-
Rosewater - Previously Published as 'Then They Came For Me’
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 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 $17.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
When Maziar Bahari left London in June 2009 to cover Iran's presidential election, he assured his pregnant fiancée, Paola, that he'd be back in just a few days, a week at most. Little did he know, as he kissed her good-bye, that he would spend the next three months in Iran’s most notorious prison, enduring brutal interrogation sessions at the hands of a man he knew only by his smell: Rosewater.
For the Bahari family, wars, coups, and revolutions are not distant concepts but intimate realities they have suffered for generations: Maziar's father was imprisoned by the shah in the 1950s, and his sister by Ayatollah Khomeini in the 1980s. Alone in his cell at Evin Prison, fearing the worst, Maziar draws strength from his memories of the courage of his father and sister in the face of torture, and hears their voices speaking to him across the years. He dreams of being with Paola in London, and imagines all that she and his rambunctious, resilient 84-year-old mother must be doing to campaign for his release. During the worst of his encounters with Rosewater, he silently repeats the names of his loved ones, calling on their strength and love to protect him and praying he will be released in time for the birth of his first child.
A riveting, heart-wrenching memoir, Then They Came for Me offers insight into the past 50 years of regime change in Iran, as well as the future of a country where the democratic impulses of the youth continually clash with a government that becomes more totalitarian with each passing day. An intimate and fascinating account of contemporary Iran, it is also the moving and wonderfully written story of one family's extraordinary courage in the face of repression.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Red Azalea
- By: Anchee Min
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A revelatory and disturbing portrait of China, this is Anchee Min's celebrated memoir of growing up in the last years of Mao's China. As a child, Min was asked to publicly humiliate a teacher; at 17, she was sent to work at a labor collective. Forbidden to speak, dress, read, write, or love as she pleased, she found a lifeline in a secret love affair with another woman. Miraculously selected for the film version of one of Madame Mao's political operas, Min's life changed overnight. Then Chairman Mao suddenly died, taking with him an entire world.
-
-
A bridge of the familiar and foriegn
- By Gina E. White on 11-07-19
By: Anchee Min
-
Prisoner
- My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison—Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out
- By: Jason Rezaian
- Narrated by: Jason Rezaian
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The dramatic memoir of the journalist who was held hostage in a high-security prison in Tehran for 18 months and whose release - which almost didn’t happen - became a part of the Iran nuclear deal.
-
-
Should have been much better given subject matter
- By Sample Sloth on 04-17-19
By: Jason Rezaian
-
Poster Girl
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Anna Caputo
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What's right is right. Sonya Kantor knows this slogan—she lived by it for most of her life. For decades, everyone in the Seattle-Portland megalopolis lived under it, as well as constant surveillance in the form of the Insight, an ocular implant that tracked every word and every action, rewarding or punishing by a rigid moral code set forth by the Delegation. Then there was a revolution. The Delegation fell. Its most valuable members were locked in the Aperture, a prison on the outskirts of the city. And everyone else, now free from monitoring, went on with their lives.
-
-
Little bit preachy, but still very good.
- By Kindle Customer on 10-23-22
By: Veronica Roth
-
The Jakarta Method
- Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program That Shaped Our World
- By: Vincent Bevins
- Narrated by: Tim Paige
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1965, the US government helped the Indonesian military kill approximately one million innocent civilians. This was one of the most important turning points of the 20th century, eliminating the largest communist party outside China and the Soviet Union and inspiring copycat terror programs in faraway countries like Brazil and Chile. But these events remain widely overlooked, precisely because the CIA's secret interventions were so successful.
-
-
Great book, but the narration has serious flaws
- By Prof. Neil Larsen on 08-03-20
By: Vincent Bevins
-
The Emperor of All Maladies
- A Biography of Cancer
- By: Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Emperor of All Maladies reveals the many faces of an iconic, shape-shifting disease that is the defining plague of our generation. The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance but also of hubris, arrogance, paternalism, and misperception, all leveraged against a disease that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out "war against cancer".
-
-
Incredible
- By S.R.E. on 03-02-16
-
The Handmaid's Tale
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Claire Danes
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a staged terrorist attack kills the President and most of Congress, the government is deposed and taken over by the oppressive and all-controlling Republic of Gilead. Offred is a Handmaid serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife. She can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name.
