Audiobooks narrated by Clarke Peters

From the Streets of Shaolin: The Wu-Tang Saga

This definitive biography of rap supergroup, Wu-Tang Clan, features decades of unpublished interviews and unparalleled access to members of the group and their associates. This is the definitive biography of rap supergroup and cultural icons, Wu-Tang Clan (WTC). Heralded as one of the most influential groups in modern music-hip hop or otherwise-WTC created a rap dynasty on the strength of seven gold and platinum albums that launched the careers of such famous rappers as RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, and more. During the '90s, they ushered in a hip-hop renaissance, rescuing rap from the corporate suites and bringing it back to the gritty streets where it started. In the process they changed the way business was conducted in an industry known for exploiting artists. Creatively, Wu-Tang pushed the boundaries of the artform dedicating themselves to lyrical mastery and sonic innovation, and one would be hard pressed to find a group who's had a bigger impact on the evolution of hip hop. S.H. Fernando Jr., a veteran music journalist who spent a significant amount of time with The Clan during their heyday of the '90s, has written extensively about the group for such publications as Rolling Stone, Vibe, and The Source. Over the years he has built up a formidable Wu-Tang archive that includes pages of unpublished interviews, videos of the group in action in the studio, and several notepads of accumulated memories and observations. Using such exclusive access as well as the wealth of open-source material, Fernando reconstructs the genesis and evolution of the group, delving into their unique ideology and range of influences, and detailing exactly how they changed the game and established a legacy that continues to this day. The book provides a startling portrait of overcoming adversity through self-empowerment and brotherhood, giving us unparalleled insights into what makes these nine young men from the ghetto tick. While celebrating the myriad accomplishments of The Clan, the book doesn't shy away from controversy-we're also privy to stories from their childhoods in the crack-infested hallways of Staten Island housing projects, stints in Rikers for gun possession, and million-dollar contracts that led to recklessness and drug overdoses (including Ol' Dirty Bastard's untimely death). More than simply a history of a single group, this book tells the story of a musical and cultural shift that started on the streets of Shaolin (Staten Island) and quickly spread around the world. Biographies on such an influential outfit are surprisingly few, mostly focused on a single member of the group's story. This book weaves together interviews from all the Clan members, as well as their friends, family and collaborators to create a compelling narrative and the most three-dimensional portrait of Wu-Tang to date. It also puts The Clan within a social, cultural, and historical perspective to fully appreciate their impact and understand how they have become the cultural icons they are today. Unique in its breadth, scope, and access, From The Streets of Shaolin is a must-have for fans of WTC and music bios in general.

S. H. Fernando (Author), Clarke Peters, S. H. Fernando (Narrator)

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The Edgar Allan Poe BBC Radio Collection: The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart & other works

Edgar Allan Poe's most celebrated stories, as heard on BBC Radio - plus bonus documentaries and two thrilling original dramas The master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe has inspired generations of horror writers with his chilling Gothic tales, and is also credited with inventing the detective fiction genre in The Murders in the Rue Morgue. This radio collection features five of his classic tales - The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Oblong Box, The Fall of the House of Usher and The Masque of the Red Death, read by David Horovitch, Brian Gear, James Aubrey, Sean Barrett and Don Gilet. Also included is his renowned poem The Raven, read by Patrick Romer. Here, too, are adaptations of Poe's suspenseful story of piracy and slavery, The Gold Bug, starring Clarke Peters and Rhashan Stone, and his pioneering mystery story The Murders in the Rue Morgue, starring James Fleet and Andrew Scott. Radio 3's The Essay: Loving the Raven sees Poe enthusiasts Andrew Taylor, Joanne Harris, Louise Welsh, Mark Lawson and Kim Newman discussing the author's enduring legacy and cult status, while in Adventures in Poetry: The Raven, Peggy Reynolds explores Poe's most iconic work. Also included are two original dramas featuring Poe himself. Obsessed by a woman's unsolved murder, Edgar Allan Poe is presented with a disturbing revelation on the night before his death in Peter Mackie's The Real Mystery of Marie Roget, starring Ed Bishop. And in Christopher Cook's The Strange Case of Edgar Allan Poe, starring Kerry Shale and John Moffatt, Poe's famous detective C. Auguste Dupin investigates the bizarre death of his creator. Content warning: The Gold Bug is set in a time when slavery was still prevalent in America, and contains racist language from that era. Track listing: The Pit and the Pendulum The Tell-Tale Heart The Oblong Box The Fall of the House of Usher The Masque of the Red Death The Raven The Gold Bug The Murders in the Rue Morgue The Essay: Loving the Raven Adventures in Poetry: The Raven The Real Mystery of Marie Roget The Strange Case of Edgar Allan Poe

