Audiobooks Narrated by Victoria Woodson

Homo habilis and Homo erectus: The History and Legacy of Modern Humans’ Direct Ancestors

"The evolutionary path from the original primates to modern man is a long one and has taken many twists and turns, but naturally, as the fossil record grows, scientists gain a more complete understanding of our own mental and physical history in terms of genetics and anatomy. However, the correct order and relationships of the various specimen types are difficult to pin down. Many representative samples have been found in such minute amounts as to not preclude anomalies. They have been discovered in various stages of wear. Modern features did not occur simultaneously or uniformly, taking millions of years to become manifest in later types. Up to the present day’s Homo sapiens, examples of the main types have been hybrids of older and more modern features. One of the earliest species of the genus Homo to be discovered is Homo habilis, which basically means “handy man.” The name comes from the belief at the time of its discovery that this species was the first to start using stone tools. The first fossils to be uncovered in Olduvai Gorge were from the same stratigraphic layer as simple stone tools. Fossils of the crania and postcranial skeleton for this species have been found in both eastern and southern Africa and date to around 2.5–1.6 million years ago. Given the gradual changes that take place in evolution, Homo habilis shares a number of characteristics that are similar to the genus Australopithecus, such as in the postcranial elements. That said, the size and shape of the Homo habilis skull are markedly different. The size of the brain is much larger relative to the size of the body, being around 680 cc. In order to house a larger brain, the skull features a more vertical frontal bone, creating a more vertical forehead. The brow ridges that sit on the lower portion of the frontal bone are also reduced in size."

Charles River Editors (Author), Victoria Woodson (Narrator)

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Queen Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots: The Controversial History of Cousins Turned Rivals

"England's Queen Elizabeth had to fight for her life and position time and again in an era that was already unsafe for female leaders and she probably had remembered the searing feeling of realizing that her mother, Anne Boleyn had been executed by her father on a trumped-up charge. Danger was pervasive, and strategy was needed not just to thrive but to survive. Perhaps nothing underscored that fact quite like Elizabeth’s relationship with her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary’s fame as a monarch lies less in her personality or achievements than in her position within the dynastic maneuvers and political and religious upheavals taking place in Europe in the 16th century. Most monarchs spent their early years learning in preparation to rule and then spend the latter part of their lives wielding power and status, but Mary was thrust upon the throne when she was only a week old, and she ceased to be queen nearly 20 years before her death. Mary's tragedy was intertwined with her country's transformation. As a second cousin once removed of England’s Queen Elizabeth I, that potentially made Mary a rival for the throne. Mary was the granddaughter of Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII's sister, and her Catholicism made Mary the true and rightful Queen of England in the eyes of many Catholics and the Vatican. These facts, coupled with the realization that several English Catholics (especially rebels active in the Rising of the North movement) supported Mary, ardently made Elizabeth uneasy. Mary also did not help herself when she married James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, who was widely accused of raping her. The Scottish people rebelled, after which Mary abdicated and fled southwards towards England. Elizabeth I was unsure at first what to do with Mary, so she kept Mary imprisoned in several castles and manor houses inside England, making escape difficult and thus unlikely."

Charles River Editors (Author), Victoria Woodson (Narrator)

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The Queens Who Ruled England: The History and Legacy of the Female Sovereigns’ Reigns

"Until the implementation of new legislation on March 26, 2015, men were given preference to women in the British royal line. This system of male primogeniture meant that women seldom inherited the throne, and even when they did, they were often dominated by male councillors. Those women who married British kings gained the title of Queen, but they were queen consorts, holding the title with no power. This meant only a select few women ruled in their own right. When Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne in 1952, many commentators heralded the beginning of her reign as the second Elizabethan age. The first one, of course, concerned the reign of Henry VIII’s second surviving daughter and middle surviving child, Queen Elizabeth I, one of England’s most famous and influential rulers. It was an age when the arts, commerce and trade flourished. It was the epoch of gallantry and great, enduring literature. It was also an age of wars and military conflicts in which men were the primary drivers and women often were pawns.  Then, there was Queen Mary I of England, who earned herself the less-than-pleasant moniker of “Bloody Mary.” While in power, Mary vowed to restore papal authority and revert England to Catholicism, placing the bullseye on Protestants. Laws against heresy made a bloody comeback, which saw hundreds of Protestants dragged to the stakes.  England has had no shortage of influential monarchs, but only Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria had their nation’s age literally named after them. Both the Elizabethan era and Victorian era have come to symbolize a golden age of peace and progress in every aspect of British life, with the long reigns of both queens also providing stability."

Charles River Editors (Author), Victoria Woodson (Narrator)

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Establishing the Elizabethan Age

"Over 450 years after his reign, Henry VIII is still the most famous and recognizable King of England, but it’s for all the wrong reasons. Though well regarded by contemporaries as a learned king and 'one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne', he is best remembered today for his gluttony and multiple marriages, particularly the gruesome way in which he was widowed on more than one occasion. Naturally, that was the focus of the popular Showtime drama series centered around his life, The Tudors. Henry VIII will probably continue to be best known for beheading some of his wives, most notably Anne Boleyn, so it is somewhat fitting that his most decisive act came as a result of a marital mishap. Sharply at odds with the Catholic Church over his attempt to dissolve his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII ultimately broke with the Church and established the Church of England, which forever both the religious history of England and the social hierarchy of the nation and its empire. When Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne in 1652, many commentators heralded the beginning of her reign as the second Elizabethan age. The first one was an age when the arts, commerce and trade flourished. It was the epoch of gallantry and great, enduring literature. It was also an age of wars and military conflicts in which men were the primary drivers and women often were pawns. Elizabeth was the last Tudor sovereign, the daughter of Henry VIII and a granddaughter of the Tudor House’s founder, the shrewd Henry VII. Elizabeth, hailed as “Good Queen Bess,” “Gloriana” and “The Virgin Queen” to this day in the public firmament, would improve upon Henry VIII’s successes and mitigate his failures, and despite her own failings would turn out to “have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England too”."

