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Bismarck's War
- The Franco-Prussian War and the Making of Modern Europe
- Narrated by: Sarah Borges
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
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Publisher's summary
A new history of the war that toppled the French Empire, unified Germany, and set Europe on the path to World War I
Among the conflicts that convulsed Europe during the nineteenth century, none was more startling and consequential than the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. Deliberately engineered by Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the war succeeded in shattering French supremacy, deposing Napoleon III, and uniting a new German Empire. But it also produced brutal military innovations and a precarious new imbalance of power that together set the stage for the devastating world wars of the next century.
In Bismarck’s War, historian Rachel Chrastil chronicles events on the battlefield in full, while also showing in intimate detail how the war reshaped and blurred the boundaries between civilian and soldier as the fighting swept across France. The result is the definitive history of a transformative conflict that changed Europe, and the history of warfare, forever.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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“Rachel Chrastil colorfully describes how the Franco-Prussian War destroyed the long European peace established after Napoleon's defeat in 1815. Beginning as a midsummer cabinet war between monarchs, one of them Napoleon's nephew, Bismarck's invasion of France bogged down in winter rain and snow, and became a rancorous war of peoples that kindled the inferno of World War I.”—Geoffrey Wawro, author of The Franco-Prussian War and A Mad Catastrophe
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For Americans, World War II began in December of 1941, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor; but for Poland, the war began on September 1, 1939, when Hitler's soldiers invaded, followed later that month by Stalin's Red Army. The conflict that followed saw the debut of many of the features that would come to define the later war-blitzkrieg, the targeting of civilians, ethnic cleansing, and indiscriminate aerial bombing-yet it is routinely overlooked by historians.
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Always Overlooked
- By C. G. Telcontar on 05-27-21
By: Roger Moorhouse
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The American Heritage History of World War I
- By: S. L. A. Marshall
- Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
- Length: 19 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Drawing on a lifetime of military experience, Brigadier General S. L. A. Marshall, "one of our most distinguished military writers" ( New York Times), delivers this unflinching history of the war that was supposed to end all wars. From the perspective of more than half a century, Marshall examines the blunders and complacency that turned what everyone thought would be a brief campaign and an easy victory into a relentless four-year slaughter that left 10 million dead and 20 million wounded.
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WW1 from American point of view
- By Jean on 10-19-12
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Catastrophe 1914
- Europe Goes to War
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 25 hrs and 25 mins
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From the acclaimed military historian, a new history of the outbreak of World War I: the dramatic stretch from the breakdown of diplomacy to the battles - the Marne, Ypres, Tannenberg - that marked the frenzied first year before the war bogged down in the trenches. In Catastrophe 1914, Max Hastings gives us a conflict different from the familiar one of barbed wire, mud, and futility.
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I thought I knew the battle of the frontiers
- By Anonymous User on 04-02-21
By: Max Hastings
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Crimea
- By: Orlando Figes
- Narrated by: Malk Williams
- Length: 20 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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The terrible conflict that dominated the mid-19th century, the Crimean War, killed at least 800,000 men and pitted Russia against a formidable coalition of Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. It was a war for territory, provoked by fear that if the Ottoman Empire were to collapse then Russia could control a huge swathe of land from the Balkans to the Persian Gulf. But it was also a war of religion, driven by a fervent, populist and ever more ferocious belief by the Tsar and his ministers that it was Russia's task to rule all Orthodox Christians and control the Holy Land.
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Outstanding History of the Crimean War
- By Rick Sailor on 11-08-18
By: Orlando Figes
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The Making of Oliver Cromwell
- By: Ronald Hutton
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) - the only English commoner to become the overall head of state - is one of the great figures of history, but his character was very complex. He was at once courageous and devout, devious and self-serving; as a parliamentarian, he was devoted to his cause; as a soldier, he was ruthless. Cromwell's speeches and writings surpass in quantity those of any other ruler of England before Victoria, and, for those seeking to understand him, he has usually been taken at his word. In this remarkable new work, Ronald Hutton untangles the facts from the fiction.
