Audiobooks narrated by Al Murray

Cassino '44: The Bloodiest Battle of the Italian Campaign

Brought to you by Penguin. There are no such thing as an easy victory in war but after triumph in Tunisia, the sweeping success of the Sicilian invasion, and with the Italian surrender, the Allies were confident that they would be in Rome before Christmas 1943. And yet it didn't happen. Hitler ordered his forces to dig in and fight for every yard, thus setting the stage for one of the grimmest and most attritional campaigns of the Second World War. By the start of 1944, the Allies found themselves coming up against the Gustav Line: a formidable barrier of wire, minefields, bunkers and booby traps, woven into a giant chain of mountains and river valleys that stretched the width of Italy where at its strongest point perched the Abbey of Monte Cassino. It would take five long bitter winter months and the onset of summer before the Allies could finally bludgeon their way north and capture Rome. By then, more than 75,000 troops and civilians had been killed and the historic abbey and entire towns and villages had been laid waste. Following a rich cast of characters from both sides - from frontline infantry to aircrew, from clerks to battlefield commanders, and from politicians and civilians caught up in the middle of the maelstrom - James Holland has drawn widely on diaries, letters and contemporary sources to write the definitive account of this brutal battle. The result is a compelling and often heart-breaking narrative, told in the moment, as the events played out, and from the perspective of those who lived, fought and died there. ©2024 James Holland (P)2024 Penguin Audio

James Holland (Author), Al Murray, TBD (Narrator)

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Arnhem: Black Tuesday: The Classic Battle Told As Never Before

Al Murray (Author), Al Murray, TBD (Narrator)

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The Savage Storm: The Heroic True Story of One of the Least told Campaigns of WW2

Brought to you by Penguin. This is World War 2 in microcosm told through the brutal story of the most pivotal campaign the Allies were to fight by one of the UK's most acclaimed and bestselling historians From the bestselling author of Brothers in Arms comes the story of the most pivotal Allies campaign of World War II. With the invasion of France the following year taking shape, and hot on the heels of victory in Sicily, the Allies crossed into Southern Italy in September 1943. They expected to drive the Axis forces north and be in Rome by Christmas. And although Italy surrendered, the German forces resisted fiercely and the swift hoped-for victory descended into one of the most brutal battles of the war. Even though shipping and materiel were already being safeguarded for the D-Day landings, there were still huge expectations on the progress of the invading armies, but those shortages were to slow the advance with tragic consequences. As the weather closed in, the critical months leading up to Monte Cassino would inflict a heavy price for every bloody, hard fought mile the Allied troops covered. Chronicling those dark, dramatic months in unflinching and insightful detail, The Savage Storm is unlike any campaign history yet written. James Holland has always recounted the Second World War at ground level, but this version telling brings the story vividly to life like never before. Weaving together a wealth of letters, diaries, and other incredible documents, Holland traces the battles as they were fought - across plains, over mountains, through shattered villages and cities, in intense heat and, towards the end, frigid cold and relentless rain - putting readers at the heart of the action to create an entirely fresh and revealing telling of this most pivotal phase of the war. 'Impeccably researched and superbly written' Observer 'Holland has something new to say.... Filled with insight and detail' Neil Oliver 'James Holland is the best of the new generation of WW2 historians' Sebastian Faulks ©2023 Griffon Merlin Ltd, (P)2023 Penguin Audio

James Holland (Author), Al Murray (Narrator)

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Chindit: The inside story of one of World War Two's most dramatic behind-the-lines operations

Brought to you by Penguin. 1943. Major-General Orde Wingate startles the military world by commanding a daring raid in the heart of Japanese-occupied Burma. But this was just the beginning. In the following year, Wingate spearheaded an even more ambitious operation, flying 10,000 men and 1,000 animals behind Japanese lines to disrupt communications and harass the Japanese forces. With close tactical support from Colonel Philip Cochran, Chindit was the name given to these operations and the men who made them happen. This is their story, told by one man who was at the heart of it all. Cipher officer Richard Rhodes James tells the story of the preparations in central India, the flights deep into enemy territory and the campaign of guerrilla operations that followed. Taking the reader through the remote wilds of the jungle, showing the parching heat and the relentless rain that these men experienced, Rhodes James paints a detailed portrait of a band of brothers fighting for survival. © Richard Rhodes James 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Richard Rhodes James (Author), Al Murray (Narrator)

