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Title: The Rise of Nazi Germany: The History of the Events that Brought Adolf Hitler to Power

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Dan Gallagher

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-02-15

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 30 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

Profiles the seminal events that helped Hitler rise to power and consolidate his position, including the end of World War I, the Beer Hall Putsch, the Burning of the Reichstag, and the Night of the Long Knives.

"I cannot remember in my entire life such a change in the attitude of a crowd in a few minutes, almost a few seconds ... Hitler had turned them inside out, as one turns a glove inside out, with a few sentences. It had almost something of hocus-pocus, or magic about it." (Dr. Karl Alexander von Mueller)

It is often claimed that Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany through democratic means, and while that is a stretch, it is true that he managed to become an absolute dictator, as Chancellor of Germany in the 1930s, through a mixture of politics and intimidation. Ironically, he set such a course only because of the failure of an outright coup attempt, known as the Beer Hall Putsch, about a decade earlier.

At the close of World War I, Hitler was an impoverished young artist who scrapped by through selling souvenir paintings, but within a few years, his powerful oratory brought him to the forefront of the Nazi party in Munich and helped make the party much more popular. A smattering of followers in the hundreds quickly became a party of thousands, with paramilitary forces like the SA backing them. At the head of it all was a man whose fiery orations denounced Jews, communists, and other "traitors" for bringing upon the German nation the Treaty of Versailles, which had led to hyperinflation and a wrecked economy.

The early 1930s were a tumultuous period for German politics, even in comparison to the ongoing transition to the modern era that caused various forms of chaos throughout the rest of the world.

Members Reviews:

Well researched weakly presented

The information presented here is thorough and useful. But but the constant jumping back and forth between foreshadowing and the current series of events is confusing at least in an audiobook

Middle Schoolers Only

If you know anything about nazi Germany this book will be a complete bore. It reads like a 7th grade text book with almost no critical thought by the author leaving it dry and uninteresting.

Read the Book

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

Good content and concise overview of the rise of the Nazi party. Narrator sounds like this is his first gig and the first time he's ever looked at the material. Choppy reading, sometimes uses voices for quotes and sometimes doesn't, sound volume is inconsistent. I had to reread some of the actual book to follow along.

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Title: Spectacle

Subtitle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga

Author: Pamela Newkirk

Narrator: Bahni Turpin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-02-15

Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 38 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

In 1904 Ota Benga, a young Congolese "pygmy" - a person of petite stature - arrived from central Africa and was featured in an anthropology exhibit at the St. Louis World's Fair. Two years later the New York Zoological Gardens displayed him in its Monkey House, caging the slight 103-pound, 4-foot 11-inch tall man with an orangutan. The attraction became an international sensation, drawing thousands of New Yorkers and commanding headlines across the nation and in Europe.

Spectacle explores the circumstances of Ota Benga's captivity, the international controversy it inspired, and his efforts to adjust to American life. It also reveals why, decades later, the man most responsible for his exploitation would be hailed as his friend and savior while those who truly fought for Ota have been banished to the shadows of history.

Members Reviews:

you want to hide information, put it in a book

I found it very mind-boggling to read about a human being that was taken from his native land and put on display at a zoo for all of the world to see like some caged animal. Even though the book is not solely about Benga, I learned so many more facts about other things from reading this book. This was a great history lesson.

My favorite line in this book... "Minik cried, you're a race of scientific criminals, I am glad enough to get away before they grab my brains and stuff them in a jar".

It's disturbing to know that people study other cultures and somehow want to change a person's way of life to suit your own. Its like invading someone's personal space. They actually called them savages when the real savages are the ones that go into these different environments and try to change them

The life of Ota Benga is tragic, and even ...

The life of Ota Benga is tragic, and even after reading this book we know very little of it. A friend of mine wrote a play about Ota Benga's experience and its significance from an African point of view, and I have been wanting to learn more ever since seeing the play. I heard an interview with Newkirk on NPR and was eager to read her book; I ordered it that evening. But although this book has a lot of pieces of information, the writing is so repetitious and the organization so confusing (the chronology is frequently interrupted while Newkirk backs up to provide the reader with biographical and historical information about minor characters in Benga's story, for example) that, even as a college professor accustomed to reading complex texts, I could not stand to read more than a chapter or two at a time, and I never felt fully engaged in the life and inner experience of Ota Benga, a person with whom I was already somewhat familiar and very sympathetic.

but it reads like a catalog of unnecessary factual details that could have ...

Strange, interesting, even shocking account, but it reads like a catalog of unnecessary factual details that could have been better summarized as a long magazine article. I gave up halfway through so I don't know if any personal insights into poor Ota's thoughts and feelings are ever developed by the author.

WOEFULLY OVER-RESEARCHED. CONFUSINGLY OVER-DETAILED.

