Natural Born Heroes: How a Daring Band of Misfits Mastered the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance

Veteran British voice-over actor Smith does his best to handle the wild ride of journalist/author McDougall latest book, which explores sports and fitness from scientific, historical, and cultural perspectives. McDougall examines a relatively little-known Allied success story from late in WWII, when a highly unorthodox unit of covert soldiers from the United Kingdom banded together with the local Greek Resistance to kidnap a Nazi general on the island of Crete. Smith does an effective job of juggling the distinctive accents from all over Europe in the primary story line. The challenge—for both Smith as a performer and for listeners—comes with McDougall’s continuous asides, challenging our current notions of what constitutes strength, endurance, and heroism, and highlighting the exploits of iconoclastic heroes from other points in history. Smith tackles the transitions as smoothly as possible, but audiences not steeped in the subjects at hand may still have a difficult time keeping up with the story. A Knopf hardcover. (Apr.)