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History & Criticism Audiobooks

If you like History & Criticism Audiobooks, then you'll love these top picks.
Showing 1 - 24 of 236 Results
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  • Audiobook

    Perfect Sound Whatever

    THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

    by James Acaster ...
    Narrated by James Acaster ...

    Unabridged

    6 hours 55 min

    The brand new memoir from James Acaster: cult comedian, bestselling author of Classic Scrapes, undercover cop, receiver of cabbages.PERFECT SOUND WHATEVER is a love letter to the healing power of music, and how one man's obsessive quest saw him defeat the bullshit of one year with the beauty of another. Because that one man is James Acaster, it also includes tales of befouling himself in a Los ... Read more

    $35.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    Feel Free

    Essays

    by Zadie Smith ...
    Narrated by Nikki Amuka-Bird ...

    Unabridged

    13 hours 53 min

    Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Feel Free by Zadie Smith, read by Nikki Amuka-Bird.From the MAN BOOKER PRIZE- and WOMEN'S PRIZE-SHORTLISTED author of Changing My Mind and Swing Time - discover a second unmissable collection of essays from Zadie Smith'Generous, courageous, and tough-minded... [A] classic English essayist in the vein of Orwell, Woolf and Angela Carter' Financial Times<... ... Read more

    $21.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    A History of Heavy Metal

    'Absolutely hilarious' – Neil Gaiman

    by Andrew O'Neill ...
    Narrated by Andrew O'Neill ...

    Unabridged

    8 hours 18 min

    'Absolutely hilarious' - Neil Gaiman'One of the funniest musical commentators that you will ever read . . . loud and thoroughly engrossing' - Alan Moore'A man on a righteous mission to persuade people to "lay down your souls to the gods rock and roll".' - The Sunday Times'As funny and preposterous as this mighty music deserve' - John HiggsThe history of heavy metal brings br... ... Read more

    $35.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    The View from the Cheap Seats

    Selected Nonfiction

    by Neil Gaiman ...
    Narrated by Neil Gaiman ...

    Unabridged

    15 hours 29 min

    The View from the Cheap Seats draws together myriad non-fiction writing by international phenomenon and Sunday Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman. From Make Good Art, the speech that went viral, to pieces on artists and legends including Terry Pratchett and Lou Reed**, the collection offers a glimpse into the head and heart of one of the most acclaimed writers of our time.**</p... ... Read more

    $39.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    Book of Longing

    by Leonard Cohen ...
    Narrated by Leonard Cohen ...

    Unabridged

    3 hours 12 min

    Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Book of Longing written and read by Leonard Cohen.Book of Longing is Leonard Cohen's first book of new poetry since Book of Mercy was published two decades ago. It collects Cohen's poetry written between the 1980s and 2006, when this book was first published.Book of Longing demonstrates the range and depth of Cohen's work, revealing an extraordinary gift ... Read more

    $15.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    For the Sake of Heaviness

    The History of Metal Blade Records

    by Brian Slagel, Mark Eglinton ...
    Narrated by Brian Slagel, John Bush ...

    Unabridged

    4 hours 36 min

    The story of Metal Blade Records is the story of Brian Slagel-a metal-obsessed Southern California kid who launched a fanzine and landed a record store job before cobbling together what he assumed would be a one-off compilation of fledgling bands from the L.A. scene. Released in 1982, the Metal Massacre LP included the debut recordings of local groups such as Steeler, Malice, Ratt, and Metallica. ... Read more

    $21.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    Our Band Could Be Your Life

    Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991

    by Michael Azerrad ...
    Narrated by Michael Azerrad, Dave Longstreth, Jeff Tweedy, Jonathan Franzen, Laura Jane Grace, Colin Meloy, Jon Wurster, Fred Armisen, Corey Taylor, Sharon Van Etten0, Phil Elverum1, Stephin Merritt2, Merrill Garbus3 ...

    Unabridged

    21 hours 6 min

    The definitive chronicle of underground music in the 1980s tells the stories of Black Flag, Sonic Youth, The Replacements, and other seminal bands whose DIY revolution changed American music forever.Our Band Could Be Your Life is the never-before-told story of the musical revolution that happened right under the nose of the Reagan Eighties -- when a small but sprawling network of bands, labels, ... Read more

    $49.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    Last Night a DJ Saved My Life

    by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton ...
    Narrated by Theo Solomon ...