-
-
My Top Pick for 2012
- By Em on 11-30-12
By: Margaret Atwood
-
Red Azalea
- By: Anchee Min
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A revelatory and disturbing portrait of China, this is Anchee Min's celebrated memoir of growing up in the last years of Mao's China. As a child, Min was asked to publicly humiliate a teacher; at 17, she was sent to work at a labor collective. Forbidden to speak, dress, read, write, or love as she pleased, she found a lifeline in a secret love affair with another woman. Miraculously selected for the film version of one of Madame Mao's political operas, Min's life changed overnight. Then Chairman Mao suddenly died, taking with him an entire world.
-
-
A bridge of the familiar and foriegn
- By Gina E. White on 11-07-19
By: Anchee Min
-
Prisoner
- My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison—Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out
- By: Jason Rezaian
- Narrated by: Jason Rezaian
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The dramatic memoir of the journalist who was held hostage in a high-security prison in Tehran for 18 months and whose release - which almost didn’t happen - became a part of the Iran nuclear deal.
-
-
Should have been much better given subject matter
- By Sample Sloth on 04-17-19
By: Jason Rezaian
-
Poster Girl
- By: Veronica Roth
- Narrated by: Anna Caputo
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What's right is right. Sonya Kantor knows this slogan—she lived by it for most of her life. For decades, everyone in the Seattle-Portland megalopolis lived under it, as well as constant surveillance in the form of the Insight, an ocular implant that tracked every word and every action, rewarding or punishing by a rigid moral code set forth by the Delegation. Then there was a revolution. The Delegation fell. Its most valuable members were locked in the Aperture, a prison on the outskirts of the city. And everyone else, now free from monitoring, went on with their lives.
-
-
Little bit preachy, but still very good.
- By Kindle Customer on 10-23-22
By: Veronica Roth
-
The Jakarta Method
- Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program That Shaped Our World
- By: Vincent Bevins
- Narrated by: Tim Paige
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1965, the US government helped the Indonesian military kill approximately one million innocent civilians. This was one of the most important turning points of the 20th century, eliminating the largest communist party outside China and the Soviet Union and inspiring copycat terror programs in faraway countries like Brazil and Chile. But these events remain widely overlooked, precisely because the CIA's secret interventions were so successful.
-
-
Great book, but the narration has serious flaws
- By Prof. Neil Larsen on 08-03-20
By: Vincent Bevins
-
The Emperor of All Maladies
- A Biography of Cancer
- By: Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Emperor of All Maladies reveals the many faces of an iconic, shape-shifting disease that is the defining plague of our generation. The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance but also of hubris, arrogance, paternalism, and misperception, all leveraged against a disease that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out "war against cancer".
-
-
Incredible
- By S.R.E. on 03-02-16
-
The Handmaid's Tale
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Claire Danes
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a staged terrorist attack kills the President and most of Congress, the government is deposed and taken over by the oppressive and all-controlling Republic of Gilead. Offred is a Handmaid serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife. She can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name.
-
-
My Top Pick for 2012
- By Em on 11-30-12
By: Margaret Atwood
-
1984
- New Classic Edition
- By: George Orwell
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Orwell depicts a gray, totalitarian world dominated by Big Brother and its vast network of agents, including the Thought Police - a world in which news is manufactured according to the authorities' will and people live tepid lives by rote. Winston Smith, a hero with no heroic qualities, longs only for truth and decency. But living in a social system in which privacy does not exist and where those with unorthodox ideas are brainwashed or put to death, he knows there is no hope for him.
-
-
Come one, Come all into 1984!
- By Kit McIlvaine (GirlPluggedN) on 02-18-08
By: George Orwell
-
Not Black and White
- From the Very Windy City to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
- By: G. A. Beller
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chicago-style politics is front and center. When a sitting president has his roots in this sullied political heritage, it makes for news and leads to speculation. Not Black and White is a fictional account of many of the events that led to the meteoric rise of a local charismatic street politician to become America's first African American president and the downfall and imprisonment of two consecutive governors of the state of Illinois, along with several of their most trusted advisors and cohorts.
