-
Billy Budd
- Narrated by: Peter Joyce
- Length: 3 hrs and 54 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $9.46
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
On one level... Melville’s tale is an historical adventure telling the story of life aboard ship shortly after the mutiny at Spithead in 1797. Billy is taken from a homeward bound merchantman to serve on the ‘Seventy Four’ HMS Indomitable. He falls foul of Claggart, the ‘Master at Arms’, and the final confrontation results in death. Billy becomes an unwilling martyr - what passes for justice must be implemented because of the rebellious climate of the time. However, below the surface lie some of Melville’s thematic obsessions: the aristocratic savage placed against an inhumanity born of service in time of war, innocence overtaken by fate and the worthy encompassed by the inevitable. The natures of evil and conscience are explored and ‘Billy Budd’ is the author’s “last word upon the strange mystery of himself and human destiny”. Melville is regarded by many as the finest author America has produced.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Sign of the Beaver
- By: Elizabeth George Speare
- Narrated by: Greg Schaffert
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At just 12 years old, Matt must face serious challenges in the Maine wilderness while awaiting his father's return to their cabin. When he is saved from a terrifying bee swarm attack by an Indian chief and his grandson Attean, Matt gains a valuable friend in the young Indian boy.
-
-
Good story, dubious dialog, irritating music
- By Paul Hubbard on 08-05-12
-
The Scarlet Letter
- By: Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Narrated by: Kate Petrie
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most important novels in classic literature, Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter tackles the subject of adultery, with the notorious Hester Prynne at the forefront of the scandal in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In the beginning of the novel, Hester is serving time in prison for having a child out of wedlock and is forced to wear a scarlet A on her clothing at all times, so she cannot run from her sin no matter where she goes.
-
-
missing the introductory???
- By Savannah on 05-20-20
-
Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 1 hr and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Herman Melville’s tale of corporate discontent, Bartleby, the Scrivener, tells the story of a quiet, hardworking legal copyist who works in an office in the Wall Street area of New York City. The business where he works handles the official financial paperwork of wealthy men. One day, Bartleby’s employer requests he proofread one of the documents he has copied. Bartleby declines the assignment with the inscrutable “I would prefer not,” the first of what will become many refusals.
-
-
Very strange, very haunting
- By Tad Davis on 11-24-11
By: Herman Melville
-
Typee
- A Peep at Polynesian Life
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Herman Melville is one of the greatest figures in literary history. His classic Moby Dick is generally considered the finest novel ever written by an American. Yet in Melville’s day, Typee was a far more popular book. Largely autobiographical, this classic adventure story is set in the South Seas, where a runaway sailor is captured by the Typees. Described as “a fierce and unrelenting tribe of savages," the islanders have no intention of letting their captive go.
-
-
Peeping Typee is Tapu; Reading Typee is Noa!
- By Darwin8u on 04-21-14
By: Herman Melville
-
Omoo
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the commercial and critical success of Typee, Herman Melville continued his series of South Sea adventure-romances with Omoo. Named after the Polynesian term for a rover, or someone who roams from island to island, Omoo chronicles the tumultuous events aboard a South Sea whaling vessel and is based on Melville's personal experiences as a crew member on a ship sailing the Pacific.
-
-
See Melville's Fiction Genius Pushing Hard
- By Darwin8u on 05-16-14
By: Herman Melville
-
Benito Cereno
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the epic sea adventure, a harrowing tale of slavery and revolt aboard a Spanish ship, is often regarded as Melville's finest short story. The balance of forces is complete, the atmosphere one of epic significance, the light cast upon the hero intense to the highest degree, the realization of the human soul profound, and the telling of the story orchestrated like a great symphony.
-
-
The literary equivalent of a caste painting from the same time
- By Auggie on 09-10-20
By: Herman Melville
-
The Sign of the Beaver
- By: Elizabeth George Speare
- Narrated by: Greg Schaffert
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At just 12 years old, Matt must face serious challenges in the Maine wilderness while awaiting his father's return to their cabin. When he is saved from a terrifying bee swarm attack by an Indian chief and his grandson Attean, Matt gains a valuable friend in the young Indian boy.