âDuring the first year Howardâs farm added to its livestock six calves, seventy-five chickens, eleven ducks, and twenty hogs and harvested eight thousand cabbages.

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Title: The SS Eastland Disaster: The History of the Deadliest Shipwreck on the Great Lakes

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Pam Tierney

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-19-15

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

When people discuss deadly maritime disasters during the second decade of the 20th century in which more than 800 people were killed, they're often talking about the Titanic or Lusitania, not the Eastland on the Chicago River. However, shockingly enough, on July 24, 1915, a ship full of sightseers out for a day on the Great Lakes capsized while still tied to a dock, sending more than 2,500 passengers into the frigid water. By the time the ship was righted and rescue efforts were completed, nearly 850 people had been killed.

As unbelievable as the incident seemed, the Eastland was actually susceptible to just such a problem as a result of its issues with listing, and on top of that, the ship seemed to have all sorts of bad luck in its past, including a collision with another boat and even a mutiny on board. If anything, the safety protocols established after the sinking of the Titanic, most notably the inclusion of enough lifeboats on board for every passenger, made the Eastland even more top heavy and contributed to the disaster. Ultimately, several individuals were charged with crimes in connection with the Eastland disaster, but none would be found guilty.

The SS Eastland Disaster: The History of the Deadliest Shipwreck on the Great Lakes chronicles the story of the disaster and its aftermath.

Members Reviews:

Incredible Chicago Disaster

A lively, succinct account of a pleasure boat ride 100 years ago that cost 850 lives while the Eastland was still boarding passengers in Chicago. An unbelievable disaster that deserves re telling. Great photographs.

This is an excellent book. There were many interviews

This is an excellent book. There were many interviews. It told the story with a lot of feeling. Also, there were many photos.

Love the Charles River Editors concept

Love the Charles River Editors concept. Their execution is sometimes spotty, but always worth the read. Quick peeks at history...if your interest is piqued (sorry), you can look further. Good, personal history.

history

The book was to short on what happened. The book should have given more about the ship leading up to the disaster.

Five Stars

Fascinating story!

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Title: The Nazi Invasion of Poland: The History of the Campaign That Started World War II

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Dan Gallagher

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 27 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-13-15

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 17 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

"The object of the war is...to physically destroy the enemy. That is why I have prepared, for the moment only in the East, my 'Death's Head' formations with orders to kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language. Only in this way can we obtain the living space we need." (Hitler, August 1939)

Throughout 1938 and 1939, conflict broke out across Europe after the social and economic disorder brought about by World War I helped the Nazis rise to power in Germany. In 1937, Adolf Hitler declared the Treaty of Versailles void and began aggressively annexing parts of the European continent. Europe's attempts to appease him, most notably at Munich in 1938, failed as Nazi Germany swallowed up Austria and Czechoslovakia by 1939. Italy was on the march as well, invading Albania in April of 1939. The straw that broke the camel's back, however, was Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1 of that year. Two days later, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany, and World War II began in earnest.

Of course, as most people now know, the invasion of Poland was merely the preface to the Nazi blitzkrieg of most of Western Europe, which would include Denmark, Belgium, and France by the summer of 1940. The resistance put up by these countries is often portrayed as weak, and the narrative is that the British stood alone in 1940 against the Nazi onslaught, defending the British Isles during the Battle of Britain and preventing a potential German invasion.

Members Reviews:

A clear, concise, treatment of the invasion.

Finished the work in one day. It gave you the big picture of the action but minute details even as to the Polish tanks functioned against the German Panzers. Fascinating!

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Title: The Most Famous Landmarks of New York City: The History of the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Grand Central Terminal, Chrysler Building, and Empire State Building

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Ian H. Shattuck

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-28-15

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

Of all the great cities in the world, few personify their countries like New York City. As America's largest city and best-known immigration gateway into the country, the Big Apple represents the beauty, diversity, and sheer strength of the United States, a global financial center that has enticed people chasing the American dream for centuries.

New York City has countless landmarks and tourist spots, but few are as old or as associated with the city as the Brooklyn Bridge, the giant suspension bridge that spans nearly 1,600 feet as it connects lower Manhattan to Brooklyn. Indeed the bridge is so old that Manhattan and Brooklyn represented the largest and third-largest cities in America at the time of its construction. The East River posed a formidable enough challenge that taking a ferry across could be dangerous.

Among America's countless monuments and landmarks, none embody the principles of the nation quite like Lady Liberty, the colossal statue that stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. A gift from the French that was built and transported in the late 19th century, the Statue of Liberty has been a symbol of the United States' guarantee of individual freedom. Its location took on added meaning as it welcomed millions of immigrants sailing across the Atlantic to nearby Ellis Island.

