Audiobooks narrated by Stephen Platt

Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre: The Creation and Destruction of America’s Wealthiest

Overall, Tulsa in 1921 was considered a modern, vibrant city. What had fueled this remarkable growth was oil, specifically the discovery of the Glenn Pool oil field in 1905. Within five years, Tulsa had grown from a rural crossroads town in the former Indian Territory into a boomtown with more than 10,000 citizens, and as word spread of the fortunes that could be made in Tulsa, people of all races poured into the city. By 1920, the greater Tulsa area boasted a population of over 100,000. In turn, Tulsa’s residential neighborhoods were some of the most modern and stylish in the country, and the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce produced postcards and literature boasting of the virtues of life in their modern oil city. However, as a commission report about the Tulsa Riot later pointed out, “What the pamphlets and the picture postcards did not reveal was that, despite of its impressive new architecture and its increasingly urbane affectations, Tulsa was a deeply troubled town. As 1920 turned into 1921, the city would soon face a crossroads that, in the end, would change it forever...Tulsa was, in some ways, not one city but two.” When they came to Tulsa, many blacks settled in the Greenwood area and established a thriving commercial, cultural, and residential area. Of course, the segregation was forced on these residents, and while they had fled the worst conditions of the Jim Crow South in other areas, they were not able to escape it completely. But in one way, Tulsa was different for African Americans, as black citizens of the city shared in the city’s wealth, albeit not as equally as their white neighbors. The Greenwood district, a 36 square block section of northern Tulsa, was considered the wealthiest African American neighborhood in the country, called the “Black Wall Street” because of the large number of affluent and professional residents.

Charles River Editors (Author), Stephen Platt (Narrator)

Audiobook

Condottieri, The: The History of Italy’s Elite Mercenaries during the Middle Ages and Renaissance

Since several large city-states such as Milan and Venice growing rich on the prosperous Mediterranean trade routes, they had the money to commission grandiose cathedrals and works of art that still astound people today, but they also had the resources to hire armies and constantly fight to expand their power. Ironically, their very success was an impediment, as most prosperous city-states had far more money than available manpower because so many people worked in essential jobs in agriculture, crafts, or public works. Large bodies of men could not be spared for fighting, so if a city-state wanted to expand, it needed to hire an army to bolster the ranks. Other factors limited the use of homegrown armies. City militias often got embroiled in the factional disputes that were rife in Italian urban politics, to the extent that the militia might take one side or another, or be so divided as to be ineffective against external enemies. The only way to avoid this was to bring in neutral, outside administrators all factions could agree on to handle local affairs in a supposedly impartial manner. Known as the podestà system, this odd method of running a government began to be common by the late 13th century, but this administration would need troops of its own and naturally hired outsiders, often non-Italians, to keep the peace. Thus was born the condottieri (singular condottiero or condottiere). Meaning “contractor,” it referred not only to the captains of mercenary bands but was also used as a general term for all the mercenaries in Italy during the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance. These flamboyant figures, sometimes of noble birth, had at their command experienced armies who hired themselves out to the highest bidder and kept to a strict code of professional ethics. Their fighting prowess and prestige soon put them in high demand, and rulers all across Italy eagerly bid for their services.

Charles River Editors (Author), Stephen Platt (Narrator)

Audiobook

Swabian League, The: The History and Legacy of the Mutual Defense Pact for the Holy Roman Empire’s I

The Holy Roman Empire was a fascinating institution as well as one of the most perplexing and contradictory. It was both German and universal. It was created by the Catholic Church, yet in the end enshrined confessional freedom in its constitution. It was both an empire and a collection of loosely federated principalities and city-states. It was Roman, but based in Germany, and for most of its existence it either ignored the Vatican or was at war with it. The Swabian League, an alliance of cities and states in the southwest of Germany within the Holy Roman Empire was interesting in itself both for the way it influenced imperial politics and for how it shaped the German nation and thus the history of Europe. There were two Swabian Leagues, with the first in the High Middle Ages and the second being formed during the Renaissance. The Protestant Reformation tore apart the alliances in the 16th century, and the divisions continued to influence the history of Germany well beyond the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. In fact, it can be argued that the Swabian League created the German nation as it exists today, and its influence lives on through the autonomous Swabian peoples who live in the federal German state of Baden-Wurttemberg. The Swabian League: The History and Legacy of the Mutual Defense Pact for the Holy Roman Empire’s Imperial Estates examines the events that led to the formation of the Swabian League, and what eventually brought about its demise.