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Very specialized
- By Draperbart on 04-23-22
By: Ronald Hutton
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The Battle for Spain
- The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 18 hrs and 48 mins
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Antony Beevor has written a completely updated and revised account of one of the most bitter and hard-fought wars of the 20th century. With new material gleaned from Russian archives and numerous other sources, this brisk and accessible audiobook (Spain's number-one best seller for 12 weeks) provides a balanced and penetrating perspective, explaining the tensions that led to this terrible overture to World War II and affording new insights into the war - its causes, course, and consequences.
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Not an Accurate History Book
- By Jose on 10-16-19
By: Antony Beevor
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The Fortress
- The Siege of Przemysl and the Making of Europe's Bloodlands
- By: Alexander Watson
- Narrated by: James Edward Thomas
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
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In September 1914, just a month into World War I, the Russian army laid siege to the fortress city of Przemysl, the Hapsburg Empire's most important bulwark against invasion. For six months, against storm and starvation, the ragtag garrison bitterly resisted, denying the Russians a quick victory. Only in March 1915 did the city fall, bringing occupation, persecution, and brutal ethnic cleansing. In The Fortress, historian Alexander Watson tells the story of the battle for Przemysl, showing how it marked the dawn of total war in Europe.
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Fascinating story about eastern and Central Europe
- By John D. on 05-10-23
By: Alexander Watson
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Winning Independence
- The Decisive Years of the Revolutionary War, 1778-1781
- By: John Ferling
- Narrated by: Rhett Samuel Price
- Length: 24 hrs and 48 mins
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It was 1778, and the recent American victory at Saratoga had netted the US a powerful ally in France. Many, including General George Washington, presumed France’s entrance into the war meant independence was just around the corner. Meanwhile, having lost an entire army at Saratoga, Great Britain pivoted to a 'southern strategy'. The army would henceforth seek to regain its southern colonies, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, a highly profitable segment of its prewar American empire.
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Superb
- By Aldy on 06-10-21
By: John Ferling
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Eight Days in May
- The Final Collapse of the Third Reich
- By: Volker Ullrich, Jefferson Chase - translator
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
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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.
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Interesting history incompetently read
- By Oralabor Bondurant on 01-26-22
By: Volker Ullrich, and others
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The First World War
- By: John Keegan
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 20 hrs and 22 mins
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The First World War created the modern world. A conflict of unprecedented ferocity, it abruptly ended the relative peace and prosperity of the Victorian era, unleashing such demons of the 20th century as mechanized warfare and mass death. It also helped to usher in the ideas that have shaped our times - modernism in the arts, new approaches to psychology and medicine, radical thoughts about economics and society - and in so doing shattered the faith in rationalism and liberalism that had prevailed in Europe since the Enlightenment.
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Best Military History of First World War
- By Stephen F (SPFJR) on 06-13-19
By: John Keegan
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The Liberation of Paris
- How Eisenhower, de Gaulle, and von Choltitz Saved the City of Light
- By: Jean Edward Edward Smith
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
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Prize-winning and best-selling historian Jean Edward Smith tells the dramatic story of the liberation of Paris during World War II - a triumph that was achieved through the remarkable efforts of Americans, French, and Germans, all racing to save the city from destruction.
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A great story, told with authority
- By An Alexandria music lover on 09-11-19
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Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45
- By: Barbara W. Tuchman
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 29 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall
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In this Pulitzer Prize - winning biography, Barbara Tuchman explores American relations with China through the experiences of one of our men on the ground. In the cantankerous but level-headed "Vinegar Joe", Tuchman found a subject who allowed her to perform, in the words of the National Review, "one of the historian's most envied magic acts: conjoining a fine biography of a man with a fascinating epic story."
