Listen free for 30 days
-
The Last Empire
- Essays 1992-2000
- Narrated by: Dan Cashman
- Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Essays
People who bought this also bought...
-
United States: Essays 1952-1992
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 60 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gore Vidal’s reputation as America’s finest essayist is an enduring one. This collection, chosen by the author from 40 years of work, contains about two-thirds of what he published in various magazines and journals. He has divided the essays into three categories, or states. State of the art covers literature, including novelists and critics, bestsellers, pieces on Henry James, Oscar Wilde, Suetonius, Nabakov, and Montaigne (a previosly uncollected essay from 1992).
-
Burr
- A Novel (Narratives of Empire, Book 1)
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is an extraordinary portrait of one of the most complicated - and misunderstood - figures among the Founding Fathers. In 1804, while serving as vice president, Aaron Burr fought a duel with his political nemesis, Alexander Hamilton, and killed him. In 1807, he was arrested, tried, and acquitted of treason. In 1833, Burr is newly married, an aging statesman considered a monster by many. But he is determined to tell his own story, and he chooses to confide in a young New York City journalist. Burr is the first novel in Gore Vidal's Narratives of Empire series.
-
-
brilliant
- By Andrew William McCallum on 30-06-19
-
The Selected Essays of Gore Vidal
- By: Gore Vidal, Jay Parini - editor
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 19 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gore Vidal - novelist, playwright, critic, screenwriter, memoirist, indefatigable political commentator, and controversialist - is America’s premier man of letters. No other writer brings more sparkling wit, vast learning, indelible personality, and provocative mirth to the job of writing an essay.
-
Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: How We Got to Be So Hated
- American Imperialism, Book 1
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 3 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a series of penetrating and alarming essays, whose centerpiece is a commentary on the events of September 11, 2001 (deemed then too controversial to publish), Gore Vidal challenges the comforting consensus following September 11th and goes back and draws connections to Timothy McVeigh’s bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City. He asks were these simply the acts of “evil-doers?”
-
Palimpsest
- A Memoir
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This explosively entertaining memoir abounds in gossip, satire, historical apercus, and trenchant observations. Vidal’s compelling narrative weaves back and forth in time, providing a whole view of the author’s celebrated life, from his birth in 1925 to today, and features a cast of memorable characters - including the Kennedy family, Marlon Brando, Anais Nin, and Eleanor Roosevelt.
-
The City and the Pillar
- A Novel
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jim, a handsome, all-American athlete, has always been shy around girls. But when he and his best friend, Bob, partake in “awful kid stuff,” the experience forms Jim’s ideal of spiritual completion. Defying his parents’ expectations, Jim strikes out on his own, hoping to find Bob and rekindle their amorous friendship.
-
-
Romantic tragedy
- By That Man on 26-06-20
-
United States: Essays 1952-1992
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 60 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gore Vidal’s reputation as America’s finest essayist is an enduring one. This collection, chosen by the author from 40 years of work, contains about two-thirds of what he published in various magazines and journals. He has divided the essays into three categories, or states. State of the art covers literature, including novelists and critics, bestsellers, pieces on Henry James, Oscar Wilde, Suetonius, Nabakov, and Montaigne (a previosly uncollected essay from 1992).
-
Burr
- A Novel (Narratives of Empire, Book 1)
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is an extraordinary portrait of one of the most complicated - and misunderstood - figures among the Founding Fathers. In 1804, while serving as vice president, Aaron Burr fought a duel with his political nemesis, Alexander Hamilton, and killed him. In 1807, he was arrested, tried, and acquitted of treason. In 1833, Burr is newly married, an aging statesman considered a monster by many. But he is determined to tell his own story, and he chooses to confide in a young New York City journalist. Burr is the first novel in Gore Vidal's Narratives of Empire series.
-
-
brilliant
- By Andrew William McCallum on 30-06-19
-
The Selected Essays of Gore Vidal
- By: Gore Vidal, Jay Parini - editor
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 19 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gore Vidal - novelist, playwright, critic, screenwriter, memoirist, indefatigable political commentator, and controversialist - is America’s premier man of letters. No other writer brings more sparkling wit, vast learning, indelible personality, and provocative mirth to the job of writing an essay.
-
Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: How We Got to Be So Hated
- American Imperialism, Book 1
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 3 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a series of penetrating and alarming essays, whose centerpiece is a commentary on the events of September 11, 2001 (deemed then too controversial to publish), Gore Vidal challenges the comforting consensus following September 11th and goes back and draws connections to Timothy McVeigh’s bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City. He asks were these simply the acts of “evil-doers?”
-
Palimpsest
- A Memoir
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This explosively entertaining memoir abounds in gossip, satire, historical apercus, and trenchant observations. Vidal’s compelling narrative weaves back and forth in time, providing a whole view of the author’s celebrated life, from his birth in 1925 to today, and features a cast of memorable characters - including the Kennedy family, Marlon Brando, Anais Nin, and Eleanor Roosevelt.