-
-
Good story, dubious dialog, irritating music
- By Paul Hubbard on 08-05-12
-
The Scarlet Letter
- By: Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Narrated by: Kate Petrie
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most important novels in classic literature, Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter tackles the subject of adultery, with the notorious Hester Prynne at the forefront of the scandal in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In the beginning of the novel, Hester is serving time in prison for having a child out of wedlock and is forced to wear a scarlet A on her clothing at all times, so she cannot run from her sin no matter where she goes.
-
-
missing the introductory???
- By Savannah on 05-20-20
-
Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 1 hr and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Herman Melville’s tale of corporate discontent, Bartleby, the Scrivener, tells the story of a quiet, hardworking legal copyist who works in an office in the Wall Street area of New York City. The business where he works handles the official financial paperwork of wealthy men. One day, Bartleby’s employer requests he proofread one of the documents he has copied. Bartleby declines the assignment with the inscrutable “I would prefer not,” the first of what will become many refusals.
-
-
Very strange, very haunting
- By Tad Davis on 11-24-11
By: Herman Melville
-
Typee
- A Peep at Polynesian Life
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Herman Melville is one of the greatest figures in literary history. His classic Moby Dick is generally considered the finest novel ever written by an American. Yet in Melville’s day, Typee was a far more popular book. Largely autobiographical, this classic adventure story is set in the South Seas, where a runaway sailor is captured by the Typees. Described as “a fierce and unrelenting tribe of savages," the islanders have no intention of letting their captive go.
-
-
Peeping Typee is Tapu; Reading Typee is Noa!
- By Darwin8u on 04-21-14
By: Herman Melville
-
Omoo
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the commercial and critical success of Typee, Herman Melville continued his series of South Sea adventure-romances with Omoo. Named after the Polynesian term for a rover, or someone who roams from island to island, Omoo chronicles the tumultuous events aboard a South Sea whaling vessel and is based on Melville's personal experiences as a crew member on a ship sailing the Pacific.
-
-
See Melville's Fiction Genius Pushing Hard
- By Darwin8u on 05-16-14
By: Herman Melville
-
Benito Cereno
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the epic sea adventure, a harrowing tale of slavery and revolt aboard a Spanish ship, is often regarded as Melville's finest short story. The balance of forces is complete, the atmosphere one of epic significance, the light cast upon the hero intense to the highest degree, the realization of the human soul profound, and the telling of the story orchestrated like a great symphony.
-
-
The literary equivalent of a caste painting from the same time
- By Auggie on 09-10-20
By: Herman Melville
-
Born Again
- What Really Happened to the White House Hatchet Man
- By: Charles Colson
- Narrated by: Jon Gauger
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1970s, against the backdrop of the explosive Watergate scandal, Charles Colson revealed the story of his own search for meaning during the tumultuous investigations that led to the collapse of the Nixon administration. A convicted former special counsel to the president, Colson paradoxically found new life - not with success and power, but while in national disgrace and serving a prison sentence.
-
-
Great Read
- By Cindy on 08-27-12
By: Charles Colson
-
Bartleby, the Scrivener
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: B.J. Harrison
- Length: 1 hr and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The life of a Scrivener can be a dull one. After all, your entire occupation has to do with the handwritten copying of law documents. But when Bartleby arrives, he turns the office upside down with the enigmatic phrase: “I prefer not to.”
-
-
"I would prefer not to REVIEW"
- By Darwin8u on 04-18-12
By: Herman Melville
-
The Old Man and the Sea
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Donald Sutherland
- Length: 2 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingway's most enduring works. Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal, a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Here Hemingway recasts, in strikingly contemporary style, the classic theme of courage in the face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss.
