Audiobooks narrated by Jonathan Booth

Popular Works Volume 1: The Vocation of the Scholar, The Nature of the Scholar and The Vocation of M Audiobook

Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814) was the forerunner of the post-Kantian idealists and remains one of the most important figures in German philosophy. Throughout his career, Fichte published, in addition to his systematic or 'scientific' treatises, the best known of which is the 'Foundation of the Entire Wissenchaftslehre (1794-5), a series of works directed at the general public. The purpose of these 'popular' writings was to indicate, in a non-technical manner, some of the characteristic features of the new transcendental philosophy and to explicate some of its more significant implications. William Smith translated most of these 'popular writings' in the 19th century and published them individually and in the various editions of 'The Popular Works of Johann Gottlieb Fichte'. Each edition included corrections and improvements in the translation.

Johann Gottlieb Fitche (Author), Jonathan Booth (Narrator)

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The Jewish War

The Jewish War is an extraordinary historical document in that it details a calamitous period of four years during which the Jews pitted themselves against the might of the Roman empire. It is partly a remarkable account in that its author, Flavius Josephus (c.37–c.100 CE) was himself a Jew and yet, during the course of the conflict, found himself playing a prominent role for both sides. It is further underpinned by the fact that Josephus himself was not only a participant, but also an historian and a scholar of standing. Few such accounts from the Classical period have survived to this degree, and it makes the whole story intensely vivid and powerful. The Jewish War actually ran from 66 CE to 70 CE, culminating in the fall of the Jerusalem. But Josephus begins his account decades back, with the purpose of setting the background. Book I (of seven) opens with the taking of Jerusalem by Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 BCE, before devoting the major part of Book I to the life and influence of Herod the Great who died in 4 CE. It was his complicated legacy that laid the ground for the uprising of the Jews. In Book II, Josephus tells how the Jews rose up against violent treatment by the Roman procurator, Florus; how early success against Cestius encouraged the Jews in the hope of ultimate success against the Roman Empire. The succeeding books tell of the gradual dominance by the Romans, under Vespasian and then his son Titus. Torture, starvation, banishment and slaughter became commonplace across the theatre of war. The gradual weakening of the Jews was not helped by internecine strife of a horrendous nature – even within Jerusalem itself when it was being besieged by the Roman army. There could be only one conclusion – the utter destruction of Jerusalem, with the final scene of the war being the infamous mass suicide at Masada. Josephus records his own role, leading the defence in the early days, notably building strong walls around various cities. But as months and years passed, he realised that the Jewish cause would never win against the might of Rome. This powerful account was written in 75 CE probably either in Aramaic or Hebrew, but it has survived in a Greek version. This recording uses the classic translation by William Whiston. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Flavius Josephus (Author), Jonathan Booth (Narrator)

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The Rule of St Benedict

Written in 516, The Rule of Saint Benedict for monastic living has been soul-inspiring for a countless number of people - not only monks, nuns and priests, but also a considerable number of lay people. It covers matters of doctrine, the structure of the monastery as the House of God, and observance of the Divine Office. The Rule gives a fascinating insight into the standards and behaviour expected of monks in their everyday lives. It remains notable for embodying the concept of a written constitution and influencing the shape of medieval Europe. Today the Rule, with its universal message, offers a deep and practical spirituality to all people desiring a good life.

St Benedict (Author), Jonathan Booth (Narrator)

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History of the Russian Revolution

