Download the Popular Authors Audiobooks in History, 20th Century

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Title: The Soul of a New Machine

Author: Tracy Kidder

Narrator: Ben Sullivan

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-17-16

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 138 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

Computers have changed since 1981, when Tracy Kidder memorably recorded the drama, comedy, and excitement of one company's efforts to bring a new microcomputer to market. What has not changed is the feverish pace of the high-tech industry, the go-for-broke approach to business that has caused so many computer companies to win big (or go belly up), and the cult of pursuing mind-bending technological innovations. The Soul of a New Machine is an essential chapter in the history of the machine that revolutionized the world in the 20th century.

Members Reviews:

Reading this book changed my life

I read this book shortly after it was published, and have re-read it every few years since. In fact, it was the first Kindle book I purchased. So I was really excited to get it as an audiobook. Unfortunately, I was a little bit disappointed.

Let's start with the story itself: It is definitely a bit of a hagiography to the 32-bit Eclipse team at Data General. While the author tries to tell the story in an unbiased way, nowhere in the book is it mentioned that Tracy Kidder was college roommate's with Tom West, which is how he came to be writing that story. Still, all of that being said, Mr. Kidder does an excellent job of explaining the technical issues clearly to an educated layman. As a long time professional software developer myself, I must credit him for (for example) his terrific explanation of double-page faults. He definitely took the time to get the technical details simplified but correct. So from the point of view of content, the book is a good read, whether in dead tree form, Kindle ebook, or audiobook.

However, the audiobook performance leaves some things to be desired. For example, the reader has clearly never heard certain words pronounced correctly, and rather than looking them up, guessed, and guessed wrong. Two in particular are "adjutant" and "wan." When a reader mispronounces a word, it yanks me out of the flow, hard. So a note to readers: If you are doing either a technical non-fiction book, or a science-fiction/fantasy book, grab a dictionary, and look up any word you don't personally know and use on a daily basis. These kinds of books tend to use a lot more uncommon English words, and the listeners tend to know those words and use them, themselves. So hearing the reader get it wrong really spoils the listen.

Second, the reader really didn't do any voice characterisations. I know that it's harder when these are real people, not characters. But many of the people have their voices described well enough that a good reader could get close enough to how they should sound. Instead, the reader just read it. And barring the vocabulary problems mentioned above, he did an okay job. But okay isn't what I've come to expect from audiobooks here. I've heard a number of books where, after listening, I thought, "This is what those characters sound like." This read could almost have been done by a decent TTS system. So paying good money for a mediocre reading smarts.

Any road, if you are old enough to remember the mini-computer and personal computer revolutions, this book will be quite nostalgic. And if you are too young to remember, you might find this an interesting insight into the industry.

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Title: Into the Black

Subtitle: The Extraordinary Untold Story of the First Flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia and the Astronauts Who Flew Her

Author: Rowland White, Richard Truly

Narrator: Eric Meyers

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-19-16

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 292 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

The real-life techno-thriller from a best-selling author and aviation expert that recaptures the historic moments leading up to the launch of the space shuttle Columbia and the exciting story of her daring maiden flight.

Using interviews, NASA oral histories, and recently declassified material, Into the Black pieces together the dramatic untold story of the Columbia mission and the brave people who dedicated themselves to help the United States succeed in the age of space exploration. On April 12, 1981, NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral. It was the most advanced, state-of-the-art flying machine ever built, challenging the minds and imagination of America's top engineers and pilots. Columbia was the world's first real spaceship: a winged rocket plane, the size of an airliner and capable of flying to space and back before preparing to fly again.

Onboard were moonwalker John Young and test pilot Bob Crippen. Less than an hour after Young and Crippen's spectacular departure from the Cape, all was not well. Tiles designed to protect the ship from the blowtorch burn of reentry were missing from the heat shield. If the damage to Columbia was too great, the astronauts wouldn't be able to return safely to Earth. NASA turned to the National Reconnaissance Office, a spy agency hidden deep inside the Pentagon whose very existence was classified. To help the ship, the NRO would attempt something never done before. Success would require skill, perfect timing, and luck.

Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, Into the Black is a thrilling race against time and the incredible true story of the first space shuttle mission that celebrates our passion for spaceflight.

Members Reviews:

Great Story About a Flawed Spacecraft

This book was really very good. It's largely a biography of John Young and Bob Crippen, the first two space shuttle astronauts, and the team that was involved in getting the program off the ground. The book also covers Joe Engel, Richard Truly and other astronauts involved in the early shuttle missions.

