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Title: Exporting Security

Subtitle: International Engagement, Security Cooperation, and the Changing Face of the US Military

Author: Derek S. Reveron

Narrator: Douglas R. Pratt

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-18-16

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

In this thoroughly updated second edition, Derek S. Reveron provides a comprehensive analysis of the shift in US foreign policy from coercive diplomacy to cooperative military engagement. The US military does much more than fight wars; it responds to humanitarian crises and natural disasters, assists advanced militaries to support international peace, and trains and equips almost every military in the world. Rather than intervening directly, the United States can respond to crises by sending weapons, trainers, and advisers to assist other countries in tackling their own security deficits created by subnational, transnational, and regional challengers.

By doing so, the United States seeks to promote partnerships and its soft power, strengthen the state sovereignty system, prevent localized violence from escalating into regional crises, and protect its national security by addressing underlying conditions that lead to war. Since coalition warfare is the norm, security cooperation also ensures partners are interoperable with US forces when the US leads international military coalitions.

Exporting Security takes into account the Obama administration's foreign policy, the implications of more assertive foreign policies by Russia and China, and the US military's role in recent humanitarian crises and nation-building efforts.

Critic Reviews:

"Reveron's overview of security cooperation and the many programs that support these efforts alone make the book worthwhile." (Parameters)

Members Reviews:

Understanding the changing role of the US military in a global arena

Whether or not you agree with all of the author's conclusions, the information presented is solidly documented. It's an important analysis for anyone with an interest in the evolving role of the US military on a global stage. An excellent job of reading by Douglas Pratt.

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Title: Passchendaele

Subtitle: Requiem for Doomed Youth

Author: Paul Ham

Narrator: Robert Meldrum

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 10-10-16

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

From Paul Ham, winner of the NSW Premier's Prize for Australian History, comes the story of ordinary men in the grip of a political and military power struggle that determined their fate and has foreshadowed the destiny of the world for a century.

Information: Passchendaele epitomises everything that was most terrible about the Western Front. The photographs never sleep of this four-month battle, fought from July to November 1917, the worst year of the war: blackened tree stumps rising out of a field of mud, corpses of men and horses drowned in shell holes, terrified soldiers huddled in trenches awaiting the whistle.

The intervening century, the most violent in human history, has not disarmed these pictures of their power to shock. At the very least they ask us, on the 100th anniversary of the battle, to see and to try to understand what happened here. Yes, we commemorate the event. Yes, we adorn our breasts with poppies. But have we seen? Have we understood? Have we dared to reason why? What happened at Passchendaele was the expression of the 'wearing-down war', the war of pure attrition at its most spectacular and ferocious.

Paul Ham's Passchendaele: Requiem for Doomed Youth shows how ordinary men on both sides endured this constant state of siege, with a very real awareness that they were being gradually, deliberately, wiped out. Yet the men never broke: they went over the top, when ordered, again and again and again. And if they fell dead or wounded, they were casualties in the 'normal wastage', as the commanders described them, of attritional war. Only the soldier's friends at the front knew him as a man, with thoughts and feelings. His family back home knew him as a son, husband or brother, before he had enlisted.

By the end of 1917 he was a different creature: his experiences on the Western Front were simply beyond their powers of comprehension. The audiobook tells the story of ordinary men in the grip of a political and military power struggle that determined their fate and has foreshadowed the destiny of the world for a century. Passchendaele lays down a powerful challenge to the idea of war as an inevitable expression of the human will, and examines the culpability of governments and military commanders in a catastrophe that destroyed the best part of a generation.

Critic Reviews:

"Provocative and challenging.... A voice that is both vigorous and passionate." (The Times)

Members Reviews:

Riveting

What a well researched, well presented book. A must read for history buffs. Gives some great insights

100 years on

Paul Ham is everything Other populist amateur historians and authors are not - accurate, respectful, a defender of truth and fact. In these days of alternative facts and fake gloss he doesn't try and paint over the raw experience to build some portrait of our nation's soldiers as being without fault. Rather he portrays the full panoply of their experience....the lows the triumphs and the impact acts on us all even now 100 years on.

