Audiobooks narrated by Bill Caufield

Cochise and Geronimo: The Lives and Legacies of the Most Famous Apache Warriors

Among all the Native American tribes, the Spanish, Mexicans, and Americans learned the hard way that the warriors of the Apache were perhaps the fiercest in North America. Based in the Southwest, the Apache fought all three in Mexico and the American Southwest, engaging in seasonal raids for so many centuries that the Apache struck fear into the hearts of all their neighbors. An article in the Arizona press dated Oct. 22, 1869, summed up the majority opinion of Arizona’s citizens by describing Apache as “low set, ugly powerful beings of a dark copper color covered with tiny black hair and so unstable of character that between a couple hours they will slip away from the military camp and carry off all the horses.” At the same time, Cochise’s name became mythical in its telling. His exploits and escapes were described as everywhere when least expected and nowhere when pursued. There are no known photos, and the scarcity of reliable quotes are excused by the erroneous belief of the day that any man close enough to talk to him never lived to tell about it. The name Cochise became so widely known throughout Arizona Territory that it became indiscriminately linked with all depredations both large and small. The name “Geronimo” evokes a number of different emotions. Those who believed in 19th century America’s “Manifest Destiny” viewed Geronimo and all Native Americans as impediments to God’s will for the nation. Descendants of people killed by “hostile” Natives certainly considered warriors like Geronimo to be murderers and thieves whose cultures and societies held no redeeming values. Even today, many Americans associate the name Geronimo with a war cry, and the name Geronimo itself only came about because of a battle he fought against the Mexicans. Over time, however, the historical perception of the relationship between America and Native tribes changed drastically. With that, Geronimo, or Goyahkla, was viewed in a far different light.

Charles River Editors (Author), Bill Caufield (Narrator)

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Challenger and Columbia: The History of the Space Shuttles that Suffered Deadly Disasters

In the decades after the Apollo program, American space shuttles flew over 130 missions and successfully completed over 98% of them, but unfortunately, the two most famous missions were the ones that ended tragically aboard the Challenger and Columbia. The Space Shuttle Challenger was the most heavily used space shuttle in the three years it was operational, carrying the first minority astronaut and woman astronaut into space. Challenger was also the first space shuttle to complete a landing at night. On the morning of January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger launched for the 10th time, beginning mission STS-51-L. Space shuttles had already successfully completed 24 missions, and no American spacecraft had ever failed to reach orbit during an official mission. On this mission, the Challenger was carrying a satellite for the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites system, which was to be deployed in orbit. Ascent seemed to be going normally during the first minute, but about 75 seconds into the ascent, a plastic O-ring used to seal a joint in one of the solid rocket boosters failed, causing a breach of hot gas. That gas spread to the other rocket booster and the external fuel tank, causing an explosion. When the spectators saw the explosion, many of them started cheering, unaware of what was really happening. The notorious date of the Challenger disaster was commemorated by the crew of the Columbia while they were in space in 2003, and a few days later, on February 1, the Columbia was due to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 09:16. Only a few members of the press were present to watch the landing - this was, after all, supposed to be a routine return from a routine mission, the 113th for the shuttle program and the 28th for Columbia, one of the oldest Space Shuttles.

Charles River Editors (Author), Bill Caufield (Narrator)

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The Biggest Amphibious Operations of the World Wars