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was one of the most cataclysmic events in world history, profoundly shaping politics, international relations, social patterns, economics and science in the century that followed. It created long-lasting aftershocks which travelled far beyond its geographical borders. How did it happen? What were the sequence of events that led, following the shocking upheaval of the old Romanov order, to a fierce and violent rivalry between a variety of revolutionary factions and the ultimate victory of the Bolsheviks? Throughout the 20th century many accounts were written—and especially in the closing years when Russian archives became more available to external historians. But prime among them remains this work, History of the Russian Revolution, published as early as 1930—for it was a work (virtually unique among historical accounts of major events) written by one of the key protagonists, the Ukrainian-Russian Marxist politician Leon Trotsky (1879-1940). It appeared just a year after he was expelled from Russia (in 1929), having lost a power struggle within the revolutionary government headed by Josef Stalin who had seized control following the death of Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924). Trotsky was forced to flee for his life and in exile immediately set about recording what actually happened (according to his viewpoint). He documented both the February Revolution (the ending of the Tsarist regime) and the October Revolution led by Lenin (and Trotsky's) Bolshevik movement which ultimately resulted (in 1923) in the new Russian state of the Soviet Union. Trotsky's work is divided into three parts: Volume I - The Overthrow of Tzarism, Volume II - The Attempted Counter-Revolution (headed by the socialist Alexander Kerensky), Volume III - The Triumphs of the Soviets. In his vigorous but also personal account of the events leading to Bolshevik victory, Trotsky applied his strong intellectual and analytical abilities, while at the same time allowed his close involvement to present his knowledge of the causes, the results and the personalities in considerable detail. It is a powerful and extraordinary story, all the more engaging because we know how it ended. For Trotsky himself, of course, it was going to end 10 years after publication with his assassination in Mexico (famously with an ice-pick) by an agent of Stalin's NKVD. The importance of History of the Russian Revolution was marked by its English publication in 1932 in the definitive translation by Max Eastman, just two years after its publication in Russian (in Germany). However, it was only in 1997 that it was cleared for publication in Russia itself. Jonathan Booth gives Trotsky's important work its first unabridged audio recording.

Leon Trotsky (Author), Jonathan Booth (Narrator)

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The Revolution Betrayed: What Is the Soviet Union and Where Is It Going?

It is June 1936. Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) has finally been granted a visa for asylum in Norway, having been banned first from living in Paris, and then the whole of France. With him comes the draft of The Revolution Betrayed: What Is the Soviet Union and Where Is It Going?, which is completed and sent to the publishers on the 4th of August. The book, published by Faber in 1937, is considered to be Trotsky's major work on Stalinism. Trotsky's passion for the spirit of the Revolution he co-founded, his disgust and sadness at how the people of Russia have been betrayed by Stalin and his acolytes, shows us the bleak lives of 170 million Russians under the absolute control of ‘the Ten Thousand' of the bureaucracy. Trotsky reminds us of the high concepts of the 1917 October Revolution, (Marx's 'From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs') with the sharing of the nation's resources for the benefit of all. Prominent among such forward thinking was the commitment to lift women out of the trap of housework and childbirth by communal refectories and creches in the workplace. He praises the positive economic advances of the USSR since the death of Lenin - the growth in areas such as industrial and electrical output. But he notes the continued and inevitable low productivity (much lower than the capitalist West, he acknowledges) that is the result of lack of incentive for the Soviet worker. This, he argues, will never allow the country to lift itself up to full potential, despite Stalin's ever-changing Five-Year Plans. Indeed, it is this zig-zagging of panicked policy and bovine directionlessness that frustrates Trotsky so much. It is bad enough that Stalin and his self-serving cohorts have formed a Thermidorian regime of brutal repression and conservative nest-feathering. But even worse, their economic adventurism is carrying ‘the nation to the edge of disaster'. Trotsky brings us a clear picture of the miserable existence of the vast majority of Russians, barely surviving on bad rations, endemic corruption and fear, and the promise of a tomorrow that will never come. He laments the lack of a proletarian uprising in the West that might encourage Russians to change their own off-course regime. He notes the rise of Hitler and Mussolini, and seems, even in 1936, to see war as inevitable. He predicts the toppling of Stalinism but would have wept at how many decades it took and how many millions of lives would be wasted by stupidity and war. Only 10 days after Trotsky sent this book to the publishers, Stalin announced the first of the Moscow show trials that began the Great Purge. Trotsky and his wife were badly treated and muzzled by the Norwegians to prevent his protesting at Stalin's actions, and they moved to Mexico City in early 1937. There they lived, terrorized by Stalin's determination to assassinate his old rival, until Trotsky's death following a blow from an ice pick on 20th August 1940. The Revolution Betrayed, with its vivid translation by Max Eastman, is presented with clarity and commitment by Jonathan Booth.