Edd Mcnair, Edgar Allan Poe (Author), Andrew Scott, Clarke Peters, James Fleet, Kerry Shale, Sean Barrett (Narrator)

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The History of Magic: From Alchemy to Witchcraft, from the Ice Age to the Present

Brought to you by Penguin. Three great strands of practice and belief run through human history - science, religion and magic. Over the last few centuries, magic - the idea that we have a connection with the universe, and that the universe responds to us - has developed a bad reputation. But it is still with us, as it has been for millennia, as Professor Chris Gosden shows in this extraordinarily bold and unprecedented history. As Gosden argues, magic preceded religion and science, and it has been with us from the curses and charms of ancient Greek, Roman and Jewish magic, to the shamanistic traditions of Eurasia, indigenous America and Africa, the alchemy of the Renaissance, colonial dismissals of magic as backward, and quantum physics today, where magic and science converge. Today 75 per cent of the adult population of the Western world hold some belief in magic, whether we believe that the mind of a patient influences recovery, or find it hard to stab a photo of a loved one. Drawing on his decades of research around the world, with incredible breadth and authority, and stunning detail - from the first known horoscope to the power of tattoos - Gosden reveals magic's positive qualities and how we might use it to rethink our relationship with the world. This timely history of human thought across thousands of years rightly shows the role that magic has played in shaping civilization. © Chris Gosden 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Chris Gosden (Author), Clarke Peters (Narrator)

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Letters of Note: Art

In Letters of Note: Art, Shaun Usher celebrates extraordinary correspondence about art, from missives on the agony of being overlooked, the ecstasy of producing work that excites, to surprising sources of inspiration and rousing manifestos. A star-studded cast of readers brings the letters to life, with contributions from Sanjeev Bhaskar, Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Crystal Clarke, Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Fry, Neil Gaiman, Toby Jones, Ferdinand Kingsley, Jude Law, Helen McCrory, Stephen Mangan, Clarke Peters, Juliet Stevenson, Mark Strong and Meera Syal. The collection features letters by Michelangelo, Frida Kahlo, Oscar Howe, Martin Scorsese, Henri Matisse, Augusta Savage, Vincent van Gogh and many more. Letters of Note: Art also includes audio exclusive bonus content drawn from recordings made at performances of Letters Live, the live events series produced by Canongate in partnership with SunnyMarch and Shaun Usher. Enjoy Noel Fielding reading Salvador Dali’s letter to Federico García Lorca at London’s Union Chapel and Ian McKellen reading Kurt Vonnegut’s letter to the students of Xavier High School at the Freemasons’ Hall. A donation will be made to The National Literacy Trust – one of the regular partner charities for Letters Live – for each audiobook sold.

Shaun Usher (Author), Benedict Cumberbatch, Clarke Peters, Crystal Clarke, Ferdinand Kingsley, Helen Mccrory, Jude Law, Juliet Stevenson, Louise Brealey, Meera Syal, Neil Gaiman, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Simon Callow, Stephen Fry, Stephen Mangan, Toby Jones (Narrator)