A swift, sudden attack from the ocean, putting soldiers ashore on a hostile coast at some point weakly defended by the enemy, has been a powerful tactical and strategic tool since the late Bronze Age. Utilized by the Sea Peoples against New Kingdom Egypt and the Greek city-states in their internecine wars, amphibious warfare combined high mobility with a strong chance of complete surprise. The technique continued in use through such periods as the early Medieval era, when Viking armies numbering up to 10,000 men struck suddenly and devastatingly from the sea using their highly seaworthy longships or “dragonships” (drekkar). At around the same time, the Normans carried out amphibious landings of invasion forces, including mounted men, in Muslim-occupied Sicily (1061) and Saxon England (1066). As navies grew larger and the Spanish clashed with the Ottomans in the Mediterranean during the Renaissance, some military forces introduced specialized marines for the first time. These men, trained specially for landings carried out using ships’ boats, formed a part of many European navies from the 16th century onward. World War I was the first truly industrial war, and it created a paradigm which reached its zenith with World War II and towards which virtually all equipment, innovation and training were dedicated throughout the Cold War and the remainder of the 20th century. To this day, modern warfare remains synonymous with tanks and mass infantry battles, although a confrontation of this nature has not occurred (except briefly during Operation Desert Storm) since World War II. World War II witnessed a sudden explosion in the scope and metamorphosis in the methods of amphibious warfare. With battlefields covering significant portions of the planetary surface, combined with the availability of the modern era’s powerful technology and vehicles, the mighty conflict witnessed unprecedented tactical and strategic amphibious operations.

Charles River Editors (Author), Bill Caufield (Narrator)

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The Pacific Theater in 1942: The History of the Decisive Campaigns and Battles that Helped America T

Those who had decoded and seen the Japanese communications in early December 1941 would not be surprised when they heard about an attack on December 7, 1941. They would, however, be astonished when they heard where that attack took place. Posted on the other side of the world, it was early on the morning of December 8 in the Philippines when American general Douglas MacArthur received news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor hours earlier. With that, it could only be a matter of time before the Japanese attacked the Philippines. While the Battle of the Coral Sea is not as well known as other battles across the Pacific, it set a precedent by pitting enemy aircraft carriers against each other, a battle in which the rival navies themselves never sighted each other or fired a gun at each other. Instead, the fighting was done with the carriers’ aircraft, something that would become more common over time and would result in decisive actions at places like Midway just months later. Furthermore, while it was in a sense a tactical victory for the Japanese, it would end up helping blunt their aggressive push east in the Pacific, making it a crucial strategic victory for the Allies. By the time the Battle of Midway was over, the defeat was so devastating that it was actually kept secret from all but the highest echelons of the Japanese government. Along with the loss of hundreds of aircraft and over 3,000 men killed, the four Japanese aircraft carriers lost, when compared to America’s one lost carrier, was critical considering America’s huge shipbuilding superiority. However, the Battle of Midway could also have easily turned out differently. Japan began the battle with more carriers, more and better aircraft, and more experienced crews than the Americans, and if the battle of the Coral Sea was any indication, the two sides had irrefutable proof of the dominance of the aircraft carrier in the Pacific.

Charles River Editors (Author), Bill Caufield (Narrator)

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Rome’s Best Emperors: The History and Legacy of the Roman Empire’s Most Able Leaders

The importance of Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (or as he was known from birth, Gaius Octavius “Octavian” Thurinus) to the course of Western history is hard to overstate. His life, his rise to power, his political, and his social and military achievements all laid the foundations for the creation of an empire which would endure for almost five centuries, and whose traditions, laws, architecture and art continue to influence much of Europe and the world today. Octavian was the first true Roman Emperor, and the first man since the Etruscan Tarquins five centuries earlier to establish a successful hereditary ruling dynasty in what had been a proud Republic for over half a millennium. He was a canny strategist, an excellent orator, a fine writer, a generous patron of the arts and enthusiastic promoter of public works, but above all he was a master politician. Octavian’s great-uncle (and adoptive father) Julius Caesar was a great general, and his rival Mark Antony was a great soldier, but as a politician Octavian outmatched them all. He still stands in bronze on Rome’s Via dei Fori Imperiali to this day, along with the likes of Caesar, Hadrian, Trajan and Marcus Aurelius, and he is forever immortalized in all Western calendars as the patron of the month of August, which was dedicated to him when he was deified, following his death, as Divus Augustus. “The Five Good Emperors,” a reference to the five emperors who ruled the Roman Empire between 96 and 180 CE (Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius), was a term first coined by Machiavelli and later adopted and popularized by historian Edward Gibbon, who said that under these men, the Roman Empire “was governed by absolute power under the guidance of wisdom and virtue.” This period of 84 years is generally regarded as the high point of the Roman Empire, at least after Augustus.

