Discover the New Releases Audiobooks in History, Military

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Title: Forgotten Voices of the Blitz and the Battle for Britain

Subtitle: Dunkirk and the Threat of Invasion

Author: Joshua Levine, The Imperial War Museum

Narrator: Simon MacCorkindale

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-12-06

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 13 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

On the day that Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as prime minister, Germany invaded Holland and Belgium. Despite all the efforts of the Allied armies, Hitler's powerful Panzer divisions smashed their way through to the French coast. For the retreating British Expeditionary Force, Dunkirk was the only practical point of departure, and on May 26, the order for total evacuation, Operation Dynamo, was given. Over succeeding days, the "miracle" of Dunkirk took place, and almost 400,000 troops were rescued from the beaches. Meanwhile, in Britain, belated preparations were going on for the expected invasion: the Battle for Britain had begun.

© Joshua Levine and the Imperial War Museum; (P) Random House

Members Reviews:

Honored voices from the past

Excellent book for those interested in the everyman's experience in the Battle of Britain. Highly recommended.

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Title: World War II

Subtitle: Part 2

Author: Joseph Stromberg

Narrator: George C. Scott

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 33 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-26-06

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 25 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

In the Pacific, Japan's ambitions would bring her into conflict with America. Both nations laid claim to the markets of Asia; in particular, to the fabled markets of China. Both were willing to use force to obtain them.

In Germany, Hitler established a Third Reich, to last a thousand years. In Italy, Mussolini declared a new Roman Empire to reinstate the glory that had been Rome. In Japan, Emperor Hirohito presided over the Empire of the Rising Sun. Against these forces stood Britain, France, and the Netherlands, countries that wanted the map of the world to remain unchanged. The result was war. On the sidelines, America would watch and wait as the outlines of the war unfolded. On December 7, 1941, a day that will live in infamy, Japanese planes bombed the American naval installation at Pearl Harbor. The United States was now at war with Japan in the Pacific. The United States was also at war with the Axis powers in Europe. The Pacific and European War became formally linked. In 1941, prospects for the Allied powers were not bright.

Then, Hitler made a fatal blunder: his German army invaded Russia. In Italy, Mussolini lost control of the people. In the Pacific, the Japanese war machine was on the defensive. As the war tilted in favor of the Allies, the three major Allied powers, America, Britain, and Soviet Russia, met at three major conferences during 1943-1945. At these meetings they would divide up the postwar world.

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Title: World War II

Subtitle: Part 1

Author: Joseph Stromberg

Narrator: George C. Scott

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-26-06

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 29 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

In the Pacific, Japan's ambitions would bring her into conflict with America. Both nations laid claim to the markets of Asia; in particular, to the fabled markets of China. Both were willing to use force to obtain them.

In Germany, Hitler established a Third Reich, to last a thousand years. In Italy, Mussolini declared a new Roman Empire to reinstate the glory that had been Rome. In Japan, Emperor Hirohito presided over the Empire of the Rising Sun. Against these forces stood Britain, France, and the Netherlands, countries that wanted the map of the world to remain unchanged. The result was war. On the sidelines, America would watch and wait as the outlines of the war unfolded. On December 7, 1941, a day that will live in infamy, Japanese planes bombed the American naval installation at Pearl Harbor. The United States was now at war with Japan in the Pacific. The United States was also at war with the Axis powers in Europe. The Pacific and European War became formally linked. In 1941, prospects for the Allied powers were not bright.

Then, Hitler made a fatal blunder: his German army invaded Russia. In Italy, Mussolini lost control of the people. In the Pacific, the Japanese war machine was on the defensive. As the war tilted in favor of the Allies, the three major Allied powers, America, Britain, and Soviet Russia, met at three major conferences during 1943-1945. At these meetings they would divide up the postwar world.

Members Reviews:

too many fake voices

The narrator, not so bad, goes on for a little while but too often for a declaration, a statement, whatever here it comes another voice supposedly imitating the leader or politician nationality and those are very bad, miserable I would say

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Title: The Age of Napoleon [Modern Library Chronicles]

Author: Alistair Horne

Narrator: Paul Hecht

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-15-05

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 30 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

Alistair Horne is a leading scholar of French history. Here he trains his sights on one of the most compelling figures of the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte. Far from a mere dictator, Napoleon was a military, political and social visionary whose legacy can still be felt in France and all over the world. Horne examines the one-time emperor at his most human, from his greatest triumphs to his disastrous failures.