Charles River Editors (Author), Stephen Platt (Narrator)

Audiobook

Black Wall Street: The History of the Greenwood District Before the Tulsa Race Riot

Charles River Editors (Author), Stephen Platt (Narrator)

Audiobook

Tatars, The: The History of the Tatar Ethnic Groups and Tatar Confederation

A history of the Tatar peoples covers a huge expanse of territory, time, and the rise and fall of many Tatar communities. As such, they played a role in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East over several centuries, and from Genghis Khan to Ivan the Terrible and Josef Stalin, some of history’s most infamous tyrants have played a key role in this story. Crucially, the history of the Tatars is one that seems to take place at the fringes of the great empires. According to an article in the history magazine Ancient Origins, Westerners tended to refer to the Mongol Empire and the various Khanates, including the Crimean Khanate, as “Tatar” populations from around the 14th century. The two were linked and labeled with terms such as the “Golden Horde,” used to indicate the far-reaching scope of the Mongol invasions led by the likes of Genghis Khan. However, historians believe the term Tatar dates back much earlier, to around the 5th century CE, and Tatar tribes and nomads had by the 6th century spread out far and wide across the Asian continental land mass, stretching from Mongolia in the east to what is now Kazakhstan in Central Asia, all the way to modern day Bulgaria and Turkey. Tatars also settled in the Volga region, the location where they are predominantly based today. It was in Volga where Tatars are first believed to have adopted Islam in 922 CE, having received a delegation from Baghdad. As the centuries progressed, the Tatars came to represent an important group within Russia and its surrounding countries, as not only members of those societies but also sitting slightly outside the establishment. One example would be Ukraine, where the Crimean Tatars were important players in the politics and trade of the region, but who were essentially independent until the Russian Empire came to dominate the Crimean Peninsula.

Charles River Editors (Author), Stephen Platt (Narrator)

Audiobook

Landsknechts, The: The History and Legacy of the German Mercenaries Who Fought for the Holy Roman Em

Artillery and handgonnes had been known since the early 14th century but only became effective near the end of the 15th century, when they were the final factor in the infantry revolution and began to change warfare forever. By the middle of the 15th century, artillery was knocking down castle walls that had stood for generations. Infantry also proved their worth with powerful longbows and tight formations of polearms upsetting the long dominance of mounted, heavily armored knights, and handheld firearms threatened to make armor obsolete. New types of warriors were developed, and new tactics had to take the emerging era of black powder weapons into account, ushering in a time of great change in military strategy, tactics, and technology. The Middle Ages witnessed almost constant warfare in Europe, so mercenaries were a constant on the battlefield, but the 15th century also saw the rise of mercenary usage by the increasingly wealthy aristocracy. One of the finest groups of mercenaries were the Landsknechts from central and northern Europe. The term means “servant of the country,” and they mostly served the Holy Roman Empire, first under Emperor Maximilian I (r. 1508-1519) and then under his successors. The Landsknechts (German: Landsknechte) were masters of the battlefield, adept at pike, sword, and dead shots with the crude matchlocks of the day. The only mercenaries rivaling them were the famous Swiss, who they hated and often fought bitterly. The Landsknechts were as famous for their flamboyant costumes as much as their prowess on the battlefield, and they became symbols of rebellion and freedom in early modern Europe, even as they fought in service of Europe’s largest empire.

Charles River Editors (Author), Stephen Platt (Narrator)

Audiobook

Ma Barker and the Barker-Karpis Gang: The Controversial History of the Criminal Gang during the Grea