-
-
Truly a Classic
- By Dave on 07-01-08
By: Ernest Hemingway
-
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
- By: Barbara Robinson
- Narrated by: Elaine Stritch
- Length: 1 hr and 26 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, steal, smoke cigars, swear, and hit little kids. So no one is prepared when this outlaw family invades church one Sunday and decides to take over the annual Christmas pageant.
-
-
WHAT A WASTE
- By Patty on 10-05-10
By: Barbara Robinson
-
To Kill a Mockingbird
- By: Harper Lee
- Narrated by: Sissy Spacek
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harper Lee’s Pulitzer prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep south - and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred, available now for the first time as a digital audiobook. One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than 40 languages, sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the 20th century by librarians across the country.
-
-
A gift to be treasured
- By David Shear on 07-09-14
By: Harper Lee
-
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
- By: Elizabeth George Speare
- Narrated by: Mary Beth Hurt
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kit Tyler must leave behind shimmering Caribbean islands to join the stern Puritan community of her relatives. She soon feels caged, until she meets the old woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond. But when their friendship is discovered, Kit herself is accused of witchcraft!
-
-
Great characters - a delightful listen!
- By Susan on 02-28-04
-
The Pit and the Pendulum
- By: Edgar Allan Poe
- Narrated by: B.J. Harrison
- Length: 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“I was sick, sick unto death with that long agony,” begins one of the most famous tales from the master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe. Through the tortures of the Spanish Inquisition, we follow the straying mind of the unnamed prisoner in his quest for hope in a world of darkness and despair. This episode skyrocketed The Classic Tales Podcast to number 3 on iTunes’ Top 100 Podcasts chart.
-
-
I loved the story this is a must read.
- By Amazon Customer on 10-02-23
By: Edgar Allan Poe
-
Johnny Tremain
- By: Esther Forbes
- Narrated by: Grace Conlin
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Johnny, a young apprentice silversmith, is caught with Otis, Hancock, and John and Samuel Adams in the exciting operations and subterfuges leading up to the Boston Tea Party and the Battle of Lexington. As Johnny is forced into the role of a full-grown man in the face of his new country's independence, he finds that his relations with those he loves changes for the better as well.
-
-
This has been the favorite
- By Jessica on 01-26-11
By: Esther Forbes
-
The Call of the Wild
- By: Jack London
- Narrated by: Pablo Schreiber
- Length: 3 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rediscover one of literature’s most beloved classics, richly reissued in a pivotal new audio recording. Emmy and Tony Award-nominated actor Pablo Schreiber (The Wire, Orange Is the New Black) delivers a stirring performance of Jack London’s fierce yet tender tale of loyalty between man and beast, told from the point of view of a dog.
-
-
The Call of the Wild
- By Amazon Customer on 12-18-18
By: Jack London
-
Walden
- Life in the Woods
- By: Henry David Thoreau
- Narrated by: Alec Sand
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thoreau's classic account of the solitary life, describing his attempts to simplify his life and sort out his priorities by living alone in a cabin beside Walden Pond for nearly two years, is one of the most influential books ever written. The bible of the environmental movement, Walden vividly portrays Thoreau's reverence for nature, and his understanding of the idea that nature is made up of crucially interrelated parts.
-
-
Excellent book and narration
- By Kindle Customer on 06-14-11
-
An Old-Fashioned Girl
- By: Louisa May Alcott
- Narrated by: Anne Hancock
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Immediately following the success of Little Women, Louisa May Alcott sat down to write An-Old Fashioned Girl, expanding on the subject of rich versus poor that she explored in her first novel. It’s a story of a country mouse and a city mouse: 14-year-old Polly Milton travels to Boston for a stay with her friend Fanny Shaw. The wealthy Shaws’ way of life is foreign to Polly who tries to adapt but is quickly labeled “old-fashioned”. Fanny and her friends dress and behave as their elders do, flirting with boys and gossiping.
