Listen free for 30 days
-
The War Against the BBC
- How an Unprecedented Combination of Hostile Forces Is Destroying Britain’s Greatest Cultural Institution...and Why You Should Care
- Narrated by: Neil Gardner
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Categories: Politics & Social Sciences, Politics & Government
People who bought this also bought...
-
UnPresidented
- Politics, Pandemics and the Race That Trumped All Others
- By: Jon Sopel
- Narrated by: Jon Sopel
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our man in America, BBC North America Editor Jon Sopel, presents a diary of an election like we've never quite seen before. Experience life as a White House reporter on the campaign trail, as the election heats up and a global pandemic slowly sweeps in, challenging the very institutions of American politics and the Trump presidency. As American lives are lost at a devastating rate, the election becomes a battle for the very soul of the nation.
-
-
Great
- By matthew on 17-01-21
-
Elizabethans
- How Modern Britain Was Forged
- By: Andrew Marr
- Narrated by: Raj Ghatak
- Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David Attenborough. Marcus Rashford. Diana Dors. Winston Churchill. Elizabeth David. Bob Geldof. Zaha Hadid. Frank Crichlow. Quentin Crisp. Dusty Springfield. Captain Tom. Who made modern Britain the country it is today? How do we sum up the kind of people we are? What does it mean to be the new Elizabethans? In this wonderfully told history, spanning back to when Queen Elizabeth became queen in 1953, Andrew Marr traces the people who have made Britain the country it is today.
-
-
Modern British history read by HAL 9000
- By Amazon Customer on 08-10-20
-
Beyond the Red Wall
- By: Deborah Mattinson
- Narrated by: Larner Wallace-Taylor
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The last general election saw the Conservatives win their highest vote share in 40 years, while Labour slumped to their lowest seat total since 1935. At the heart of this electoral earthquake was the so-called Red Wall, some 60 seats stretching from the Midlands up to the North of England. Working-class voters in these old coal, steel and manufacturing constituencies had been the bedrock of past Labour victories, but all that changed on 12th December 2019 when Boris Johnson turned the Red Wall blue.
-
-
Very interesting 2 hear these personal experiences
- By Andrea on 04-12-20
-
Twilight of Democracy
- The Failure of Politics and the Parting of Friends
- By: Anne Applebaum
- Narrated by: Anne Applebaum
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the years just before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, conservative politicians and intellectuals across Europe and America celebrated a great achievement, felt a common purpose and, very often, forged personal friendships. The euphoria quickly evaporated, the common purpose and centre ground gradually disappeared and eventually - as this book compellingly relates - the relationships soured too. Anne Applebaum traces a familiar history in an unfamiliar way, looking at the trajectories of individuals caught up in the public events of the last three decades.
-
-
Brief but poignant warning about the forces of illiberalism.
- By John Pope on 29-08-20
-
Dictatorland
- By: Paul Kenyon
- Narrated by: Hamilton McLeod
- Length: 19 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A vivid, heartbreaking portrait of the fate that so many African countries suffered after independence. The dictator who grew so rich on his country's cocoa crop that he built a 35-storey-high basilica in the jungles of the Ivory Coast. The austere, incorruptible leader who has shut Eritrea off from the world in a permanent state of war and conscripted every adult into the armed forces. In Equatorial Guinea, the paranoid despot who thought Hitler was the saviour of Africa and waged a relentless campaign of terror against his own people.
-
-
Some embarrassing lapses in research
- By Wilhelm Snyman on 20-08-20
-
The Searcher
- By: Tana French
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cal Hooper thought a fixer-upper in a remote Irish village would be the perfect escape. After 25 years in the Chicago police force and a bruising divorce, he just wants to build a new life in a pretty spot with a good pub where nothing much happens. But then a local kid comes looking for his help. His brother has gone missing and no one, least of all the police, seems to care. Cal wants nothing to do with any kind of investigation, but somehow he can't make himself walk away.
-
-
Sorry, only three stars from me
- By Chris Lofts on 24-12-20
-
UnPresidented
- Politics, Pandemics and the Race That Trumped All Others
- By: Jon Sopel
- Narrated by: Jon Sopel
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our man in America, BBC North America Editor Jon Sopel, presents a diary of an election like we've never quite seen before. Experience life as a White House reporter on the campaign trail, as the election heats up and a global pandemic slowly sweeps in, challenging the very institutions of American politics and the Trump presidency. As American lives are lost at a devastating rate, the election becomes a battle for the very soul of the nation.
-
-
Great
- By matthew on 17-01-21
-
Elizabethans
- How Modern Britain Was Forged
- By: Andrew Marr
- Narrated by: Raj Ghatak
- Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David Attenborough. Marcus Rashford. Diana Dors. Winston Churchill. Elizabeth David. Bob Geldof. Zaha Hadid. Frank Crichlow. Quentin Crisp. Dusty Springfield. Captain Tom. Who made modern Britain the country it is today? How do we sum up the kind of people we are? What does it mean to be the new Elizabethans? In this wonderfully told history, spanning back to when Queen Elizabeth became queen in 1953, Andrew Marr traces the people who have made Britain the country it is today.
