Audiobooks narrated by Jonathan Booth

The Savage Isle: The Savage Isle

Michael Arnold (Author), Jonathan Booth (Narrator)

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The Science of Rights

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

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"Though born to a poor but pious family of ribbon weavers in in Saxony in 1762, Johann Gottlieb’s exceptional intelligence was apparent from an early age. Remarkably, from this humble background, he earned himself a respected place in the pantheon of late 18th and early 19th century German philosophers. That fact that he is placed between Kant and Hegel, yet still retains a significant and individual presence, says much about his work and personality. He became known, especially, for initiating the concept of ‘German idealism’ (linked with Romanticism and the revolutionary politics which emerged after the Enlightenment). In the 20th and 21st century, his importance and contribution to Western philosophy has been increasingly acknowledged. There are two substantial lecture series and one essay stemming from his time in Berlin in Popular Works Volume 2: much of Fichte’s important work appeared initially in lectures. The Characteristics of the Present Age, (1806) consists of 17 lectures in which Fichte presents his ‘speculative philosophy of history’. The series opens with ‘The Idea of Universal History’ in which he ‘divides earthly life into 5 Principal Epochs.’ Against this overview of history and culture, (including the state, civil and political freedom, science and religion) he develops his thesis with particular reference to his ‘present age’ – the time of Voltaire, Rousseau on the one hand and Lessing, Kant and Goethe on the other. In The Way Towards The Blessed Life or The Doctrine Of Religion (1806) (11 lectures) Fichte considers the relationship between established religion and his particular view on ‘transcendental’ philosophy. His opening statement is ‘Life is Love; and hence Life and Blessedness are in themselves one and the same.’ He continues by examine metaphysics, ontology, mysticism, actual and apparent life, Christianity, and his Doctrine of Being. The final work in this anthology is Outlines of the Doctrine of Knowledge (1810). It is a concise exposition of Fichte’s Wissenschaftslehre’ but in its strictly scientific form. It had an unusual provenance in that it was printed by Fichte at the conclusion of lectures as a form of a memorandum with 14 short sections. It opens with the question: ‘How this Knowledge can come into being, and what it is in its inward and essential Nature?’"

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

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"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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Elective Affinities

"Goethe as a novelist is best known for two earlier novels, The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) and Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship (1796). But Elective Affinities, which was published in 1809, is widely regarded as his mature masterpiece, not least because of its unusual provenance, which brings together Goethe the scientist as well as Goethe the writer. Baron Eduard and his second wife Charlotte enjoy a quiet, humdrum existence in their opulent castle, but when he invites his friend the Captain and she invites her niece Ottilie to stay with them, their lives are turned inside out as both hosts begin to feel attracted to their guests. Using one of the chemistry theories of the time (the term ‘elective affinities’ was used by Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton) as a metaphor throughout the novel, Goethe juxtaposes social interactions with scientific principles, while illustrating the typically Romantic concern of the individual coming to terms with society. Controversial when first published and still much critically debated today, Goethe s Elective Affinities is an early model for the modern novel."

Johan Wolfgang Von Goethe (Author), Jonathan Booth (Narrator)

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The Water Margin: Outlaws of the Marsh

"The Water Margin is one of the most popular classics of early Chinese literature. It tells the vigorous story of 108 characters who, falling foul of the established state authorities are forced to become outlaws. They form a bandit community in Liangshan Marsh, becoming such a formidable force in their own right that they threaten the power of government itself. The author, Shi Nain, writing in the 14th century, the time of the Ming Dynasty, presents the tale with all the force and directness of a live story-teller. He describes in some detail the numerous one-to-one combats with a wide variety of weapons, as well as hand to hand fights. Despite written over half a millennium ago, it all seems very familiar to the contemporary listener, for the style lives on in the Chinese martial arts movies of today. He pulls no punches with the events themselves. There is deception, murder, torture, adultery, beheadings and massacre on a grand scale, reflecting the disorderly nature of the time – it is set 200 years earlier in a lawless period during the Northern Song dynasty. But the power of the story lies in the portrayal of the individuals who cover the wide spectrum of human kind. There are the honourable figures, wrongly branded on the face as criminals and forced to wear the heavy cangue – the massive wooden collar, punishing and restricting movement. There are the mighty warriors who, despite good deeds (killing tigers that are terrorising the neighbourhood) are forced to flee established society by powerful but envious officials. There are monks displaying varying degrees of ethical behaviour. And there are some who simply love to fight, anywhere, anytime, with any weapons, and find themselves most comfortable in the outlaw milieu. The Water Margin has come down to us in various forms – its huge size attracted abridgements – and the version recorded here is the 70-chapter chronicle by Jin Shengtan, dating from the 17th century. The translation by J. H. Jackson appeared in the 1930s. But it has been recently revised by Edwin Lowe who wanted to bring back the earthy flavour of the original, reintroducing the strong language, the brutality and the unexpurgated nature of Shi Nain’s language. In short, it is a rip-roaring tale, unrelenting in its energy, more akin to the modern thriller than the elegant, reflective character one would expect from a Chinese classic! Nevertheless, it often exhibits the features of the morality tale with wise aphorisms. Jonathan Booth gives a virtuoso presentation with vivid characterisation of the principals, and the hundreds of minor individuals who pop up in this detailed account of medieval life in the raw."

Shi Naian (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 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 role in events in Greece. The whole production is supported by an extensive PDF, with key dates, personalities and events in order. There are also maps, which give visual clarity to the challenging geographical progress of Rome as it moved inexorably towards Empire. The Histories is read with engaging authority by Jonathan Booth."

Polybius (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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Audiobooks Narrated by Jonathan Booth