I found the background on Crippen's tenure with the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory, a planned observation platform for military intelligence, absolutely fascinating. The program was canceled, but was quite ambitious. I knew almost nothing about this program, even though I grew up in the 1960s and am a bit of a space flight junkie.

The back story about getting USAF support for the shuttle program was also fascinating. The USAF had a love-hate relationship (perhaps a little more hate!) with the shuttle.

The author is an unabashed fan of the shuttle, although he covers the story warts and all. I'm not. Although it was certainly impressive to put something as big as the shuttle into space, it never got out of low earth orbit. Building it with solid fuel boosters was just a mistake--one we learn that gave John Young much trepidation.

Of course, the heat shield made of ceramic tiles was a problem for the spacecraft from the first flight to the last. I had forgotten that there were tiles knocked off on the first flight.

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Title: Breaking the Chains of Gravity

Subtitle: The Story of Spaceflight Before NASA

Author: Amy Shira Teitel

Narrator: Laurence Bouvard

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-22-15

Publisher: Audible Studios for Bloomsbury

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 338 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

NASA's history is a familiar story, culminating with the agency successfully landing men on the moon in 1969. But NASA's prehistory is a rarely told tale, one that is largely absent from the popular space-age literature but that gives the context behind the incredible lunar program. America's space agency wasn't created in a vacuum; it was assembled from preexisting parts, drawing together some of the best minds the non-Soviet world had to offer. With a central narrative woven from the stories of key historical figures, Breaking the Chains of Gravity tells the story of NASA's roots in an engaging and accessible way.

The book begins with Wernher von Braun, the engineer behind the V-2 rocket, who dreamt of sending rockets into space. He orchestrated a daring escape from the ruins of Nazi Germany and was taken to America, where he began developing missiles for the United States Army. Ten years later his Redstone rocket was the only one capable of launching a payload into orbit. Just what payload von Braun's rockets would launch was under consideration at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. While working out how to get a nuclear warhead through the atmosphere, NACA pioneered a round-bottomed capsule that could also keep men safe when returning from space. Meanwhile, US Air Force pilots rode to the fringes of space in balloons to see how humans handled radiation at high altitude, while NACA test pilots like Neil Armstrong flew cutting-edge aircraft in the thin upper atmosphere.

Breaking the Chains of Gravity looks at the evolution of America's nascent space program, its scientific advances, its personalities, and the rivalries it caused between the various arms of the United States military, right up to the launch of Sputnik in 1957. At this point getting a man in space became a national imperative, leading to the creation by Dwight D. Eisenhower of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Members Reviews:

An enthralling and concise look at the birth of the space race!

Quite an amazing and thorough telling of the historical stumbles, strides and political gambles taken toward the goal of being the first to conquer air and space!

It is fascinating to learn in more detail about the beginnings of modern rocketry and how it's brain trust defected to the United States out of Nazi oppressed Germany.

I was particularly tickled to see such attention given to Edwards Air Force Base and the X-15! My grandfather worked on camera systems for the X-15 project and worked for the NACA when it transformed into NASA. He was even bestowed an inconel plaque for his service.

This was a truly wonderful book and I eagerly await more from the deep knowledge and exacting research of its author.

Thank you!

-Jonathan Redman

Great Historical Book, Performance Weak

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely. I bought the book (paperback) for my father, and he's loved it. I would absolutely recommend the book, audio or hardcopy, to those who might be at all interested in the subject matter.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Words were mispronounced, the enthusiasm and word stressing was all over the place.

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Title: The Run of His Life

Subtitle: The People v. O.J. Simpson

Author: Jeffrey Toobin

Narrator: Stephen Bel Davies

Format: Unabridged

Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-29-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 1538 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

This New York Times best seller was the inspiration for the first season of American Crime Story on FX, starring Cuba Gooding, Jr.; John Travolta; David Schwimmer; and Connie Britton.

The definitive account of the O. J. Simpson trial, The Run of His Life is a prodigious feat of reporting that could have been written only by the foremost legal journalist of our time. First published less than a year after the infamous verdict, Jeffrey Toobin's nonfiction masterpiece tells the whole story, from the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman to the ruthless gamesmanship behind the scenes of "the trial of the century". Rich in character, as propulsive as a legal thriller, this enduring narrative continues to shock and fascinate with its candid depiction of the human drama that upended American life.

