Listen to Best Sellers Audiobooks in History, 21st Century

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Title: A History of Money and Banking in the United States: The Colonial Era to World War II

Author: Murray N. Rothbard

Narrator: Matthew Mezinskis

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-02-16

Publisher: Ludwig von Mises Institute

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 62 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

In what is sure to become the standard account, Rothbard traces inflations, banking panics, and money meltdowns from the colonial period through the mid-20th century to show how government's systematic war on sound money is the hidden force behind nearly all major economic calamities in American history.

Never has the story of money and banking been told with such rhetorical power and theoretical vigor. You will treasure this volume.

From the introduction by Joseph Salerno:

"Rothbard employs the Misesian approach to economic history consistently and dazzlingly throughout the volume to unravel the causes and consequences of events and institutions ranging over the course of US monetary history, from the colonial times through the New Deal era. One of the important benefits of Rothbard's unique approach is that it naturally leads to an account of the development of the US monetary system in terms of a compelling narrative linking human motives and plans that oftentimes are hidden and devious, leading to outcomes that sometimes are tragic. And one will learn much more about monetary history from reading this exciting story than from poring over reams of statistical analysis. Although its five parts were written separately, this volume presents a relatively integrated narrative, with very little overlap, that sweeps across 300 years of US monetary history."

Members Reviews:

A lot to take in.

I like the way Rothbard relays the facts. He distinguishes clearly between his analysis and the actual history of money and banking. This book changes my view of the history in general.

About the narration: Very well enunciated at a comfortable speed, given the complexity of the subject. Minor issues with word stress; stressing correct words among groups of words.

should be a part of everyone's collection

Need more truth tellers like Rothbard, who valued the advancement of truth and reason over the advancement of his own status or career.

Great facts (if selective); ideological rigidity

As one of several histories of this topic I have read, I find this indispensable. It is lucid, and has the fortitude to lay out its arguments straightforwardly though many are (bravely enough) contrarian to conventional histories. Well and good. However, and I always find this bizarre in an author of this obvious intellect and discipline, the facts are cherry-picked and the characters one-dimensional in service of the author's ideology. (I repeatedly think of Nassim Taleb's references to the Bed of Procrustes -- hacking off the head and feet of any inconvenient facts to fit the intended conclusions.) This, for me, does not make me flee this book, as I have said it is a very informative work. It simply necessitates reading other histories. Alexander Hamilton's achievements are barely noticed and glossed over. Andrew Jackson was a good guy, period, no exceptions, who knew precisely what he was doing all down the line, and when his opponents opened the money spigots and he slammed the brakes, the ensuing multi-year depression was all his opponents' fault. His characters are often one-dimensional in this way: all good or all bad. Jay Cooke was bad. Period. And, facts are oddly detached from their surroundings, which can be glaring if one is versed in the surrounding history and has thought much about it.

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Title: The Invisibles

Subtitle: The Untold Story of African American Slaves in the White House

Author: Jesse Holland

Narrator: JD Jackson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-02-16

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 57 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Jesse J. Holland's The Invisibles is the first book to tell the story of the executive mansion's most unexpected residents: the African American slaves who lived with the US presidents who owned them.

Interest in African Americans and the White House are at an all-time high due to the historic presidency of Barack Obama and the soon-to-be-opened Smithsonian National Museum of African American Culture and History. The Invisibles chronicles the African American presence inside the White House from its beginnings in 1782 until 1862, when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which granted slaves their freedom. During these years, slaves were the only African Americans to whom the most powerful men in the United States were exposed on a daily and familiar basis. By hearing about these often-intimate relationships, listeners will better understand some of the views that various presidents held about class and race in American society and how these slaves contributed not only to the lives and comforts of the presidents they served but to America as a whole.

Critic Reviews:

"A quick, informative history of a lamentable chapter in America's past." (Kirkus)

Members Reviews:

Riveting Book

Each February in honor of the National Black History Month, I read a book by or about African Americans. The Invisibles is my choice for 2016. Holland tells the stories of the slaves who worked inside the White House from President Washington until President Lincolns 1862 Emancipation Proclamation. The slaves worked as cooks, butlers, maids, body servants, doormen and footmen. Holland provides in-depth stories of some slaves, primarily those that had documented history, such as, George Washingtons William Lee, Thomas Jeffersons Sally Heming and James Madisons Paul Jennings. President John Adams and President John Q. Adams did not have slaves. I noted an error in the book, Holland stated that the Adams were Quakers; that is incorrect they were Unitarians. Holland also provided an over view of the history of slavery in American including race mixing.