My Great uncle died aged 20 with the Anzac attack on 4 October 1917 first day of the Battle of Broodseinde so dramatically described in this book.

A journey back in time I will not forget

Faultless

Amazing writing and excellent performance. As an already huge fan of the time period, Ham took my interest to new heights with his insightful and emotional count of those who lived that nightmare.

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Title: Daily Military Quotes

Subtitle: 365 Days of the Best Quotes on War, Leadership, Courage and Discipline from History's Greatest Generals, Soldiers, and Heroes

Author: Mick Kremling

Narrator: Kenneth Bryant

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 45 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-03-16

Publisher: Tyler Cunningham

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

Discover history's greatest quotes from warriors around the world, from past to present. Whether from the bloody fields of Cannae to the shores of Normandy, discover 365 of the most inspirational military quotes from history. From the generals to the grunts, from the Marines to the Spartans, from Japan to Africa to the United States and everywhere in between. Bear witness first-hand to the glory and horror of war.

Members Reviews:

Wisdom from the foxhole

These quotes are interesting and in some cases inspired. Great read for people interested in military views of life. So in the words of Dan Dailey do you want to live forever if so then grab a copy.

Five Stars

Loved it

Inspiring

Short and sweet

Military quotes

Not impressed!

Good look up book

Good look up book

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Title: Afghanistan Declassified

Subtitle: A Guide to America's Longest War

Author: Brian Glyn Williams

Narrator: Neil Reeves

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-13-16

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

Nearly 100,000 US soldiers were deployed to Afghanistan at the height of the campaign, fighting the longest war in the nation's history. But what do Americans know about the land where this conflict is taking place? Many have come to have a grasp of the people, history, and geography of Iraq, but Afghanistan remains a mystery.

Originally published by the US Army to provide an overview of the country's terrain, ethnic groups, and history for American troops and now updated and expanded for the general public, Afghanistan Declassified fills in these gaps. Historian Brian Glyn Williams, who has traveled to Afghanistan frequently over the past decade, provides essential background to the war, tracing the rise, fall, and reemergence of the Taliban. Special sections deal with topics such as the CIA's Predator drone campaign in the Pakistani tribal zones, the spread of suicide bombing from Iraq to the Afghan theater of operations, and comparisons between the Soviet and US experiences in Afghanistan.

To Williams, a historian of Central Asia, Afghanistan is not merely a theater in the war on terror. It is a primeval, exciting, and beautiful land; not only a place of danger and turmoil but also one of hospitable villagers and stunning landscapes, of great cultural diversity and richness. Williams brings the country to life through his own travel experiences - from living with Northern Alliance Uzbek warlords to working on a major NATO base.

The book is published by University of Pennsylvania Press.

Members Reviews:

Best of the Best on Afghanistan

If you read only one book on Afghanistan this year, this book is the one to read. Insightful and unbiased, the author has no political agenda except to help the reader understand the Afghan people and the reasons for America's continued involvement in what has become Afghanistan's ongoing civil war. It answers the question "Why?" behind such events as our alliance with Pakistan and our continued support for Karzai's corrupt government. It also makes the significant point that the dynamics of the northern section of the country (consisting of Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, and other minorities) are very different from the southern Pashtun provinces, and it would be a mistake to assume there is a "one size fits all" solution to ending the war. Although the reader is presented with some unpleasant facts, the author is optimistic that a peaceful solution is possible.

An excellent guide and first hand account of how we became ...

An excellent guide and first hand account of how we became intertwined with Afghanistan. Williams presents a brief, but concise history before presenting his own experiences and interviews with those who helped shape a nation almost perpetually invaded by its neighbors.

Extremely detailed and a good history overview of Afghanistan

Extremely detailed and a good history overview of Afghanistan. Unsure of how most of the book is without sources however..

A must have! Buy a copy for each family member!

Fantastic book written from years of experience and travel ; what more could you want.