Please note: This audiobook is a recording of the original 1996 edition of The Run of His Life. It does not include an Afterword added to the 2013 reissued edition.

Critic Reviews:

"This is the book to read." (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

"This book stands out as a gripping and colorful account of the crime and trial that captured the world's attention." (Boston Sunday Globe)

"A real page-turner.... Strips away the months of circuslike televised proceedings and the sordid tell-all books and lays out a simple, but devastating, synopsis of the case." (Entertainment Weekly)

Members Reviews:

I wanted more after the 2016 mini-series...

STORY (historical) - I didn't watch the live coverage of OJ trial back in 1994, so I really had no personal opinion about his controversial not guilty verdict. I did, however, watch the 2016 mini-series, so now I get what all the fuss was about. OMG, he was so incredibly guilty!! But at the conclusion of the series, I still had lingering questions about different things, so I started this book to hopefully fill in some cracks. I am very glad I did. This book contains tons more detail about the evidence, the trial and all the players. The author obviously believes OJ was guilty, but his investigation is thorough and he presents both sides of the case from the beginning of the investigation until slightly after the trial. Great book.

PERFORMANCE - The narrator does a good job, but I'm not in love with his voice.

OVERALL - There is detailed analysis of the gruesome crime scene and the victims' injuries. There is a small amount of cursing and, of course, discussion about Mark Fuhrman and his use of the racist N-word. Even if you find these things offensive, I would still highly recommend this book for anyone interested in more info on the OJ trial. It's fascinating.

Fear and Loathing in Los Angeles

I saw Jeffrey Toobin, the author of "The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson" (1996) asleep on CNN a couple of weeks ago. The demands of commenting on FX's "American Crime Story" (2016) mini-series based on this book and his ongoing analysis of the death of Antonin Scalia and President Obama's (so far) unproductive nomination of Merrick Garland to the US Supreme Court must have overwhelmed him.

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Title: The Conquering Tide

Subtitle: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944

Author: Ian W. Toll

Narrator: P. J. Ochlan

Format: Unabridged

Length: 27 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-21-15

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 820 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

The devastation of Pearl Harbor and the American victory at Midway were prelude to a greater challenge: rolling back the vast Japanese Pacific empire island by island.

This masterful history encompasses the heart of the Pacific War - the period between mid-1942 and mid-1944 - when parallel Allied counteroffensives north and south of the equator washed over Japan's far-flung island empire like a "conquering tide", concluding with Japan's irreversible strategic defeat in the Marianas. It was the largest, bloodiest, most costly, most technically innovative and logistically complicated amphibious war in history, and it fostered bitter interservice rivalries, leaving wounds that even victory could not heal.

Often overlooked, these are the years and fights that decided the Pacific War. Ian W. Toll's battle scenes - in the air, at sea, and in the jungles - are simply riveting. He also takes the listener into the wartime councils in Washington and Tokyo, where politics and strategy often collided, and into the struggle to mobilize wartime production, which was the secret of Allied victory. Brilliantly researched, the narrative is propelled and colored by firsthand accounts - letters, diaries, debriefings, and memoirs - that are the raw material of the telling details, shrewd judgment, and penetrating insight of this magisterial history.

Members Reviews:

Well Researched and Perfectly Detailed History!

General - This is the first Ian W. Toll book Ive listened to, but I will definitely listen to his others. I decided to skip over Pacific Crucible for this book simply because the content of the audio sample was more intriguing to me. Upon its completion I was so impressed with the writing that Im listening to Pacific Crucible. Though a minor detail I do want to mention that the chapters on the device actually match the narration all the way through with only a minor glitch at one spot that corrected itself.

Content - The Conquering Tide has a wealth of information and Toll somehow managed to tie it all together in a cohesive manner. This made the listening very easy. I already knew a tremendous amount about WW II, but I was astonished by some of the information I learned from this book. While the book failed to evoke much emotion it nonetheless captivated me and, at times, it held my interest to a point where I didnt want to stop listening until I heard the outcome of the story being told. This was despite my already knowing what the outcome would be. Knowing the outcome of a battle or event is not necessarily the same as knowing how the outcome was decided through action and I would find myself not wanting to stop listening until the particular story was concluded. I found Tolls ability in this regard very impressive. Toll provided thorough biographies of the major players and even some minor ones. He gave very good histories within the history in order to lay out settings, or locations, or cities including civilian life and how it interacted with the history. Toll managed to weave incongruent foundational information together to explain the overall history of the islands campaign and the naval; sea, air, and land battles that occurred.