Among America’s most infamous “Public Enemies,” perhaps the most unique and controversial was Kate Barker. With her prominent, hawk-tipped nose and plump, doughy face, framed by a classic dark curly coif and frilly day dresses to match, Ma Barker was as non-threatening as they come. Nary a second glance was given to this grandmotherly figure by those who crossed her path, perhaps at most a polite tip of the hat. Of course, as the age-old adage goes, appearances are often deceiving. According to the FBI and portrayals in popular culture, not only was Ma Barker a crass, greedy, and highly manipulative individual who coaxed her sons into the abyss-like vortex of criminality, she was the matriarchal mastermind of one of the most notorious gangs of the Dirty Thirties era. The Ma Barker Gang, as they were so branded, wasn't a typical band of small-time crooks. Quite the contrary, the unorthodox family-run enterprise was, as described by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, “the most vicious, cold-blooded crew of murderers, kidnappers, and robbers in recent memory.” The gang was as accomplished – and dangerous – as it was elusive, and between 1930 and 1933 alone, they made off with an estimated $3 million. In their heyday, the gang boasted some 25 members, and through it all, the Barker boys remained its core members. Blood, as per the Barker code, would always be thicker than water. The obvious novelty of the alleged gang leader's identity aside, the disturbing fates of the Barker brothers and many of their associates served as a cautionary tale about the dangers and delusions that ensue when one becomes consumed by unbridled avarice and arrogance. But why were the Barker brothers, once innocent young lads, steered so far off the path of righteousness? What was the true depth of Ma's involvement in the gang's laundry list of despicable crimes? How did the once untouchable gang's winning streak culminate in such catastrophic disaster?

Charles River Editors (Author), Stephen Platt (Narrator)

Audiobook

Saint Gregory the Great: The History of the Early Middle Ages’ Most Influential Pope and the Rise of

“No one does more harm in the Church than he who has the title or rank of holiness and acts perversely.”-St. Gregory the Great The pope, the bishop of Rome, claims spiritual authority over more than a billion Catholics worldwide. He also exercises temporal authority over a tiny enclave of Rome consisting of the Vatican Palace, Saint Peter’s Basilica, and 44 hectares with the ancient Leonine Walls. As Sovereign of the Vatican City States, he has around 1,000 subjects, mostly clerics. While those facts are widely known, many are not familiar with the fact that before the reunification of Italy in the late 19th century, the popes were rulers not only of the city of Rome but of much of central Italy for over a thousand years. The Papal States, as they are usually referred to, were formally gifted to the Church by the Frankish King Pepin III (r.751-768) in 756, but the origins of the Papal States can be traced back over 150 years earlier. One of the most prominent figures in the foundation of the Papal States was Pope Gregory I, who led the Roman Church and the city of Rome from 590-604. During his time, Rome enjoyed the prominence in Italy it once had before being sacked in the late 5th century, and Pope Gregory I helped ensure that the Eternal City would shape the destiny of Western Europe, not the Byzantine capital of Constantinople.

Charles River Editors (Author), Stephen Platt (Narrator)

Audiobook

Great Schism, The: The History and Legacy of the Split Between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Chu

For nearly a thousand years following its foundation, there was only one Christian Church. Centered in the city of Rome, the Church expanded and grew until it became the dominant religion in Europe and beyond. The early growth of the Church had been suppressed by the Romans until the Emperor Constantine became the first to convert the empire to Christianity, and from that point forward, the growth of the Church Was inextricably linked with the Roman Empire, the most powerful military, economic, and political force in the ancient world. Constantinople became the second most important city of the Roman Empire, thriving in parallel with Rome, but then the empire split into Eastern and Western provinces, with Constantinople the capital of the east and Rome the capital of the west. Control of trade routes made Constantinople increase in power and influence while Rome became less important. However, not all power and influence shifted east, because one important institution remained firmly linked with the city of Rome: the Bishops of the Church. Under the rule of previous emperors, Christian Bishops had not only been formally recognized, but had been given power within the Roman state. The most important of all was 'I Sommi Pontefici Romani” the supreme pontiff of Rome. The earliest holders of this title were martyrs and saints of the Church, but by the time of the rise of Constantinople, this role was elected by the other Bishops of the Church. This role would later become known as the Pope (from the Greek word “pappas” meaning “father”), but even before that title was adopted, the Supreme Pontiff in Rome was widely recognized as the leader of the Church. In historical terms, these early leaders of the Church are often referred to as “popes” even though that title was not formally adopted until after the division the Church.