    Unabridged

    29 hours 26 min

    'Literally changed the course of my life' James Murphy'The chapter on Larry Levan alone transformed me into wanting to be your favorite DJ' Questlove'The original and still the best' Gilles Peterson'We can't tell the story of dance music without speaking the names of Sharon White and Judy Weinstein, so I welcome this vital update' The Blessed MadonnaWhen someone says, 'You have to know your ... ... Read more

    $55.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    The Rest Is Noise

    Listening to the Twentieth Century

    by Alex Ross ...
    Narrated by Grover Gardner ...

    Unabridged

    23 hours 8 min

    The scandal over modern music has not died down. While modern paintings by Picasso and Pollock sell for a hundred million or more, shocking musical works from Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring onward still send ripples of unease through audiences; yet the influence of modern sound can be felt everywhere. Alex Ross, music critic for the New Yorker, shows how modern music has pervaded every corner of ... Read more

    $46.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    Dissing

    by Povl Dissing, Jens Folmer Jepsen ...
    Narrated by Rasmus Dissing ...

    Unabridged

    13 hours 32 min

    I mere end 60 år var Povl Dissing en opsigtsvækkende og elsket stemme i dansk musikliv. Måske fordi han altid var sig selv og altid evnede at være nærværende.Med "Dissing" fortæller Povl Dissing for første gang sin spektakulære og farverige livshistorie; om de mange mennesker, han mødte, om rejserne ud i verden, og om de sange, han fandt på vejen og gjorde til sine egne – enten alene eller i ... Read more

    $25.99 AUD

  • Audiobook

    A New Day Yesterday

    UK Progressive Rock & The 1970s

    by Mike Barnes ...
    Narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies ...

    Unabridged

    27 hours 15 min

    Music journalist Mike Barnes (MOJO, the Wire, Prog, and author of the acclaimed biography Captain Beefheart) goes back to the birth of progressive rock and surveys the cultural conditions and attitudes that fed into, and were in turn affected by, this remarkable musical phenomenon. He examines the myths and misconceptions that have grown up around progressive rock and paints a vivid, colorful ... Read more

    $51.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    Simply Beethoven

    by Leon Plantinga ...
    Narrated by Angus Freathy ...
    Audiobook 20 - Great Lives

    Unabridged

    6 hours 47 min

    Born in Bonn, Germany, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) showed musical talent from an early age and was first taught by his musician father, Johann, an alcoholic who often beat his son. At the age of 21, Beethoven moved to Vienna, where he studied with composer Joseph Haydn and quickly became renowned as a pianist and conductor, as well as a composer. He continued to perform until 1811 when ... Read more

    $16.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    Emmett Miller: An Obscure Minstrel Yodeler Who Changed Music Forever

    by Jack Norton ...
    Narrated by Jack Norton ...

    Unabridged

    41 min

    One of the strangest, most obscure, and intriguing stories from the last century of American music is that of Emmett Miller. He helped define the popular music of the last 75 years, and for the most part, today he is all but forgotten. Emmett Miller left many legacies which influenced the American musical landscape for generations. Certainly his singing style - the odd nasal pitch tone, along with ... Read more

    $8.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    Night Train to Nashville

    The Greatest Untold Story of Music City

    by Paula Blackman ...

    Unabridged

    7 hours 53 min

    Set against the backdrop of Jim Crow, Night Train to Nashville takes readers behind the curtain of one of music's greatest untold stories during the era of segregation and Civil Rights.In another time and place, E. Gab Blackman and William Sousa "Sou" Bridgeforth might have been as close as brothers, but in 1950s Nashville they remained separated by the color of their skin. Gab, a visionary yet ... Read more

    $31.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

    PRE-ORDER

  • Audiobook

    The Inner Game of Music

    by Barry Green ...
    Narrated by Roxanne Abbott ...

    Unabridged

    8 hours 33 min

    The Inner Game of music is that which takes place in the mind, played against such elusive opponents as nervousness, self doubt, and fear of failure. Using the same principles of "natural learning" W. Timothy Gallwey developed so successfully for tennis, golf, and skiing and applying them to his own field, noted musician Barry Green shows how to acknowledge and overcome these internal obstacles in ... Read more

    $29.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    Miles to Go

    The Lost Years

    by Chris Murphy ...
    Narrated by Patrick Lawlor ...