Leon Trotsky (Author), Jonathan Booth (Narrator)

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The Histories

How did the city state of Rome rise inexorably to become the dominant power in the Mediterranean and much of the Western world? In short, first of all it overcame the established Carthaginian Empire despite the remarkable exploits of Hannibal. And, largely at the same time, it gradually subjugated the many and varied city states of Greece, despite various allied opposition. The rise of Rome is one of the great stories of world history, and fortunately, we have a reliable and at times an eyewitness account, from the Greek historian Polybius of Megalopolis (c200 BCE-c117 BCE). In The Histories, Polybius set out to present as full an account as he could, with the historical background, the causes of disagreement leading to conflict, the main naval and land battles and the acts of heroism, cowardice, imagination and folly. In addition, he provided lucid explanations of the diplomacy, the treaties and portraits of the main personalities. He encompassed the whole story in 40 books, a considerable undertaking. He started his tale in 264 BCE as Rome challenged Carthage and concluded with the capture of Corinth in 146 BCE. It is a century (and more) of almost continuous conflict in one field or another. These were brutal times of torture, slaughter, enslavement, where power was wielded for dominance, but there were examples of honourable engagement and considered diplomacy. Extended periods of warfare brought new military ideas and tactics, as Rome learned to combat Carthaginian expertise on sea and on land. Siege machinery was developed on both sides (the skills of Archimedes in the defence of Syracuse is mentioned) and the famous Greek phalanx was pitted against the Roman legions. Polybius reports on the main confrontations with the authority of a man who was present at many events and also visited historic sites of importance to ensure his accounts of the past were accurate. In The Histories, he gives rounded portraits of the important figures of Hannibal and other Carthaginian generals: of Scipio Africanus (who finally stopped Hannibal at the Battle of Zama) and other Roman general, of Philip V of Macedon, of Antiochus the Great, ruler of the Seleucid Empire and of the Ptolemies of Egypt. The rise of Rome is a story of two main arenas - the West (Carthage, Spain, Northern Italy and Illyria) and the East - Greece! In trying to maintain some kind of chronological flow, Polybius has little option but to switch the focus from one to another, sometimes at short notice! This problem is exacerbated by the fact that The Histories has survived only in part. The first five books exist in full. Most of book six, with its important review of the Roman constitution and military system, has also survived. Of the rest we have fragments of varying lengths (though nothing for books 17, 19, 37, 40). This makes for some challenging moments as ‘chapters' can switch from one focus to another at a swift pace, especially with the way the vivid reports and analysis from Polybius maintain the thrust of the narrative. Ukemi Audiobooks here presents, for the first time on audio, the unabridged Polybius - everything that has survived - in the excellent translation by W. R. Paton. There is additional material too. It opens with 'The Life of Polybius' by H. J. Edwards. And it closes with the classic survey of Polybius and his work by Evelyn S. Shuckburgh, which includes 'The Sources of Polybius' History' and an overview of 'The Achaean League' which played a key r

Jonathan Black (Author), Jonathan Booth (Narrator)

