The best history audiobooks of 2020





HISTORY

The past is profoundly present in these exhilarating explorations.

By Alexis Coe
Performed by Brittany Pressley, Alexis Coe


The year of the pandemic, #BLM demonstrations, and our presidential election encouraged a lot of us to ask the questions of history with new eyes: how did we get here? And what do we need to know for the future?

Best of the Year Alexis Coe’s You Never Forget Your First portrays our first president come alive as a man who suffered and overcame physical ailments, enslaved others unflinchingly, and somehow also established the mechanism of a peaceful transfer of power. Through the lens of James Baldwin’s life and work, Eddie S. Glaude's Begin Again declaims with passion and urgency that American democracy has never valued Black lives as ''created equal.'' As role models, Winston Churchill and Jimmy Carter stand out as intelligent, forceful leaders willing to take great risk in the service of freedom. In their sweeping and richly detailed audios, Erik Larson and Jonathan Alter place Churchill and Carter, respectively, within the context of their times, their families, and their limitations and triumphs. Finally, Brian C. Muraresku zones out a bit in The Immortality Key, because throughout human history, people need inspiration to continue the fight for progress.

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