-
-
Not AT ALL Black and White
- By LoveToRead on 06-26-16
By: G. A. Beller
-
Fall of Giants
- Book One of the Century Trilogy
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 30 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ken Follett's World Without End was a global phenomenon, a work of grand historical sweep beloved by millions of readers and acclaimed by critics. Fall of Giants is his magnificent new historical epic. The first novel in The Century Trilogy, it follows the fates of five interrelated families - American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh - as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.
-
-
Loved it and learned alot.
- By Louis on 10-19-10
By: Ken Follett
-
North and South
- North and South Trilogy, Book 1
- By: John Jakes
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 30 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two strangers, young men from Pennsylvania and South Carolina, meet on the way to West Point.... Thus begins this brilliant novel of antebellum America, spanning three generations and chronicling the lives and loves of two great family dynasties. The Hazards and the Mains are brought together in bonds of friendship and affection that neither jealousy nor violence can shatter - until a storm of events sunders the nation and brings the cataclysm of war!
-
-
Captivating novel of the Civil War
- By 9S on 01-12-13
By: John Jakes
-
The Daily Show (the AudioBook)
- An Oral History as Told by Jon Stewart, the Correspondents, Staff and Guests
- By: Jon Stewart - foreword, Chris Smith
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Jay Snyder, Kevin T. Collins, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This oral history takes the listener behind the curtain for all the show's highlights, from its origins as Comedy Central's underdog late-night program hosted by Craig Kilborn to Jon Stewart's long reign to Trevor Noah's succession, rising from a scrappy jester in the 24-hour political news cycle to become part of the beating heart of politics - a trusted source for not only comedy but also commentary, with a reputation for calling bullshit and an ability to effect real change in the world.
-
-
Not narrated by the interviewees
- By Diana on 01-16-17
By: Jon Stewart - foreword, and others
-
Mr. Churchill's Secretary
- A Maggie Hope Mystery
- By: Susan Elia MacNeal
- Narrated by: Donada Peters
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this daring debut, Susan Elia MacNeal blends meticulous research on the era, psychological insight into Winston Churchill, and the creation of a riveting main character, Maggie Hope, into a spectacularly crafted novel.
-
-
Lovely
- By Katherine on 10-22-12
-
The Wind in My Hair
- My Fight for Freedom in Modern Iran
- By: Masih Alinejad
- Narrated by: Linda Henning
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A photo on Masih's Facebook page: a woman standing proudly, face bare, hair blowing in the wind. Her crime: removing her veil, or hijab, which is compulsory for women in Iran. This is the self-portrait that sparked "My Stealthy Freedom", a social media campaign that went viral. But Masih is so much more than the arresting face that sparked a campaign inspiring women to find their voices. She's also a world-class journalist whose personal story, told in her unforgettably bold and spirited voice, is emotional and inspiring.
-
-
An inspiring journey
- By Krishna Teja Rekapalli on 01-06-19
By: Masih Alinejad
-
Munich
- A Novel
- By: Robert Harris
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hugh Legat is a rising star of the British diplomatic service, serving at 10 Downing Street as a private secretary to the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain. Paul von Hartmann is on the staff of the German Foreign Office - and secretly a member of the anti-Hitler resistance. The two men were friends at Oxford in the 1920s, but have not been in contact since. Now, when Hugh flies with Chamberlain from London to Munich, and Hartmann travels on Hitler's train overnight from Berlin, their paths are set on a disastrous collision course.
-
-
Gripping
- By Jean on 01-29-18
By: Robert Harris
-
Dissolution
- Forgotten Realms: War of the Spider Queen, Book 1
- By: Richard Lee Byers
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The War of the Spider Queen begins here. While their whole world is changing around them, four dark elves struggle against different enemies. Yet their paths will lead them all to the most terrifying discovery in the long history of the drow and set them on a quest to save not only Menzoberranzan but the entire dark elf race from Dissolution....
-
-
A Dark Elf Series That Will Consume You...