Charles River Editors (Author), Victoria Woodson (Narrator)

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Life and Music of the Great Composer

"Mozart once called music “my life”, and indeed few were as naturally gifted at it. Mozart’s memory and genius for music allowed him to compose lengthy works, even full-length operas, without transferring them to paper until he had fully visualized and retained them. He regarded copying as a tedious task, and this caused no small amount of consternation among performers, in particular the orchestra, some of whom received their parts minutes before curtain. This was said to be the case for the premiere of Don Giovanni, where Mozart was furiously scrawling and handing out parts to the overture with the audience in attendance. Surprisingly, these entire works, sometimes hundreds of pages, not penned until they were complete in his mind, usually arrived to the manuscript without a single blemish or change of heart. Mozart’s eccentricities are remembered centuries after his death, to the point that much of his life, illnesses and death have been mythologized, and today a lot of his legacy has been shaped by the manner in which his personality has been depicted in biographical works like Amadeus. In addition to a large and consistently high-level body of work, Mozart represents for some the real beginning of the German lineage to the 20th century, although Ludwig Beethoven, greatly under Mozart’s influence, created much of that transition’s reality. Three of Mozart’s operas are continually in the top 10 works performed around the world, his piano concerti and symphonies are all in the standard repertoire (save for some of the earliest), and his choral works are treasures of the West. The bulk of his reputation was not garnered by breaking with tradition and destroying it but rather by fulfilling it with a greater beauty and naturalness than was possible for any other artist of the time."

Charles River Editors (Author), Victoria Woodson (Narrator)

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Sundaland and Doggerland: The History and Mysteries of the Sunken Landmasses in Asia and Europe

"By the time the Pleistocene Epoch ended around 12,000 years ago, Homo sapiens had become one of the most significant species on the planet. It was also near the end of that period of time that modern humans began to gradually populate what would become Europe, Asia, and the Americas, eventually becoming the inheritors of the Paleolithic era and the only human species to make it into the Neolithic era. The cold Pleistocene temperatures lowered water levels across the planet, exposing land that was not there before or after the period. At the same time, significant regions of the planet were very different during the Pleistocene, including Southeast Asia, particularly the modern islands of Bali, Borneo, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula, roughly equivalent to parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. This region, which modern scholars refer to as Sunda or Sundaland, was unique because all of it was connected by land, meaning today’s islands were once part of a contiguous subcontinent, and in terms of the people, flora, and fauna, it was very different than it is today. Among the most significant water displacement phenomena in the Western world was Doggerland on the northern European continent. The notable inundation occurred in both a steady and eruptive fashion covering a vast stretch of former tundra, a land bridge between today’s British Isles and the European continent. The event brought about the modern English Channel and an expanded North Sea, and unlike the early supercontinents, the inundation of Doggerland took place after the appearance of people. Incrementally submerged since roughly 18,000 years ago as the climate warmed, the patch of sea between Britain and Europe is the subject of much recent scientific scrutiny. "

Charles River Editors (Author), Victoria Woodson (Narrator)

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The Mysterious British Isles: A Collection of Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena across B

"Great Britain is an ancient land steeped in history and tradition, filled with prehistoric ruins, majestic castles, and a countryside sculpted from millennia of human habitation.. Its rolling countryside is dotted with prehistoric burial mounds and stone circles. Brooding castles hold tales of bloodshed and honor. Medieval churches have elaborate stained glass windows and gruesome carvings, reflecting a mixture of hope and darkness. Every hamlet and village has tales that go back centuries, and folk festivals with roots in pagan times. Not everything in Great Britain is as it appears, however. Some say this is a land haunted by spirits, a place of strange disappearances and unexplained phenomena. For centuries, people have told tales of ghosts stalking its historic buildings, strange creatures lurking in its primeval forests, and unexplained paths linking its ancient sites. There is no shortage when it comes to the strange stories the region has to offer, and the legends and lore have compelled many to dig a little deeper and even explore this wonderful land for themselves. Ireland also has a rich folklore. Everyone knows about the fairy folk and leprechauns and many have heard of the fearsome banshee, and there are also the usual ghost stories found in every old land. The stranger side of the Emerald Isle goes much deeper than that, however, with tales of phantom armies marching through the sky, sea monsters swimming in the waters around the island, and stories of strange powers and dark magic. Indeed, these tales are not consigned to the past; many unexplained occurrences continue to happen, even today. Here is a sampling of some of Ireland's odder aspects Ireland. Hopefully, it will inspire readers to learn more about Ireland’s mysterious past and unusual present, and perhaps get readers to visit Ireland themselves."

Charles River Editors (Author), Victoria Woodson (Narrator)

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