Istanbul

Whether you call it Byzantium, Constantinople, or Istanbul, the city that straddles Europe and Asia has a long and storied past. Author/narrator Bettany Hughes hits every high point and tiny detail of that story. She has created and narrated several BBC documentaries, experiences that serve her well in this project. Her writing has a personality all its own, and her lively, emotive reading highlights her scholarship, her passion for her subject, and her agile way with the English language. Her fluid voice does, however, occasionally dip into a low register, making the ends of some sentences less than clear. But given the book's 24-hour span, these are minor deficits. C.M.A. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine