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The Fall of Berlin 1945
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 17 hrs and 26 mins
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The Fall of Berlin 1945
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Richard Nixon
- The Life
- Written by: John A. Farrell
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 28 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 18
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 17
Richard Nixon opens with young navy lieutenant "Nick" Nixon returning from the Pacific and setting his cap at Congress, an idealistic dreamer seeking to build a better world. Yet amid the turns of that now legendary 1946 campaign, Nixon's finer attributes quickly gave way to unapologetic ruthlessness. It is a stunning overture to John A. Farrell's magisterial portrait of a man who embodied postwar American cynicism.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A MUCH BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE MAN
- By Stephen on 2021-05-17
Written by: John A. Farrell
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Ardennes 1944
- The Battle of the Bulge
- Written by: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 22
On December 16, 1944, Hitler launched his "last gamble" in the snow-covered forests and gorges of the Ardennes in Belgium, believing he could split the Allies by driving all the way to Antwerp and forcing the Canadians and the British out of the war. Although his generals were doubtful of success, younger officers and NCOs were desperate to believe that their homes and families could be saved from the vengeful Red Army approaching from the east. Many were exultant at the prospect of striking back.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent.
- By James De Dood on 2023-01-21
Written by: Antony Beevor
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The Crusades
- The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land
- Written by: Thomas Asbridge
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 25 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 251
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 208
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 206
The Crusades is an authoritative, accessible single-volume history of the brutal struggle for the Holy Land in the Middle Ages. Thomas Asbridge - a renowned historian who writes with "maximum vividness" (Joan Acocella, The New Yorker) - covers the years 1095 to 1291 in this big, ambitious, listenable account of one of the most fascinating periods in history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic Book
- By braden on 2018-11-18
Written by: Thomas Asbridge
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The First World War
- A Complete History
- Written by: Martin Gilbert
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 33 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 36
It was to be the war to end all wars, and it began at 11:15 on the morning of June 28, 1914, in an outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire called Sarajevo. It would officially end nearly five years later. Unofficially, however, it has never ended: Many of the horrors we live with today are rooted in the First World War. The Great War left millions of civilians and soldiers maimed or dead. It also saw the creation of new technologies of destruction: tanks, planes, and submarines; machine guns and field artillery; poison gas and chemical warfare.
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5 out of 5 stars
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good book
- By Matthew laing on 2021-07-25
Written by: Martin Gilbert
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Paris 1919
- Six Months That Changed the World
- Written by: Margaret MacMillan
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 25 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 59
Winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize, renowned historian Margaret MacMillan's best-selling Paris 1919 is the story of six remarkable months that changed the world. At the close of WWI, between January and July of 1919, delegates from around the world converged on Paris under the auspices of peace. New countries were created, old empires were dissolved, and for six months, Paris was the center of the world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very important book
- By AvidReader on 2023-02-13
Written by: Margaret MacMillan
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The Guns of August
- Written by: Barbara W. Tuchman
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 76
In this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, historian Barbara Tuchman brings to life the people and events that led up to World War I. This was the last gasp of the Gilded Age, of Kings and Kaisers and Czars, of pointed or plumed hats, colored uniforms, and all the pomp and romance that went along with war. How quickly it all changed...and how horrible it became.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Couldn’t finish it
- By Boscotti_M on 2023-11-06
Written by: Barbara W. Tuchman
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Richard Nixon
- The Life
- Written by: John A. Farrell
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 28 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 18
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 17
Richard Nixon opens with young navy lieutenant "Nick" Nixon returning from the Pacific and setting his cap at Congress, an idealistic dreamer seeking to build a better world. Yet amid the turns of that now legendary 1946 campaign, Nixon's finer attributes quickly gave way to unapologetic ruthlessness. It is a stunning overture to John A. Farrell's magisterial portrait of a man who embodied postwar American cynicism.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A MUCH BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE MAN
- By Stephen on 2021-05-17
Written by: John A. Farrell
-
Ardennes 1944
- The Battle of the Bulge
- Written by: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 22
On December 16, 1944, Hitler launched his "last gamble" in the snow-covered forests and gorges of the Ardennes in Belgium, believing he could split the Allies by driving all the way to Antwerp and forcing the Canadians and the British out of the war. Although his generals were doubtful of success, younger officers and NCOs were desperate to believe that their homes and families could be saved from the vengeful Red Army approaching from the east. Many were exultant at the prospect of striking back.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent.
