History 3
Talking Books
The titles in this booklist are just a selection of the titles available for loan from the RNIB National Library Talking Book Service.
Don’t forget you are allowed to have up to 6 books on loan. When you return a title, you will then receive another one.
If you would like to read any of these titles then please contact the Customer Services Team on 0303 123 9999 or email
If you would like further information, or help in selecting titles to read, then please contact the Reader Services Team on 01733 37 53 33 or email
You can write to us at RNIB NLS, PO Box 173, Peterborough PE2 6WS
WORLD HISTORY - ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL
Asbridge, Thomas S
The Crusades: the war of the Holy Land. 2010. Read by Alistair Maydon, 31 hours 11 minutes. TB 17326.
In the eleventh century, a vast Christian army, summoned to holy war by the Pope, rampaged through the Muslim world of the eastern Mediterranean, seizing possession of Jerusalem, a city revered by both faiths. Over the two hundred years that followed this First Crusade, Islam and the West fought for dominion of the Holy Land, clashing in a succession of chillingly brutal wars, both firm in the belief that they were at God's work. This book tells the story of this epic struggle from the perspective of both Christians and Muslims, reconstructing the experiences and attitudes of those on either side of the conflict. TB 17326.
Beard, Mary
Pompeii: the life of a Roman town. 2008. Read by Michael Tudor Barnes, 13 hours. TB 16535.
The ruins of Pompeii destroyed by Vesuvius in AD 79 offer the best evidence we have of life in the Roman Empire. What kind of town was it? What can it tell us about life then - from sex to politics, food to religion, slavery to literacy? Can we use this extraordinary survival to write a history of 'ordinary' Roman life? The headings of Mary Beard's notes give a taste of this book: Bad Breath, Intestinal Parasites, Performing Monkeys, One-way Streets, Kosher Food, Water Shortages. Contains strong language. TB 16535.
Gibbon, Edward
The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire: volume the first (1776) and volume the second (1781). 2005. Read by Michael Tudor Barnes, 50 hours 51 minutes. TB 16786.
Edward Gibbon's six-volume History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-88) is among the narratives in European literature. Its subject is the fate of one of the world's greatest civilizations over thirteen centuries - its rulers, wars and society, and the events that led to its disastrous collapse. Here, in volumes one and two, Gibbon charts the vast extent and constitution of the Empire from the reign of Augustus to 395 A.D. And in a controversial critique, he examines the early Church, with accounts of the first Christian and last pagan emperors, Constantine and Julian. TB 16786.
Hale, John R
Lords of the sea: the triumph and tragedy of ancient Athens. 2010. Read by Jon Cartwright, 13 hours 55 minutes. TB 18117.
Lords of the Sea brings together the impressive modern scholarly knowledge of ancient Athens. Its narrative relies on ancient literature (the histories, plays, speeches, poetry, inscriptions), the latest archaeological discoveries (bronze rams, ship houses and docks, naval monuments), first-hand study of every important theatre of war, and insight into a society that was one of the few in history to grant extreme sexual license to free adult males. TB 18117.
Holmes, George
The Oxford illustrated history of Medieval Europe. 1988. Read by Michael Tudor Barnes, 14 hours 13 minutes. TB 17806.
An account of life in medieval Europe between the fall of the Roman Empire and the coming of the Renaissance. Full coverage is given to all aspects of life in a thousand-year period which saw the creation of western civilization: from the empires and kingdoms of Charlemagne, the Byzantines, and the Hundred Years War, to the ideas of the Crusades; the building of great cathedrals and the social catastrophe of the Black Death; the cultural worlds of chivalric knights, popular festivals, and new art forms. TB 17806.
Holland, Tom
Millennium: the end of the world and the forging of Christendom. 2009. Read by James Parsons. 17 hours 29 minutes. TB 18152.
Of all the civilisations existing in the year 1000, that of Western Europe seemed the unlikeliest candidate for future greatness. This book is a panoramic account of the two centuries on either side of the apocalyptic year 1000. This was the age of Canute, William the Conqueror and Pope Gregory VII, of Vikings, monks and serfs, of the earliest castles and the invention of knighthood, and of the primal conflict between church and state. This is the story of how the distinctive culture of Europe was forged from out of the convulsions of these extraordinary times. TB 18152.
