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Title: A History of the Jews

Author: Paul Johnson

Narrator: Nadia May

Format: Unabridged

Length: 28 hrs and 45 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-25-08

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 268 votes

Genres: History, World

Publisher's Summary:

This historical magnum opus covers 4,000 years of the extraordinary history of the Jews as a people, a culture, and a nation. It shows the impact of Jewish character on the world - their genius, imagination, and, most of all, their ability to persevere despite severe persecutions. Compelling insights into events and individuals are chronologically detailed, from Moses and Jesus to Spinoza, Marx, Freud, the Rothschilds, and Golda Meir.

©1987 Paul Johnson; (P)1989 Blackstone Audio, inc.

Critic Reviews:

"It's no mean feat to successfully compress 4,000 years of history into 645 pages, but Johnson has more than met the challenge....an excellent, nonscholarly history for general readers." (Library Journal)

"A tour de force....A remarkable achievement." (The New York Times Book Review)

"A marvelous book....This is history: richly textured, provocative and wise." (The Plain Dealer)

Members Reviews:

Excellent History

This is a great book: lively writing, well researched and for the most part, well paced. Criticism of the narration are petty: the woman is English and pronounces some words per the Queen's not American English. Jewish words are in fact recognizable. I almost didn't buy this book because of the complaints about the narration. I am so glad I did not heed the naysayers. A GREAT listen.

well done and educational

Quite engrossing. A bit long, but very interesting and well done. If you aren't accustomed to British pronunciation, you may be thrown off on the meaning of some words initially.

I will listen to this 4 part book again in the future.

Great book; worth listening to

I am disappointed by the less than positive reviews on this history of the Jewish people written by Christian author, Paul Johnson. Readers might not agree with Johnson's every insight on the history of the Jews, yet they are worthy of consideration. Arthur Hertzberg (New York Times Book Review) wrote on the back cover: "A tour de force....A remarkable achievement." I would hate to think these reviews might turn away audible readers. Nadia May has a fine, crisp voice. She reads this book well. It is well worth listening to in my opinion.

buy the book

This book gave me a much better understanding of Jewish, Christian and Muslim history and is worth reading.

The production and narration, however, are the worst in my experience of 100 or so audio books.

The narrator should not narrate again. Her voice is impossible- she has spectacular voice modulation of both pitch and volume. I listened to this first using my standard I pod ear phones and then through my car stereo. Neither was tolerable- she was intermittently inaudible with low pitch and volume and then deafening with high pitch and volume. I ended up using a high end Boise noise canceling headset which made listening barely tolerable- and had to watch out for police since head phones are illegal in Ohio while driving.

It is easy to tell the points when she stopped a session and started a new one. She actually, on 2 occasions, reread several lines, apparently having forgotten where she had ended.

The producer needs a new job and/or better equipment.

The production is terrible- talking in the background and poor sound characteristics.