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Title: Gestapo: The Story Behind Hitler's Machine of Terror

Author: Lucas Saul

Narrator: Dugald Bruce Lockhart

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 39 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-01-16

Publisher: Arcturus Digital Limited

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

The names Klaus Barbie, Adolf Eichmann, Hermann Goering, Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Himmler, and Ernst Kaltenbrunner struck terror into law-abiding citizens, let alone those who resisted Adolf Hitler. These men were leaders of the Gestapo, the secret police during the times of the Nazis. This book outlines who the Gestapo were, how they operated, what their numbers were, the terrible crimes they committed, and how they paid for these in the end when they were hunted down after the war.

Members Reviews:

Some new data, new names. Gory eposes of ...

Some new data ,new names.Gory eposes of the torture though.

Four Stars

Fascinating story of a dark period in history.

Three Stars

Needs more detail

Five Stars

Interesting read

Four Stars

A bit of new information

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Title: Vulcan Test Pilot

Subtitle: My Experiences in the Cockpit of a Cold War Icon

Author: Tony Blackman

Narrator: Roger Davis

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 06-28-16

Publisher: Grub Street Publishing LTD

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

Tony Blackman describes in layman's terms and with statistical back-up what it was like to tame the first prototypes and to master the unusual characteristics necessitated by the Vulcan's shape. Tony puts the developments, demonstrations at Farnborough, incidents, and accidents in their political and historical context, but as his story is a highly personal one, we also get a true sense of the way he felt while he was flying the aircraft. His words and descriptions will make people feel, as he did, the excitement of handling such an incredibly powerful monster, always with the knowledge that he had to be in complete charge at all times, as the monster could and did bite back.

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Title: Assessing War

Subtitle: The Challenge of Measuring Success and Failure

Author: Leo J. Blanken, Hy Rothstein, Jason J. Lepore

Narrator: Neal Vickers

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-09-16

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

Today's protracted asymmetrical conflicts confuse efforts to measure progress, often inviting politics and wishful thinking to replace objective evaluation.

In Assessing War, military historians, social scientists, and military officers explore how observers have analyzed the trajectory of war in American conflicts from the Seven Years' War through the war in Afghanistan. Drawing on decades of acquired expertise, the contributors examine wartime assessment in both theory and practice and, through alternative dimensions of assessment such as justice and proportionality, the war of ideas and economics. This group of distinguished authors grapples with both conventional and irregular wars and emerging aspects of conflict, such as cyberwar and nation building, that add to the complexities of the modern threat environment. The volume ends with recommendations for practitioners on best approaches while offering sobering conclusions about the challenges of assessing war without politicization or self-delusion.

Covering conflicts from the 18th century to today, Assessing War blends focused advice and a uniquely broad set of case studies to ponder vital questions about warfare's past and its future. The book includes a foreword by Gen. George W. Casey Jr. (USA, Ret.), former chief of staff of the US Army and former commander, Multi-National Force - Iraq.

Critic Reviews:

"The enduring value of the work is that it offers qualitative and quantitative means for predicting and assessing wars in the future. Those inside the Beltway who recognize the importance of finding the means to overcome this chronic and historically enduring failure must read it." (Robert H. Scales, MG (Ret.)

Members Reviews:

Critically relevant collection for practitioners and scholars.

Assessing War is one of the, if not the best, collections on measuring outcomes in conflict. This collection of case studies chart how progress, and failure, was determined in a range of historical contexts by those operating within them. This is an important aspect to the book because it avoids presentism. Additionally, the chronological range and widely varying types of conflicts covered in the case studies - a chapter for each - is a particular strength of the book. Readers gain a sense of how tangible and intangible factors contributed to soldiers' and scholars' perception of results and how these were determined by contextual factors, including cultural and political considerations, among others. In one case, readers interested in the Plains Wars, for instance, will find an interesting assessment as to how the US Calvary determined the effects of their 'social disruption strategy.' In a far different type of conflict, readers interested in measurements of effectiveness in the Cyber Domain will get a lot out of Dorothy Denning's excellent essay on the subject. One last comment, the short and succinct structure of the chapters (running approximately 12 to 22 pages each) make it a useful text for classroom discussions. This book helps fill a massive gap in the attempts to make sense of war and why some actions potentially work and why others fail.