-
-
Modern British history read by HAL 9000
- By Amazon Customer on 08-10-20
-
Beyond the Red Wall
- By: Deborah Mattinson
- Narrated by: Larner Wallace-Taylor
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The last general election saw the Conservatives win their highest vote share in 40 years, while Labour slumped to their lowest seat total since 1935. At the heart of this electoral earthquake was the so-called Red Wall, some 60 seats stretching from the Midlands up to the North of England. Working-class voters in these old coal, steel and manufacturing constituencies had been the bedrock of past Labour victories, but all that changed on 12th December 2019 when Boris Johnson turned the Red Wall blue.
-
-
Very interesting 2 hear these personal experiences
- By Andrea on 04-12-20
-
Twilight of Democracy
- The Failure of Politics and the Parting of Friends
- By: Anne Applebaum
- Narrated by: Anne Applebaum
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the years just before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, conservative politicians and intellectuals across Europe and America celebrated a great achievement, felt a common purpose and, very often, forged personal friendships. The euphoria quickly evaporated, the common purpose and centre ground gradually disappeared and eventually - as this book compellingly relates - the relationships soured too. Anne Applebaum traces a familiar history in an unfamiliar way, looking at the trajectories of individuals caught up in the public events of the last three decades.
-
-
Brief but poignant warning about the forces of illiberalism.
- By John Pope on 29-08-20
-
Dictatorland
- By: Paul Kenyon
- Narrated by: Hamilton McLeod
- Length: 19 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A vivid, heartbreaking portrait of the fate that so many African countries suffered after independence. The dictator who grew so rich on his country's cocoa crop that he built a 35-storey-high basilica in the jungles of the Ivory Coast. The austere, incorruptible leader who has shut Eritrea off from the world in a permanent state of war and conscripted every adult into the armed forces. In Equatorial Guinea, the paranoid despot who thought Hitler was the saviour of Africa and waged a relentless campaign of terror against his own people.
-
-
Some embarrassing lapses in research
- By Wilhelm Snyman on 20-08-20
-
The Searcher
- By: Tana French
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cal Hooper thought a fixer-upper in a remote Irish village would be the perfect escape. After 25 years in the Chicago police force and a bruising divorce, he just wants to build a new life in a pretty spot with a good pub where nothing much happens. But then a local kid comes looking for his help. His brother has gone missing and no one, least of all the police, seems to care. Cal wants nothing to do with any kind of investigation, but somehow he can't make himself walk away.
-
-
Sorry, only three stars from me
- By Chris Lofts on 24-12-20
-
Fake Law
- The Truth About Justice in an Age of Lies
- By: The Secret Barrister
- Narrated by: Jack Hawkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most of us think the law is only relevant to criminals, if we even think of it at all. But the law touches every area of our lives: from intimate family matters to the biggest issues in our society. Our unfamiliarity is dangerous because it makes us vulnerable to media spin, political lies and the kind of misinformation that frequently comes from other loud-mouthed amateurs and those with vested interests. This 'fake law' allows the powerful and the ignorant to corrupt justice without our knowledge - worse, we risk letting them make us complicit.
-
-
An important analysis of current justice
- By Mary Carnegie on 04-09-20
-
Left Out
- The Inside Story of Labour Under Corbyn
- By: Gabriel Pogrund, Patrick Maguire
- Narrated by: Matthew Spencer
- Length: 15 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the peak of Jeremy Corbyn's popularity and the shock hung parliament of 2017 to Labour's humbling in 2019 and the election of Keir Starmer, Left Out draws on unrivalled access throughout the party and to both leaders' inner circles to provide a blistering narrative exposé of the Labour Party during one of the most tumultuous and significant episodes in its history. It reveals a party riven by factionalism and at war over ideology, then incapacitated by crisis and indecision.
-
-
Very good although too charitable to Corbyn.
- By Emily Senior on 16-09-20
-
Collateral Damage
- Britain, America and Europe in the Age of Trump
- By: Kim Darroch
- Narrated by: Kim Darroch
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kim Darroch was British ambassador to the US as the age of Trump dawned and Brexit unfolded. One of the UK’s most experienced and respected diplomats, Darroch was given the task of explaining Trump to the British and Brexit to the Americans. Choosing to resign after his confidential cables criticising the Trump administration were leaked to the press, Darroch’s unvarnished, behind-the-scenes account reveals for the first time the inside story of this tumultuous time and reflects more broadly on Britain’s relationship with the United States.
-
-
Dispatches from our man in Washington
- By papapownall on 07-10-20
-
The Shepherd's Life
- By: James Rebanks
- Narrated by: Bryan Dick
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
These modern dispatches from an ancient landscape tell the story of a deep-rooted attachment to place, describing a way of life that is little noticed and yet has profoundly shaped this landscape. In evocative and lucid prose, James Rebanks takes us through a shepherd's year, offering a unique account of rural life and a fundamental connection with the land that most of us have lost.