-
-
Okay
- By selene on 07-15-18
-
Beowulf
- By: Seamus Heaney
- Narrated by: Seamus Heaney
- Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best seller and Whitebread Book of the Year, Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney's new translation of Beowulf comes to life in this gripping audio. Heaney's performance reminds us that Beowulf, written near the turn of another millennium, was intended to be heard not read.
-
-
Why, oh, why is it abridged?
- By Tad Davis on 09-25-08
By: Seamus Heaney
Critic reviews
About Assembled Stories: Over the years the national press have reviewed Assembled Stories titles as "excellent", "remarkable", "entrancing", "superb", "magic for sure", "masterly", "wonderful", "a class act" and "a splendid example of audio at its best".
Related to this topic
-
Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 1 hr and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Herman Melville’s tale of corporate discontent, Bartleby, the Scrivener, tells the story of a quiet, hardworking legal copyist who works in an office in the Wall Street area of New York City. The business where he works handles the official financial paperwork of wealthy men. One day, Bartleby’s employer requests he proofread one of the documents he has copied. Bartleby declines the assignment with the inscrutable “I would prefer not,” the first of what will become many refusals.
-
-
Very strange, very haunting
- By Tad Davis on 11-24-11
By: Herman Melville
-
Nostromo
- By: Joseph Conrad
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 16 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the great adventure novels of our language creates a most engaging central character, Nostromo. A picturesque man of action and popular hero, Nostromo lives to be "well-spoken of" by the citizens of Costaguana, the mythical South American banana republic where the story takes place. Around this figure, Conrad spins a story of revolution, politics, and racial conflict as complex as Nostromo, the man whose greatest enemy is himself.
-
-
Wow!
- By Amazon Customer on 07-11-03
By: Joseph Conrad
-
Benito Cereno
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the epic sea adventure, a harrowing tale of slavery and revolt aboard a Spanish ship, is often regarded as Melville's finest short story. The balance of forces is complete, the atmosphere one of epic significance, the light cast upon the hero intense to the highest degree, the realization of the human soul profound, and the telling of the story orchestrated like a great symphony.
-
-
The literary equivalent of a caste painting from the same time
- By Auggie on 09-10-20
By: Herman Melville
-
The Captain of the Pole Star
- By: Arthur Conan Doyle
- Narrated by: B. J. Harrison
- Length: 1 hr and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Word goes among the crew of the Pole Star that the captain is haunted by demons. And after the days turn into weeks in the frigid Arctic Ocean, stories begin to circulate of ghosts and midnight hauntings.
-
-
Conan Doyle wrote more than Mr. Holmes.
- By Kristi R. on 11-14-11
-
The Shadow-Line
- By: Joseph Conrad
- Narrated by: Fred Williams
- Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written at the start of the Great War, when his son Borys was at the Western Front, The Shadow-Line is Conrad's supreme effort to open man's eyes to the meaning of war through the stimulus of art. In many ways an autobiographical narrative, this masterpiece of his final period relates the story of a young and inexperienced sea captain whose first command finds him with a ship becalmed in tropical seas and a crew smitten with fever.
-
-
A Reflexion on Maturity
- By Darwin8u on 01-05-17
By: Joseph Conrad
-
The Tell-Tale Heart
- By: Edgar Allan Poe
- Narrated by: B. J. Harrison
- Length: 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was the eye. The dull, sightless, vulture's eye that shredded his final nerve. But the murder was done so carefully, so perfectly, that only one thing could reveal the whereabouts of the body. B. J. Harrison gives a masterful reading of the famous murder that wouldn't keep quiet. This audiobook was the #3 best-selling audiobook in 2008 at the iTunes Music Store!