Holland is a journalist who wrote the book Black Men Built the Capitol. The book is well research, documented and well written. Holland provides analysis and insight into the period of American slavery. Overall the book provides a look at the White House from the viewpoint of slavery. J. D. Jackson did a good job narrating the book.

A history that all Americans should know.

Would you listen to The Invisibles again? Why?

This is a fascinating, all too short history of the enslaved African-Americans who were the support staff of the great majority of our early presidents.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The great variety of human stories - from the young woman who escaped George Washington's Philadelphia Executive Mansion to P. Jennings who showed charity to his former mistress (Dolly Madison) even though she had broken every promise made to him and his fellow slaves she had made. And the last slave of a US President lived until 1943!

What about JD Jacksons performance did you like?

Mr.

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Title: The Benghazi Attack

Author: J. D. Rockefeller

Narrator: Roy Wells

Format: Unabridged

Length: 52 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-25-16

Publisher: J.D. Rockefeller

Genres: History, 21st Century

Publisher's Summary:

If you have decided to listen to this book, then you probably have heard about the Benghazi attack or you at least wanted to learn something about that incident. It took place way back in 2012 when the Islamic militant attacked the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya and killed many people including J. Christopher Stevens, who was the US ambassador at that time, not to mention those who were injured as well. The said attack was then called the Battle of Benghazi as a second assault happened in a different compound. Due to that incident, United States increased security, especially in the military, as well as in diplomatic facilities worldwide. Aside from that, they also put effort in investigating it and discovering the root cause as well as the persons behind it. Although the reports initially stated that the attack was a spontaneous one, it was later determined as a planned one based on what the suspect, named Ahmed Abu Khattala, stated. The Benghazi attack has also been made into several movies, showing the different sides of the story and the story of different people who witnessed the said incident. Some posted the thoughts that they have in mind while some decided to stick with the news. Whatever it is, there is no doubt that the public is focusing attention on this incident once again. Although the incident happened way back in 2012 and although some people have covered it up, it has been gaining the interest of the public again lately. In fact, some of the truths behind it are slowly showing up. In case you wanted to know more about it, then continue on listening to the book.

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Title: Shell-Shocked

Subtitle: On the Ground Under Israel's Gaza Assault

Author: Mohammed Omer

Narrator: Suzanne Toren

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-30-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, 21st Century

Publisher's Summary:

Operation Protective Edge, launched in early July 2014, was the third major Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip in six years. It was also the most deadly. By the conclusion of hostilities some seven weeks later, 2,200 of Gaza's population had been killed, and more than 10,000 injured.

In this book, journalist Mohammed Omer, a resident of Gaza who lived through the terror of those days with his wife and then three-month-old son, provides a first-hand account of life on-the-ground during Israel's assault. The images he records in this extraordinary chronicle are a literary equivalent of Goya's Disasters of War: children's corpses stuffed into vegetable refrigerators, pointlessly because the electricity is off; a family rushing out of their home after a phone call from the Israeli military informs them that the building will be obliterated by an F-16 missile in three minutes; donkeys machine-gunned by Israeli soldiers under instructions to shoot anything that moves; graveyards targeted with shells so that mourners can no longer tell where their relatives are buried; fishing boats ablaze in the harbor.

Throughout this carnage, Omer maintains the cool detachment of the professional journalist, determined to create a precise record of what is occurring in front of him. But between his lines the outrage boils, and we are left to wonder how a society such as Israel, widely-praised in the West as democratic and civilized, can visit such monstrosities on a trapped and helpless population.

Members Reviews:

Very sad recollection NOT covered by mainstream media

Very sad recollection NOT covered by mainstream media

Four Stars

didnt finish yet

Lack of Introspection from a propagandized reviewer

Barbara wrote a naive review where she takes Apartheid-Israel's Public Relations talking points as "facts."

Indeed Israel did find a pretext to bomb the Gaza strip for revenge for forming a unity government between Hamas and Fatah. It's also profitable for arms dealers who use the Gaza strip as a human laboratory for weapons testing.

Israel uses Dahiya doctrine or disproportionate response where collective punishment and the targeting of civilian infrastructure is fair game. This by definition is state terrorism but the standard public relations line is that Hamas is using UN shelters, hospitals, and a whole block in a village as "human shields." Indeed, it is Israel that uses Palistinean children as human shields according to Israeli human rights groups like B'Tselem.