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Brothers in Arms: One Legendary Tank Regiment's Bloody War from D-Day to VE-Day

Brought to you by Penguin. ** READ BY AL MURRAY ** 'War as it should be described. The book is an assault on the senses...Painful to read but impossible to put down' Gerard de Groot, The Times From the bestselling author of Normandy '44 and Sicily '43 comes an extraordinary account of the last year of the Second World War It took a certain type of courage to serve in a tank in World War Two. Encased in steel, surrounded by highly explosive shells, a big and slow-moving target, every crew member was utterly vulnerable to enemy attack from all sides. Living - and dying - in a tank was a brutal way to fight a war. The Sherwood Rangers were one of the great tank regiments. They had learned their trade the hard way, under the burning sun of North Africa, on the battlefields of El Alamein and Alam el Halfa. By the time they landed on Gold Beach on D-Day, they were toughened by experience and ready for combat. From that moment on, the Sherwood Rangers were in the thick of the action til the war's end. They and their Sherman tanks covered thousands of miles and endured some of the fiercest fighting in Western Europe. The first British unit to cross into Germany, their engagements stretch from the Normandy beaches, to the bridges at Eindhoven, and the grinding crossing of the Siegfried Line and on into the Nazi heartland. Through compelling eye-witness testimony and James Holland's expert analysis of the war in the West, Brothers In Arms brings to vivid life the final bloody scramble across Europe and gives the most powerful account to date of what it was really like to fight in the dying days of World War Two. © James Holland 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

James Holland (Author), Al Murray (Narrator)

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Sicily '43: The First Assault on Fortress Europe

Brought to you by Penguin. From the bestselling author of Normandy '44 comes a major new history of one of World War II's most crucial campaigns. Codenamed Operation HUSKY, the Allied assault on Sicily on 10 July 1943 remains the largest amphibious invasion ever mounted in world history, landing more men in a single day than at any other time. That day, over 160,000 British, American and Canadian troops were dropped from the sky or came ashore, more than on D-Day just under a year later. It was also preceded by an air campaign that marked a new direction and dominance of the skies by Allies. The subsequent thirty-eight-day Battle for Sicily was one of the most dramatic of the entire Second World War, involving daring raids by special forces, deals with the Mafia, attacks across mosquito-infested plains and perilous assaults up almost sheer faces of rock and scree. It was a brutal campaign - the violence was extreme, the heat unbearable, the stench of rotting corpses intense and all-pervasive, the problems of malaria, dysentery and other diseases a constant plague. And all while trying to fight a way across an island of limited infrastructure and unforgiving landscape, and against a German foe who would not give up. It also signalled the beginning of the end of the War in the West. From here on, Italy ceased to participate in the war, the noose began to close around the neck of Nazi Germany, and the coalition between the United States and Britain came of age. Most crucially, it would be a critical learning exercise before Operation OVERLORD, the Allied invasion of Normandy, in June 1944. Based on his own battlefield studies in Sicily and on much new research over the past thirty years, James Holland's SICILY '43 offers a vital new perspective on a major turning point in World War II. It is a timely, powerful and dramatic account by a master military historian and will fill a major gap in the narrative history of the Second World War. © James Holland 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

James Holland (Author), Al Murray (Narrator)

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Burma '44: The Battle That Turned Britain's War in the East

Brought to you by Penguin. This audio edition includes an exclusive Q&A between James Holland and Al Murray. 'A thrilling blow-by-blow account' The Times In February 1944, a rag-tag collection of clerks, drivers, doctors, muleteers, and other base troops, stiffened by a few dogged Yorkshiremen and a handful of tank crews managed to hold out against some of the finest infantry in the Japanese Army, and then defeat them in what was one of the most astonishing battles of the Second World War. What became know as The Defence of the Admin Box, fought amongst the paddy fields and jungle of Northern Arakan over a fifteen-day period, turned the battle for Burma. Not only was it the first decisive victory for British troops against the Japanese, more significantly, it demonstrated how the Japanese could be defeated. The lessons learned in this tiny and otherwise insignificant corner of the Far East, set up the campaign in Burma that would follow, as General Slim’s Fourteenth Army finally turned defeat into victory. Burma '44 is a tale of incredible drama. As gripping as the story of Rorke's drift, as momentous as the battle for the Ardennes, the Admin Box was a triumph of human grit and heroism and remains one of the most significant yet undervalued conflicts of World War Two. © James Holland 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