Jones, P V
Vote for Caesar: how the ancient Greeks and Romans solved the problems of today. 2009. Read by Bill Wallis, 10 hours 15 minutes. TB 18178.
The expansion of the congestion charge zone, prices going up on the Underground, bendy buses - all ideas brought about to try to make the traffic situation in our capital city run more smoothly. Surely there must be a better way? In fact there is. In Roman times, when the streets were even more crowded, Caesar decreed that all vehicles (except those involved in building work) were banned from the City, while Nero took advantage of a major fire to broaden the streets to improve access. In this book, Peter Jones highlights just how much we have to learn from the past and how things really were once so much better. TB 18178.
Kriwaczek, Paul
Babylon: Mesopotamia and the birth of civilization. 2010. Read by Paul Herzberg, 13 hours 14 minutes. TB 18128.
In Babylon, the author tells the story of ancient Mesopotamia from the earliest settlements around 5400 BC, to the eclipse of Babylon by the Persians in the sixth century BC. He chronicles the rise and fall of dynastic power during this period; he examines its numerous material, social and cultural innovations and inventions: The wheel, civil, engineering, building bricks, the centralized state, the division of labour, organised religion, sculpture, education, mathematics, law and monumental building. TB 18128.
Miles, Richard
Carthage must be destroyed: the rise and fall of an ancient Mediterranean civilization. 2010. Read by Robin Houston, 17 hours 13 minutes. TB 18058.
Drawing on new archaeological research, this book brings to life the lost empire - from its origins among the Phoenician settlements of Lebanon to its apotheosis as the greatest sea-power in the Mediterranean, with interests stretching from the Middle East to southern Spain. Roman ferocity tried to remove Carthage from history, but it is possible nonetheless to create an extraordinary narrative of a civilization which left an indelible, if often hidden legacy for those that followed. TB 18058.
BRITISH HISTORY – ANCIENT & MEDIEVAL
Pain, Nesta
The king and Becket. 1964. Read by Duncan Carse, 7 hours 59 minutes. TB 1307.
How the quarrel between Henry II, championing the rights of kingship, and Beckett, insistent on the church's prerogatives, ended in the Archbishop's murder in Canterbury Cathedral. TB 1307.
Phillips, Seymour
Edward II. 2010. Read by Mark Elstob, 24 hours 24 minutes. TB 17498.
This biography takes full account of the problems the king faced in England, Scotland, and Ireland and in his relations with France. It also tackles the contentious issue of whether Edward II did not die in 1327, murdered under barbaric circumstances, but lived on as a captive in England and then a wanderer on the Continent. TB 17498.
St Aubyn, Giles
The year of three kings, 1483. 1983. Read by Tom Crowe, 8 hours 29 minutes. TB 5110.
The author relates the events of 1483, when the chaotic and brutal period of family vendettas and gang warfare known as the Wars of the Roses is nearing its end. Was Richard III the murderer of his own relations, or was his only crime to be on the losing side? TB 5110.
Young, Simon
A.D. 500: a journey through the dark isles of Britain and Ireland. 2006. Read by Peter Kenny, 9 hours 2 minutes. TB 18114.
From Tintagel and tin-mining to saints and slave markets, from alcohol and King Arthur to boat burials and beavers - here are the realities of life in the sixth century A.D. Based on archaeological and historical evidence, this window on the mysterious world of the Dark Ages is written as a practical survival guide for the use of civilised Greek visitors to the barbaric islands of Britain and Ireland. TB 18114.
BRITISH HISTORY – TUDORS & STUARTS
Fox, Julia
Jane Boleyn: the infamous Lady Rochford. 2008. Read by Julia Barrie, 13 hours 30 minutes. TB 16512.
Jane Rochford was sister-in-law to Anne Boleyn and Lady of the Bedchamber to Catherine Howard, whom she followed to the scaffold in 1542. Hers is a life of extraordinary drama as a witness to and participant in the greatest events of Henry's reign. Her supposed part in both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard's downfall has led to her being reviled through centuries. In this biography, the author repudiates the idea of the infamous Lady Rochford and Jane emerges as a rather modern woman forced by brutal circumstance to fend for herself in a politically lethal world. TB 16512.