So it's not the author that has a lack of Introspection. It's the above reviewer who does. She seems to confuse her indoctrination for knowledge and actually closes her mind to the message of the book. That's a shame. Don't fall into that mental block.

To learn the basics of Apartheid-Israel's settler-colonial project, read Norman Finklestein's "Image and Reality of the Israel Palistine conflict lest you be parroting vulgar propaganda like Barbara.

Excellent âbirdseyeâ look at how life is like to live in Palestine

Just finished the book âShell Shocked: On the Ground Under Israelâs Gaza Assault.â The book recounts eyewitness accounts from Palestinians to give a glimpse of whatâs itâs like to live in Palestine.

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Title: The Eighties

Subtitle: The Decade That Transformed Australia

Author: Frank Bongiorno

Narrator: Bryan Dawe

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-03-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, 21st Century

Publisher's Summary:

It was the era of Hawke and Keating, Kylie and INXS, the America's Cup and the Bicentenary.

It was perhaps the most controversial decade in Australian history, with high-flying entrepreneurs booming and busting, torrid debates over land rights and immigration, the advent of AIDS, a harsh recession and the rise of the New Right.

It was a time when Australians fought for social change - on union picket lines, at rallies for women's rights and against nuclear weapons and as part of a new environmental movement.

And then there were the events that left many scratching their heads: Joh for Canberra...the Australia Card...Cliff Young.

In The Eighties, Frank Bongiorno brings all this and more to life. He uncovers forgotten stories - of factory workers proud of their skills who found themselves surplus to requirements; of Vietnamese families battling to make new lives for themselves in the suburbs. He sheds new light on 'both the ordinary and extraordinary things that happened to Australia and Australians during this liveliest of decades'.

The Eighties is contemporary history at its best.

Frank Bongiorno is associate professor of history at the Australian National University and author of the award-winning The Sex Lives of Australians. He has written for The Monthly, The Australian and Inside Story.

Critic Reviews:

"Frank Bongiorno has successfully negotiated the minefield of Australia's political egos to write the definitive account of an inspired, infuriating decade." (George Megalogenis)

Members Reviews:

This man has some rather outdated views...However this is possibly a decent history of Australia

Geoffrey Blainey is a good historian and he is entitled to his outdated and patronising views around race in keeping to the era he belongs to ... But this book will enrich your views on history of Australia and is actually a fairly decent attempt at that . I would even go onto say that he sometimes comes up with fairly balanced views on many subjects . I am entitled however to my views about him and would give him 3 stars ... His book if it was written by someone with today's more balanced values would get 5 stars . I recommend that you get it and then search for a book with a balancing set of views ...like the human civilisation , the history books are also in a state of continuous evolution ..

great read

as I grew up in the 80's, this book brought a lot of memories back. certainly worth the read if you are interested in history.

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Title: Dead Men Risen

Subtitle: An Epic Story of War and Heroism in Afghanistan

Author: Toby Harnden

Narrator: Andrew Richardson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 19 hrs and 49 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-04-15

Publisher: Regnery History

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 45 votes

Genres: History, 21st Century

Publisher's Summary:

Dead Men Risen, winner of the prestigious Orwell Prize for books, is the epic story of a beleaguered British battle group fighting desperately to prevent the Taliban from seizing Afghanistan's Helmand province just as the US Marines arrive to take over.

Best-selling author Toby Harnden describes how men from the coal mining valleys and slate quarry villages of Wales found themselves in the most intense combat faced by British troops for a generation. Underequipped and overstretched, the fighting prowess of the Welsh Guards in the killing fields of Sangin and Nawa awed the US Marines. NATO commander General Stanley McChrystal, who was awaiting a response to his urgent request to President Barack Obama for more troops, hailed their "burn-in-your-gut passion".

Harnden was on the ground with the Welsh Guards in Helmand in 2009. He gained access to a trove of secret military documents and conducted nearly 300 interviews in Afghanistan, England, Wales, and the United States to produce this timeless and profound account of men at war.

Commanding the Welsh Guards was Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, a passionate believer in the justness of the war who was dismayed by the military and political incompetence surrounding it. In chilling detail, Harnden reveals how and why Thorneloe - the first British battalion commander to die in action since the 1982 Falklands War - was killed by an IED during Operation Panther's Claw. By the time the fighting was over, almost no rank had been spared.