-
-
THE VULTURE EYE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 10-24-16
By: Edgar Allan Poe
-
Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 1 hr and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Herman Melville’s tale of corporate discontent, Bartleby, the Scrivener, tells the story of a quiet, hardworking legal copyist who works in an office in the Wall Street area of New York City. The business where he works handles the official financial paperwork of wealthy men. One day, Bartleby’s employer requests he proofread one of the documents he has copied. Bartleby declines the assignment with the inscrutable “I would prefer not,” the first of what will become many refusals.
-
-
Very strange, very haunting
- By Tad Davis on 11-24-11
By: Herman Melville
-
Nostromo
- By: Joseph Conrad
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 16 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the great adventure novels of our language creates a most engaging central character, Nostromo. A picturesque man of action and popular hero, Nostromo lives to be "well-spoken of" by the citizens of Costaguana, the mythical South American banana republic where the story takes place. Around this figure, Conrad spins a story of revolution, politics, and racial conflict as complex as Nostromo, the man whose greatest enemy is himself.
-
-
Wow!
- By Amazon Customer on 07-11-03
By: Joseph Conrad
-
Benito Cereno
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the epic sea adventure, a harrowing tale of slavery and revolt aboard a Spanish ship, is often regarded as Melville's finest short story. The balance of forces is complete, the atmosphere one of epic significance, the light cast upon the hero intense to the highest degree, the realization of the human soul profound, and the telling of the story orchestrated like a great symphony.
-
-
The literary equivalent of a caste painting from the same time
- By Auggie on 09-10-20
By: Herman Melville
-
The Captain of the Pole Star
- By: Arthur Conan Doyle
- Narrated by: B. J. Harrison
- Length: 1 hr and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Word goes among the crew of the Pole Star that the captain is haunted by demons. And after the days turn into weeks in the frigid Arctic Ocean, stories begin to circulate of ghosts and midnight hauntings.
-
-
Conan Doyle wrote more than Mr. Holmes.
- By Kristi R. on 11-14-11
-
The Shadow-Line
- By: Joseph Conrad
- Narrated by: Fred Williams
- Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written at the start of the Great War, when his son Borys was at the Western Front, The Shadow-Line is Conrad's supreme effort to open man's eyes to the meaning of war through the stimulus of art. In many ways an autobiographical narrative, this masterpiece of his final period relates the story of a young and inexperienced sea captain whose first command finds him with a ship becalmed in tropical seas and a crew smitten with fever.
-
-
A Reflexion on Maturity
- By Darwin8u on 01-05-17
By: Joseph Conrad
-
The Tell-Tale Heart
- By: Edgar Allan Poe
- Narrated by: B. J. Harrison
- Length: 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was the eye. The dull, sightless, vulture's eye that shredded his final nerve. But the murder was done so carefully, so perfectly, that only one thing could reveal the whereabouts of the body. B. J. Harrison gives a masterful reading of the famous murder that wouldn't keep quiet. This audiobook was the #3 best-selling audiobook in 2008 at the iTunes Music Store!
-
-
THE VULTURE EYE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 10-24-16
By: Edgar Allan Poe
-
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
- By: Edgar Allan Poe
- Narrated by: Jamie Hanes
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Edgar Allan Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym is a realistic yet romantic nautical adventure about a young stowaway on the high seas. One day in 1827, Arthur Gordon Pym escapes his dreary life in New Bedford and hides on the Grampus, where he befriends the captain's son, Augustus. The two boys witness and participate in a dazzling series of adventures, including shipwreck, famine, rescue, and voyages all over the world.
-
-
Good but...
- By Marco Berry on 11-17-15
By: Edgar Allan Poe
-
Sacred Hunger
- By: Barry Unsworth
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 22 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Booker Prize-winning work, Barry Unsworth follows the failing fortunes of William Kemp, a merchant pinning his last chance to a slave ship; his son, who needs a fortune because he is in love with an upper-class woman; and his nephew, who sails on the ship as its doctor because he has lost all he has loved. The voyage meets its demise when disease spreads among the slaves and the captain's drastic response provokes a mutiny.