- By Michael on 01-12-13
-
They Called Me a Lioness
- A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom
- By: Ahed Tamimi, Dena Takruri
- Narrated by: Dena Takruri
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ahed Tamimi is a world-renowned Palestinian activist, born and raised in the small West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, which became a center of the resistance to Israeli occupation when an illegal, Jewish-only settlement blocked off its community spring. Tamimi came of age participating in nonviolent demonstrations against this action and the occupation at large. Her global renown reached an apex in December 2017, when, at sixteen years old, she was filmed slapping an Israeli soldier who refused to leave her front yard. The video went viral, and Tamimi was arrested.
-
-
Powerful
- By Mary on 03-30-24
By: Ahed Tamimi, and others
-
A Brief History of the Samurai
- Brief Histories
- By: Jonathan Clements
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From a leading expert in Japanese history, this is one of the first full histories of the art and culture of the Samurai warrior. The Samurai emerged as a warrior caste in Medieval Japan and would have a powerful influence on the history and culture of the country from the next 500 years. Clements also looks at the Samurai wars that tore Japan apart in the 17th and 18th centuries and how the caste was finally demolished in the advent of the mechanized world.
-
-
An Excellent History of the Samurai
- By Michael on 08-08-14
-
Son of Hamas
- A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices
- By: Mosab Hassan Yousef, Ron Brackin - contributor
- Narrated by: Mosab Hassan Yousef
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since he was a small boy, Mosab Hassan Yousef has had an inside view of the deadly terrorist group Hamas. The oldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founding member of Hamas and its most popular leader, young Mosab assisted his father for years in his political activities while being groomed to assume his legacy, politics, status...and power. But everything changed when Mosab turned away from terror and violence and embraced instead the teachings of another famous Middle East leader.
-
-
Very insightful look at the underbelly of Hamas.
- By C,L, Richey on 05-05-14
By: Mosab Hassan Yousef, and others
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
The Wind in My Hair
- My Fight for Freedom in Modern Iran
- By: Masih Alinejad
- Narrated by: Linda Henning
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A photo on Masih's Facebook page: a woman standing proudly, face bare, hair blowing in the wind. Her crime: removing her veil, or hijab, which is compulsory for women in Iran. This is the self-portrait that sparked "My Stealthy Freedom", a social media campaign that went viral. But Masih is so much more than the arresting face that sparked a campaign inspiring women to find their voices. She's also a world-class journalist whose personal story, told in her unforgettably bold and spirited voice, is emotional and inspiring.
-
-
An inspiring journey
- By Krishna Teja Rekapalli on 01-06-19
By: Masih Alinejad
-
Until We Are Free
- My Fight for Human Rights in Iran
- By: Shirin Ebadi
- Narrated by: Shohreh Aghdashloo
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi has inspired millions around the globe through her work as a human rights lawyer defending women and children against a brutal regime in Iran. Now Ebadi tells her story of courage and defiance in the face of a government out to destroy her, her family, and her mission: to bring justice to the people and the country she loves.
-
-
Book of Trurth
- By Babak on 07-27-17
By: Shirin Ebadi
-
I Was Told to Come Alone
- My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad
- By: Souad Mekhennet
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For her whole life, Souad Mekhennet, a reporter for the Washington Post who was born and educated in Germany, has had to balance the two sides of her upbringing - Muslim and Western. She has also sought to provide a mediating voice between these cultures, which too often misunderstand each other.
-
-
A timely book with poor narration
- By F. AHMAD on 07-15-17
By: Souad Mekhennet
-
A Time to Betray
- The Astonishing Double Life of a CIA Agent inside the Revolutionary Guards of Iran
- By: Reza Kahlili
- Narrated by: Richard Allen
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A true story as exhilarating as a great spy thriller, as turbulent as today's headlines from the Middle East, A Time to Betray reveals what no other previous CIA operative's memoir possibly could: the inner workings of the notorious Revolutionary Guards of Iran, as witnessed by an Iranian man inside their ranks who spied for the American government.
-
-
Great book, Farsi speakers will hate narrator
- By Johnny on 10-27-13
By: Reza Kahlili
-
Between Two Worlds
- My Life and Captivity in Iran
- By: Roxana Saberi
- Narrated by: Roxana Saberi
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the morning of January 31, 2009, Roxana Saberi, a brilliant and fearless Iranian American journalist working in Iran, was dragged from her home by four men and secretly arrested. The intelligence agents who captured her accused her of espionage---a charge she denied. For 11 days, Saberi was cut off from the outside world, forbidden even a phone call. For weeks, neither her family, friends, nor colleagues had any knowledge of her whereabouts.