The listener is transported from the searing heat of the poppy fields and the mud compounds of Helmand to the dreaded knock on the door back home. Harnden weaves the experiences of the soldiers, their historical forbears, and the flawed NATO strategy into a masterly narrative. No other book about modern conflict succeeds on so many levels. This is essential for anyone who wants to understand the reality of the Afghan war for the US and its allies.

Members Reviews:

Touching reflection

Interesting and honest reflection, told everyone story fairly and provides a realistic representation of the the perpetual king game that is counter insurgence.

Very sobering look at Britain's involvement in Afghanistan

I was very surprised to see Britain's efforts in Afghanistan result from poor planning, understaffing, and lack of helicopter support. The Brits have always seemed to be well prepared and equipped for their military actions (Falklands excluded). To see them overstretched for lack of manpower, and forced to use IED infested roads for the lack of even basic helicopter support. One has to feel great compassion for them as they do their best despite inj

adequate support. So many unnecessary injuries and deaths because the political party in power failed to provide adequate manpower and support. The degree to which they did succeed is testament to their pluck and pride. A very good book!

Audiobook Narrator is PAINFUL to listen to!

I'm not even 5 min into this....The audiobook's narrator is PAINFUL to listen to! Narrator is so monotone that my mind wanders and makes me want to save this for when I can't sleep.

Also, It's so much better when the voice of narrators of war memoirs sound like the age the soldier was during the war.

The combo of:

1. monotone voice

2. Voice of old guy

3.

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Title: American Pain

Subtitle: How a Young Felon and His Ring of Doctors Unleashed America's Deadliest Drug Epidemic

Author: John Temple

Narrator: Charlie Thurston

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-03-15

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 992 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The king of the Florida pill mills was American Pain, a megaclinic expressly created to serve addicts posing as patients. From a fortresslike former bank building, American Pain's doctors distributed massive quantities of oxycodone to hundreds of customers a day, mostly traffickers and addicts who came by the vanload. Inked muscleheads ran the clinic's security. Former strippers operated the pharmacy, counting out pills and stashing cash in garbage bags. Under their lab coats, the doctors carried guns, and it was all legal...sort of.

American Pain chronicles the rise and fall of this game-changing pill mill and how it helped tip the nation into its current opioid crisis. The narrative, which swings back and forth between Florida and Kentucky, is populated by a diverse cast of characters. This includes the incongruous band of wealthy bad boys, thugs, and esteemed physicians who built American Pain as well as the penniless Kentucky clans who transformed themselves into painkiller trafficking rings. It includes addicts whose lives were devastated by American Pain's drugs and the federal agents and grieving mothers who labored for years to bring the clinic's crew to justice.

Critic Reviews:

"Journalism professor Temple dissects the Georges' criminal operation and documents the rise and fall of American Pain with precision and authority in this highly readable true crime account." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Now I understand the problem

A great book. As a physician I wondered why doctors were being blamed for the opiate epidemic. I understand better now but I still am upset with some of the information that I learned. In the past the DEA which dictatesThe amount of controlled drugs that can be produced by the companies has cut off or markedly decreased the amount of certain medicines in the past such as Quaalude. It instantly stopped the epidemic and yet the book tells me that in the last 10 years the DEA has allowed manufacturers to increase opiate production. In fact the amount produced in the year the book was published was I think 43 times what it was in the early 2000's! Shocking. It's very disappointing and discouraging to know that this epidemic could be stopped but it's almost like somebody doesn't want it to be stopped A great book. A must read

Tragically fascinating

As somebody who has friends and family who have struggled with painkiller addiction this book was as frustrating as it was engrossing. I finished it in a couple days and found myself listening to it while I was falling asleep. If you have or know somebody who has struggled with opiate addiction you will find this book very interesting. It doesn't have an agenda it's not pro doctors or pro patients. It just presents the facts. I had heard Florida was the painkiller Capitol of the US but had no idea. The narrator did a good job making the scene easy to visualize in your head by changes in tone and so on.

A true story that reads like good fiction - and in-depth look at "pill mills"

This is a no nonsense blow by blow story of the creation of the country's largest illegal drug source. Pill mills were growing rapidly all over the country but primarily in Florida. Everything seemed to be legal but commonsense should have told them that things weren't right.