Charles River Editors (Author), Bill Caufield (Narrator)

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The End of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty in Rome: The History of Nero’s Reign and the Year of the Four

Throughout the annals of history, there have been few figures as reviled as Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, better known as Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, or more simply, Nero. Even today, he remains one of the Roman Empire’s most famous – or notorious – figures, a villain whose impact on popular culture is so vast that his name crops up consistently to this day in literature, film, TV and mediums as unlikely as video games and anime. Nero ranks among the very worst of the Caesars, alongside the likes of mad Caligula, slothful Commodus, and paranoid Domitian, a figure so hated that, in many ancient Christian traditions, he is literally, without hyperbole, considered the Antichrist; according to a notable Biblical scholar, the coming of the Beast and the number 666 in the Book of Revelation are references to Nero. He was the man who, famously, “fiddled while Rome burned”, an inveterate lecher, a murderous tyrant who showed little compunction in murdering his mother and who liked to use Christian martyrs as a source of illumination at night – by burning them alive. His economic policies, according to many historians, virtually bankrupted Rome. Having left no heir, Nero’s death plunged the empire into confusion and chaos, bringing to an end the Julio-Claudian lineage while at the same time offering no clear rule of succession. This presented the opportunity for influential individuals in the empire, and in particular provincial governors who also commanded large military garrisons, to express and further their own ambitions to power. The result was a period of instability and civil war as several pretenders to the throne, among them the emperors Galba, Otho and Vitellius, gained and lost power, until finally the emperor Vespasian seized and retained the imperial principate. Vespasian subsequently imposed order and discipline on a chaotic empire and went on to establish the Flavian Dynasty.

Charles River Editors (Author), Bill Caufield (Narrator)

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Starting a World War: The History of the Events and Battles that Began World War I and World War II

By the 20th century, warfare was nothing new to the European powers, especially when it came to fighting each other. Conflicts had been a mainstay on the European continent for over two millennia. Even after the Napoleonic wars had enveloped Europe in large scale war for nearly 20 years in the 19th century, the Europeans’ imperialism continued unabated. It would take the devastation of World War I to shock Europe and jolt the world’s superpowers out of their imperialistic tendencies. With Europe anticipating a potential war, all that was missing was a conflagration. That would start in 1908, when Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Balkan Peninsula, drawing it into dispute with Russia. Moreover, this upset neighboring Serbia, which was an independent nation. From 1912-1913, a conflict was fought in the Balkans between the Balkan League and the Ottoman Empire, resulting in the weakening of the Ottoman Turks. After the First Balkan War, a second was fought months later between members of the Balkan League itself. The final straw came June 28, 1914, when a Serbian assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, in Sarajevo, Bosnia. The Munich Agreement is widely reviled today and is held up as the epitome of appeasement, but historians still debate its effects on the Second World War, as well as Neville Chamberlain's character and motivations. Some believe the attempted appeasement of Nazi Germany hastened, or even caused, the mayhem occupying the next seven years. Others believe that the pact merely failed to alter war's inevitable arrival in either direction. Of course, as most people now know, the invasion of Poland was merely the preface to the Nazi blitzkrieg of most of Western Europe, which would include Denmark, Belgium, and France by the summer of 1940

Charles River Editors (Author), Bill Caufield (Narrator)

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The First Triumvirate: The History of the Men Who Led Rome Near the End of the Republic