James Holland (Author), Al Murray (Narrator)

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The Battle of Britain

Brought to you by Penguin. This audio edition includes an exclusive Q&A between James Holland and Al Murray. 'If Hitler fails to invade or destroy Britain, he has lost the war,' Churchill said in the summer of 1940.He was right.The Battle of Britain was a crucial turning point in the history of the Second World War. Had Britain's defences collapsed, Hitler would have dominated all of Europe and been able to turn his full attention east to the Soviet Union. The German invasion of France and the Low Countries in May 1940 was unlike any the world had ever seen. It hit with a force and aggression that no-one could counter and in just a few short weeks, all in their way crumbled under the force of the Nazi hammer blow. With France facing defeat and with British forces pressed back to the Channel, there were few who believed Britain could possibly survive.Soon, it seemed, Hitler would have all of Europe at his feet. Yet Hitler's forces were not quite the Goliath they at first seemed, while her leadership lacked the single-minded purpose, vision and direction that had led to such success on land.Nor was Britain any David.Thanks to a sophisticated defensive system and the combined efforts of the RAF, Royal Navy as well as the mounting sense of collective defiance led by a new Prime Minister, Britain was not ready to roll over just yet. From clashes between coastal convoys and Schnellboote in the Channel to astonishing last stands in Flanders, and from the slaughter by the U-boats in the icy Atlantic to the dramatic aerial battles over England, The Battle of Britain tells this most epic of stories from all sides, drawing on extensive new research from around the world. In so doing, it paints a complete picture of that extraordinary summer - a time in which the fate of the world truly hung by a thread. © James Holland 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

James Holland (Author), Al Murray (Narrator)

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Vanity Fair: A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

Al Murray stars in this anarchic BBC radio reboot of Thackeray's groundbreaking satirical novel Comedian Al Murray plays his great-great-great grandfather William Makepeace Thackeray as the unreliable narrator in this radical makeover of his ancestor's celebrated satire on class, sex, money, hypocrisy and snobbery in nineteenth-century England. As the curtain rises on our 'story without a hero', moneyless Becky Sharp leaves school with her upper-class best friend Amelia Sedley. Clever, cunning and ambitious, Becky is determined to make her way in Regency society - and she'll trample on anyone who gets in her way. When her plan to marry Amelia's brother Jos falls through, she snares the aristocratic Rawdon Crawley - but her hopes of riches are dashed when the couple are disinherited by his wealthy aunt. Meanwhile, Amelia marries the dashing George Osborne, breaking the heart of her devoted admirer, William Dobbin. But war is fast approaching, and as Napoleon advances towards Waterloo, where will the winds of destiny blow our players? And will the ever-resourceful Becky succeed in achieving her desires? Pacey, contemporary, fresh and funny, this sparkling dramatisation features Ellie White as Becky, Helen O'Hara as Amelia, Blake Ritson as Rawdon, Rupert Hill as George, Thom Tuck as Jos and Graeme Hawley as Dobbin. Cast and credits Thackeray (narrator)........................Al Murray Becky Sharp........................Ellie White Amelia Sedley........................Helen O'Hara Rawdon Crawley........................Blake Ritson Jos Sedley........................Thom Tuck George Osborne........................Rupert Hill Dobbin........................Graeme Hawley Mrs Sedley/Mrs Bute/Aunty Crawley/Jane/Rawdon Junior........................Emma Gregory Mr Sedley/Sir Pitt/Lord Steyne........................Jonathan Keeble Mr Osborne/Bute/General Tufto........................Malcolm Raeburn Pitt........................Lloyd Peters Lady Bareacres/Miss Briggs/George Junior........................Fiona Clarke Written by William Makepeace Thackeray Dramatised by Jim Poyser, with additional material by Al Murray A BBC Radio Drama North production Produced and directed by Gary Brown First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26 May-9 June 2019

William Makepeace Thackeray, William Thackeray (Author), , Al Murray (Narrator)

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Undone: The Complete Series 1-3: The BBC Radio 4 sci-fi comedy