-
-
Wise, Perceptive, Heart-breaking
- By S. Coldsmith on 04-16-16
By: Barry Unsworth
-
Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates
- By: Howard Pyle, Merle Johnson
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Merle Johnson has here gathered together in one volume all of the nineteenth-century author-artist's classic pirate stories that had been scattered through many magazines and books. Well researched and with richly drawn characters, Pyle's work will appeal to students of history and adventure lovers alike.
-
-
Fascinating and wonderfully read
- By Fletch on 09-08-06
By: Howard Pyle, and others
-
Captain Blood
- By: Rafael Sabatini
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George MacDonald Fraser, author of the Flashman novels, praises this hearty saga as "one of the great unrecognized novels of the 20th century." Doctor Peter Blood's quiet life is shattered when he is convicted of treason for helping a wounded nobleman in the 1685 rebellion against King James II.
-
-
Outstanding rendition of classic swashbuckler
- By Gary on 03-27-04
By: Rafael Sabatini
-
Treasure Island
- By: Robert Louis Stevenson
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Jim Hawkins quiet life as the son of an innkeeper changes when an ancient sailor takes up lodging at the inn. When the old man dies without paying his bill, Jim must search the sailor's one possession, a large sea-chest, for payment. He finds a map that is the key to a fortune. This commences a Caribbean treasure hunt, with pirate Long John Silver only steps behind!
-
-
Truly a pleasure to listen too.
- By Richard on 09-04-03
-
Under Enemy Colors
- By: S. Thomas Russell
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the time of the French Revolution, one of Britain's most skillful naval officers, Charles Saunders Hayden, is a young lieutenant, the son of an English father and a French mother. His abilities and his loyalty to the king of England are beyond dispute, yet his career seems doomed by his "mixed" heritage and lack of political connections. Consequently, Hayden is assigned to an aging frigate, the Themis, under the command of Captain Josiah Hart, a man known as "Faint Hart" throughout the service.
-
-
Perfect for first timer
- By Blackmac on 08-07-08
-
Mutiny on the Bounty
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Michael Carman
- Length: 22 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The mutiny on HMS Bounty, in the South Pacific on 28 April 1789, is one of history's truly great stories - a tale of human drama, intrigue and adventure of the highest order - and in the hands of Peter FitzSimons it comes to life as never before. Commissioned by the Royal Navy to collect breadfruit plants from Tahiti and take them to the West Indies, the Bounty's crew found themselves in a tropical paradise. Five months later, they did not want to leave.
-
-
You don't know the whole story.
- By Justin Sluyter on 05-01-19
By: Peter FitzSimons
-
The Lion of St. Mark
- By: G.A. Henty
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of The Lion of St. Mark, G.A. Henty wrote: "I have laid my story in the time not of the triumphs of Venice but of her hardest struggle for existence, when she defended herself successfully against the coalition of Hungary, Padua, and Genoa, for never at any time were the virtues of Venice, her steadfastness, her patriotism, and her willingness to make all sacrifice for her independence more brilliantly shown.
-
-
A Great Listen
- By Jef on 04-04-05
By: G.A. Henty
-
The Deerslayer
- By: James Fenimore Cooper
- Narrated by: Raymond Todd
- Length: 20 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Deerslayer is the first of the Leatherstocking Tales of James Fenimore Cooper. Here we meet Natty Bumppo as a young man living in upstate New York in the early 1740s. The action begins as Bumppo, called "Deerslayer", and his friend Hurry Harry approach Lake Glimmerglass, or Oswego, where the trapper Thomas Hutter lives with his daughters, the beautiful Judith and the feeble-minded Hetty. Hutter's floating log fort is attacked by Iroquois Indians, and the two frontiersmen join in the fight.