- By James De Dood on 2023-01-21
Written by: Antony Beevor
-
The Crusades
- The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land
- Written by: Thomas Asbridge
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 25 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 251
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 208
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 206
The Crusades is an authoritative, accessible single-volume history of the brutal struggle for the Holy Land in the Middle Ages. Thomas Asbridge - a renowned historian who writes with "maximum vividness" (Joan Acocella, The New Yorker) - covers the years 1095 to 1291 in this big, ambitious, listenable account of one of the most fascinating periods in history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic Book
- By braden on 2018-11-18
Written by: Thomas Asbridge
-
The First World War
- A Complete History
- Written by: Martin Gilbert
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 33 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 36
It was to be the war to end all wars, and it began at 11:15 on the morning of June 28, 1914, in an outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire called Sarajevo. It would officially end nearly five years later. Unofficially, however, it has never ended: Many of the horrors we live with today are rooted in the First World War. The Great War left millions of civilians and soldiers maimed or dead. It also saw the creation of new technologies of destruction: tanks, planes, and submarines; machine guns and field artillery; poison gas and chemical warfare.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
good book
- By Matthew laing on 2021-07-25
Written by: Martin Gilbert
-
Paris 1919
- Six Months That Changed the World
- Written by: Margaret MacMillan
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 25 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 59
Winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize, renowned historian Margaret MacMillan's best-selling Paris 1919 is the story of six remarkable months that changed the world. At the close of WWI, between January and July of 1919, delegates from around the world converged on Paris under the auspices of peace. New countries were created, old empires were dissolved, and for six months, Paris was the center of the world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very important book
- By AvidReader on 2023-02-13
Written by: Margaret MacMillan
-
The Guns of August
- Written by: Barbara W. Tuchman
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 76
In this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, historian Barbara Tuchman brings to life the people and events that led up to World War I. This was the last gasp of the Gilded Age, of Kings and Kaisers and Czars, of pointed or plumed hats, colored uniforms, and all the pomp and romance that went along with war. How quickly it all changed...and how horrible it became.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Couldn’t finish it
- By Boscotti_M on 2023-11-06
Written by: Barbara W. Tuchman
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The Second World War
- Written by: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 39 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 140
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 129
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Story5 out of 5 stars 128
Over the past two decades, Antony Beevor has established himself as one of the world's premier historians of World War II. His multi-award winning books have included Stalingrad and The Fall of Berlin 1945. Now, in his newest and most ambitious book, he turns his focus to one of the bloodiest and most tragic events of the twentieth century, The Second World War. Thrillingly written and brilliantly researched, Beevor's provocative account is destined to become the definitive work on World War II.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Spectacular Book
- By silvercity on 2019-02-09
Written by: Antony Beevor
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D-Day
- The Battle for Normandy
- Written by: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Cameron Stewart
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 28
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story5 out of 5 stars 24
Renowned historian Antony Beevor, the man who "single-handedly transformed the reputation of military history" (The Guardian) presents the first major account in more than 20 years of the Normandy invasion and the liberation of Paris. This is the first book to describe not only the experiences of the American, British, Canadian, and German soldiers, but also the terrible suffering of the French caught up in the fighting.
Written by: Antony Beevor
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Across the Fence: Expanded Edition
- The Secret War in Vietnam
- Written by: John Stryker Meyer
- Narrated by: John Stryker Meyer
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 90
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 78
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Story5 out of 5 stars 78
For eight years, far beyond the battlefields of Vietnam and the glare of media distortions, American Green Berets fought a deadly secret war in Laos and Cambodia under the aegis of the top secret Military Assistance Command Vietnam - Studies and Observations Group, or SOG. Go deep into the jungle with five SOG warriors surrounded by 10,000 enemy troops as they stack up the dead to build a human buttress for protection. Witness a Green Beret, shot in the back four times and left for dead, who survives to fight savagely against incredible odds to complete his missions.
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3 out of 5 stars
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no author reading
- By Anonymous User on 2023-11-23
Written by: John Stryker Meyer
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Ortona
- Canada's Epic World War II Battle
- Written by: Mark Zuehlke
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 104
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 87
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 88
In one furious week of fighting in December 1943, the First Canadian Infantry Division took Ortona, Italy, from elite German paratroopers ordered to hold the medieval port at all costs. When the battle was over, the Canadians emerged victorious despite heavy losses.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I had no idea...