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Letters of Note: Love

In this moving collection, Shaun Usher gathers together some of the most powerful letters about love ever written. Whether inspired by love’s first blush or the recriminations at its ending, the regrets of unrequited feelings and the joys of passions known, Letters of Note: Love is essential listening for anyone with a heart. A star-studded cast of readers brings the letters to life, with contributions from Sanjeev Bhaskar, Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Crystal Clarke, Benedict Cumberbatch, Danny Huston, Toby Jones, Jude Law, Natascha McElhone, Stephen Mangan, Miriam Margolyes, Clarke Peters, Juliet Stevenson, Mark Strong and Meera Syal. The collection features letters by Simone de Beauvoir, Vladimir Nabokov, Zora Neale Hurston, Nelson Mandela, Maud Gonne, Johnny Cash and many more. Letters of Note: Love also includes audio exclusive bonus content drawn from recordings made at performances of Letters Live, the live events series produced by Canongate in partnership with SunnyMarch and Shaun Usher. Hear Benedict Cumberbatch and Louise Brealey read Chris Barker’s letter to Bessie Moore at the Royal Albert Hall, Tom Hiddleston reading Gerald Durrell’s letter to his wife at the Freemasons’ Hall and Nick Cave perform his song, Love Letter, at the Union Chapel. A donation will be made to The National Literacy Trust – one of the regular partner charities for Letters Live – for each audiobook sold.

Shaun Usher (Author), Adrian Edmondson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Clarke Peters, Crystal Clarke, Danny Huston, Jude Law, Juliet Stevenson, Louise Brealey, Mark Strong, Meera Syal, Miriam Margolyes, Natascha Mcelhone, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Simon Callow, Stephen Mangan, Toby Jones (Narrator)

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Letters of Note: War

In Letters of Note: War, Shaun Usher brings together some of the most remarkable letters that encapsulate the human experience of war, from unimaginable feats of courage and compassion, to unthinkable episodes of violence and horror. A star-studded cast of readers brings the letters to life, with contributions from Sanjeev Bhaskar, Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Benedict Cumberbatch, Adrian Edmondson, Stephen Fry, Neil Gaiman, Danny Huston, Toby Jones, Ferdinand Kingsley, Jude Law, Natascha McElhone, Clarke Peters, Juliet Stevenson and Mark Strong. The collection features letters by Mark Twain, June Wandrey, Evelyn Waugh, Lord Horatio Nelson, Alexander Hamilton, Luis Alvarez and many more. Letters of Note: War also includes audio exclusive bonus content drawn from recordings made at performances of Letters Live, the live events series produced by Canongate in partnership with SunnyMarch and Shaun Usher. Listen to Ben Kingsley reading Mohandas Gandhi’s letter to Adolf Hitler and Colin Firth and Taron Egerton read letters exchanged between Rudyard Kipling and his son, John. A donation will be made to The National Literacy Trust – one of the regular partner charities for Letters Live – for each audiobook sold.

Shaun Usher (Author), Adrian Edmondson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Clarke Peters, Danny Huston, Ferdinand Kingsley, Jude Law, Juliet Stevenson, Louise Brealey, Mark Strong, Miriam Margolyes, Natascha Mcelhone, Neil Gaiman, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Simon Callow, Stephen Fry, Toby Jones (Narrator)

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Letters of Note: Cats

In Letters of Note: Cats, Shaun Usher collects together the most engaging missives that celebrate, eulogise, rail against and analyse the idiosyncratic ways of our feline companions. A star-studded cast of readers brings the letters to life, with contributions from Sanjeev Bhaskar, Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Benedict Cumberbatch, Adrian Edmondson, Stephen Fry, Neil Gaiman, Danny Huston, Toby Jones, Ferdinand Kingsley, Helen McCrory, Natascha McElhone, Stephen Mangan, Miriam Margolyes, Clarke Peters, Juliet Stevenson, Mark Strong and Meera Syal. The collection features letters by Nikola Tesla, Elizabeth Taylor, Anne Frank, Raymond Chandler, John Cheever, Rachel Carson, Jack Lemmon and many more. Letters of Note: Cats also includes audio exclusive bonus content drawn from recordings made at performances of Letters Live, the live events series produced by Canongate in partnership with SunnyMarch and Shaun Usher. Listen to Toby Jones reading John Cheever’s letter to Susie Herbst and an ensemble cast reading a flurry of letters to the Guardian on the hotly contested topic of ‘cats vs dogs’. A donation will be made to The National Literacy Trust – one of the regular partner charities for Letters Live – for each audiobook sold.