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Title: The Castaway's War

Subtitle: One Man's Battle Against Imperial Japan

Author: Stephen Harding

Narrator: Ian Harding

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs

Language: English

Release date: 05-03-16

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

In the early hours of July 5, 1943, the destroyer USS Strong was hit by a Japanese torpedo. The powerful weapon broke the destroyer's back, flooded her engine room, killed dozens of sailors, and sparked raging fires. While accompanying ships were able to rescue most of Strong's surviving crewmen, scores were submerged in the ocean as the shattered warship sank beneath the waves - and a young officer's harrowing story of survival began.

Based on official American and Japanese histories, personal memoirs, and the author's exclusive interviews with key participants, The Castaway's War tells the entirely unique and very personal tale of Navy Lieutenant Hugh Barr Miller's fight for survival against both a hostile environment and an implacable human enemy.

Members Reviews:

Good book bad read.

Mono tone college drone! The story is excellent but could not take another second of the readers voice.

Lots of prelude and epilogue, very little meat

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would only recommend to someone who had little or no knowledge of WWII naval history (so they would not be too bored) and didn't mind that only about 1/4 of the book is actually the "Castaway" experience.

Would you ever listen to anything by Stephen Harding again?

Maybe. I would check the print version at the library or book store first to be sure there actually was a pony in there somewhere.

Did Ian Harding do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Adequate.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

NO! Now I know there are several other published versions of this story, most written soon after the experience. This one is a sad failure to Lt. Miller's legacy.

Any additional comments?

This book and the publisher's summary are very long on sizzle with only a tiny bit of steak. I expected that at least half or more of the book would be the detailed history of the 40+ days as a castaway, with survival efforts as well as the attacks and such he made. Instead, the castaway portion of the story is no more than 1/4 of the book, with very little detail. There is more content about the time after his rescue than anything else. The author writes about numerous tellings of the castaway tale in publications of the time and gives the impression that they were very detailed. I can only surmise that the author was not able to get the rights to use any of this material in his book. There are tons of irrelevant detail about the ship and the various experiences after rescue. The author seems to be trying to find a way to fill up a book, but with only a little of the full detail about Lt. Miller and his amazing and clearly heroic efforts after the sinking of his ship.

Soooo.... bad.

after 3.5 hours of this book I gave up and quit listening. the author drones on and on and on and on..... with pointless facts. I get he's trying to build up a background story on how the main character got to where the tragedy happened, but so much of it was unnecessary. the book is only 7 hours long and there's no need to devote so much time to what is essentially just filler.

Oh, and the narrator is awful too. he talks fast, but with a lifeless monotone voice.

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Title: Summary of The Immortal Irishman by Timothy Egan | Includes Analysis

Author: Instaread

Narrator: Dwight Equitz

Format: Unabridged

Length: 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-27-16

Publisher: Instaread

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

Summary of The Immortal Irishman by Timothy Egan | Includes Analysis

Preview:

Timothy Egan's The Immortal Irishman is a biography of Thomas Meagher: Irish revolutionary, convict, and Civil War general. The book also offers a broad portrait of the experiences of the Irish during the period, both at home and abroad.

Meagher was born in 1823 into a prominent and wealthy Catholic family. This gave him the advantages of education and standing. At the same time, Catholics in Ireland were brutally oppressed, with limits on landholding, political representation, and religion. Meagher was an outspoken opponent of British oppression and British rule and became known for his stirring and fiery oratory.

Meagher became even more radicalized by the Irish potato famine that began in 1845. The famine was caused by a potato blight that destroyed half or more of the crops in Ireland for a number of years. The famine was exacerbated by British refusal to provide aid to the Irish....

Please note: This is key takeaways and analysis of the book and not the original book.

