals,” blackmail goes horribly wrong, and there is no one to take the blame. These stories and more make up an engrossing collection of finely wrought mystery tales with all the suspense and craft that are the trademark of Saylor’s work.
©1997 Steven Saylor (P)2013 Blackstone
Rubicon
Summary
As Caesar marches on Rome and panic erupts in the city, Gordianus the Finder discovers, in his own home, the body of Pompey's favorite cousin. Before fleeing the city, Pompey exacts a terrible bargain from the finder of secrets: to unearth the killer or sacrifice his own son-in-law to service in Pompey’s legions - and certain death. Amid the city's sordid underbelly, Gordianus learns that the murdered man was a dangerous spy. Now, as he follows a trail of intrigue, betrayal, and ferocious battles on land and sea, the Finder is caught between the chaos of war and the terrible truth he must finally reveal. Rubicon, set in early days of the Roman Civil War, is a pivotal novel in Saylor's best-selling and critically acclaimed series of novels set in late republican Rome.
©1999 Steven Saylor (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
A Mist of Prophecies
Summary
In the year 48 BC, Rome is in the midst of civil war. As Pompey and Caesar fight for control of the republic, Rome becomes a hotbed of intrigue driven by espionage, greed, and betrayals. A beautiful young seeress staggers across the Roman marketplace and dies in the arms of Gordianus the Finder. Possibly mad and claiming no memory of her past, Cassandra - like her Trojan namesake - was reputed to have the gift of prophecy, a gift many in Rome would pay for handsomely...or kill for. Obsessed with Cassandra's mystery, Gordianus investigates her murder. As he peels away the veils of secrecy surrounding her life and death, he discovers a web of conspiracy linking many of Rome's most ruthless and powerful women. Now Gordianus' pursuit not only endangers his own life but could change the future of Rome.
©2010 Steven Saylor (P)2013 Blackstone Audio
Kidnapped
Summary
Young David Balfour is the rightful heir but his uncle has other plans. This story recounts Master Balfour's escape on the high seas and his adventures making his way back across Scottish Highlands.
©2001 Sound Room Publishers, Inc.
The Raphael Affair
Summary
Set in Rome, The Raphael Affair features the perpetually beset General Bottando of the Italian National Art Theft Squad; his glamorous assistant, Flavia di Stefano; and Jonathan Argyll, a British art historian. When Jonathan is arrested for breaking into an obscure church in Rome, he claims that it contains a long-lost Raphael hidden under a painting by Mantini. The painting disappears - then reappears in the hands of the top British art dealer, Edward Byrnes. How has Byrnes found out about the hidden masterpiece, and whom is he acting for? There is also the curious matter of the safe deposit box full of sketches closely resembling features of the newly discovered painting. A hideous act of vandalism occurs, then murder. Bottando faces the most critical challenge of his career, and Jonathan and Flavia find themselves in unexpected danger.
©1990 Iain Pears (P)1996 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Savage Wilderness
Summary
In this riveting novel of the French and Indian War, master storyteller Harold Coyle takes us back to a time when America's vast riches were up for grabs. From 1754 through 1759, British and American colonial forces were locked in constant battle with the French and their Indian allies over the great territories of the Ohio Valley. For British army captain Thomas Shields, the war is an opportunity for fame, but the untamed wilderness he finds himself in defies all his expectations of the battlefield. For Scottish rebel Ian McPherson, serving in the English army is a punishment, but America offers the chance to secure some land of his own. And for idealistic young French officer Anton de Chevalier, the savage battle tactics of his Indian allies will forever change his understanding of war. Coyle draws on extensive research and his own military experience to create this stunning portrayal of life and death on the battlefield.
©1998 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
A Gladiator Dies Only Once: The Further Investigations of Gordianus the Finder
Summary
Steven Saylor’s Roma Sub Rosa series, set in the later Roman Republic and featuring Gordianus the Finder, has garnered unusual acclaim from listeners and reviewers alike, establishing him as one of the preeminent historical mystery writers. In A Gladiator Dies Only Once, the second collection of his award-winning stories featuring Gordianus, Saylor more than meets his own high standards. Set between the events of his novelsRomanBlood and Catilina’s Riddle, these nine stories of previously untold adventures from the early career of Gordianus - when his adopted son, Eco, was still a mute boy and his wife, Bethesda, was but his slave - will delight Saylor’s many fans while illuminating details of the ancient world like no other writer can. Included are “The Consul’s Wife”, which involves a twisted search for truth behind a threatening blind item in the Acta Diurna. In “The White Fawn”, Gordianus must deal with a kidnapping and murder during the revolt of Sertorius. “Archimedes’ Tomb” tells the story behind Cicero’s discovery of Archimedes’ tomb. Finally, “If a Cyclops Could Vanish in a Blink of an Eye” brings up a perplexing domestic situation in Gordianus’ own home.
©2010 Steven Saylor (P)2013 Blackstone Audio
The Judgment of Caesar
Summary
In 48 BC the Roman generals Caesar and Pompey are engaged ina battle to rule the world. As Pompey plots a reckless stand on the banks ofthe Nile, Gordianus the Finder - who has brought his dying wife, Bethesda, to the Nile seeking a cure from its sacred waters - finds himself suddenly at the heart of a series of treacherous and history-altering events. While Caesar and Cleopatra embark on a legendary romance, Egypt remains ravaged by the brutal contest between the queen and her brother, King Ptolemy. Worst of all for Gordianus, Meto, his once-disowned son and Caesar's right-hand man, stands falsely accused of murder. Caesar's judgment will decide his son's fate, and it is up to Gordianus to somehow overcome malevolent forces to reveal the carefully obscured truth in order to save his son's life.
©2004 Steven Saylor (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.