Listen to Popular Titles Audiobooks in History, 20th Century

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Title: Agent Zigzag

Subtitle: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal

Author: Ben MacIntyre

Narrator: John Lee

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-12-07

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 31 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

In 1941, after training as a German spy in occupied France, Chapman was parachuted into Britain with a revolver, a wireless, and a cyanide pill, with orders from the Abwehr to blow up an airplane factory. Instead, he contacted MI5, the British Secret Service. For the next four years, Chapman worked as a double agent, a lone British spy at the heart of the German Secret Service who at one time volunteered to assassinate Hitler for his countrymen.

Crisscrossing Europe under different names, all the while weaving plans, spreading disinformation, and, miraculously, keeping his stories straight under intense interrogation, he even managed to gain some profit and seduce beautiful women along the way.

The Nazis feted Chapman as a hero and awarded him the Iron Cross. In Britain, he was pardoned for his crimes, becoming the only wartime agent to be thus rewarded. Both countries provided for the mother of his child and his mistress.

Sixty years after the end of the war, and 10 years after Chapman's death, MI5 has now declassified all of Chapman's files, releasing more than 1,800 pages of top secret material and allowing the full story of Agent Zigzag to be told for the first time.

A gripping story of loyalty, love, and treachery, Agent Zigzag offers a unique glimpse into the psychology of espionage, with its thin and shifting line between fidelity and betrayal.

Critic Reviews:

"[An] intriguing and balanced biography." (Publishers Weekly)

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Title: In the Ruins of Empire

Author: Ronald Spector

Narrator: Michael Prichard

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-19-07

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 69 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

The result was years of grim and bitter struggles, during which many suffered far more greatly than they had during the war itself. In the Ruins of Empire is a sequel to the author's well-known Eagle Against the Sun. In it, Ronald Spector describes how Vietnamese farmers struggled to survive another war with the French, while U.S. soldiers and marines were amazed to find themselves sent to China and Korea instead of back to their hometowns. In the meantime, five million Japanese soldiers, farmers, and diplomats who were stranded on mainland Asia found themselves in new roles as insurgents, victims, mercenaries, and peacekeepers.

Much of the material in this book has never been published before, and it casts new and startling light on events that shook the countries of Asia. Spector examines recently released material on these events from Soviet and Chinese archives and two top-secret intelligence records released by the United States, as well as newly available Japanese documents. In addition, the author chronicles the individual stories of some of the Americans who were sent in to rescue prisoners of war and to tend to the surrender and repatriation of millions of Japanese.

Editorial Reviews:

The fighting wasn't over when the Japanese surrendered at the end of WWII. Spector traces the links between the fall of the Japanese Empire and the rise of communism in China, Korea, and Vietnam, and change throughout Asia. Michael Prichard reads like an old-time radio announcer, hitting home Spector's points in a clear voice. Even so, the narrative gets bogged down in detail at times, making for a challenging listening experience. Spector wraps up his account by applying the lessons of post-WWII Asia to the current Iraq situation. Overall, the production is interesting and presented well; still, listeners should be prepared for some serious historical study.

Critic Reviews:

"Enthralling....A painful lesson backed with impressive research and delivered with Spector's usual wit and insight." (Publishers Weekly)

"The battles fought all over postwar Asia, as recounted by a historian whose last three books have been History Book Club main selections." (Library Journal)

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Title: Spitfire Ace

Author: Martin Davidson, James Taylor

Narrator: Steven Pacey, Tyler Butterworth, David Shaw Parker

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-05-07

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 31 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

Spitfire Ace includes interviews with many of the surviving veteran Spitfire pilots. Combined with a historical narrative of the events surrounding the Battle of Britain, you will learn what it was really like to fly a Spitfire and to experience combat flying at its most visceral.

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Title: The Fall of Che Guevara

Subtitle: A Story of Soldiers, Spies, and Diplomats

Author: Henry Butterfield Ryan

Narrator: Richard McGonagle

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-27-05

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 30 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

Ryan's dramatic account of the last days of Che Guevara is sure to appeal to scholars and students of United States foreign policy, Latin American history, military history, and to all others interested in this modern revolutionary's remarkable life.

Critic Reviews:

"The Fall of Che Guevara has the merit of being both original and brief. It consists largely of a trawl through the American archives, in the wake of the Freedom of Information Act, to discover what the various U.S. government agencies really knew, and thought, and did about Guevara." (London Review of Books)

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Title: World War II

Subtitle: The United States at War

Author: Joseph Stromberg

Narrator: George C. Scott

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-01-12

Publisher: Carmichael & Carmichael, Inc. and Knowledge Products

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 10 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

World War II redrew the map of the world. No longer would Europe be the center of power. As the continent exhausted itself in yet another war, two new nations with conflicting ideologies were rising to prominence: the United States of America and the Soviet Union. Both nations would eventually fighton the same sidein World War II, but they would not emerge as partners.