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Title: A Nation of Nations

Subtitle: A Story of America After the 1965 Immigration Law

Author: Tom Gjelten

Narrator: David Colacci

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-03-15

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 16 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

In 1950, Fairfax County, Virginia, was 90 percent white, 10 percent African American, with a little more than 100 families who were "other". Currently the African American percentage of the population is about the same, but the Anglo white population is less than 50 percent, and there are families of Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American origin living all over the county.

A Nation of Nations follows the lives of a few immigrants to Fairfax County over recent decades as they gradually "Americanize". Hailing from Korea, Bolivia, and Libya, these families have stories that illustrate common immigrant themes: friction between minority groups, economic competition and entrepreneurship, and racial and cultural stereotyping. It's been half a century since the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act changed the landscape of America, and no book has assessed the impact or importance of this law as this one does, with its brilliant combination of personal stories and larger demographic and political issues.

Critic Reviews:

"A timely, well-informed entry into a national debate." (Kirkus)

Members Reviews:

Five Stars

Great detail and reporting. He doesn't advocate for any position, which is refreshing.

An important perspective on a major national debate.

Gjelten has written a compelling portrait of the immigration experience as seen through portrait-like series of interviews with three or four multi-generational and extended families, interwoven with historical chapters that fill in the politics of immigration policy as played out at the federal and local governmental levels. The book is organized around the passage of the landmark Immigration Reform Act of 1965, and its effects, intended and unintended, on Fairfax County, Virginia.

The book makes a strong case for why the strength of the American culture has always depended on its being welcoming to new immigrants, and how the new immigrants of today reinforce what is great about our country. The book contains stories of great academic achievement, business, political and entrepreneurial success, etc. by people who arrived speaking no English and only the clothes on their backs. But it also doesn't shy away from discussing the downside, such as crime, ongoing destructive discrimination against immigrants, inter-ethnic conflict, and the existence of religious extremism.

At a time when we are debating whether or not we should offer a path to citizenship for millions who are here illegally, and whether we should open our shores to refugees from the Middle East, this book provides a helpful, hopeful framework.

Very readable and balanced account of immigration policy over the past 50-60 years.

I liked this book very much. It is a very readable, journalistic account of legal immigration in the US since about 1950. Let me unpack that:

"very readable" means I read it in three days, probably about 6 hours. Moves along briskly to say the least.

"journalistic" means it proceeds by way of a close-up, sympathetic narrative about people and lets his points unfold from there, which is to be contorted with a top-down manner, such as an "academic" work, with a thesis stated upfront and data marshaled to back it up, with links to other academic researchers with whom the author agrees or disagrees.

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Title: Anything for a Vote

Subtitle: Dirty Tricks, Cheap Shots, and October Surprises in US Presidential Campaigns

Author: Joseph Cummins

Narrator: Tom Perkins

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-27-15

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 13 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Today's political pundits express shock and disappointment when candidates resort to negative campaigning. But history reveals that smear campaigns are as American as apple pie. Anything for a Vote is a look at 200-plus years of dirty tricks and bad behavior in presidential elections, from George Washington to Barack Obama and John McCain. Let the name-calling begin!

1836: Congressman Davy Crockett accuses candidate Martin Van Buren of secretly wearing women's clothing: "He is laced up in corsets!"

1960: Former president Harry Truman advises voters that "if you vote for Richard Nixon, you ought to go to hell!"

Full of sleazy anecdotes from every presidential election in United States history, Anything for a Vote is a valuable reminder that history does repeat itself, that lessons can be learned from the past (though they usually aren't), and that our most famous presidents are not above reproach when it comes to the dirtiest game of all - political campaigning.

Critic Reviews:

"Dirty tricks of the covert and the sleazy." (New York Times Magazine)

Members Reviews:

Enjoyable, adds historical perspective, not deep

Yes, one shouldn't pretend this is "the whole story." It is selective on some of the facts and polemically so, but that doesn't take away its essential value. Yes, the 1790s were at least as virulent as today's campaigns, actually more so, and in a much more precarious time for the formation of our nation's government branches and overall viability. This is not entirely explored here at a deep level, but rather, we see a lot of the sound and fury on the surface. And that, of course, is most of what media gives us today. This is a breezy trip through American history from this point of view.

Great Politics 500

Once I started listening, I couldn't listen to anything else till I finished. Great story, great narration.

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Title: The Baby & the Battalion

Author: Kenneth Miller

Narrator: James Patrick Cronin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-19-15

Publisher: Reader's Digest

Genres: History, 21st Century

Publisher's Summary:

A woman's cry for help prompted US Navy medic Chris Walsh to take on a risky new mission.