-
-
A Gripping and Tender Story
- By S on 04-11-10
By: Roxana Saberi
-
Somewhere Inside
- One Sister's Captivity in North Korea and the Other's Fight to Bring Her Home
- By: Laura Ling, Lisa Ling
- Narrated by: Laura Ling, Lisa Ling
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On March 17, 2009, Laura Ling and her colleague Euna Lee were working on a documentary about North Korean defectors who were fleeing the desperate conditions in their homeland. While filming on the Chinese/North Korean border, they were chased down by North Korean soldiers who violently apprehended them. Laura and Euna were charged with trespassing and "hostile acts," and imprisoned by Kim Jong Il's notoriously secretive Communist state.
-
-
Disappointing
- By amandasan on 05-26-10
By: Laura Ling, and others
-
The Wind in My Hair
- My Fight for Freedom in Modern Iran
- By: Masih Alinejad
- Narrated by: Linda Henning
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A photo on Masih's Facebook page: a woman standing proudly, face bare, hair blowing in the wind. Her crime: removing her veil, or hijab, which is compulsory for women in Iran. This is the self-portrait that sparked "My Stealthy Freedom", a social media campaign that went viral. But Masih is so much more than the arresting face that sparked a campaign inspiring women to find their voices. She's also a world-class journalist whose personal story, told in her unforgettably bold and spirited voice, is emotional and inspiring.
-
-
An inspiring journey
- By Krishna Teja Rekapalli on 01-06-19
By: Masih Alinejad
-
Until We Are Free
- My Fight for Human Rights in Iran
- By: Shirin Ebadi
- Narrated by: Shohreh Aghdashloo
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi has inspired millions around the globe through her work as a human rights lawyer defending women and children against a brutal regime in Iran. Now Ebadi tells her story of courage and defiance in the face of a government out to destroy her, her family, and her mission: to bring justice to the people and the country she loves.
-
-
Book of Trurth
- By Babak on 07-27-17
By: Shirin Ebadi
-
I Was Told to Come Alone
- My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad
- By: Souad Mekhennet
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For her whole life, Souad Mekhennet, a reporter for the Washington Post who was born and educated in Germany, has had to balance the two sides of her upbringing - Muslim and Western. She has also sought to provide a mediating voice between these cultures, which too often misunderstand each other.
-
-
A timely book with poor narration
- By F. AHMAD on 07-15-17
By: Souad Mekhennet
-
A Time to Betray
- The Astonishing Double Life of a CIA Agent inside the Revolutionary Guards of Iran
- By: Reza Kahlili
- Narrated by: Richard Allen
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A true story as exhilarating as a great spy thriller, as turbulent as today's headlines from the Middle East, A Time to Betray reveals what no other previous CIA operative's memoir possibly could: the inner workings of the notorious Revolutionary Guards of Iran, as witnessed by an Iranian man inside their ranks who spied for the American government.
-
-
Great book, Farsi speakers will hate narrator
- By Johnny on 10-27-13
By: Reza Kahlili
-
Between Two Worlds
- My Life and Captivity in Iran
- By: Roxana Saberi
- Narrated by: Roxana Saberi
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the morning of January 31, 2009, Roxana Saberi, a brilliant and fearless Iranian American journalist working in Iran, was dragged from her home by four men and secretly arrested. The intelligence agents who captured her accused her of espionage---a charge she denied. For 11 days, Saberi was cut off from the outside world, forbidden even a phone call. For weeks, neither her family, friends, nor colleagues had any knowledge of her whereabouts.
-
-
A Gripping and Tender Story
- By S on 04-11-10
By: Roxana Saberi
-
Somewhere Inside
- One Sister's Captivity in North Korea and the Other's Fight to Bring Her Home
- By: Laura Ling, Lisa Ling
- Narrated by: Laura Ling, Lisa Ling
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On March 17, 2009, Laura Ling and her colleague Euna Lee were working on a documentary about North Korean defectors who were fleeing the desperate conditions in their homeland. While filming on the Chinese/North Korean border, they were chased down by North Korean soldiers who violently apprehended them. Laura and Euna were charged with trespassing and "hostile acts," and imprisoned by Kim Jong Il's notoriously secretive Communist state.