-
-
Brilliant
- By Ms J Randalls on 01-12-15
-
Agent Sonya
- Lover, Mother, Soldier, Spy
- By: Ben Macintyre
- Narrated by: Ben Macintyre
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the quiet Cotswolds village of Great Rollright in 1944, a thin and unusually elegant housewife emerged from her cottage to go on her usual bike ride. A devoted mother of three, attentive wife and friendly neighbour, Sonya Burton seemed to epitomise rural British domesticity. However, rather than pedalling towards the shops with her ration book, Sonya was heading for the Oxfordshire countryside to gather scientific secrets from a nuclear physicist. Secrets that would enable the Soviet Union to build the atomic bomb.
-
-
Another Great Story
- By Jayceon1888 on 17-09-20
-
The Prime Ministers
- Reflections on Leadership from Wilson to May
- By: Steve Richards
- Narrated by: Steve Richards
- Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At a time of unprecedented political upheaval, this magisterial history explains who leads us and why. From Harold Wilson to Theresa May, it brilliantly brings to life all nine inhabitants of 10 Downing Street over the past 50 years, vividly outlining their successes and failures - and what made each of them special. Based on unprecedented access and in-depth interviews, and inspired by the author's BBC Radio 4 and television series, Steve Richards expertly examines the men and women who have defined the UK's role in the modern world.
-
-
Excellent if a little "written from the left".
- By Andrew James Roberts on 29-04-20
-
GCHQ: Centenary Edition
- By: Richard Aldrich
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 25 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
GCHQ is the largest and most secretive intelligence organisation in the UK, and has existed for 100 years - but we still know next to nothing about it. In this ground-breaking book - the first and most definitive history of the organisation ever published - intelligence expert Richard Aldrich traces GCHQ’s development from a wartime code-breaking operation based in the Bedfordshire countryside into one of the world leading espionage organisations.
-
-
Sober and detailed history
- By Philip on 15-10-19
-
Shuggie Bain
- By: Douglas Stuart
- Narrated by: Angus King
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1981. Glasgow is dying and good families must grift to survive. Agnes Bain has always expected more from life. She dreams of greater things: a house with its own front door and a life bought and paid for outright (like her perfect, but false, teeth). But Agnes is abandoned by her philandering husband, and soon she and her three children find themselves trapped in a decimated mining town. As she descends deeper into drink, the children try their best to save her, yet one by one they must abandon her to save themselves. It is her son Shuggie who holds out hope the longest.
-
-
Wonderful read
- By Moodyminx on 13-05-20
-
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
-
Rage
- By: Bob Woodward
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
President Trump has said publicly that Woodward has interviewed him. What is not known is that Trump provided Woodward a window into his mind through a series of exclusive interviews. At key decision points, Rage shows how Trump’s responses to the crises of 2020 were rooted in the instincts, habits and style he developed during his first three years as president. Rage draws from hundreds of hours of interviews with first-hand witnesses, as well as participants’ notes, emails, diaries, calendars and confidential documents.
-
-
Unfortunately true
- By carrosvoss on 16-09-20
-
Last Train to Hilversum
- By: Charlie Connelly
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Despite the all-pervading influence of television an astonishing 90 percent of people in Britain still listen to the radio, clocking up over a billion hours of listening between us every week. In Last Train to Hilversum Charlie Connelly explores the place of radio in our world, taking stock of the history of the medium and celebrating its role as one of the very few genuinely shared national experiences.
-
The Growth Delusion
- Why Economists Are Getting It Wrong and What We Can Do About It
- By: David Pilling
- Narrated by: Elliot Hill
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A revelatory and entertaining book about the pitfalls of how we measure our economy and how to correct them, by an award-winning editor of The Financial Times. According to GDP, the economy is in a golden era: economic growth has risen steadily over the past 70 years and shows no sign of stopping. But if this is the case, why are we living in such fractured times, with global populism on the rise and wealth inequality as stark as ever?
-
-
Great book made even better by great narration
- By KF on 08-08-18
Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
The BBC is a central part of British life, shared culture and international standing. It is the British public's most important and trusted news provider in a world of global fake news; a hugely popular, low-cost source of universally available information, education and entertainment - watched and listened to by most people for at least a couple of hours every day, despite stiff competition; and the crown jewel of the UK's global reputation.
But the BBC is in peril as never before in its long history. It faces ever-increasing competition and threats from new technology and consumption trends. It suffers relentless attacks from a range of hostile players motivated by their own political and commercial interests. And it faces deep funding cuts. These pressures may even destroy it within a generation. We must not end up recognising what its value was only when it's gone.
If the BBC is destroyed, it will be almost impossible to rebuild it. This book is a powerful wake-up call to halt the destruction of one of our greatest assets, built up over almost a century, before it's too late.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.