Length I didnt find the book too long. Actually, I was impressed by the amount of information provided in a mere 27-hours. I finished the book in 9-days, which is one of my fastest listens.

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Title: Black Earth

Subtitle: The Holocaust as History and Warning

Author: Timothy Snyder

Narrator: Mark Bramhall

Format: Unabridged

Length: 16 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-08-15

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 255 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

In this epic history of extermination and survival, Timothy Snyder presents a new explanation of the great atrocity of the 20th century and reveals the risks that we face in the 21st. Based on new sources from Eastern Europe and forgotten testimonies from Jewish survivors, Black Earth recounts the mass murder of the Jews as an event that is still close to us, more comprehensible than we would like to think and thus all the more terrifying.

The Holocaust began in a dark but accessible place, in Hitler's mind, with the thought that the elimination of Jews would restore balance to the planet and allow Germans to win the resources they desperately needed. Such a worldview could be realized only if Germany destroyed other states, so Hitler's aim was a colonial war in Europe itself. In the zones of statelessness, almost all Jews died. A few people, the righteous few, aided them, without support from institutions. Much of the new research in this book is devoted to understanding these extraordinary individuals. The almost insurmountable difficulties they faced only confirm the dangers of state destruction and ecological panic. These men and women should be emulated, but in similar circumstances few of us would do so.

By overlooking the lessons of the Holocaust, Snyder concludes, we have misunderstood modernity and endangered the future. The early 21st century is coming to resemble the early twentieth, as growing preoccupations with food and water accompany ideological challenges to global order. Our world is closer to Hitler's than we like to admit, and saving it requires us to see the Holocaust as it was - and ourselves as we are. Groundbreaking, authoritative, and utterly absorbing, Black Earth reveals a Holocaust that is not only history but warning.

Critic Reviews:

"Timothy Snyder is now our most distinguished historian of evil. Black Earth casts new light on old darkness. It demonstrates once and for all that the destruction of the Jews was premised on the destruction of states and the institutions of politics. I know of no other historical work on the Holocaust that is so deeply alarmed by its repercussions for the human future. This is a haunted and haunting book - erudite, provocative, and unforgettable." (Leon Wieseltier)

"In this unusual and innovative book, Timothy Snyder takes a fresh look at the intellectual origins of the Holocaust, placing Hitler's genocide firmly in the politics and diplomacy of 1930s Europe. Black Earth is required reading for anyone who cares about this difficult period of history." (Anne Applebaum)

"Timothy Snyder's bold new approach to the Holocaust links Hitler's racial worldview to the destruction of states and the quest for land and food. This insight leads to thought-provoking and disturbing conclusions for today's world. Black Earth uses the recent past's terrible inhumanity to underline an urgent need to rethink our own future." (Ian Kershaw)

Members Reviews:

Tough book but worth it!

What did you like best about this story?

completely new perspective

What about Mark Bramhalls performance did you like?

good pacing

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Wow. Justwow. I completely misunderstood what this book was going to be about. I first heard the author as a participant in a discussion of some of the current ISIL/Syria/Iraq issues on the radio.

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Title: Midnight's Furies

Subtitle: The Deadly Legacy of India's Partition

Author: Nisid Hajari

Narrator: Sunil Malhotra

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-25-15

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 109 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

Nobody expected the liberation of India and birth of Pakistan to be so bloody - it was supposed to be an answer to the dreams of Muslims and Hindus who had been ruled by the British for centuries. Jawaharlal Nehru, Gandhi's protégé and the political leader of India, believed that Indians were an inherently nonviolent, peaceful people. Pakistan's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was a secular lawyer, not a firebrand. But in August 1946, exactly a year before Independence, Calcutta erupted in street-gang fighting. A cycle of riots - targeting Hindus, then Muslims, then Sikhs - spiraled out of control. As the summer of 1947 approached, all three groups were heavily armed and on edge, and the British rushed to leave. Hell let loose. Trains carried Muslims west and Hindus east to their slaughter. Some of the most brutal and widespread ethnic cleansing in modern history erupted on both sides of the new border, searing a divide between India and Pakistan that remains a root cause of many evils. From jihadi terrorism to nuclear proliferation, the searing tale told in Midnight's Furies explains all too many of the headlines we read today.