Members Reviews:

tedious

Many words used when only a few were needed. It was like reading a high school essay with a minimum word requirement.

The narrator mispronounced words including Houston street. I'm from Texas and even I know it's not pronounced like our city of Houston .

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Title: The Most Famous Landmarks of New York City: The History of the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Grand Central Terminal, Chrysler Building, and Empire State Building

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Ian H. Shattuck

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-28-15

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

Of all the great cities in the world, few personify their countries like New York City. As America's largest city and best-known immigration gateway into the country, the Big Apple represents the beauty, diversity, and sheer strength of the United States, a global financial center that has enticed people chasing the American dream for centuries.

New York City has countless landmarks and tourist spots, but few are as old or as associated with the city as the Brooklyn Bridge, the giant suspension bridge that spans nearly 1,600 feet as it connects lower Manhattan to Brooklyn. Indeed the bridge is so old that Manhattan and Brooklyn represented the largest and third-largest cities in America at the time of its construction. The East River posed a formidable enough challenge that taking a ferry across could be dangerous.

Among America's countless monuments and landmarks, none embody the principles of the nation quite like Lady Liberty, the colossal statue that stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. A gift from the French that was built and transported in the late 19th century, the Statue of Liberty has been a symbol of the United States' guarantee of individual freedom. Its location took on added meaning as it welcomed millions of immigrants sailing across the Atlantic to nearby Ellis Island.

Contact me for any questions: [email protected]

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Title: The Greatest Battles in History: The Battle of Verdun

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Richard Wayne Stageman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 41 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-03-15

Publisher: Charles River Editors

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

The names of history's most famous battles still ring in our ears today, their influence immediately understood by all. Marathon lent its name to the world's most famous race, but it also preserved Western civilization during the First Persian War. Saratoga, won by one of the colonists' most renowned war heroes before he became his nation's most vile traitor. Hastings ensured the Normans' success in England and changed the course of British history. Waterloo, which marked the reshaping of the European continent and Napoleon's doom, has now become part of the English lexicon. In Charles River Editors' Greatest Battles in History series, listeners can get caught up to speed on history's greatest battles in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.

It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of the Battle of Verdun. For the French, it possesses a grim significance which endures to this day - the churned, furrowed earth of the battlefield still visible a century later a stark reminder of waste of life, strategic failure and tactical inadequacy on a monumental scale. For the German people, had it not been eclipsed by the shame and horror of Nazism and the Holocaust, it would doubtless carry equal importance.

Members Reviews:

Execrable reading.

Would you ever listen to anything by Charles River Editors again?

No.

Would you be willing to try another one of Richard Wayne Stagemans performances?

No.

Any additional comments?

I had hoped this would be a helpful brief overview of this historical tragedy, but the social and chronological contextualization is so perfunctory that it might as well not have been included at all. What you are presented with is a litany of military mumbo jumbo that might help a first year cadet at a military academy prep for a quiz on industrial siege warfare, but it is of little interest to the civilian reader. The reader is horrendous, mispronouncing words many Americans know how to pronounce, and interpreting the text with an awkward rising and falling of pitch--it is almost as if the reader thought the entire book was in French, rather an a few place and personal names. The worst book I have ever purchased from Audible.

The Batle to stay awake

What disappointed you about The Greatest Battles in History: The Battle of Verdun?

This is a dispassionate précis of one of the most important battles of the Great War.

What will your next listen be?

Nothing by Charles Rivers Editors

How could the performance have been better?

A reader who sounded interested in what he was reading and drew breath between chapters might have helped.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Greatest Battles in History: The Battle of Verdun?

I think I would scrap the whole thing and tell them to start again.

Any additional comments?

None of the colour and background that make histories by Beevor and others so interesting.

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Title: Roosevelt and Stalin

Subtitle: Portrait of a Partnership

Author: Susan Butler

Narrator: George Guidall

Format: Unabridged

Length: 21 hrs and 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-31-15

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 21 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

Susan Butler's brilliantly listenable audiobook firmly places FDR where he belongs, as the American president engaged most directly in diplomacy and strategy, who not only had an ambitious plan for the postwar world but had the strength, ambition, and personal charm to overcome Churchill's reluctance and Stalin's suspicion to bring about what was, in effect, an American peace and to avoid the disastrous consequences that followed the botched peace of Versailles in 1919.

It is at once a long overdue tribute to FDR and his vision and a serious work of history that flows like a novel. I would rank it next to Margaret MacMillan's Paris 1919, and it casts new light on the character and war aims of Stalin, Churchill, and FDR himself. Brava!

Members Reviews:

The History We Never Knew

The book is an inside look at FDR, Churchill, and Stalin's key advisors -- and descriptions of their administrations during WWII and formation of the United Nations. The history is fascinating, because it is not the things taught in history classes. Susan Butler did an excellent job making the book thorough and interesting.