In this Instaread summary of The Immortal Irishman:

Members Reviews:

Biography of a little known figure

Thomas Meagher was an Irish revolutionary, convict, and U.S. Civil War general. A member of the Young Irishmen, rebelling against harsh English rule of Ireland, he was convicted and sent as a political prisoner to Tasmania. He fled Australia for the United States in 1852, where his political views made him popular in the New York Irish community. Despite being sympathetic with slavery, and fearful that free blacks would compete with the Irish laborers for jobs (a common view in the Irish-American community of the time), when the Confederacy fired on Fort Sumter, he joined the Union army. A brigadier general in command of the 69th (Irish Brigade), he fought at the frits Battle of Bull Run, and was injured later in the war and lost his commission. President Lincoln appointed him governor of Montana Territory, a lawless area, where he ran afoul of the Republican establishment because of his sympathy for local Democrats, and was killed in a mysterious boating accidentâwhich might, according to author Timothy Egan, have been a case of political murder. A reporter, Egan writes in a dramatic style, often without regard to traditionally accepted historical interpretationsâthe focus on the book is entirely on Meagher.

Summary of The Immortal Irishman by Timothy Egan by Instaread is a comprehensive analysis of Eganâs biography of Meagher, with its key points, main characters, and a discussion of the authorâs style and background. This Instaread book is a great resource that will enable busy readers to get an understanding of the worth of a book before making the decision to buy it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

A NICELY DONE OVERVIEW OF THE IRISH REBELLIONS

This is an overview of the actual book âThe Immortal Irishman.â Kind of like an abbreviated Cliff's Notes for the full book. It provides a potential reader enough information regarding this non-fiction bookâs content to determine if we want to invest the extra money and time to actually buy and read the entire book. This historical account is of an infamous Irish rebel at the beginning of the 19th Century. While it at times reads like fiction, the main characters and story is historically accurate.

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Title: Into the Black

Author: Rowland White

Narrator: Eric Meyers

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-10-16

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

On 12th April 1981 a revolutionary new spacecraft blasted off from Florida on her maiden flight. NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia was the most advanced flying machine ever built - the high watermark of post-war aviation development. A direct descendant of the record-breaking X-planes the likes of which Chuck Yeager had tested in the skies over the Mojave Desert, Columbia was a winged rocket plane, the size of an airliner, capable of flying to space and back before being made ready to fly again. She was the world's first real spaceship.

The Shuttle's Commander, moonwalker John Young, was already a veteran of five spaceflights. Alongside him, Pilot Bob Crippen was making his first, but Crip, taken in by the space agency after the cancellation of a top secret military space station programme in 1969, had worked on the Shuttle's development for a decade. Never before had a crew been so well prepared for their mission.

Yet less than an hour after Young and Crippen's spectacular departure from the Cape it was clear that all was not well. Tiles designed to protect Columbia from the blowtorch burn of re-entry were missing from the heatshield. If the damage to their ship was too great the astronauts would be unable to return safely to earth. But neither they nor mission control possessed any way of knowing.

Instead, NASA turned to the National Reconnaissance Office, a spy agency hidden deep inside the Pentagon whose very existence was classified.

Into the Black is a thrilling race against time; a gripping high stakes cold-war story, and a celebration of a beyond the state-of-the-art machine that, hailed as one of the seven new wonders of the world, rekindled our passion for spaceflight.

With a foreword by Astronaut Richard Truly.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

Critic Reviews:

"Beautifully researched and written, Into the Black tells the true, complete story of the Space Shuttle better than it's ever been told before." (Colonel Chris Hadfield, former Astronaut and Space Station Commander)

"Brilliantly revealed, Into the Black is the finely tuned true story of the first flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia. Rowland White has magnificently laid bare the unknown dangers and unseen hazards of that first mission.... Once read, not forgotten." (Clive Cussler)

Members Reviews:

A Terrific, Entertaining Listen

Any additional comments?

This is a really great audiobook. I've listened and read a ton of books and audiobooks on the space programme, though mainly the early years and Apollo. I was a little hesitant about this one as post-Apollo never seemed to excite me. But the narrative here was brilliant. It provided tons of detail and context that I've never heard before, and delivered it in a way that was highly entertaining. Given the length I was also cautious for a subject I did't think could sustain it - but I was wrong. Again, the narrative was excellent and captivating, and I was entirely absorbed in the story. And the narrator was also very good. I got a little concerned for a very brief moment early in the book when he changed his "voice" while quoting Curtis Lemay - but it was one very short instance (30 seconds), not repeated - so I'm glad I ignored it.