Shaun Usher (Author), Adrian Edmondson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Clarke Peters, Crystal Clarke, Danny Huston, Ferdinand Kingsley, Helen Mccrory, Louise Brealey, Mark Strong, Meera Syal, Miriam Margolyes, Natascha Mcelhone, Neil Gaiman, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Simon Callow, Stephen Fry, Stephen Mangan, Toby Jones (Narrator)

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Letters of Note: Music

In Letters of Note: Music, Shaun Usher brings together a riveting collection of letters by and about some of the musicians and music that enrich our lives. Wonderfully wide-ranging and illuminating, it will delight music lovers of all stripes. A star-studded cast of readers brings the letters to life, with contributions from Sanjeev Bhaskar, Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Nick Cave, Crystal Clarke, Benedict Cumberbatch, Adrian Edmondson, Stephen Fry, Danny Huston, Toby Jones, Jude Law, Stephen Mangan, Miriam Margolyes, Clarke Peters, Juliet Stevenson and Mark Strong. The collection features letters by Nick Cave, Helen Keller, Keith Richards, Leonard Cohen, John Coltrane, Kim Gordon and many more. Letters of Note: Music also includes audio exclusive bonus content drawn from recordings made at performances of Letters Live, the live events series produced by Canongate in partnership with SunnyMarch and Shaun Usher. Savour Jarvis Cocker reading Iggy Pop’s letter to a fan named Laurence and Matt Berry reading Robert Crumb’s letter to free jazz saxophonist Mats Gustafsson. A donation will be made to The National Literacy Trust – one of the regular partner charities for Letters Live – for each audiobook sold.

Shaun Usher (Author), Adrian Edmondson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Clarke Peters, Crystal Clarke, Danny Huston, Jude Law, Juliet Stevenson, Louise Brealey, Mark Strong, Miriam Margolyes, Nick Cave, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Simon Callow, Stephen Fry, Stephen Mangan, Toby Jones (Narrator)

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Telegraph Avenue: A Novel

As the summer of 2004 draws to a close, Archy Stallings and Nat Jaffe are still hanging in there - longtime friends, bandmates, and co-regents of Brokeland Records, a kingdom of used vinyl located in the borderlands of Berkeley and Oakland. Their wives, Gwen Shanks and Aviva Roth-Jaffe, are the Berkeley Birth Partners, a pair of semi-legendary midwives who have welcomed, between them, more than a thousand newly minted citizens into the dented utopia at whose heart-half tavern, half temple-stands Brokeland Records. When ex-NFL quarterback Gibson Goode, the fifth-richest black man in the United States, announces plans to build his latest Dogpile megastore on a nearby stretch of Telegraph Avenue, Nat and Archy fear it means certain doom for their vulnerable little enterprise. Meanwhile, Aviva and Gwen also find themselves caught up in a battle for their professional existence, one that tests the limits of their friendship. Adding another layer of complication to the couples' already tangled lives is the surprise appearance of Titus Joyner, the teenage son Archy has never acknowledged and the love of fifteen-year-old Julius Jaffe's life.

Michael Chabon (Author), Clarke Peters (Narrator)

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Easy Rawlins Black Betty

On the shady side of LA in 1961, African-American private eye Easy Rawlins can go places a white detective cannot. So when Saul Lynx needs a missing woman found, he hires Easy to do his dirty work. Elizabeth Eady - 'Black Betty' - is as dark as midnight and just as beautiful. An old acquaintance of Easy's when he was a child back in Texas, she had been working for a rich white woman in Beverley Hills, but left her job with no forwarding address. Easy knows she always brings trouble in her wake, but he has a family to support and needs Lynx's money. With Martin Luther King in the news and a new young president in the White House, it's a time of hope for most black Americans. But as Easy tries to unravel a case that sends him in search of his own past, he finds only death under the stones he is paid to turn over... Starring Clarke Peters, John Guerrasio and Alibe Parsons and dramatised by Bonnie Greer, this was first broadcast as part of BBC Radio 4's 'American Noir' season. Warning: contains strong language.

Walter Mosley (Author), Alibe Parsons, Clarke Peters, John Guerrasio (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Clarke Peters