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A period that directly affected our world today
- By Charlotte on 08-29-12
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Narration
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In 1990, a country disappeared. When the Iron Curtain fell, East Germany ceased to be. For over forty years, from the ruin of the Second World War to the cusp of a new millennium, the German Democratic Republic presented a radically different Germany than what had come before and what exists today. Socialist solidarity, secret police, central planning, barbed wire: this was a Germany forged on the fault lines of ideology and geopolitics. Acclaimed historian Katja Hoyer sets aside the usual Cold War caricatures of the GDR to offer a kaleidoscopic new vision of this vanished country.
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Well written and accurate
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What listeners say about Bismarck's War
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Trevor A.
- 04-01-24
Kind of hard to follow
The booked jumped around a bit chronologically and kind of made things hard to follow. Also for a book called Bismarck’s war, there is precious little about Bismarck.
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- Kelsey
- 10-17-23
Excellent performance, story not so much
Reader was very good. Very little about Bismarck. Book did not represent its title at all.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Maureen Hannah
- 04-03-24
No breathing space in the narration
It's a good solid book overall, giving anecdotes from individuals involved in the war.
The narrator has good inflection and pronounces French flawlessly. My complaint is that there are no pauses. Natural speech and especially that of actors, leaves space for the reader to absorb what was said and take a break. The narration became tedious rather quickly. I could listen not much more than half an hour at a time.
That said, it's still a good and thorough book that makes its intended point.
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- Anonymous User
- 09-28-23
Incredible
An incredible account of the Franco Prussian War. Sarah Borges made this this wonderfully written book by Rachel Chrastil even better. Dramatically read, perfect tone, and inflection. Perhaps the best I’ve ever heard.
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- Michael Allan Dawson
- 01-16-24
Solid Overview on Looked-Over Topic
While I thought the subject matter was handled well, I felt that it read too much like a blandish university lecture series without an overall thrust to give it some oomph. Still though, if you’re interested in the topic it’s worth a listen. I found the lecturer to be a bit distracting at first but I got used to her.
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- David
- 03-24-24
Good history of war but limited
Good history of battles and French civilian campaigns but superficial in other areas. Prussia is credited with superior governance (Bismarck and Wilhelm I), better military leadership and training (Moltke, general staff, war college, division level), better military planning (faster German mustering of soldiers, German war plan vs French lack of plan), German deference of civil authority to military on battle field (Wilhelm and Bismarck left command of army to Moltke; Wilhelm ordered Moltke out of Bismarck’s sphere of diplomacy and armistice negotiations, all in line with recent lesson of Lincoln in US Civil War). But why did Prussia excel in all these areas? Little insight from author. Why was French military so poorly prepared for war? Why did French military and generals not adapt to lessons from US Civil War? How did France military and training change after the Franco-Prussian War? This is more a political than military history of the war. The PDF includes a couple maps but lacks diagrams of battles, comparisons of armaments, charts comparing each side’s potential vs actual forces. Performance is very good but sometimes too dramatic. Book could have been much better.
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- A M Brown
- 12-25-23
The performance of the reader.
The research was great but the story was incoherent and hard to follow. One at times became lost at what was going in the history.
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- Riana Nordquist
- 09-06-24
It’s more of a study and gender and race issues than about the Franco pression war.
The author is more concerned about current tastes in gender and race issues than giving a truthful and insightful account of the Franco Prussian war. And why it’s called Bismarck’s War is inexplicable: there’s barely anything regarding Bismarck.
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-08-24
The Narrator Kills It.
She (narrator) killed what should have been a good long story into a n experience devoid of human warmth and color. A DISASTER!
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- Chris Corsini
- 09-26-23
It's rare I don't finish a book...
...but I didn't finish this one. The title of this book is "Bismarck's War," but by four hours in, he had barely been mentioned. The author spends very little time discussing the cause(s) of the war, to the point where I thought the story-telling was going to be non-linear and she'd come back to it. I'd skip this one.
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4 people found this helpful