
Blood and Iron
The Rise and Fall of the German Empire; 1871-1918
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Narrated by:
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Natasha Soudek
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By:
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Katja Hoyer
About this listen
This vivid 50-year history of Germany from 1871-1918 - which inspired events that forever changed the European continent - is the story of the Second Reich from its violent beginnings and rise to power to its calamitous defeat in the First World War.
Before 1871, Germany was not yet a nation but simply an idea.
Its founder, Otto von Bismarck, had a formidable task at hand. How would he bring 39 individual states under the yoke of a single Kaiser? How would he convince proud Prussians, Bavarians, and Rhinelanders to become Germans? Once united, could the young European nation wield enough power to rival the empires of Britain and France - all without destroying itself in the process?
In this unique study of five decades that changed the course of modern history, Katja Hoyer tells the story of German Empire’s beginning to its defeat in World War I.
This often startling narrative is a dramatic tale of national self-discovery, social upheaval, and realpolitik that ended, as it started, in blood and iron.
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- By: Rachel Chrastil
- Narrated by: Sarah Borges
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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It's rare I don't finish a book...
- By Chris Corsini on 09-26-23
By: Rachel Chrastil
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November 1918
- The German Revolution
- By: Robert Gerwarth
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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The German Revolution of November 1918 is nowadays largely forgotten outside Germany. It is generally regarded as a failure even by those who have heard of it, a missed opportunity that paved the way for the rise of the Nazis and the catastrophe to come. Robert Gerwarth argues here that to view the German Revolution in this way is a serious misjudgment. Not only did it bring down the authoritarian monarchy of the Hohenzollern, it also brought into being the first ever German democracy in an amazingly bloodless way.
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Fresh Historical Perspective
- By Greg Fulkerson on 11-04-20
By: Robert Gerwarth
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Empire of Sand
- How Britain Made the Middle East
- By: Walter Reid
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Working from both primary and secondary sources, Walter Reid explores Britain's role in the creation of the modern Middle East and the rise of Zionism from the early years of the twentieth century to 1948, when Britain handed over Palestine to United Nations' control. From the decisions that Britain made has flowed much of the instability of the region and of the worldwide tensions that threaten the twenty-first century; this thought-provoking book considers how much Britain was to blame.
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It's a must read.
- By Eduardo Gimenez on 03-22-25
By: Walter Reid
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Time and Power
- Visions of History in German Politics, from the Thirty Years' War to the Third Reich
- By: Christopher Clark
- Narrated by: Grant Cartwright
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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This book presents new perspectives on how the exercise of power is shaped by different notions of time. Acclaimed historian Christopher Clark draws on four key figures from German history—Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg-Prussia, Frederick the Great, Otto von Bismarck, and Adolf Hitler—to look at history through a temporal lens and ask how historical actors and their regimes embody unique conceptions of time.
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The Ghosts of Cannae
- Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic
- By: Robert L. O'Connell
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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For fans of Victor Davis Hanson, Donald Kagan, and Barry Strauss comes a rich, sweeping account of the most imitated---and vicious---battle in history.
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Hannibal's Legacy
- By Douglas on 11-10-10
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Henry Clay
- The Essential American
- By: David S. Heidler, Jeanne T. Heidler
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 30 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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He was the Great Compromiser, a canny and colorful legislator whose life mirrors the story of America from its founding until the eve of the Civil War. Speaker of the House, senator, secretary of state, five-time presidential candidate, and idol to the young Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay is captured in full at last in this rich and sweeping biography.
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"probably" "possibly" "maybe" "could have"
- By Thor Finn on 08-10-18
By: David S. Heidler, and others
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Frederick the Great
- A Military History
- By: Dennis Showalter
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Frederick the Great is one of history's most important leaders. Famed for his military successes and domestic reforms, his campaigns were a watershed in the history of Europe, securing Prussia's place as a continental power and inaugurating a new pattern of total war that was to endure until 1916. However, much myth surrounds this enigmatic man's personality and his role as politician, warrior, and king.
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Thrashed insensibly by over writing
- By Jeff Lacy on 09-27-20
By: Dennis Showalter
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The Fall of Robespierre
- 24 Hours in Revolutionary Paris
- By: Colin Jones
- Narrated by: Sasha Higgins
- Length: 18 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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The day of 9 Thermidor (July 27, 1794) is universally acknowledged as a major turning-point in the history of the French Revolution. At midnight, Maximilien Robespierre was planning to destroy one of the most dangerous plots that the Revolution had faced. By midnight at the close of the day, his world had been turned upside down. He was an outlaw, on the run, and himself wanted for conspiracy against the Republic. He shot himself shortly afterwards. Half-dead, the guillotine finished him off. The Fall of Robespierre provides an hour-by-hour analysis of these twenty-four hours.
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Really interesting but. . .
- By Alan M on 08-14-23
By: Colin Jones
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Empire of the Black Sea
- The Rise and Fall of the Mithridatic World
- By: Duane W. Roller
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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What is commonly called the kingdom of Pontos flourished for over 200 years in the coastal regions of the Black Sea. At its peak in the early first century BC, it included much of the southern, eastern, and northern littoral, becoming one of the most important Hellenistic dynasties not founded by a successor of Alexander the Great. Previous histories of Pontos have focused almost exclusively on the career of its last ruler. Setting that famous reign in its wide historical context, Empire of the Black Sea is an engaging account of a powerful yet little-known ancient dynasty.
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More of an academic journal than a book.
- By Amazon Customer on 07-05-23
By: Duane W. Roller
phenomenally informative, beautifully executed
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An Intersection History
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Page turner. Gorgeous narration. Incredible voice.
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Great overview of the period
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Excellent listen
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Fascinating History of a Key Period
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outstanding work.
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The narrator is just AWFUL. So ignorant she cannot even pronounce "armistice" correctly, and obviously couldn't be bothered to check how to pronounce the names even of world-famous World War I battles - Verdun, the Somme - or of German rivers correctly. But she kept getting all breathy about events in history. Obviously, if anyone 'edited' her recitation was equally uninformed or just couldn't be bothered. Will never listen to anything this narrator has wrecked again.
Useful social history; dreadful narrator
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I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the book, and I give the narrator, Natasha Soudek, special credit for her performance and correct pronunciation.
Succinct, Informative, and Enjoyable
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Excellent survey of German and European history
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