©2002 Alistair Horne; (P)Recorded Books, LLC

Members Reviews:

Napoleon Scholars Only

If you are already an expert on Napoleon or are a grad student in European history this may be the book for you. For the 'average' history buff interested in learning about Napoleon and this period of French history this is a waste of time and money.

Short on context

I found this to be a rambling series of impressions of life in Napoleon's France, but with only minimal explanation of the events in France and outside of it. So, there won't be much value for those not already familiar with the period.

A solid title.

What made the experience of listening to The Age of Napoleon [Modern Library Chronicles] the most enjoyable?

Alisha Horne is truly a master of his craft. He has a wealth of knowledge and is adept at communicating his central tenet without being tedious.

What did you like best about this story?

Essentially I enjoy the approach the author takes to covering topics. There is no sensationalism which I find tedious.

Have you listened to any of Paul Hechts other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

An exploration of the social and political context of the French revolutionary wars/napolionic wars. It would be a documentary.

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Title: Conduct Under Fire

Subtitle: Four American Doctors and Their Fight for Life as Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-45

Author: John A. Glusman

Narrator: Harry Chase

Format: Abridged

Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-06-05

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 16 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

In Conduct Under Fire, John A. Glusman chronicles these events through the eyes of his father, Murray, and three fellow navy doctors captured on Corregidor in May 1942. Here are the dramatic stories of the fall of Bataan, the siege of "the Rock", and the daily struggles to tend the sick, wounded, and dying during some of the heaviest bombardments of World War II. Here also is the desperate war doctors and corpsmen waged against disease and starvation amid an enemy that viewed surrender as a disgrace. To survive, the POWs functioned as a family. But the ties that bind couldn't protect them from a ruthless counteroffensive waged by American submarines or from the B-29 raids that burned Japan's major cities to the ground. Based on extensive interviews with American, British, Australian, and Japanese veterans, as well as diaries, letters, and war crimes testimony, this is a harrowing account of a brutal clash of cultures, of a race war that escalated into total war.

Conduct Under Fire is a gripping chronicle of courage in captivity, of sacrifice and survival, and a son's moving tribute to his father.

Critic Reviews:

"Glusman has written a compelling account of courage and sacrifice....Over a third of American POWs held by the Japanese died in captivity. With grace and clarity, Glusman gives a keen sense of loss to that statistic, and a heroic dignity to those who survived - a major achievement indeed." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

A must-read/hear

It took me twice to listen and even went to Corregidor, Philippines to really appreciate this historical narrative. My dad was also part of the death march and luckily he escaped and survived to write his experience during his escape.. then surrender to get treatment for malaria. Mr. John Glusman ( I hope to meet him sometime) is an eloguent and erudite writer and his research and knowlege of the war in the Pacific is a lasting artifact of history worth retelling. Sad that the younger generations take the lessons of history too lightly but we are so lucky to live our lives today.

Outstanding chronicle

The author does an excellent job of describing the role and life of the military physician in war and captivity, including their need to provide leadership and demonstrate ingenuity.

I wanted more

I was reading this via Audiobook, and I picked up an abridged version, so perhaps, some of my concerns would be addressed in the abridged edition. It wasn't until the very end that I saw what the book was actually about. The title speaks of 4 doctors, yet I felt them disappear often in to the larger narratives of the war, the POW at large, and really missed them. I wanted to know and understand these men, and felt like I had so few glimpses of them. This book seems really to have been written by a son of one of the doctors to make sense of it all. In the end, he speaks of the role of teacher changing hands. That is the father is the teacher of his own narrative and the son is the teacher of the broader context. I'm always challenged by these stories, because I do understand the Japanese cultural context for the brutality, yet, Japan was a signatory of the 1929 Geneva Convention. I do appreciate that the author let the brutality and the kindnesses come through on their own. It's an interesting book.

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Title: Civilization and Its Enemies

Subtitle: The Next Stage of History

Author: Lee Harris

Narrator: Barrett Whitener

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-06-05

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 49 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

Harris's brilliant tour through the stages of civilization, from Sparta to the French Revolution to the present, demonstrates that civilization depends upon brute force, properly wielded by a sovereign. Today, only America can play the role of sovereign on the world stage, by the use of force when necessary.

Lee Harris's articles have been hailed by thinkers from across the spectrum. His message is an enduring one that will change the way readers think about the war with Iraq, about terrorism, and about our future.