-
-
Disappointing
- By amandasan on 05-26-10
By: Laura Ling, and others
-
Radical
- My Journey out of Islamist Extremism
- By: Maajid Nawaz
- Narrated by: David Linski
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maajid Nawaz spent his teenage years listening to American hip-hop and learning about the radical Islamist movement spreading throughout Europe and Asia in the 1980s and '90s. At 16, he was already a ranking member in Hizb ut-Tahrir, a London-based Islamist group. He quickly rose through the ranks to become a top recruiter, a charismatic spokesman for the cause of uniting Islam's political power across the world.
-
-
Insightful and Enlightening. Blown Away by Radical
- By oneofmanymonkeys on 04-29-16
By: Maajid Nawaz
-
A Sliver of Light
- Three Americans Imprisoned in Iran
- By: Shane Bauer, Joshua Fattal, Sarah Shourd
- Narrated by: Michael Goldstrom, Julia Whelan, Tristan Morris
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three young Americans captured by Iranian forces and held in captivity for two years tell their story. In summer 2009 Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal, and Sarah Shourdwere hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan when they unknowingly crossed into Iran and were captured by a border patrol. Accused of espionage, the three Americans ultimately found themselves in Tehran's infamous Evin Prison, where they discovered that pooling their strength of will and relying on each other were the only ways they could survive.
-
-
How a fun day hiking can change your life
- By Jean on 04-08-14
By: Shane Bauer, and others
-
They Said They Wanted Revolution
- A Memoir of My Parents
- By: Neda Toloui-Semnani
- Narrated by: Neda Toloui-Semnani
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1979, Neda Toloui-Semnani’s parents left the United States for Iran to join the revolution. But the promise of those early heady days in Tehran was warped by the rise of the Islamic Republic. With the new regime came international isolation, cultural devastation, and profound personal loss for Neda. Her father was arrested and her mother was forced to make a desperate escape, pregnant and with Neda in tow.
-
-
I learned so much. Great pacing, felt like I time-traveled
- By Jess Fuchs on 02-07-22
-
The Ayatollah Begs to Differ
- The Paradox of Modern Iran
- By: Hooman Majd
- Narrated by: Hooman Majd
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The grandson of an eminent ayatollah and the son of an Iranian diplomat, journalist Hooman Majd is uniquely qualified to explain contemporary Iran's complex and misunderstood culture to Western listeners. The Ayatollah Begs to Differ provides an intimate look at a paradoxical country that is both deeply religious and highly cosmopolitan, authoritarian yet informed by a history of democratic and reformist traditions.
-
-
Good book that dodges some tougher questions
- By Walter on 08-30-09
By: Hooman Majd
-
The Fox Hunt
- A Refugee's Memoir of Coming to America
- By: Mohammed Al Samawi
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in the Old City of Sana’a, Yemen, to a pair of middle-class doctors, Mohammed Al Samawi was a devout Muslim raised to think of Christians and Jews as his enemy. But when Mohammed was 23, he secretly received a copy of the Bible, and what he read cast doubt on everything he’d previously believed. After connecting with Jews and Christians on social media, and at various international interfaith conferences, Mohammed became an activist, making it his mission to promote dialogue and cooperation in Yemen. Then came the death threats....
-
-
Engaging and informative memoir
- By Mark on 08-02-18
-
Prisoner
- My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison—Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out
- By: Jason Rezaian
- Narrated by: Jason Rezaian
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The dramatic memoir of the journalist who was held hostage in a high-security prison in Tehran for 18 months and whose release - which almost didn’t happen - became a part of the Iran nuclear deal.
-
-
Should have been much better given subject matter
- By Sample Sloth on 04-17-19
By: Jason Rezaian
-
A Rage for Order
- The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir Square to ISIS
- By: Robert Worth
- Narrated by: Will Damron, Robert Worth
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2011 a wave of revolution spread through the Middle East as protesters demanded an end to tyranny, corruption, and economic decay. From Egypt to Yemen, a generation of young Arabs insisted on a new ethos of common citizenship. Five years later their utopian aspirations have taken on a darker cast as old divides reemerge and deepen. In one country after another, brutal terrorists and dictators have risen to the top.
