Welcome to the second leg of the 2012 LibriVox World Tour! Go on a roundtrip through the Orient with 10 gems from our catalog.
Henry Morgenthau was the US ambassador to the Ottoman Empire 1913 – 1916. He was one of the first and most prominent people to speak out against the Armenian genocide, an account of which can be found in his book Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story.
Tamburlaine the Great, a play in two parts by Christopher Marlowe, is loosely based on the life of Timur the Lame. Its beginnings take us to Persia.
From there, we go straight to Kafiristan, a remote part of modern Afghanistan, where The Man Who Would be King is set. Two adventurers set up a scheme to become kings – if they succeed or not can be found out in the masterful story by Rudyard Kipling.
Rabindranath Tagore was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. His collection of essays Sadhana, the Realisation of Life, describes Indian culture, beliefs and philosophy from various points of view.
The first Anglo-Burmese War was fought over the control of northeastern India, and marked the beginning of the end of Burmese independence. On the Irrawaddy is a fictionalized account of the war, written by George A. Henty.
Probably the most famous account of Asian court life is Anna Leonowen’s book The English Governess at the Siamese Court. While a great success in the West, her memoir of six years with the Royal family is still deemed controversial in Thailand today.
Assume something terrible happens to you and all you want is to die – so you engage a hitman. But then you change your mind – and you have to get hold of the killer… This is essentially the plot of The Tribulations of a Chinaman in China, a humorous adventure by Jules Verne. We also have a French version of this book.
China was only the end of a long journey that started in Siberia and led Ferdinand Ossendowski also through Mongolia on his escape from the Bolshevik Revolution. Beasts, Men and Gods – which were the most dangerous?
One Hundred Verses of Old Japan is a compilation of Japanese poetry by 12th century poet Fujiwara no Teika. It contains one poem each from 100 poets. It has been translated into many languages, but we also have the Japanese original.
Young Crisostomo Ibarra returns to the Philippines after studying in Europe. He expects to get married to his childhood sweetheart, but the wrath of the local curate stands in their way… Read Noli Me Tangere, the novel by José Rizal, which led to the country’s revolution – and to the death of the author.
Enjoy your travels – and send a postcard!