    Unabridged

    8 hours 14 min

    Miles to Go is a frank and intimate exploration of Miles Davis’ eccentric working life, drug habits, paranoia, depression, and subsequent recovery. Murphy explores Davis’ troubled relationship with his children and the controversial role Cicely Tyson played in his life. The book also delves into the dynamics that made Davis’ band work so well together, placing Davis’ work in a historic, literary, ... Read more

    $29.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    Schumann

    The Faces and the Masks

    by Judith Chernaik ...
    Narrated by Nicol Zanzarella ...

    Unabridged

    12 hours 53 min

    Schumann: The Faces and the Masks is a groundbreaking account of a major composer whose life and works have been the subject of intense controversy ever since his attempted suicide and early death in an insane asylum. Schumann was a key figure in the Romanticism which swept Europe and America in the 19th century, inspiring writers, musicians and painters, delighting their enthralled audiences, and ... Read more

    $54.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    The Classical Music Book

    by DK ...
    Narrated by Peter Forbes ...

    Unabridged

    15 hours 58 min

    From Mozart to Mendelssohn, this comprehensive guide to classical music history and classical music biography is the perfect latest addition to the bestselling Big Ideas series.Easy to understand and clear to follow, this history of classical music explores and explains music theory and the impact of seminal pieces, while also providing fascinating stories about the lives of crucial composers and ... Read more

    $28.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    Monolithic Undertow

    In Search of Sonic Oblivion

    by Harry Sword ...
    Narrated by Harry Sword ...

    Unabridged

    14 hours 28 min

    'An inspired and intuitive navigation of the drone continuum . . . with a compass firmly set to new and enlightening psychedelic truths' BECKMonolithic Undertow alights a crooked path across musical, religious and subcultural frontiers. It traces the line from ancient traditions to the modern underground, navigating archaeoacoustics, ringing feedback, chest plate sub-bass, avant-garde eccentricity ... Read more

    $39.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    Listen to This

    by Alex Ross ...
    Narrated by Alex Ross ...

    Unabridged

    14 hours 31 min

    In Listen to This, Alex Ross, the music critic for The New Yorker, looks both backward and forward in time, capturing essential figures and ideas in classical-music history as well as giving an alternative view of recent pop music that emphasizes the power of the individual musical voice in whatever genre.In Listen to This, Alex Ross will combine a selection of his New Yorker essays with new ... Read more

    $39.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    Dangerous Melodies

    Classical Music in America from the Great War through the Cold War

    by Jonathan Rosenberg, Jayme Mattler ...
    Narrated by Chris Henry Coffey ...

    Unabridged

    15 hours 56 min

    A Juilliard-trained musician and professor of history explores the fascinating entanglement of classical music with American foreign relations.Dangerous Melodies vividly evokes a time when classical music stood at the center of American life, occupying a prominent place in the nation’s culture and politics. The work of renowned conductors, instrumentalists, and singers―and the activities of ... Read more

    $36.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    Mysteries in the Music: Case Closed

    by Jim Berkenstadt ...
    Narrated by Matt Hurwitz ...

    Unabridged

    10 hours 7 min

    Mysteries in the Music: Case Closed examines some of the secrets, myths, legends, hoaxes, conspiracies, and wildly inexplicable events that are such an intriguing part of rock and roll history.Travel Back to the 1950s to uncover "Who Really Discovered Elvis Presley?" Revisit the 1960s when a folk troubadour tried forming a supergroup with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Transport back to ... Read more

    $17.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    The Great Romantic

    Cricket and the golden age of Neville Cardus - Winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year

    by Duncan Hamilton ...
    Narrated by David Mounfield ...

    Unabridged

    10 hours 2 min

    THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERDuncan Hamilton is already a multiple award-winning sports writer, but it is hard to imagine he will write a better book than this superb, elegiac portrait of the sociable, feted, but ultimately unknowable, man who virtually invented modern sports writing...This is writing every bit the equal of Cardus himself. - Daily Mail'Hamilton is a worthy biographer... as much ... Read more

    $35.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial

  • Audiobook

    Music and Theater

    Past, Present and Future

    by Leon Botstein ...
    Narrated by Leon Botstein ...

    Unabridged

    58 min

    One Day University presents a series of audio lectures recorded in real-time from some of the top minds in the United States. Given by award-winning professors and experts in their field, these recorded lectures dive deep into the worlds of religion, government, literature, and social justice. Music is so important because it has no purpose. Its only utility is to remind each of us as human beings ... Read more

    $26.99 AUD or free with audiobook trial