-
-
What a mess!
- By Art Guzman on 01-19-17
By: Robert Worth
-
Son of Hamas
- A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices
- By: Mosab Hassan Yousef, Ron Brackin - contributor
- Narrated by: Mosab Hassan Yousef
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since he was a small boy, Mosab Hassan Yousef has had an inside view of the deadly terrorist group Hamas. The oldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founding member of Hamas and its most popular leader, young Mosab assisted his father for years in his political activities while being groomed to assume his legacy, politics, status...and power. But everything changed when Mosab turned away from terror and violence and embraced instead the teachings of another famous Middle East leader.
-
-
Very insightful look at the underbelly of Hamas.
- By C,L, Richey on 05-05-14
By: Mosab Hassan Yousef, and others
-
God's Double Agent
- The True Story of a Chinese Christian's Fight for Freedom
- By: Bob Fu, Nancy French
- Narrated by: Hayden Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
God’s people are hiding in plain sightTens of millions of Christians live in China today, leading double lives to hide from a government that relentlessly persecutes them. By day, Bob Fu was a teacher in a communist school; by night, he was a preacher in an underground house church network. This edge-of-your-seat book tells the true story of Fu’s conversion to Christianity, his arrest and imprisonment for starting an illegal house church, his harrowing escape, and his subsequent rise to prominence in the United States as an advocate for his oppressed brethren.
-
-
a great book, very informative.
- By Charles on 09-21-15
By: Bob Fu, and others
-
A Rope and a Prayer
- The Story of a Kidnapping
- By: David Rohde, Kristen Mulvihill
- Narrated by: David Rohde, Kristen Mulvihill
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The compelling and insightful account of a New York Times reporter's abduction by the Taliban and his wife's struggle to free him. Invited to an interview by a Taliban commander, New York Times reporter David Rohde and two Afghan colleagues were kidnapped in November 2008 and spirited to the tribal areas of Pakistan. For the next seven months, they lived in an alternate reality, ruled by jihadists, in which paranoia, conspiracy theories, and shifting alliances abounded.
-
-
A History Lesson
- By Ed on 12-31-10
By: David Rohde, and others
-
The Return
- Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between
- By: Hisham Matar
- Narrated by: Hisham Matar
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Hisham Matar was a 19-year-old university student in England, his father was kidnapped. One of the Qaddafi regime's most prominent opponents in exile, he was held in a secret prison in Libya. Hisham would never see him again. But he never gave up hope that his father might still be alive. "Hope," as he writes, "is cunning and persistent." Twenty-two years later, after the fall of Qaddafi, the prison cells were empty, and there was no sign of Jaballa Matar. Hisham returned with his mother and wife to the homeland he never thought he'd go back to again.
-
-
Touching memoir. Consider hard copy
- By Joschka Philipps on 02-22-18
By: Hisham Matar
-
Guests of the Ayatollah
- The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Mark Bowden
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Iran hostage crisis was a watershed moment in American history. It was America's first showdown with Islamic fundamentalism, a confrontation at the forefront of American policy to this day. It was also a powerful dramatic story that captivated the American people, launched yellow-ribbon campaigns, made celebrities of the hostage's families, and crippled the reelection campaign of President Jimmy Carter.
-
-
Worth a listen, with a few reservations
- By Eunice on 06-02-09
By: Mark Bowden
What listeners say about Rosewater - Previously Published as 'Then They Came For Me’
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dan
- 01-04-12
Wow!
What did you love best about Then They Came for Me?
Such an incredible story... Saw the author on The Daily Show and the interview sparked my interest in this book. I was not disappointed as this book was keeping my interest all the way through!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jean A. Kaiser
- 03-14-18
Rosewater
An amazing book I think everyone should read in an effort not only to understand the bravery of this amazing man but the thinking of those who do not want Iran to change. Growing up in a country that (until recently at least) is considered a democracy I couldn't understand why anyone would choose to live without freedom yet in many countries they do. I think this book helped me to better understand the thinking of different cultures.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Russell
- 03-04-15
Powerful Indictment of a Corrupt Theocracy
The people who were tortured under the Shah's regime become the torturers in this tale about a journalist who is arrested as a spy by a government that cheated at the ballot box. Those who don't play by civilized rules are given their legitimacy through a spiritual supreme leader, Ali Khamenei and they use this religiosity to justify lies and the brutalizing of innocent Iranians.