-
The City and the Pillar
- A Novel
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jim, a handsome, all-American athlete, has always been shy around girls. But when he and his best friend, Bob, partake in “awful kid stuff,” the experience forms Jim’s ideal of spiritual completion. Defying his parents’ expectations, Jim strikes out on his own, hoping to find Bob and rekindle their amorous friendship.
-
-
Romantic tragedy
- By That Man on 26-06-20
-
The Executioner's Song
- By: Norman Mailer
- Narrated by: Maxwell Hamilton
- Length: 42 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Norman Mailer's Pulitzer Prize-winning and unforgettable classic about convicted killer Gary Gilmore now in audio. Arguably the greatest book from America's most heroically ambitious writer, The Executioner's Song follows the short, blighted life of Gary Gilmore who became famous after he robbed two men in 1976 and killed them in cold blood. After being tried and convicted, he immediately insisted on being executed for his crime. To do so, he fought a system that seemed intent on keeping him alive long after it had sentenced him to death.
-
-
...an amazing work....
- By Jackie on 11-03-20
-
Swann's Way (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Marcel Proust
- Narrated by: Tim Bruce
- Length: 20 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the narrator of Swann's Way dips a petite madeleine into hot tea, the act transports him to his childhood in the French town of Combray. Out of his Pandora's box of reflections comes a memory of an old family friend, Swann - a man who was long ago undone by romantic desire and cruel reality. In this reverie lie the insights the author seeks about his own life and ageless truths about the ephemeral nature of emotions, places, and, ultimately, love.
-
The Story of China
- A Portrait of a Civilisation and Its People
- By: Michael Wood
- Narrated by: Michael Wood
- Length: 23 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
China is the oldest living civilisation on earth, but its history is still surprisingly little known in the wider world. Michael Wood's sparkling narrative, which mingles the grand sweep with local and personal stories, woven together with the author’s own travel journals, is an enthralling account of China’s 4000-year-old tradition, taking in life stationed on the Great Wall or inside the Forbidden City.
-
-
Glorious account of the complex and fascinating history of this great people
- By Dr D Bissett on 04-10-20
-
Inventing a Nation
- Washington, Adams, Jefferson
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht, Gore Vidal
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Volumes have been written about George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, but no previous work captures the intimate and vital details the way Inventing a Nation does. Vidal's consummate skill takes you into the minds and private rooms of these great men, illuminating their opinions of one another and their concerns about crafting a workable democracy.
-
Julian
- A Novel
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner, George Newbern, David de Vries, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Julian the Apostate, nephew of Constantine the Great, was one of the brightest yet briefest lights in the history of the Roman Empire. A military genius on the level of Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great, a graceful and persuasive essayist, and a philosopher devoted to worshipping the gods of Hellenism, he became embroiled in a fierce intellectual war with Christianity that provoked his murder at the age of thirty-two, only four years into his brilliantly humane and compassionate reign.
-
-
Faithful but dreary
- By Corsaire on 10-09-19
-
Reflections on the Revolution in France
- By: Edmund Burke
- Narrated by: Matt Addis
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written in the form of a letter to a Frenchman, Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France is an impassioned attack on the French Revolution and its hasty destruction of the Church, the old elites, and the Crown. Burke tackles the new republic and its allegiance to principles such as liberty and equality, as well as its failure to recognize the complexities of human nature, society, and wisdom accumulated over time, contending that gradual change and adjustment is far better than immediate upheaval.
-
The Brothers Karamazov [Naxos AudioBooks Edition]
- By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Constance Garnett - translator
- Narrated by: Constantine Gregory
- Length: 37 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a titanic figure among the world's great authors, and The Brothers Karamazov is often hailed as his finest novel. A masterpiece on many levels, it transcends the boundaries of a gripping murder mystery to become a moving account of the battle between love and hate, faith and despair, compassion and cruelty, good and evil.
-
-
sublime
- By GreenBell on 14-02-16
-
Helter Skelter
- The True Story of the Manson Murders
- By: Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 26 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the 20th century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? Now available for the first time in unabridged audio, the gripping story of this famous and haunting crime is brought to life by acclaimed narrator Scott Brick.
-
-
Forensically detailed - but worth it
- By Goldfrapper on 08-08-16
-
A History of Britain: Volume 2
- By: Simon Schama
- Narrated by: Stephen Thorne
- Length: 20 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The British wars began on the morning of 23 July 1637, heralding 200 years of battles. Most were driven by religious or political conviction, as Republicans and Royalists, Catholics and Protestants, Tories and Whigs, and colonialists and natives vied for supremacy. Of the battles not fought on home territory, many took place across Europe, America, India, and also at sea. Schama's examination of this turbulent period reveals how the British people eventually united in imperial enterprise, forming 'Britannia Incorporated'.