-
-
things were slower them
- By Bill on 05-08-05
-
By the Mast Divided
- John Pearce, Book 1
- By: David Donachie
- Narrated by: Peter Wickham
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London: 1793. Young firebrand John Pearce, on the run from the authorities, is illegally press-ganged from the Pelican tavern into brutal life aboard HMS Brilliant, a frigate on her way to war. In the first few days, Pearce discovers the Navy is a world in which he can prosper. And he is not alone; he is drawn to a group of men who eventually form an exclusive gun crew, the Pelicans, with Pearce their elected leader.
-
-
Didn't work for me
- By Michael E on 07-23-08
By: David Donachie
-
Mr Midshipman Hornblower
- By: C. S. Forester
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shaking off this label, a shy and lonely 17-year-old, Horatio Hornblower, embarks on a memorable career in Nelson's navy on HMS Justinian. In action, adventure, and battle he is forged into one of the most formidable junior officers in the service.
-
-
First rate historical fiction
- By Jason on 04-30-17
By: C. S. Forester
-
The Sea Wolf
- By: Jack London
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jack London worshiped strong and virtuous heroes, and his stories give great weight to the inevitable triumph of good over evil. His telling of the adventures of Humphrey van Weydon in The Sea Wolf is in keeping with this theme of moral man. His powerful and gripping saga of van Weydon's capture by a seal-hunting ship and the ensuing tangles with its dreaded captain, Wolf Larsen, makes this a classic American tale of peril and victory.
-
-
I won the lottery!
- By Bill on 08-11-17
By: Jack London
What listeners say about Billy Budd
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JustBill
- 04-06-21
The English And Their Oddities
A good sold yarn, I'll tell you. Teach your teenager true honesty, despite the perilous sea life cast upon you in the English Navy, that has never regained its luster after the 19th century. Find out about the caste system that England still maintains in some circles, and learn the duties of a young lady caught in the middle of it all, and the price he paid.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 10-17-18
Well done, a pleasure to listen to!
My son is reading this for his freshman year (Classical Conversations Challenge I) American Literature strand and I needed to get housework done so I went ahead and downloaded the audible version to listen to while I worked. I am so glad I did and will be choosing this method of keeping up with my kids' literature selections again!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Eric
- 07-26-20
Well Done
The narrator, Peter Joyce, is very well suited to a tale taking place on a British ship. This is one of Melville’s masterpieces, along with Moby Dick and Bartleby, the Scrivener. Excellent audiobook.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tad Davis
- 09-02-19
Fine reading
Peter Joyce gives a fine reading of this sad, sad story. I first read it 40 years ago, and it’s not quite how I remembered it: my image of Captain Vere was of a tortured soul wrestling with a terrible moral dilemma. Moral dilemma he has, but he doesn’t do much wrestling. He’s a bookish man, and he goes by the book; what wrestling he does is mostly with others as he tries to convince them to do the same.
There’s a compelling and unsolved mystery here: Claggart is “down” on Billy Budd, but why? It may be “motiveless malignity,” a condition famously attributed to Iago. But there are clues here and there that Claggart may be attracted to Billy and is down on him for exactly that reason. (On the other hand, that might just be a lingering memory of the film by Peter Ustinov that hinted strongly at this.)
I have a single complaint: the stirring patriotic music used to segment the story is too loud and is out of keeping with the somber mood of the story itself.
Even so, of the many recordings of Billy Budd on Audible, this is one of the best.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Erika B.
- 11-09-21
TERRIBLE
Great narrator, terrible story. Literally 3/4 of this book is Melville's pointless ramblings. I can literally summarize the entire book in three points: Billy Budd is handsome, Claggart is mean, and ( I'm going to try to write this in code) something terrible happens and someone is executed despite it being an accident. Everything besides that is pointless.
I just wanted to shout:
NO ONE CARES HERMAN!
Also, the editor of the book described it as "not distinguished" when he first read the book.
The most exciting part in the book was realizing it was almost over.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tammy Enns
- 10-10-20
Too many words too little happening
I realize this book is saying something about the cost of society to individual rights, and I think it could be said with few words!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!