- By Ryan F on 2019-03-09
Written by: Mark Zuehlke
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The Forgotten Soldier
- Written by: Guy Sajer
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 21 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 204
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 174
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Story5 out of 5 stars 173
When Guy Sajer joins the infantry full of ideals in the summer of 1942, the German army is enjoying unparalleled success in Russia. However, he quickly finds that for the foot soldier the glory of military success hides a much harsher reality of hunger, fatigue, and constant deprivation. Posted to the elite Grosse Deutschland division, he enters a violent and remorseless world where all youthful hope is gradually ground down, and all that matters is the brute will to survive.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I have PTSD after reading this
- By Amazon Customer on 2018-08-11
Written by: Guy Sajer
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Eight Days in May
- The Final Collapse of the Third Reich
- Written by: Volker Ullrich, Jefferson Chase - translator
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
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Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
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Story0 out of 5 stars 0
On April 30, 1945, in a bunker deep beneath the Old Reich Chancellery, Adolf Hitler and his newly wedded wife, Eva Braun, killed themselves. But Nazi Germany lived on, however briefly. The subsequent eight days were among the most turbulent in history, witnessing not only the final battles of World War II and the collapse of the Wehrmacht, but the near-total disintegration of the once-mighty Third Reich.
Written by: Volker Ullrich, and others
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Empire
- Written by: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 18
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 16
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 16
The British Empire was the largest in all history: the nearest thing to global domination ever achieved. The world we know today is in large measure the product of Britain's age of empire. The global spread of capitalism, telecommunications, the English language, and the institutions of representative government - all these can be traced back to the extraordinary expansion of Britain's economy, population, and culture from the 17th century until the mid-20th. On a vast and vividly colored canvas, Empire shows how the British Empire acted as midwife to modernity.
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5 out of 5 stars
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great education on British colonialism
- By daniel Froese on 2023-02-03
Written by: Niall Ferguson
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Salt
- A World History
- Written by: Mark Kurlansky
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 76
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 64
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
So much of our human body is made up of salt that we'd be dead without it. The fine balance of nature, the trade of salt as a currency of many nations and empires, the theme of a popular Shakespearean play... Salt is best selling author Mark Kurlansky's story of the only rock we eat.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A very salty history
- By Ron Smallwood on 2021-02-11
Written by: Mark Kurlansky
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The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
- A History of Nazi Germany
- Written by: William L. Shirer
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 57 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 713
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 613
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Story5 out of 5 stars 610
Since its publication in 1960, William L. Shirer’s monumental study of Hitler’s German empire has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of the 20th century’s blackest hours. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich offers an unparalleled and thrillingly told examination of how Adolf Hitler nearly succeeded in conquering the world. With millions of copies in print around the globe, it has attained the status of a vital and enduring classic.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The most extensive book I have ever listened too!
- By Canadian Dad on 2019-04-26
Written by: William L. Shirer
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The Hollow Crown
- The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors
- Written by: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 76
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 64
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
Some of the greatest heroes and villains in British history were thrown together in these turbulent times: Henry V, whose victory at Agincourt and prudent rule at home marked the high point of the medieval monarchy; Edward IV, who was handed his crown by the scheming soldier Warwick the Kingmaker, before their alliance collapsed into a fight to the death; and the last Plantagenet, Richard III, who stole the throne and murdered his own nephews, the Princes in the Tower.
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5 out of 5 stars
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amazing story! great performance!
- By Nathanael P. on 2021-06-15
Written by: Dan Jones
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The Sixth Family
- The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto
- Written by: Lee Lamothe, Adrian Humphreys
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 22 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 26
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 20
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Story5 out of 5 stars 20
On May 5, 1981, three rebellious members of New York's Bonanno crime family were gunned down in a Brooklyn social club. One of the gunmen was Vito Rizzuto, a man who would rise to the top of the underworld in Canada and then expand his reign across continents to become a global superboss. The Sixth Family, now revised and updated, reveals the hidden history of the rise of the Rizzuto clan, the alliances it forged around the world, and the bloody events that led to charges against Vito Rizzuto in the United States and Italy for racketeering and corruption.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Riveting.