-
-
Excellent, engaging but lots to remember
- By Roderic on 12-11-14
-
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mr George Smiley is small, podgy, and at best, middle-aged. He is disillusioned, wrestles with idleness, and has been deserted by his beautiful wife. He is also compassionate, ruthless, and a senior British intelligence officer in short-lived retirement from the Circus, the British Secret Service organisation situated in London. But Moscow centre has infiltrated a mole into the Circus, and it's more than likely the perpetrator is Karla, Smiley's old adversary and his opposite number in Moscow.
-
-
Absolutely fantastic - loved it!
- By ella on 11-05-15
-
Duluth
- A Novel
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Perhaps Vidal’s most outrageous novel, this is an indescribable fantasy purportedly set in the city of Duluth (which, however, is near the Mexican border) and involving a TV show also named Duluth (a parody of Dallas), a spaceship that has landed nearby, the antics of a policewoman, Darlene Ecks, and much else.
-
Nothing Is Real
- The Beatles Were Underrated and Other Sweeping Statements About Pop
- By: David Hepworth
- Narrated by: David Hepworth
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pop music’s a simple pleasure. Is it catchy? Can you dance to it? Do you fancy the singer? What’s fascinating about pop is our relationship with it. This relationship gets more complicated the longer it goes on. It’s been going on now for 50 years. David Hepworth is interested in the human side of pop. He’s interested in how people make the stuff and, more importantly, what it means to us. In this wide-ranging collection of essays, he shows how it is possible to take music seriously and, at the same time, not drain the life out of it.
-
-
More Gold-Dust from Mr Hepworth
- By Colin on 03-12-18
Summary
The Last Empire is Gore Vidal's ninth collection of essays in the course of his distinguished literary career. Vidal displays unparalleled range and inimitable style as he offers incisive observations about terrorism, civil liberties, the CIA, Al Gore, Tony Blair, and the Clintons, interwoven with a rich tapestry of personal anecdote, critical insight, and historical detail. Written between the first presidential campaign of Bill Clinton and the electoral crisis of 2000, The Last Empire is a sweeping coda to the still-existing conflicted vision of the American dream.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Last Empire
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Scott at the Junction
- 24-04-18
perfectly written essays provide an alternative vi
Fascinating words from one of the great outsiders from the inside of the US political set.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Nick Bedson
- 15-11-16
Excellent
Should be required reading for anyone interested in postwar USA . Vidal brilliantly disects American imperial policy with wit, anger and clarity
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 12-10-16
Collection a reminder of what patriotism truly is
The late great Gore Vidal was one of America's finest intellects. In his novels, his plays, and his essays he consistently demonstrated his genius. But be forewarned, he is not for the faint of heart or easily offended. Vidal relished skewering the hypocrites and the vandals who he saw destroying America from within. That is why I call him one of the most patriotic intellectuals of the 20th and 21st centuries. Whether it's our prudish sexual mores or our love of the military industrial complex, Vidal was there to point it out.
Like many Americans, I have been sickened by the ugliness of American political scene of the last few decades. Conservatives and liberals continue to throw muck at one another and because we are so divided we gleefully egg them on. Vidal saw that which probably is part of his decision to live overseas. Still, his writing is stimulating--occasionally outrageous, frequently annoying, but always witty and provocative. And considering the popularity of the musical "Hamilton", it's hopefully not too long before Vidal's masterful novel, "Burr", becomes available on Audible. Along with all his other novels (only 2 of his novels are currently available)!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Kym
- 09-08-16
Good work poorly read
Would you listen to The Last Empire again? Why?
I could not listen to it again and in fact could not finish it due to the lacerating boredom invoked by the narrator, mired in a seeming quandery of ill timed mispronunciations with a voice lacking resonance, timbre or it seems, any understanding of his subject.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Last Empire?
Vidal needs no review as few writers can incise the heart of an issue with the delicacy of the surgeon and then bludgeon it with language as he does.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
The lack of timing, inflection and any resonance coupled with mispronunciations made it impossible to sit through.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Mark A. Cole
- 29-07-20
I don’t want to take your goddamned surveys
Don’t force customers to take surveys. I’m going to look into suits audible for this
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- The Masked Reviewer
- 07-11-19
Great material, partially spotty recording.
Fascinating essays that touch on American history in profound ways. That said, about 2 chapters in, the audio becomes marred pretty badly, strangely enough, as the author covers the personal character of a heroic figure of the Left, FDR (Vidal was an avid Democrat). It appears to stop with the next chapter, but in a later chapter covering the FBI fiasco at Waco, TX, it seems to begin again, introducing the tiniest hint of reasonable suspicion at that point. It's strange that the marred material covers FDR's character flaws, which appears to be essential to the next chapter (and FDR is a pretty big figure in American history and politics, so this is a major issue).