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Emile or On Education

The Social Contract and Discourse on Inequality may be the two principal philosophical works for which Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) is remembered today, but his educational treatise-novel, Emile or On Education, can claim to be an equally important and, for its time, radical work. Published in 1762, it had a profound impact on the approach to the education and upbringing of a child, through infancy, childhood, adolescence and into adulthood. This was partly fuelled by the format - for Rousseau presents before us the boy Emile, taking him through the various stages of life, and as Emile becomes a young man, introducing a female counterpart, Sophie. This device personalises what would otherwise be a more formal philosophical presentation. Emile or On Education is divided into five parts. In book I, Rousseau discusses the challenges of man as a self-centred being, who nevertheless has to learn to live in the world. Rousseau outlines his educational philosophy: ‘Plants are fashioned by cultivation, man by education.' In book II, Rousseau focusses on the growing child, the child and its place in the world. He argues that this is the time to encounter nature directly in all its varying delights. Book III sees Rousseau placing high on the agenda the learning of a trade, especially a manual skill, and notes the crucial effect played by role models. Book IV outlines the challenges of the teenage world and finally, in book V, covering the early '20s, Rousseau introduces Sophie. His ideas concerning the education of girls are inevitably fashioned by 18th-century views on women's expected role in society, something which was quickly challenged by figures such as Mary Wollstonecraft. But though Emile or On Education is undeniably a product of its time, it has profoundly influenced educational concepts right into the 21st century. Rousseau argues for the importance of physical activity in the early years, for example, playing outside and interacting with nature. Only later, as adolescence approaches, should formal study play a more prominent part. The adolescent should approach issues such as religion and philosophy with an open mind (this brought Rousseau and Emile directly into conflict with the conventional religious institutions, resulting in the banning, and even burning, of the book in Paris and Geneva). Emile or On Education proved a milestone in educational reform and it has remained a stimulating document. For example, it asks, ‘Is it good for young people to travel? It should be asked, Are men the better for having travelled?' And further, ‘The misuse of books is the death of sound learning...there was never so much reading in any age as the present, and never was there less learning...so many books lead us to neglect the book of the world.' Translation by Barbara Foxley.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Author), Jonathan Booth (Narrator)

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The Imitation of Christ

First published in 1471, the year of the author's death, The Imitation of Christ is a highly influential Christian text. A celebration of God's mercy, holiness and love, The Imitation is a devotional guide in which Christians are urged to trust fully in God and submit to the circumstances of the life which we are given by God. Although Thomas a? Kempis spent 70 years of his life in the confines of a monastery, this work shows a complete comprehension of human nature. St Thomas More commended the work as one of the three books that everyone ought to own, while John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, called it the best summary of Christian life that he had ever read.

Thomas A? Kempis (Author), Jonathan Booth (Narrator)

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Early Greek Philosophy: The Pre-Socratics

In his introduction to Early Greek Philosophy, John Burnet points out the particular focus of the pre-Socratics on the ‘cosmological' character of their enquiries. They determined, he explains, to look into the natural world around them. The period can be said to mark the rise of scientific enquiry epitomised by the Atomists and the mathematicians of the Pythagorean School. It was this focus on natural phenomena that set the pattern for the activity that became known as philosophy. Only later, with Socrates and Plato, would the spotlight of enquiry concentrate on matters such as ethics and morality. The interests of the early philosophers were broader than the cosmological character might suggest and also considered spiritual, mythical and aesthetic elements Burnet's survey covers the fifth and sixth centuries BCE and the figures who emerged from an Ionian background. He follows his Introduction with 10 chapters, presenting the many figures who left their mark on this period. He opens with The Milesian School, highlighting Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes. Chapter two looks specifically at science and religion (Pythagoras features here); then come Heraclitus of Ephesus, Parmenides of Elea, Empedokles of Akragas, and on through the continuing developments of early Greek philosophical thinking. Original extant sources are, it must be said, rare - often they exist only in tiny fragments of a few words, or very short sentences. Perhaps the most famous of them is the remark by Heraclitus: ‘You cannot step twice into the same rivers; for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you.' Burnet lists these fragments where they exist. However, our knowledge of these philosophers, and their views, is often more generally based on accounts and comments by later writers, including Plato and Aristotle, Theophrastus, Aetius, Diogenes Laertius, as well as a variety of Sceptics and Stoics, including Cicero. Burnet closes with a useful note on the sources - biographers, philosophers and doxographers. Although it was originally published in 1892 (this recording is based on the much-revised third edition of 1920), Early Greek Philosophy by John Burnet remains unquestionably one of the most respected and admired surveys of the pre-Socratics. It is an illuminating springboard into classical Greek philosophy.