Critic Reviews:

"A carefully restrained and delineated account makes for chilling reading." (

Kirkus)

Members Reviews:

Amazingly detailed account of this tragedy i gigan

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book is badly needed successor to Freedom at Midnight. Very well researched and detailed account of the atrocities committed by both sides: Sikhs and Hindus on one side and the Moslems on the other side. The detailed account of the most tragic figure in this Drama: Mohammed Ali Zinnah, and the ultimate irony. He wanted to build a secular Pakistan. The characters, personalities and the relationship between Pandit Nehru ad Sardar Ballabh Bhai Patel is very revealing.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Midnight's Furies?

The tragedy that played out over the lives of literally 10s of millions of people, was crafted by a British bureaucrat only over a month's time, with practical no knowledge of India. The calousness of the British government how they left India is beyond imagination.

Which character as performed by Sunil Malhotra was your favorite?

Nehru & Patel

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I practically did.

Any additional comments?

Thank you Nisid

very informative. I learned a lot

great book, well read. I learned a lot more than I anticipated. got me interested to know more

Absolutely Rivetting

If you could sum up Midnight's Furies in three words, what would they be?

Fast, Factual and Furious

What was one of the most memorable moments of Midnight's Furies?

The part about the Princely State of Junagadh & Hyderabad being absorbed into India

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Wanted to, but its too big for one sitting

This is why India and Pakistan conflict never ends

Nisid Hajari has done his research and provided a good amount of details on India and Pakistan partition. I remember my grandfather telling me some of these accounts and how it was very tense moment in history of India's independence. I was able to relate to many of those incidents that my grampa was telling me that Nisid has put together in this book.

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Title: War Against All Puerto Ricans

Subtitle: Revolution and Terror in America's Colony

Author: Nelson A. Denis

Narrator: Peter Berkrot

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-25-15

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 136 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

In 1950, after over 50 years of military occupation and colonial rule, the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico staged an unsuccessful armed insurrection against the United States. Violence swept through the island: Assassins were sent to kill President Harry Truman, gunfights roared in eight towns, police stations and post offices were burned down. In order to suppress this uprising, the US Army deployed thousands of troops and bombarded two towns, marking the first time in history that the US government bombed its own citizens.

Nelson A. Denis tells this powerful story through the controversial life of Pedro Albizu Campos, who served as the president of the Nationalist Party. A lawyer, a chemical engineer, and the first Puerto Rican to graduate from Harvard Law School, Albizu Campos was imprisoned for 25 years and died under mysterious circumstances. By tracing his life and death, Denis shows how the journey of Albizu Campos is part of a larger story of Puerto Rico and US colonialism.

Through oral histories, personal interviews, eyewitness accounts, congressional testimony, and recently declassified FBI files, War Against All Puerto Ricans tells the story of a forgotten revolution and its context in Puerto Rico's history, from the US invasion in 1898 to the modern-day struggle for self-determination. Denis provides an unflinching account of the gunfights, prison riots, political intrigue, FBI and CIA covert activity, and mass hysteria that accompanied this tumultuous period in Puerto Rican history.

Critic Reviews:

"A pointed, relentless chronicle of a despicable part of past American foreign policy." (

Kirkus)

Members Reviews:

Great story, Mispronounced Spanish

This story is so important and everyone should hear it. But unfortunately, Mr. Berkrot's excellent rhythmic delivery as the narrator is seriously hampered by how badly he pronounces Spanish words. As a Puerto Rican, I was seriously annoyed by what seemed to me to be a lack of quality control by whoever it is who has the final say at Audible. Berkrot is a talented guy with great chops, great rhythm, and excellent dynamics. As for his Spanish pronunciation..."Que lástima." Is there any way he could go back and punch in or dub the Spanish words again? The subject matter is too important and Peter Berkrot is way too skilled to let the mechanical remain in its current form.

Most comprehensive story about Puerto Rico

a 100 years story opressed American citizens living in Puerto Rico. Coherent, cohesive story of US economic abuses and supported by detailed facts.

A Brilliantly Presented Bit of Omitted History

An infuriating and eye opening account of events that schools omitted from history class. Brilliant story-telling, albeit overly dramatic narration at times, and investigation that leaves you with a bitter taste about events that shaped PR's life, culture, economy, and ties it all up with its current unfortunate condition, and the key role that the US government played. Bravo Mr. Denis.

wow, very big eye opener

A most read for every American. it is amazing what anyone can uncover with FOIA. Thank you Nelson for all the research and time you have put into this informative book.

A must rear

This book opened my eyes to many thing I was unaware of.