- By Bill Venieris on 2021-11-22
Written by: Lee Lamothe, and others
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The Battle of Arnhem
- The Deadliest Airborne Operation of World War II
- Written by: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 16 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story5 out of 5 stars 28
On September 17, 1944, General Kurt Student, the founder of Nazi Germany's parachute forces, heard the groaning roar of airplane engines. He went out onto his balcony above the flat landscape of southern Holland to watch the air armada of Dakotas and gliders, carrying the legendary American 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions and the British 1st Airborne Division. Operation Market Garden, the plan to end the war by capturing the bridges leading to the Lower Rhine and beyond, was a bold concept, but could it have ever worked? The cost of failure was horrendous, above all for the Dutch.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Detailed and gripping
- By Sean Harris on 2023-03-27
Written by: Antony Beevor
Publisher's Summary
The Red Army had much to avenge when it finally reached the frontiers of the Third Reich in January 1945. Frenzied by their terrible experiences with Wehrmacht and SS brutality, they wreaked havoc - tanks crushing refugee columns, mass rape, pillage, and unimaginable destruction. Hundreds of thousands of women and children froze to death or were massacred; more than seven million fled westward from the fury of the Red Army. It was the most terrifying example of fire and sword ever known.
Antony Beevor has reconstructed the experiences of those millions caught up in the nightmare of the Third Reich's final collapse. The Fall of Berlin is a terrible story of pride, stupidity, fanaticism, revenge, and savagery, yet it is also one of astonishing endurance, self-sacrifice, and survival against all odds.
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Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- aaron
- 2018-07-02
Great book! Definitely recommend
Amazing book
Sean Barrett has a great speaking voice. If you are interested in ww2 a must listen.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Craig
- 2021-03-06
A good read
A good historical recount of WWII and the German Russian conflict. I recommend for history buffs.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Matthew
- 2021-01-19
Excellent and thorough!
I love WWII history. This is the best book about the end of the war that I’ve ever read.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Evertonian
- 2023-11-10
Brutal
Well presented. Well read. I a have enjoyed most of Beevor's work for many years. I understand why he can no longer visit Russia. Too many rapes committed by Red Army, He is not the only historian who has reported such atrocities.. I would recommend all of his books. Suggest you review his lectures on YouTube for greater understanding.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Langer MD
- 2022-06-09
Accessible - Albeit Somewhat Biased - "Textbook"
British Historian Antony Beevor clearly views the Soviet Military with disdain. Beevor exhaustively researches 'The Fall Of Berlin 1945' and informs it with carefully curated interviews, documents, and testimonials (it's doubtless precise - if not accurate).. but paints an unrelenting picture of Soviet duplicity, greed, acheive-at-all-costs geopolitical scheming, and atrocities (mass shootings, gang rape, etc.) as they took the battle to Germany in 1945.
By no means do I believe the "Selfless Liberators" narrative coming from the Russian Government since the War, but it's also hard to swallow that the entire Red Army was a horde of looters, thieves, rapists, and cold-blooded actual murderers - inflamed with propaganda and then given *wink-wink* tacit approval to commit legitimate War Crimes by single-minded politically-zealous/clinically-sadistic leadership.
That said, Beevor's vocabulary and prose are more than capable, the offensives and counter-offensives are punctilliously documented, and the descriptions of life for soldiers and civilians during the campaign are mind's-eye vivid. Beevor presents a far-from-boring chronicle that is somehow both academic *and* interesting for a casual audience.
It's unfortunate that this captivating book is paired with average narration from Sean Barrett. Don't get me wrong - Recorded Books did a creditable job casting the audiobook and provide exemplary technical support - but Barrett's performance is best characterized as "professional" (another reader could have done as good a job in my estimation).
His diction, timbre, and cadence are spot-on, but Barrett reads much too slowly (setting playback speed at 1.20X yielded the optimum experience) and he has a distinct monotone that isn't droning but renders the reading unspectacular.
Taken altogether - despite some reservations - I rate this audiobook a solid 9 stars out of 10. I got the book on sale and it was easily worth the $5.85 CDN I paid for it. If you can likewise do so, that's great - because it actually merits a Credit. Can Recommend.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Salui
- 2016-09-06
Engrossing
This is a very detailed account of the fall of Berlin and Nazi Germany in 1945. The book follows the allied invasion of the Fatherland, but the focus is on the Soviet army and its puppet master, Josef Stalin. The German army and population paid a very steep price for their nation's aggressive and utterly brutal invasions and the murders of millions. While the Soviet army was exacting revenge on the Germans, Stalin was busy purging his own people while the war was still very much in progress. It is a fascinating and thoroughly researched book that I highly recommend to anyone with an interest in WW2. The narration is quite first-rate as well.