What was the ultimate cost of World War II? For the Axis nations, it was defeat, humiliation, and economic ruin; for the Allies, the price was more subtle. They had instituted economic and social policies to pursue the war, many of which struck to the very heart of liberty. And soon, hostility between two of the Allied powers, America and the Soviet Union, would blossom into the Cold War.

The United States at War series is a collection of presentations that review the political, economic, and social tensions that have erupted in military conflict and examine how the conflict resolved, or failed to resolve, those tensions.

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Title: The Greatest Battles in History: The Battle of Iwo Jima

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Michael Patrick Lally

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-05-15

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

On February 23, 1945, one of the most famous photographs in American history was taken atop Mount Suribachi, as five American soldiers began to raise an American flag. The picture, which most Americans are instantly familiar with, has come to symbolize the strength and sacrifice of America's armed forces, and though many realize it was taken during the Battle of Iwo Jima, much of the actual battle and the context of the picture itself have been overshadowed.

The Battle of Iwo Jima, code name "Operation Detachment," is more of a misnomer than anything. It was fought as part of a large American invasion directed by steps toward the Japanese mainland, and it was more like a siege that lasted 36 days from February-March 1945, with non-stop fighting every minute. In fact, the iconic flag-raising photo was taken just four days into the battle, and as that picture suggests, the battle was not a pristine tactical event but an unceasing horror with no haven for protection. As veteran and author James F. Christ put it in the foreword of his exhaustive study of the action, "it is carnage...that is what Iwo was...the Gettysburg of the Pacific." Iwo Jima defined the classical amphibious assault of the World War II era, as much as the Normandy invasion did, but it came later in the war. In Europe, the Battle of the Bulge had already been won, and German forces would surrender in early May. However, the Japanese Empire was still at a considerable level of strength and state of resolve, and an essential offensive, grinding from island to island with naval unit to naval unit and air to air was met with maniacal resistance by the enemy.

When Admiral Chester Nimitz was directed to capture an island in the Bonin group, Iwo Jima stood out for its importance in making progress against the mainland, with three airfields that would allow American air forces to attack the Japanese mainland. But the Japanese were also well aware of how important Iwo Jima was, and they fought desperately in bunkers and tunnels that required the Americans to carefully clear them out gradually. Less than 5% of the Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima were taken alive, and American casualties were estimated at 26,000, with 6,800 killed or captured. A month later at Okinawa, which lasted from April-June, the Americans suffered an estimated 62,000 casualties, with 12,000 Americans killed or captured. These deadly campaigns came after widely-held predictions that taking these islands would amount to no more than a brief footnote in the overall theater. However, the national character of the Empire was equally misunderstood.

The Greatest Battles in History: The Battle of Iwo Jima comprehensively covers the entire military situation that led up to the battle, analyzes the decisions made by the battle's most important leaders, and explains the aftermath of the American victory.

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Title: The D-Day Tapes

Subtitle: An Oral History

Author: Aaron Elson

Narrator: Vincent "Mike" McKinney, Ed Boccafogli, Bill Pirone, Lou Putnoky, Angelo Crapanzano, Patsy Giacchi

Format: Original Recording

Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-30-11

Publisher: Chi Chi Press

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

In 1994, Tom McKinney was watching the 50th anniversary of D-Day ceremonies on television with his father, Vincent Mike McKinney. Tom noticed his father, who rarely spoke about the war, turning red while President Clinton was introducing a veteran as the first American to land on Omaha Beach. McKinney was in the first wave to hit the beach, his boat took two hits, and he had to step over bodies to get ashore. When he looked around, he saw no one. He looked at his watch, it was 6:33 a.m. Fifty years later, he told his son he thought he should be up there with President Clinton. So Tom McKinney went to the Internet, found Aaron Elsons World War II Oral History website (tankbooks.com), and asked Aaron if he would interview Toms father. The result is one of six compelling interviews in The D-Day Tapes.

These interviews have no narrator, only an occasional question or comment by the author. Also included are the stories of Ed Boccafogli, a veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division; Bill Pirone, a veteran of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment who landed on Omaha Beach and later suffered battle fatigue; Lou Putnoky, a Coast Guard veteran of the USS Bayfield, the flagship of the Utah Beach invasion fleet; Angelo Crapanzano, a Navy veteran and survivor of the ill-fated pre-D-Day disaster known as Exercise Tiger, or Slapton Sands; and Patsy Giacchi, a quartermaster who, like Angelo, survived the sinking of LST 507 in the English Channel. If you like Studs Terkel, youll be moved by these sometimes powerful, often poignant stories told in the veterans own voices.