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Title: A Night to Remember

Subtitle: The Classic Account of the Final Hours of the Titanic

Author: Walter Lord

Narrator: Martin Jarvis

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-19-15

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 55 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

One hundred years ago, the mightiest "unsinkable" ship began her maiden voyage to cross the Atlantic. An engineering feat 11 stories high, the Titanic contained a list of passengers collectively worth $250 million when she left port on April 10, 1912, but she would never reach her destination. The Titanic collided with an iceberg on the night of April 14, and 1,500 people died in the freezing waters as the ship met her watery grave. Spectacular in many ways, it's a story that has spurred legends and still sends shivers down the spine a century later. This minute-by-minute account of the sinking is based on over 20 years of research and offers amazing detail of that fateful night.

Read by Martin Jarvis, it's a riveting account of one of the world's biggest maritime disasters and the behavior of the passengers and crew. Some sacrificed their lives, while others fought like animals for their own survival. Wives beseeched husbands to join them in lifeboats; gentlemen went taut-lipped to their deaths in full evening dress; and hundreds of steerage passengers, trapped below decks, sought help in vain. From the initial distress flares to the struggles of those left adrift for hours in freezing waters, this audiobook brings that moonlit night in 1912 to life for a new generation of listeners.

Members Reviews:

an excellent account.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend the book to anyone who really wants to relive the ship's last night.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the interesting things I learned about the time period such as the class system on the ship that no longer exists today. I was also interested to find out why there had been so little life boat storage on the ship.

What about Martin Jarviss performance did you like?

Jarvis's performance was excellent. When you want to listen to someone read an account like this, I would recommend Jarvis as a perfect narrator for historical accounts.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

My reaction to the book was sadness for all those lost at sea. I also think that ship builders should now think twice before they declare a ship unsinkable based on what this book tells us.

Any additional comments?

I have listened to another Walter Lord account on the Titanic titled the night lives on. This book is not posted on audible, but you can read this in print. I have the cassette edition. Yes, I still have a cassette player. Even though these books are the same in most respects, the night lives on delves into some of the myths surrounding the ship in greater detail rather then just posing the questions. I would strongly recommend reading this account as well. This I think is better then watching the hit movie from 1997. If you don't care for the love story in the film, the account I have mentioned along with this book are well worth your time.

just incredible

taking an unbiased and generally non sensationalised account of times and people and delicately out into time line...

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Title: KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps

Author: Nikolaus Wachsmann

Narrator: Paul Hodgson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 31 hrs and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-14-15

Publisher: HighBridge, a Division of Recorded Books

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 539 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

In KL, Wachsmann fills this glaring gap in our understanding. He not only synthesizes a new generation of scholarly work, much of it untranslated and unknown outside of Germany, but also presents startling revelations, based on many years of archival research, about the functioning and scope of the camp system. Examining, close up, life and death inside the camps, and adopting a wider lens to show how the camp system was shaped by changing political, legal, social, economic, and military forces, Wachsmann produces a unified picture of the Nazi regime and its camps that we have never seen before.

A boldly ambitious work of deep importance, KL is destined to be a classic in the history of the 20th century. Many books have explored the general history of the Holocaust and the Nazis, or anatomized individual concentration camps. But there has, surprisingly, never been a comprehensive history of the camps that integrates the stories of both the broad development of the system and daily life in the camps. In KL (the widely used acronym for konzentrationslager, German for concentration camps), Wachsmann offers an unprecedented account of the development of the camps, similar in scope and approach to Anne Applebaum's best-selling and award-winning Gulag: A History (2003). We will publish on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of most of the camps in April 1945.

Wachsmann is the first to synthesize a new generation of original scholarship on the camps, much of it only available in German and little-known in the English-speaking world. And he has unearthed a wide range of new documents, offering startling new revelations about the history of the camps.

Critic Reviews:

"Nikolaus Wachsmann has written an admirable historical overview of the Nazi concentration camps, effectively combining decades of recent scholarship with his own original research. He captures both the trajectory of dynamic change through which the camp system evolved as well as the experiences and agency - however limited - of the prisoner community. This is an impressive and valuable book." (Christopher R. Browning, Frank Porter Graham Professor of History Emeritus, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

"It is hard to imagine that Nik Wachsmann's superb book, surely to become the standard work on Nazi concentration camps, will ever be surpassed. Based on a huge array of widely scattered sources, it is a gripping as well as comprehensive and authoritative study of this grim but highly important topic." (Ian Kershaw, author of The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944 1945)

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