John Burnet (Author), Jonathan Booth (Narrator)

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Philosophical Investigations

Philosophical Investigations - a landmark in 20th century philosophy - was published in 1953, two years after the death of its author. In the preface written in Cambridge in 1945 where he was professor of philosophy he states: ‘Four years ago I had occasion to re-read my first book (the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus) and to explain its ideas to someone. It suddenly seemed to me that I should publish those old thoughts and the new ones together: that the latter could be seen in the right light only by contrast with and against the background of my old way of thinking.' Philosophical Investigations was the result. It explores the concept of meaning, of understanding, of propositions, of logic, of states of consciousness and of many other topics. The fundamental ideas of the Tractatus are both expounded and criticised. This is the text of the third edition.

Ludwig Wittgenstein (Author), Jonathan Booth (Narrator)

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The Encheiridion and Discourses

Born into slavery in the first century AD, Epictetus was a leading Greek philosopher of the Stoic school. He spent most of his life in Rome before the emperor Domitian banished all philosophers from the city in AD 93; his exile then took him to Nicopolis in Greece. His teachings were recorded by his pupil Arrian, who published both the Encheiridion and Discourses. The Discourses, which Arrian claimed to have taken down during lectures he attended, comprised eight books of which we have only four. The Encheiridion ('Handbook') is a distillation of the main ideas found in the Discourses. Throughout these works is the strong sense of Stoic philosophy, with its emphasis on self-examination and self-knowledge, being presented as a practical way of living rather than a theoretical code.

Epictetus (Author), Jonathan Booth (Narrator)

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Epicurus of Samos: His Philosophy and Life: All the Principal Source Texts

Epicurus of Samos (341-270 BCE) was the founder of the philosophical system to which he gave his name: Epicureanism. It is a label that is often misused and misunderstood today, with ‘a life of pleasure' as the key aim misinterpreted as a life of indulgence. In fact, the philosophy of Epicurus demonstrated also by his life, was anything but! He established a school in Athens called The Garden, underpinned by his system of ethics. He promoted, by his own example, a simple, ordered, calm and reflective life. A life of true pleasure, he proposed, is only possible when unharnessed desire for wealth, position, luxury and power has been dissolved and instead steady living and friendship are the watchwords. It is against this background that the understanding and acceptance of the vicissitudes of life, and the inevitability of death, are the rules by which to live. This was in contrast to Platonism on the one hand and the Cynics on the other. The second major facet of Epicurus' philosophy was his physics, in which he adopted and furthered the theory of atomism introduced by Democritus (460-370 BCE): there was no ‘first mover', no creation myth, no afterlife. Atoms underpinned all existence. Epicurus was a prodigious author, producing many books - yet very few survive. Diogenes Laertius, the third-century Greek biographer, in his sizeable Lives of Eminent Philosophers, devotes Book X, the final book, to Epicurus. In it he gives an account of the life of the philosopher and including three letters from Epicurus to friends, to Herodotus, Pythocles and Menoeceus. The biography concludes with the concise The Principal Doctrines of Epicurus. Then there are various fragments which have come down to us: The Vatican Sayings (a collection found in the Vatican Library, originally compiled in the 14th century and rediscovered in the 19th century); Epicurean Fragments collected in the 19th century from many classical authors; further fragments included in the collection The Villa of the Papyri; and Diogenes' Wall Inscription. There are also important works clearly influenced by Epicurus, notably the long important poem De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things) by Lucretius (c99 BCE-c55 BCE). And finally, there is a chapter on The Legacy. This represents comments by such figures as Cicero (who though principally a Stoic clearly retained an admiration for Epicurus) and later Epicureans, including Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the US. In Epicurus of Samos, His Life and Philosophy, Hiram Crespo, (founder of the Society of Epicurus) has compiled all the source texts and provided introductions to the topic and each chapter. The title is an original commission by Ukemi Audiobooks.

The Brothers Grimm (Author), James Gillies, Jonathan Booth (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Jonathan Booth