Thanks to his rise in the military and politics, Crassus’s renown and riches heavily influenced his contemporaries. In the wake of the Third Servile War, Crassus’ patronage helped position Caesar to be appointed governor of Hispania Ulterior. In order to maintain political office, which made him immune from prosecution for his debts, he left for modern day Spain before his praetorship expired. Caesar made this move knowing that governors were immune from prosecution, but governors also had vitally important military responsibilities via command of whatever legions were garrisoned in their territory. It would be as governor that Caesar’s military career truly took off, starting with his victories over a couple of local tribes. These military successes earned him the title Imperator, the Roman equivalent of the title of Commander. Likewise, Caesar was heavily sponsored in his run for Consul by Crassus, and in a brilliant stroke of diplomacy, he succeeded in reconciling Crassus with Pompey, who was Rome’s most powerful general at the time. Alongside Pompey and Caesar, Crassus established the First Triumvirate, with Crassus supplying the funds, Pompey the muscle, and Caesar the political clout necessary for governing the city. Though later triumvirates officially wielded power, like the Second Triumvirate (which formed in the wake of Caesar’s assassination and included his heir Augustus and longtime general Mark Antony), this First Triumvirate acted behind the scenes to run Rome unofficially. The triumvirate would come to an end when Crassus met a sudden and unexpected end while campaigning in the east against the Parthians. Ironically, his failed campaign is better remembered than the rest of his life because of the way his reputation brought about his manner of death: ancient writers claimed that shortly after he was killed in fighting, the Parthians poured molten gold down his throat and then used his head as a prop in a play.

Charles River Editors (Author), Bill Caufield (Narrator)

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Caesar’s Civil War: The History of the Conflict against Pompey the Great that Ended the Roman Republ

The ultimate conqueror, statesman, dictator, visionary, and opportunist, during his time in power, Julius Caesar expanded the borders of Rome to almost twice their previous size, revolutionized the infrastructure of the Roman state, and destroyed the Roman Republic for good, leaving a line of emperors in its place. His legacy is so strong that his name has become, in many languages, synonymous with power: the emperors of Austria and Germany bore the title Kaiser, and the Tsars of Russia also owe the etymology of their title to Caesar. Even in his time, Caesar was in many ways larger than life, and because of his legacy as virtual founder of the Roman Empire, much of what was written about – and by – him during his life and immediately after his assassination was politically motivated. The fact that he was murdered on the Ides of March is universal knowledge, but it’s often forgotten that he was stabbed while entering the Curia of Pompey, one of the Senate’s meeting places, in March of 44 BCE. The curia was a theater dedicated to Pompey the Great, Caesar’s rival in the civil war that ended the Republic and made Caesar dictator. When Caesar was stabbed, he fell at the base of a colossal statue of Pompey. Thanks to Caesar’s victory in the civil war, Pompey is mostly remembered not for being one of Rome’s greatest generals, but for being defeated by Caesar and then ignominiously murdered after he fled to Egypt, where the boy pharaoh Ptolemy XIII decapitated Pompey and offered his head to Caesar as a gift. Although Caesar was there chasing Pompey’s men, he quickly became involved in Egypt’s own civil war. As a consequence of Ptolemy’s barbarity, Caesar impulsively decided to side with his sister Cleopatra in her bid for the throne of Egypt, escalating what was rapidly becoming an all-out civil war.

Charles River Editors (Author), Bill Caufield (Narrator)

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The Civil Wars of the Late Roman Republic: The History of the Conflicts that Made Sulla and Caesar t