Members Reviews:

The world as it is; Not as we imagine it to be

This is a very bold and thought provoking book that addresses 9/11 and the future we face. Harris has a hard message for a country possibly gone soft; a message that many modern, progressive Americans will not want to hear.

- Civilized societies like the US 'forget' the hardship, sacrifice and luck that resulted in their stability and prosperity.

- The role of 'fantasy ideologies' has been underestimated, but those ideologies have resulted in the most death and destruction in our time, e.g. Nazism, Marxism, Fascism, Radical Islam, etc.

- Fantasy ideologies judge society to be flawed or defective, and advocate that it can and should be changed. (We hear plenty of this kind of talk in modern America).

- Civilized societies are at disadvantage against 'gangs' of men, who nurse a fantasy ideology, AND who are willing to be ruthless in their pursuit of the ideology. Gang + Fantasy Ideology + Ruthlessness = Threat to Civilization = the Enemy.

- How can a civilized society protect itself from this threat? Read the book and see what you think.

After a century of failed ideologies and societal dead ends (with their gulags, concentration camps, and killing fields) we are actually poised for the next stage of history: the possibility of a utopian society that the world has never been seen. The USA, equipped with its unique heritage and "team" focus which absorbs internal conflict, can/must lead the world through this process. To fail to do so is to turn our future over to those who will believe the world needs to be changed, and who will do anything to make it happen. This would be the price of forgetfulness. There is much else of value in this book, and it can serve as a stimulus for discussion as we look at our past, and as we construct the future we leave to our children.

The narrator is the best I"ve ever heard on an audio book, intuitively emphasizing Harris message with tone and inflection. An impressive production.

Thick and slow but worth it

This is one of only a few books I would recommend reading in print rather than via Audible. While the first and final thirds of the book were lively and provocative, the middle third got so complex and plodding that I had to rewind continuously to "catch up" with some subtle point the author was making.

This piece is not for the faint of heart, which is too bad since that is exactly who needs to read it.

Interestingly, I would recommend it as a management study, as much as a philosophical tome. The sociological lectures in this piece were as illuminating of workplace truisms as they were of geopolitics. I ended the piece with a definite sense that I had learned some things about human nature I had not known before.

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Title: All Brave Sailors

Subtitle: The Sinking of the Anglo Saxon, 1940

Author: J. Revell Carr

Narrator: George Wilson

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-25-05

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 27 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

As it neared its prey, the German raider dropped its disguise, unmasked its hidden armament and destroyed the target ship with an overwhelming force. Only seven of the 41 man crew of Anglo Saxon managed to escape in a small boat. Seventy days later two of them stumbled ashore in the Bahamas, half dead.

This riveting account of the sailors' ordeal reveals how first the badly wounded and then the less strong died and were thrown over the side of a fragile boat carrying meager supplies.

As the two survivors reached the Bahamas, the Widder arrived in occupied France, her murderous voyage over. Her captain, Hellmuth von Ruckteschell, who had sunk 25 ships, was eventually tried as a war criminal.

All Brave Sailors, a story of heroism, brutality, and survival, tells the story of merchant marine ships fighting against great odds in the early days of the war.

Critic Reviews:

"Carr paints a vivid portrait of the Allied merchant navies at war and a good character profile of the ruthless, enigmatic, and skilled von "Ruckteschell." (Booklist)

"Carr...is unquestionably the expert this story needs. Clearly interested in the subject for some years and intending his book to be a tribute to the undersung and heroic sailors of the merchant marine, Carr wrings every fascinating last drop out of this powerful material." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Loved the book

Bought for husband, he says it was great.

All Brave Sailors

Amazingly well documented. The notes and photos make for a truly great read.A pleasure to read a history written by a serious scholar who has first hand knowledge of his subject. A riviting work of research.Thanks for the history lesson!!

Five Stars

Very Interesting

Great book

This is a great book and it covers the same material published much earlier in the book Two Survived by Guy Pearce Jones. I recommend both of these books highly.

GREAT STORY..TERRIBLE PRESENTATION

The saga is well told, highly descriptive narative of a most unusual set of real life circumstances. (5 stars for this portion of purchase) The problem came about one-third through the text when the book spine split more than half way down the binding. This condition worsened as I read on, with total separation before I finished. Given it is a paperback, its life should be longer than the first reading.(1 star for this portion).