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Title: Submarine Warfare in World War II

Subtitle: The History of the Fighting Under the Waves in the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Dan Gallagher

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-24-16

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

Danger prowled under both the cold gray waters of the North Sea and the shimmering blue waves of the tropical Atlantic during World War II as Adolf Hitler's Third Reich attempted to strangle Allied shipping lanes with U-boat attacks. German and British submarines combed the vast oceanic battlefield for prey, while scientists developed new technologies and countermeasures.

During World War I, German U-boats operated solo except on one occasion. Initially, the British and nations supplying England with food and materiel scattered vessels singly across the ocean, making them vulnerable to the lone submarines. However, widespread late war re-adoption of the convoy system tipped the odds in the surface ships' favor.

However, even the wolf-pack proved insufficient to defeat the Atlantic convoys and stop Allied commerce - the precise opposite of the Pacific theater, where America's excellent submarine forces annihilated much of Japan's merchant marine and inflicted severe damage on the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Submarines exercised a decisive impact on the outcome of the Pacific Theater in World War II. The US submarine fleet, largely though not exclusively under the overall command of Vice Admiral Charles Lockwood, strangled the supply lines and shipping traffic of the Empire of Japan. Their commerce raiding crippled both Japan's ability to keep its frontline units supplied and to manufacture the weapons, vessels, and vehicles needed to successfully carry on the struggle.

The United States and Japan both produced excellent, high-tech submarines in the context of the World War II era. Japanese I-boats showed excellent seakeeping capabilities and offered the versatility created by their large size, including the ability to serve as motherships for midget submarines or aircraft carriers for scouting aircraft or even specialized bombers. The Type 93 Long Lance and Type 95 torpedoes they carrier packed enough punch to sink capital ships like battleships and carriers at ranges of several miles.

Though constituting only one point six percent of the total US Navy's tonnage in the Pacific, the submarine fleet inflicted massive losses on the Imperial Japanese Navy and Japan's crucial merchant marine. Submarines sank 55% of the merchant shipping lost, or approximately 1,300 vessels; overall, the Allies sank 77% of Japan's shipping.

The submarines also sank 214 Japanese warships, including 82 of 1,000 tons or more - four carriers, four escort carriers, one battleship, four heavy cruisers, nine light cruisers, 38 destroyers, and 23 submarines - or approximately 30% of the entire Imperial Japanese Navy. The sleek, predatory craft made in the shipyards of Virginia, Wisconsin, or Washington State devastated the naval and freighter assets of the Empire of the Rising Sun out of all proportion to their numbers, at a cost of 42 submarines.

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Título: Operaciones especiales de la Segunda Guerra Mundial [Special Operations of the Second World War]

Autor: Manuel J. Prieto

Narrador: Victor Iturrioz

Formato: Unabridged

Duración: 13 hrs and 1 min

Idioma: Español

Fecha de publicación: 09-19-17

Editor: Audible Studios

Calificaciones: 5 de 5 de 1 votos

Categorías: History, 20th Century

Resumen del editor:

Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial no solo acontecieron grandes batallas protagonizadas por los ejércitos aliados y del Eje, sino que también hubo un espacio reservado para otra forma de combatir, para los engaños en los que primó el ingenio, para las guerrillas en territorio enemigo, en definitiva, para las denominadas operaciones especiales.

Todos los países sin excepción llevaron a cabo esta forma de lucha de un modo u otro, desde los Comandos británicos hasta la División Brandenburg alemana, pasando por el Longe Range Desert Group (LRDG), el Special Air Service (SAS), los Rangers o algunas unidades de las SS.

Please note: This audiobook is in Spanish.

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Title: The Kamikaze Hunters

Subtitle: Fighting for the Pacific, 1945

Author: Will Iredale

Narrator: Jonathan Keeble

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-26-16

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

The Sunday Times of London top-10 best seller from Will Iredale.

In May 1945, with victory in Europe established, the war was all but over. But on the other side of the world, the Allies were still engaged in a bitter struggle to control the Pacific. And it was then that the Japanese unleashed a terrible new form of warfare: the suicide pilots, or kamikaze. Drawing on meticulous research and unique personal access to the remaining survivors, Will Iredale follows a group of young men from the moment they joined up, on through their initial training, and to the final, terrifying reality of fighting against pilots who, in the cruel last summer of the war, chose death rather than risk their country's dishonorable defeat and deliberately flew their planes into Allied aircraft carriers.

A story of courage, valor, and dogged determination, The Kamikaze Hunters is a gripping account of how a few brave young men helped to ensure lasting peace.

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