Julius Caesar is still remembered for winning a civil war and helping bring about the end of the Roman Republic, leaving a line of emperors in its place, but it’s quite possible that none of what Caesar did would’ve happened without the template for such actions being set 40 years earlier. At the time, when Caesar was in his teens, war was being waged both on the Italian peninsula and abroad, with domestic politics pitting the conservative, aristocratic optimates against the populist, reformist populares, and this tension ultimately escalated into an all-out war. One of the leading populares was Caesar’s uncle, Gaius Marius, a military visionary who had restructured the legions and extended the privileges of land ownership and citizenship to legionaries on condition of successful completion of a fixed term of service. In the late 2nd century B.C., Marius had waged a successful campaign against several Germanic tribes, and after earning eternal fame in the Eternal City, Marius was appointed a consul several times. In 88 B.C., he entered into conflict with his erstwhile protégé, the optimate Sulla, over command of the army to be dispatched against Mithridates VI of Pontus, a long-time enemy of Rome and its Greek allies. Ironically, Marius’s reforms had made the legions fiercely loyal to their individual generals rather than the state, which allowed Sulla to march his army against Rome and force Marius into exile. With that, Rome’s first civil war was officially underway, but Sulla’s triumph proved short-lived. Just as Sulla departed for a campaign, Marius returned at the head of a scratch army of veterans and mercenaries, taking over the city and purging it of Sulla’s optimate supporters, and though Marius died in 86 B.C., his party remained in power.

Charles River Editors (Author), Bill Caufield (Narrator)

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The Largest Amphibious Campaigns of World War II

Despite the gargantuan scale and the importance of Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily has since taken a backseat to the landings on D-Day. During the first half of 1944, the Americans and British commenced a massive buildup of men and resources in the United Kingdom, while Allied Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower and military brass planned the details of an enormous and complex amphibious invasion of Europe. Though the Allies used misinformation to try deceiving the Germans, the most obvious place for an invasion was just across the narrow English Channel, and the Germans had built coastal fortifications throughout France to protect against just such an invasion. The invasion across the Channel came in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944. That day, forever known as D-Day, the Allies commenced Operation Overlord by staging the largest and most complex amphibious invasion in human history. The complex operation would require tightly coordinated naval and air bombardment, paratroopers, and even inflatable tanks that would be able to fire on fortifications from the coastline, all while landing over 150,000 men across nearly 70 miles of French beaches. Given the incredibly complex plan, it’s no surprise that General Eisenhower had already written a letter apologizing for the failure of the invasion, which he carried in his coat pocket throughout the day, but the operation’s success eventually guaranteed the liberation of Paris and victory in Europe. By the time the second Phillipines campaign started, Japan was on the defensive, but as they would prove in other places like Iwo Jima and Okinawa, Japanese soldiers would act fanatically before admitting defeat or surrendering. During this second major Philippines campaign, an estimated 330,000 Japanese died, and only a bit more than 10,000 were willing to be taken prisoner.

Charles River Editors (Author), Bill Caufield (Narrator)

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Yuri Bezmenov and Anatoliy Golitsyn: The Controversial History of the Soviet Union’s Most Impactful

The KGB is one of the most famous abbreviations of the 20th century, and it has become synonymous with the shadowy and often violent actions of the Soviet Union’s secret police and internal security agencies. In fact, it is often used to refer to the Soviet state security agencies throughout its history, from the inception of the Cheka (Extraordinary Commission) in 1917 to the official elimination of the KGB in 1992. Whether it’s associated with the Russian Civil War’s excesses, Stalin’s purges, and even Vladimir Putin, the KGB has long been viewed as the West’s biggest bogeyman during the second half of the 20th century. Inevitably, some of the Cold War’s most shadowy actions involved trying to turn Soviet assets, whether for propaganda or intelligence purposes, but the Soviet system constantly had to worry about defections, as evidenced by the construction of the Berlin Wall in the early 1960s. That said, while the whistleblowers may be celebrated if they damage the public relations of an adversary, they can be controversial if they damage one’s own country, as evidenced by the polarizing reputations of individuals like Edward Snowden and Julian Assange. Yuri Bezmenov was among the first Soviet whistleblowers to attract attention on a global scale, and interest in his story has recently been revived thanks to his surprising cameo in the teaser trailer for Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War in August 2020. This came despite the fact he was far from the first ex-KGB agent or Russian to pull back the curtains on the Russian government and reveal the harrowing “truths” they were once sworn to harbor, as well as the disconcerting covert operations of which they once allegedly partook.

Charles River Editors (Author), Bill Caufield (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Bill Caufield