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Title: Lusitania

Subtitle: An Epic Tragedy

Author: Diana Preston

Narrator: Anne Twomey

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-03-02

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 56 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

In her riveting account of this enormous tragedy - which caused controversies that continue to this day - Diana Preston recalls both a pivotal moment in history and a remarkable human drama. With a historian's insight and a novelist's gift for characterization and detail, Preston re-creates the Lusitania's voyage through the eyes of those who experienced it. Passengers included the rich and the powerful and the rest of the human comedy: newlyweds and nursemaids, galley cooks and stokers, Quakers and cardsharks, ship's detectives and German stowaways. Drawing on a vast array of sources including letters and memoirs, Cunard and Admiralty archives, and previously untranslated German documents, Preston weaves their lives into her own dramatic narrative, giving this story a powerful immediacy.

Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy is also available in print from Walker & Company.

Listen to

Critic Reviews:

"A captivating and conscientious narrative...a brilliant account." (Booklist, starred review)

"Few popular historians can marshal facts and place them within their times as vividly as [Preston]." (Chicago Sun-Times)

Members Reviews:

An excellent 'read'

This is a facinating book, filled with the drama of a war time tragedy, filled with human suffering and also of tragic errors that resulted in the loss of so many.

Narrated in a voice, tone and style that is not only easy to listen to - and that places further emphasis on the tragedy that unfolds, this is a must read, even for those otherwise not interested in historical events.

John Jacob Astor

Highy inflated reviews. This is the Ann Landers version of the sinking. The author provides no analysis of information but instead dwells on the personal adpects of individuals involved in this tragic event. Certainly the horror of this early terrorist act is captured but there is no overarching theme to the book other than the human tragedy.

Lots of research resulted in an excellent book

Diana preston did an excellent job of capturing the fate of the Lusitania. I was not well informed of the disaster before listening to the book, but found myself fully engaged by the story line. Anne Twomey did a stellar job of narrating the book.

interesting

An interesting mix of historical info and drama. Worth the money

Compelling account

Not as long as other accounts but good summary of the events surrounding the sinking of the Lusitania. I do wish audiobooks would learn NOT to play loud background music over the narrator's voice.

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Title: Colin Powell

Subtitle: An American Hero Speaks Out

Author: Colin Powell

Format: Original Recording

Length: 1 hr and 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-17-99

Publisher: Phoenix Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 18 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

The son of Jamaican immigrants, a mischievous child, and an average student, Colin Powell has become one of the most influential Americans. In this dramatic series of interviews, General Powell describes his ascent from the ROTC to four-star general and eventually to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and mastermind of Desert Storm. He discusses his assignments in Germany, Korea, and Vietnam, his role in the Carter, Reagan, and Bush administrations, and his eyewitness accounts of Desert Storm, the invasion of Panama, and the Iran-Contra scandal.

These interviews reveal the essence of an emerging statesman and demonstrate why so many people have seen Colin Powell as a moral and human exemplar of the American dream and traditional values.

Members Reviews:

Dynamic

Met him in Hawaii at a speakers forum, what inspiration and guidance a real gentleman.

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Title: Life of Napoleon

Author: Major Arthur Griffiths

Narrator: Bill Kelsey

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-16-99

Publisher: Books on Tape

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 33 votes

Genres: History, Military

Publisher's Summary:

Many thought that Napoleon was the greatest military genius since Alexander the Great. The diminutive general, a conquering hero, helped steer the French through revolution and reign of terror, then parlayed his military victories into an emperor's crown. Griffiths, a noted historian and a major in the British army, gives a no-nonsense account of one of history's most enigmatic figures.

(P) Books on Tape, Inc.

Members Reviews:

Tedious and confusing

Somehow listened to the whole thing and barely know the history of Napoleon. Incredibly dry, both in narration and in writing.

The author skips major events, for some reason assuming we're already fully familiar with them. For example, the sack of Venice - an act that ended an empire over a thousand years old - rates all of about two sentences.

The author also has a strong bias towards England, repeatedly making partisan statements inappropriate for a "noted historian".

I'm guessing this was written quite some time ago, though there's no way to to know based on the description provided.

impossible to understand

The narrator is the ultimate British mumbler and the recording is virtually impossible to understand. If you can understand this, you have much better ears than I.

Enjoyed This

Not too bad. Includes a nice outline of the first campaign in Italy. Helps if you're familiar with the geography. Otherwise, have a map handy. The rest of the book is a general treatment of Napoleonic era. Don't look for much detail in the final period 1812-1815.

I'm a fan of the reader, Bill Kelsey, and did not have trouble understanding him at all. Enjoyed it.