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27 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rodney
- 2016-11-27
Great book
I've read (well listened) a ton of books on WWII and whatever is available for the last days of Berlin, and there's a few books on the issue. So with that said I'll say up front there isn't anything new in this book for me - but it's put together well and it's always great to have a refresher. I say that because if you know the basics of WWII and want to add some depth on the final weeks and days before VE day, this is a great place to start. If you know the last days of Hitler in detail, again you probably won't learn much, but this is still a very good take on the events and as I said for myself, it's a great refresher.
Some other notes. I generally prefer a narrative take on history and at the beginning of this book it was anything but that - BUT as the book moved along and the focus narrowed, the book got much more interesting and compelling.
The reader does a very good job, probably closer to a 4.4 as opposed to 5, but generally if you give someone a 4 other reviewers will think he must have not been that good - and that's not at all the case.
Overall if you read the description and it sounds interesting then you should very much enjoy this book. If you find your mind wandering a bit at the beginning, just stick with it, it picks up quite a bit.
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19 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sweetbaby
- 2016-10-20
Another great one by Beevor
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
If you are a history buff, this is one for your library. As usual, Mr. Beevor includes not just the history of the battles, but the effect on the civilians and their lives. It is wonderfully inclusive and a job to listen to as the narration is beautiful. I am looking forward to more listens by this narrator.
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anthony
- 2016-10-01
Another excellent book by Antony Beevor.
Narrative was excellent and managed to bring events to life. There wasn't hardly any dull parts of the book and kept me engaged.
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mike From Mesa
- 2018-04-08
Very good history of the Fall of Berlin
This is the 3rd of Antony Beevor's books that I have read, and it is the best. It is not the first book I have read on the Russian Army's capture of Berlin during World War II, but it is consistently interesting, avoids the trap of being overwhelmed by the details of the battles, and never loses sight of the people involved, both Germans and Soviet. While many of the actions taking place during the battle were also covered in the other books on this topic that I read, there was also a great deal of information which I had never seen in print before and explained some things that had always been a puzzle to me.
The Red Army suffered terrible casualty rates during the fighting, but the number of soldiers in the army never seemed to drop significantly and I never knew why until I read this book. The Soviets drafted prisoners from the Gulag, newly conquered Polish subjects and liberated POWs to keep their strength up. They instituted classes to insure that the Red Army soldiers hated the Germans, and that proved to be a problem when German territory was conquered. They freed German POWs to go back to their old commands and persuade other German soldiers to surrender. The book is full of interesting information about actions both the Soviet and German armies took that were unknown to me prior to reading this book as well as some incidents that beg even bigger questions - were there really women SS officers? Did the Russians really have any interest in invading Denmark? Why was Zhukov kept in the dark about the Russian Army finding Hitler's body? And much, much more.
The basic outlines of the story of the Russian effort during World War II has largely been of only secondary interest in the West since most of the writing about the war naturally tended to cover the battles in Western Europe where the British, French, American, Canadian and other western soldiers were involved, or the war in the Pacific. There have been a number of recent books about the battles in the East - Stalingrad, Kursk, Warsaw, Prussia and, of course, Berlin, and this book adds nicely to those books.
The narration of the book is excellent, although some might find the British accent of the narrator annoying. Personally the narrator's accent disappeared for me after about 10 minutes of listening when the immediacy of the events took over. I recommend this book to anyone interested in how the German state and Army slowly fell apart as the Russian approached Berlin, how the Red Army conquered Berlin and how the Red Army treated both the defeated German army and the civilians.
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- steve
- 2020-12-15
several hours are about rape
I love ww2 history and this book has some great information and details, but I could not bear to finish it after several hours of detailed description of Rape.. pretty much it's all about how russia raped germany in every possible sense..
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Porter
- 2016-11-20
Excellent!
Well researched and quite complete.
This is a horror story, frightening beyond
anything that fiction could attempt to portray.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Robert
- 2016-11-29
Excellent history!
I thoroughly enjoyed the writing and narration. I highly recommend it to the WW2 buff.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- David
- 2016-11-04
Good enough read but not top shelf
The book is basically a routine chronological account with a bit of color added here and there. Some of these where new to me and others included more detail. I do not consider it a first tier work, however.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- S. F. Thomas
- 2021-06-27
Best Book On The Subject
I have read several books on the fall of Berlin and none approach this in thoroughness and quality. The author takes the reader from macro to micro and back again with a smoothness that gives the sense of the immense scale of the conflict, while preserving the fact that war is made up of individual stories of tragedy and triumph.
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3 people found this helpful