A few of the idealistic revolutionarys of 1979 now realize that they never sufficiently worked out what type of government would follow and this one sounds worse than the one they overthrew.
Maziar Bahari stands up to the threats to his family inside and outside Iran and to his person either by kidnapping or assassination by daring to tell a story about a ruthless regime. It is remarkable that he argues for a peaceful overthrow of a government that murders and uses rape as a tool to control a population that was angry that their votes were ignored. I hope he is right.
Oh .. and Rosewater is an asshole.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- loix
- 06-24-11
Book that would've shined but for the narration
I had encountered the same narrator before, on Emperor of All Maladies, and barely made it through it because of the narration (something about the intonation), so I knew what I was getting into. I would not have spent another credit on a book by the same narrator. But I had been counting the days until the publication of this particular story, and decided to take a chance. The narration was as flat as on my previous purchase, but the story was there to pull me through. I was most of all impressed by the author's imagination and sense of humor--I'd never expected to be howling w/ laughter listening to what was the retelling of a horrific ordeal, but there I was, rolling on the floor at times. This is a story well worth telling, and but for the narration, one of the best.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- augus079
- 02-20-15
Two thumbs up
I'm not sure what it is about the book but I often found myself staying up foo late just to listen longer.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MMP
- 03-19-12
narration badly over dramatized
How could the performance have been better?
I enjoyed the book but almost stop listening due to the annoyingly over dramatized reading.... like fingernails on a chalkboard.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Margaret Auld-louie
- 06-09-14
Gripping story but bogs down a bit in politics
The story of his imprisonment is gripping but I had trouble keeping my attention focused when he goes into the details of Iranian politics, both current and past. You have to get quite a ways into the book before you get to the heart of the story--the description of his time in prison. I realize the political information is necessary to provide context, but I find political details very boring, and I can't keep straight who's who. There are so many political players and I don't know the Iranian language, so I have trouble understanding their names or remembering who is who. The narrator is not as horrible as some reviewers stated but not great, either. I would say he is "tolerable" but not pleasant to listen to. Since I don't know Iranian, I can't say whether he pronounces the names correctly (another reviewer says he pronounces Iranian wrong) but I was shocked when he mispronounced the brand name Adidas. It took me a minute to figure out what he had said. Also, he consistently mispronounces authoritarian. Instead, he says "authotarian".
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- monicae
- 11-17-15
Good Story
Didn't like the narrator. He read without much emotion. I think it could have been much better.
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
- HijaDelSol
- 10-06-15
Overwrought narration, but fascinating story
First of all, even though this is a dramatic and interesting story at its core (so far - it's getting hard for me to finish it), I think it's important to remember that the author is probably more representative of the 'average' Iranian/Persian than Rosewater and his other oppressors are; at least, that's my experience with all the Iranians I've met.
In terms of the aesthetic merit, 'Rosewater' is a slightly over-written narrative to begin with, with a few too many adjectives and descriptions that make it seem a little amateurish in English (as evidenced by the original title). But the narrator goes WAY overboard in his reading - much too melodramatic in expression and intonation and emphasis on every detail, mundane or no, which adds an odd and grating sense of farce that further undermines the story.
Too bad on both counts... I haven't seen Jon Stewart's movie of this yet, but am hoping he didn't take the same approach. The facts should be allowed to speak for themselves.
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
- Alaskapenny
- 03-06-15
a look at modern Tyranny
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
yes, if they want a true inside look at modern Tyrannies – Iran – Axis of Evil
What did you like best about this story?
if you want to truly understand why Tyrants & Zealots Should Be Overthrown, You Have To Understand What It's like to Be a Prisoner of Them.
The Who's Who at the Beginning of the Book Was a Great Review
Did the narration match the pace of the story?
yes
Did Rosewater - Previously Published as 'Then They Came For Me’ inspire you to do anything?
want to share the story with others, and definitely want to see the movie Rosewater
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!