Charles River Editors (Author), Stephen Platt (Narrator)

Audiobook

Battle on the Ice, The: The History and Legacy of the Slavs’ Decisive Victory Against the Teutonic K

In 1938, the Soviet Union film company Mosfilm released the motion picture Alexander Nevsky, directed by Sergei Eisenstein. It is a historical drama depicting the defense of the Republic of Novgorod against an invasion of the Teutonic Knights in the mid-13th century. The eponymous hero of the story, the Prince of Novgorod, leads his troops against the German knights on a field of solid ice. During the battle, called the Battle on the Ice or the Battle of Lake Peipus, the ice breaks and many of the knights drown in the freezing waters, but Nevsky is victorious and the pernicious Germans are vanquished forever. Far from an attempt to portray historical events, Alexander Nevsky is a Stalinist propaganda piece in which the Russian people defy and halt the eastward expansion of the German menace. It is an obvious allegory of the Soviet Union defying Nazi Germany at a time when Soviet-German relations were at their most acrid before World War II. The clothing of the Teutonic warriors inaccurately display swastikas,[1] and the famous scene where they are swallowed up by the ice is also a Stalinist embellishment.[2] Of course, Soviet Russia was not the first to use the historical conflict between the German West and the Slavic East for propaganda purposes. The German defeat of Russia at the Battle of Tannenberg in 1914 was portrayed as revenge for the Battle of Grunwald in 1410.

Charles River Editors (Author), Stephen Platt (Narrator)

Audiobook

Shining Path, The: The History of Peru’s Revolutionary Communist Party and the Ongoing Civil War

On the evening of May 17, 1980, a day before the Peruvian electorate, the most representative in the nation’s history, was due to go to the polls for the first authentic presidential election since 1963, a curious thing happened. In the tiny mountain town of Chuschi, little more than a hamlet nestled in a valley on the western slopes of the Andes, a group of armed youth broke the lock on the town hall and removed all of the ballot boxes, papers and voting lists prepared for the following day. These were carried out into the town square and burned. The group identified itself as Sendero Luminoso, the “Shining Path,” declaring this action to be the commencement of the armed phase of the “People’s War.” In the avalanche of press coverage for the election, the incident was scantly reported and generally overlooked. It was an exciting and energetic time in Peruvian politics, as the country sought to shake off nearly two decades of military rule and dictatorship, and a minor disturbance such as this in the rural countryside was of little interest. Nor, for that matter, was the theft of dynamite from a handful of local mines, although the handful of isolated bomb blasts that followed did stir a certain amount of curious reporting. Soon, however, the citizens of Lima began to notice the frequency of stray dogs found hanging from traffic lights and lamp posts. Images that have since become iconic in the chronicles of the Shining Path began appearing in local newspapers. This flush of macabre and ritualistic statements, apart from being confusing and a little unnerving, were also inescapably folkloric and sinister. This in time would become the hallmark of Sendero Luminoso as it emerged thereafter as one of the largest and most violent of Latin American guerrilla movements.

Charles River Editors (Author), Stephen Platt (Narrator)

Audiobook

Soviet Invasion of Hungary in 1956, The: The History and Legacy of the Hungarian Uprising and the Mi

After D-Day had all but sealed the Allied victory, Stalin’s Red Army became more aggressive in retaking land formerly held by Germany. Concerned over the ever-widening Soviet map, Churchill met with Stalin in October 1944 (Roosevelt was by this time too frail to join them) and, while ceding Rumania and Bulgaria to the Soviets, insisted that Yugoslavia and Hungary be shared among the allies. The sticking point at the time seemed to be Poland. Stalin demanded that the very anti-communist Polish government in exile be overturned in favor of a one more sympathetic to his regime. Churchill, on the other hand, felt a sense of obligation to the government as it stood, since they were hiding out in London. However, he wisely agreed to table the subject until the end of the war was clearly in sight. When the Hungarians rose up against the status quo in October 1956, they were met with a brutal response from Moscow. The history of Hungary is one of a country that experienced almost constant expansion and contraction, along with waves of autonomy and domination. It is this sense of history that played such a dominant role in 1956 and why the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution has such a searing place in the national consciousness. Above all, 1956 brought about a sense of helplessness that Hungary had little chance to tread a path of national self-determination, as the threat of Soviet military intervention hung over the country. Of course, that was the Soviets’ intention all along. By crushing the Hungarian Uprising, the Soviets dampened the hopes of the people of Central and Eastern Europe that they might be able to pursue a more independent-minded path. The one exception to this rule would be Tito’s Yugoslavia.

Charles River Editors (Author), Stephen Platt (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Stephen Platt