A real winner

Ms. Butler's encyclopedic research and Mr. Guidall's superb reading make this a wonderful Audible experience. Makes me want to read more of her books and other books read by Mr. Guidall.

Great Book: interesting

This is a very interesting and riveting read. The author did a great job of interweaving thoughts and diary entries from many people which showed the thinking of the people involved. She told many details of the events of meetings and communications which enhanced interest. I was unaware of Churchill's actions and reasons for postponing the cross channel invasion and the initial misgivings about the North Africa allied invasion. Also, it seems Eisenhower's reluctance to drive to Berlin and let the Russians lead that effort was news to me. FDR's idea that if we couldn't beat the Russians, we needed to try to work with them and that if you want to have a friend you must be a friend were smart concepts. It is unfortunate that we wasted all that money on the Cold War as Roosevelt had a much wiser approach of trying to be friends with the Russians rather than treating them like enemies. Overall, the book enhances the idea that FDR was masterful, wise and effective in his leadership in WW2.

Must Read-listen book

Ah Roosevelt. Had he lived just a year longer - what a different world it would be.

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Title: When Computing Got Personal

Subtitle: A History of the Desktop Computer

Author: Matt Nicholson

Narrator: Norman Gilligan

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-12-15

Publisher: Matt Publishing

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 71 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

This is the story of how a handful of geeks and mavericks dragged the computer out of corporate back rooms and laboratories and into our living rooms and offices. It is a tale not only of extraordinary innovation and vision but also of cunning business deals, boardroom tantrums and acrimonious lawsuits.

Here you will find some of the most intelligent and eccentric people you could hope to meet, including wide-eyed hippies, subversive students, computer nerds, entrepreneurs, hackers, crackers and financial backers. Some lost out and some became millionaires, but all played a part in transforming our world.

Critic Reviews:

"I have read numerous books on the history of personal computing and rate this one highly." (Tim Anderson, ITWriting)

"I enjoyed this book; it has obviously been extremely well researched, and is well written and takes a coherent route through the history." (Kay Ewbank, I Programmer)

"Matt Nicholson ... was in a position to observe all this first-hand." (Wendy M Grossman, ZDNet)

Members Reviews:

Great Book, Terrible Narrator

The book is well-worth reading; however, the narrator lacks style, intonation, and, overall, performs worse than Alexa or Google Assistant. Don't waste your money/credits. Buy the book.

Fairly interesting book... slow/droning narrator

I don't know what came first, but this book is almost identical to the content (interview quotations and all) of the documentary series "Rise of the Nerds."

If you don't have time, I'd save your money and just watch that 3 part series. It has actual clips of the figures portrayed in the book like Moore, Gates, the creator of VisiCalc and the Homebrew organizer guy who all are much more interesting to listen to than this book's narrator (who's about as dry as a popcorn fart, and not as fast).

Good Book, Horrible Narrator.

The book was great. I learned a lot. however I could only listen to a chapter at a time because the narrator was so monotoned. the narrator caused me to get bored. I felt as if I was in a college class that I was forced to take.

Good material, distracting performance

Narrator had an over-fussy pronunciation style that I found distracting, and didn't appear to be following the meaning of what he was reading, resulting in odd word emphases and distracting pauses. very slow delivery too, though listening on 125% speed helped with that.

A fun trip down the halls of PC history.

What made the experience of listening to When Computing Got Personal the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed the stories of the early frontier days of the Personal Computer market.

What did you like best about this story?

Good coverage of the early and middle PC era.

What about Norman Gilligans performance did you like?

It was soothing to listen to, though some of the pronunciation of computer terms was incorrect.

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

I wouldn't say it was a particularly moving story, but an interesting one.

Any additional comments?

A fantastic listen.

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Title: Thirty Years of Treason

Subtitle: Excerpts from Hearings before the House Committee on Un-American Activities 1938 - 1968: Complete Set

Author: Eric Bentley - editor

Narrator: Nathan Dana Aldrich, Theodore Bikel, Claire Bloom, J. Paul Boehmer, Scott Brick, full cast

Format: Unabridged

Length: 41 hrs and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-21-15

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

A chilling reenactment of the federal government's anti-Communist investigations.

The testimony that the author has gleaned for this audiobook from the 30-year record of the House Un-American Activities Committee focuses on HUAC's treatment of artists, intellectuals, and performers. This highly listenable and absorbing collection of significant excerpts from the hearings shows with painful clarity how HUAC grew from a panel that investigated possible subversive activities in a "dignified" manner to a huge, unrelenting accusatory finger from which almost no one was safe. Thirty Years of Treason serves as a warning for the future and creates living history from the documentary record.

Members Reviews:

Five Stars

Simply outstanding and an invaluable historical reference