R. G.
- 8
- reviews
- 2
- helpful votes
- 25
- ratings
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Nuclear War
- A Scenario
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,321
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,051
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,052
Every generation, a journalist has looked deep into the heart of the nuclear military establishment: the technologies, the safeguards, the plans, and the risks. These investigations are vital to how we understand the world we really live in—where one nuclear missile will beget one in return, and where the choreography of the world’s end requires massive decisions made on seconds’ notice with information that is only as good as the intelligence we have. Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario explores this ticking-clock scenario.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Apocalyptic
- By Anonymous User on 04-12-24
- Nuclear War
- A Scenario
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
Depth of research
Reviewed: 09-06-24
Fanastic deep dive into nuclear policy and the systems used to impliment policy. The author has an obvious disdain for the existence of nuclear weapons and the US policies of deterrence, retaliation and launch on warning. While I agree with some of her positions, her emotional advocacy colors what is otherwise a very well researched and highly objective work. Some of her opposition to our strong nuclear arsenal and stated policy of retaliation ignores the reality that the world includes many nuclear nation states and most are unstable, reckless and hostile to the US. Her critical tone on the American use of fission bombs over Japan is out of context. Looking backward at a war the US won gives us a calm confidence that didn't exist just four years after Pearl Harbor when our military planners had casualty estimates of 1 Million human lives. This is the alternative that Harry Truman and Douglas MacArthur had before them when considering the use of nuclear bombs. Many of us wouldn't exist today if those Bombs didn't fall on Japan.
Still a fantastic read. Highest marks for the depth of detail and research - it comes at great cost of time to the author. It was time well spent. Despite my differing views on nation strategy, I still rate the book at five stars.
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The Dictator's Handbook
- Why Bad Behavior Is Almost Always Good Politics
- By: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 162
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 139
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith’s canonical book on political science turned conventional wisdom on its head. They started from a single assertion: leaders do whatever keeps them in power. They don’t care about the “national interest”—or even their subjects—unless they must. Newly updated to reflect the global rise of authoritarianism, this clever and accessible book illustrates how leaders amass and retain power. As Bueno de Mesquita and Smith show, democracy is essentially just a convenient fiction.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Biased inserted compared to the original
- By Bob on 06-07-24
- The Dictator's Handbook
- Why Bad Behavior Is Almost Always Good Politics
- By: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
Abundance of Statistics.
Reviewed: 07-27-24
Good detailed dive into the fundamentals of political power dynamics. Authors discuss the causes and effects of the two major political power structures - autocratic and democratic. They provide abundant statistics and graphs to support their models and then weave examples and anecdotes throughout. Great read for today's changing world. I expect most of the hypothesis will still be relevent a century from now.
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Endurance
- Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
- By: Alfred Lansing
- Narrated by: Tim Pigott-Smith
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Abridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,222
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,893
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1,884
You'll be awe-inspired by the heroic efforts of the crew of the Endurance, a ship that battled its way for six weeks through thousands of miles of pack ice while ironically only a day's sail from its destination.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Get the Unabridged one (also on Audible)
- By MP on 07-28-03
- Endurance
- Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
- By: Alfred Lansing
- Narrated by: Tim Pigott-Smith
The perseverance of the crew in the face of unending setbacks and obstacles.
Reviewed: 03-12-24
Well read story of survival and perseverance. The crew faced a test of physical and mental endurance over an unbelievable expanse of time and ocean.
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Man's Search for Meaning
- By: Viktor E. Frankl
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 4 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49,268
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40,707
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Story5 out of 5 stars 40,594
Man’s Search for Meaning is the chilling yet inspirational story of Viktor Frankl’s struggle to hold on to hope during the unspeakable horrors of his years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of those he treated in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering, but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Read This if You're Very Sick and/or Thinking About Ending Your Life
- By Derek on 07-21-15
- Man's Search for Meaning
- By: Viktor E. Frankl
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
Outstanding - One of a Kind Read
Reviewed: 12-07-21
Important content written and read in a straightforward tone. Begins with the author’s experiences in multiple WW2 concentration camps. Dr Frankl then uses his experiences of humanity’s worst crimes and greatest triumphs to illustrate states of mental Health, his philosophy and various therapies. In depth but not overly technical. This is a book about humanity more than psychiatry.
Should be required reading for the human race.
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Midnight in Chernobyl
- By: Adam Higginbotham
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,869
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,892
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Story5 out of 5 stars 6,853
April 25, 1986 in Chernobyl was a turning point in world history. The disaster not only changed the world’s perception of nuclear power and the science that spawned it, but also our understanding of the planet’s delicate ecology. With the images of the abandoned homes and playgrounds beyond the barbed wire of the 30-kilometer Exclusion Zone, the rusting graveyards of contaminated trucks and helicopters, the farmland lashed with black rain, the event fixed for all time the notion of radiation as an invisible killer.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Midnight in Chernobyl is the book to listen to.
- By NH on 03-21-19
- Midnight in Chernobyl
- By: Adam Higginbotham
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
Important Piece of History
Reviewed: 05-23-21
This important part of our planet’s history is well told with excruciating detail that is never tedious and keeps the listener engaged. The author’s extensive, patient research provides the foundation for the most complete account of the Chernobyl tragedy. A must read for history buffs, science buffs and anyone with a curiosity about the secrets that the Soviet machine buried for decades after the disaster.
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Strongmen
- Mussolini to the Present
- By: Ruth Ben-Ghiat
- Narrated by: Chloe Cannon
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,034
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 892
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 890
Ruth Ben-Ghiat is the expert on the "strongman" playbook employed by authoritarian demagogues from Mussolini to Putin. In Strongmen, she lays bare the blueprint these leaders have followed over the past 100 years, and empowers us to recognize, resist, and prevent their disastrous rule in the future.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fascism expert talks fascism
- By sparky on 12-04-20
- Strongmen
- Mussolini to the Present
- By: Ruth Ben-Ghiat
- Narrated by: Chloe Cannon
Good Historical Perspective
Reviewed: 03-29-21
Great analysis with facts, quotes and anecdotes woven in. Historical perspective alongside current events. Well read.
Would highly recommend it for 1933, 2016 and today.
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2 people found this helpful
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Give and Take
- A Revolutionary Approach to Success
- By: Adam M. Grant PhD
- Narrated by: Brian Keith Lewis
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,490
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,807
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,800
For generations, we have focused on the individual drivers of success: Passion, hard work, talent, and luck. But in today’s dramatically reconfigured world, success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others. In Give and Take, Adam Grant, an award-winning researcher and Wharton’s highest-rated professor, examines the surprising forces that shape why some people rise to the top of the success ladder while others sink to the bottom.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Give ‘Til it Helps - Your Company
- By Cynthia on 04-15-13
- Give and Take
- A Revolutionary Approach to Success
- By: Adam M. Grant PhD
- Narrated by: Brian Keith Lewis
Nonfiction Page Turner
Reviewed: 01-16-21
Great compelling subject with real life examples and data woven throughout the book. Like all Adam Grant books, this was interesting, educational and entertaining.
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The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
- A History of Nazi Germany
- By: William L. Shirer
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 57 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 18,101
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 15,631
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Story5 out of 5 stars 15,564
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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Held my interest for 57 hours and 13 minutes
- By Jonnie on 11-08-10
- The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
- A History of Nazi Germany
- By: William L. Shirer
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
Excellent Historical Observation
Reviewed: 03-04-20
Great chronology of one of the most significant periods of human history. Told from the perspective of the journalist with a front row seat to the rise of Adolph Hitler and all of his enablers. Exceptional detail and depth without being at all tedious. Must read for any student of history.
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