Guy, John
Tudor England. 1990. Read by Robin Houston, 22 hours 41 minutes. TB 16652.
This history of Tudor England provides an account of political and religious developments from the advent of the Tudors in the 1460s to the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, including character studies of the monarchs and politicians, aiming to bring to life their personalities as well as their policies. The work takes into account the new debates on the progress of the English Reformation and on the strength or weaknesses of Tudor government at national and local levels. The narrative structure incorporates analytical discussion of the main themes and also contextual chapters on the economy and society and on political culture. TB 16652.
Hanson, Neil
The dreadful judgement: the true story of the great fire of London 1666. 2002. Read by John Sackville, 10 hours 26 minutes. TB 18259.
In 1666, a ten-month drought had turned London into a tinderbox, and when the spark ignited, there was no stopping it. Gales, dry timber and the riverside warehouses full of flammable goods ensured that five days later city was in ruins. This is the human story of that "dreadful judgement". Contains strong language. TB 18259.
Massie, Allan
The royal Stuarts: a history of the family that shaped Britain. 2011. Read by John Telfer, 13 hours 39 minutes. TB 18385.
The Royal Stuarts were leading actors in the foremost political dramas of British history - the Scottish Wars of Independence, the Union of the Crowns, the English Civil War and the Restoration - and remain the most controversial and divisive of royal families. This book takes us deep into the lives of figures like Mary Queen of Scots, Charles I and Bonnie Prince Charlie, uncovering a family of strong affections and fierce rivalries, the brave and capable, the weak and foolish. TB 18385.
Newcombe, D G
Henry VIII and the English reformation. 1995. Read by Anton Lang, 4 hours 41 minutes. TB 17330.
This pamphlet examines the influence of continental reform on England; describes the divorce of Henry VIII and the break with Rome; discusses the political and religious consequences of the break with Rome; assesses the success of the Reformation up to 1547; provides a clear guide to the main strands of historical thought on the topic. TB 17330.
Weir, Alison
The lady in the tower: the fall of Anne Boleyn. 2009. Read by Emma Powell, 16 hours. TB 17242.
The imprisonment and execution of Queen Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife, in May 1536 was unprecedented in English history. Anne was imprisoned in the Tower of London on 2 May 1536, and tried and found guilty of high treason on 15 May. Her supposed crimes included adultery with five men, one her own brother, and plotting the King's death. Alison Weir has reassessed the evidence, demolished many romantic myths and popular misconceptions, and rewritten the story of Anne's fall, creating a detailed portrait of the dramatic last days of one of the most influential and important figures in English history. TB 17242.
Wroe, Ann
Perkin: a story of deception. 2004. Read by Helen Bourne, 31 hours 26 minutes. TB 18706.
The story of Perkin Warbeck is one of the most compelling mysteries of English history. A young man suddenly emerged claiming to be Richard of York, the younger of the Princes in the Tower. As such, he tormented Henry VII for eight years. He tried three times to invade England and behaved like a prince. Officially, however, he was proclaimed to be Perkin Warbeck, the son of a Flemish boatman. A diplomatic pawn, he was used by the greatest European rulers of the age for their own purposes. All who dealt with him gave him the identity they wished him to have: either the
Duke of York or a jumped up lad from Flanders. It is possible that he was neither. It is also possible that, by the end, even he did not really know who he was. TB 18706.
BRITISH HISTORY – HANOVERIAN, GEORGIAN & REGENCY
Chambers, James
Charlotte & Leopold. 2009. Read by Jilly Bond, 7 hours 6 minutes. TB 17358.
From the day she was born, Charlotte won the hearts of her subjects and yet behind the scenes she was used, abused and victimised by rivalries. Her death in childbirth - the result of medical incompetence - was followed by an unseemly scramble to produce a substitute heir. Queen Victoria was the product. This is the tragic story of the doomed romance between Charlotte, heir to the English throne, and Leopold, first King of the Belgians. TB 17358.