Sci-fi comedy about the bizarre city of Undone - a weird parallel version of London. Edna Turner has moved to London to start a new job at entertainment magazine Get Out!. When she arrives, she meets the strange Tankerton Slopes, who claims to come from a parallel version of London known as 'Undone'. Undone is 'where the weirdness comes from': where you can find pet tricks shows, medication designed to make you paranoid, and the Undone delicacy 'troubled eggs'. Weird things flow into London and mundane things flow into Undone, making them the peculiar places they are. Tankerton offers Edna the task of patrolling the gaps between the cities: finding anyone from Undone who is in London and bringing them back. Because if an 'Undoner' stays in London for too long, things become very weird indeed... With a cast including Alex Tregear, Ben Moor, Kevin Eldon, Tim Key, Emma Kennedy and Al Murray, this sci fi comedy will take you to a dimension just beyond normal logic. Cast: Edna Turner...Sarah Solemani/Alex Tregear Tankerton Slopes...Ben Moor Carlo Jones/Billy O'Malley...Duncan Wisbey The Prince...Kevin Eldon Ida...Sophie Duval Grant...Tim Key Kate...Montserrat Lombard/Daisy Haggard Rosie Turner...Emma Kennedy Golfer Mackenzie...Al Murray Produced by Colin Anderson and Lyndsay Fenner

Ben Moor (Author), , Al Murray, Alex Tregear, Ben Moor, Duncan Wisbey, Emma Kennedy, Full Cast, Kevin Eldon, Sarah Solemani, Tim Key (Narrator)

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Pygmalion: A brand new BBC Radio 4 drama plus the story of the plays scandalous opening night

A star-studded BBC radio production of Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion - plus bonus drama The 'B' Word, telling the story of the play's scandalous opening night. Irascible phonetics professor Henry Higgins makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can train Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle to talk 'like a lady' and pass as a duchess at the Ambassador's Ball. As the day of reckoning approaches, can Eliza convince the assembled aristocrats that she's one of them? And what will become of her afterwards? This effervescent radio version of Shaw's classic comedy features a stellar cast, including award-winning comedians Alistair McGowan as Henry Higgins, Morgana Robinson as Eliza Doolittle and Al Murray as Alfred Doolittle. Also featured on this release is The 'B' Word, written by and starring Alistair McGowan as Bernard Shaw. Centring on the shocking opening night of Pygmalion - the first time that the word 'bloody was used on the British stage - it also explores the passionate love-hate relationship between Shaw; his leading man, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and his leading lady, Mrs Patrick Campbell, who played the 19-year-old Eliza Doolittle at the age of 49. Cast and credits Pygmalion Henry Higgins........................Alistair McGowan Eliza Doolittle........................Morgana Robinson Alfred Doolittle........................Al Murray Colonel Pickering........................Hugh Fraser Mrs Higgins........................Siân Phillips Mrs Pearce/Maid........................Charlotte Page Mrs Eynsford-Hill........................Georgie Glen Clara Eynsford-Hill........................Maeve Bluebell Wells Freddy Eynsford-Hill.............................Tom Forrister Nepommuck........................David Sturzaker Ambassador........................John Dougall Ambassadors wife........................Sarah Ridgeway Bystander........................David Sterne Written by Bernard Shaw Produced and directed by Emma Harding The 'B' Word Bernard Shaw........................Alistair McGowan George Alexander........................David Sturzaker Mrs Patrick Campbell.............................Charlotte Page Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree........................Richard McCabe Charlotte Shaw........................Georgie Glen Merivale........................Philip Fox Gurney/Fishman........................Simon Ludders Bell........................Charlie Clements Maid........................Sarah Ridgeway Written by Alistair McGowan Produced and directed by Emma Harding

Alistair Mcgowan, Bernard Shaw, George Bernard Shaw (Author), , Al Murray, Alistair Mcgowan, Morgana Robinson, Siân Phillips (Narrator)

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Let's re-Great Britain

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of Let's Re-Great Britain, by Al Murray, read by Al Murray. Al Murray grabbed the headlines when he announced his intention to stand in the UK General Election as his most famous creation, the 'Pub Landlord', for the newly-formed Free United Kingdom Party. He will be contesting the seat of South Thanet against UKIP leader Nigel Farage, in a battle that is sure to see comedy and clashes from now until polling day. This book will set out his hilarious manifesto, including his views on: - Money: 'The Pound will be revalued at one pound 10p, so it will now be worth 10p more.' - Scotland: 'Alex Salmond to be made First Minister for Norwich, so he can understand what being ignored by the rest of the country is really like.' - Local issues: 'South Thanet to be made the new capital of the UK. Demilitarised zone to set-up between North and South Thanet.'

Al Murray (Author), Al Murray (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Al Murray