For the Common Defense, 3rd Edition
A Military History of the United States from 1607 to 2012
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Narrated by:
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John Pruden
About this listen
Called "the preeminent survey of American military history" by Russell F. Weigley, America's foremost military historian, For the Common Defense is an essential contribution to the field of military history.
This carefully researched third edition provides the most complete and current history of United States defense policy and military institutions and the conduct of America's wars. Without diminishing the value of its earlier editions, authors Allan R. Millett, Peter Maslowski, and William B. Feis provide a fresh perspective on the continuing issues that characterize national security policy.
For the Common Defense examines the nation's pluralistic military institutions in both peace and war, the tangled civil-military relations that created the country's commitment to civilian control of the military, the armed forces' increasing nationalization and professionalization, and America's growing reliance on sophisticated technologies spawned by the Industrial Revolution and the Computer and Information Ages.
This edition is also a timely reminder that vigilance is indeed the price of liberty, but that vigilance has always been - and continues to be - a costly, complex, and contentious undertaking in a world that continually tests America's willingness and ability to provide for the common defense.
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- A Military History
- By: Andrew J. Bacevich
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro, Andrew J. Bacevich
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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From the end of World War II until 1980, virtually no American soldiers were killed in action while serving in the Greater Middle East. Since 1990, virtually no American soldiers have been killed in action anywhere else. What caused this shift? Andrew J. Bacevich, one of the country's most respected voices on foreign affairs, offers an incisive critical history of this ongoing military enterprise - now more than 30 years old and with no end in sight.
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A Key to Understanding the US Need for Perp. War
- By Darwin8u on 05-01-16
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Reconsidering the American Way of War
- US Military Practice from the Revolution to Afghanistan
- By: Antulio Joseph Echevarria
- Narrated by: James Killavey
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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This audiobook challenges several longstanding notions about the American way of war. It examines US military practice (strategic and operational) from the War of Independence to the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan to determine what patterns, if any, existed in the way Americans have used military force. Echevarria surveys all major US wars and most every small conflict in the country's military history.
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Excellent overview of complex subject
- By Joe on 11-25-14
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Tower of Skulls
- A History of the Asia-Pacific War, Vol. 1 (July 1937 - May 1942)
- By: Richard B. Frank
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 26 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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This story casts penetrating light on how struggles in Europe and Asia merged into a tightly entwined global war. It features not just battles, but also the sweeping political, economic, and social effects of the war, and are graced with a rich tapestry of individual characters from top-tier political and military figures down to ordinary servicemen, as well as the accounts of civilians of all races and ages.
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Outstanding
- By Patrick on 03-16-20
By: Richard B. Frank
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The Second World Wars
- How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won
- By: Victor Davis Hanson
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 23 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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The Second World Wars examines how combat unfolded in the air, at sea, and on land to show how distinct conflicts among disparate combatants coalesced into one interconnected global war. Drawing on 3,000 years of military history, Victor Davis Hanson argues that despite its novel industrial barbarity, neither the war's origins nor its geography were unusual. Nor was its ultimate outcome surprising. The Axis powers were well prepared to win limited border conflicts, but once they blundered into global war, they had no hope of victory.
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The story behind the story of WW 2
- By LARRY DINKIN on 02-07-19
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Third Reich Victorious
- Alternate Histories of World War II
- By: Peter G. Tsouras
- Narrated by: David Baker
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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This book is a stimulating and entirely plausible insight into how Hitler and his generals might have defeated the Allies, and a convincing sideways look at the Third Reich's bid at world domination in World War II. What would have happened if, for example, the Germans captured the whole of the BEF at Dunkirk? Or if the RAF had been defeated in the Battle of Britain?
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A fresh look at WW2 - false but makes one wonder.
- By Eggert Eggertsson on 09-05-15
By: Peter G. Tsouras
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The Vietnam War: History in an Hour
- By: Neil Smith
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 1 hr and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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History for busy people. Listen to a concise history of the Vietnam War in just one hour. War, what is it good for? The Vietnam War: History In an Hour gives a gripping account of the most important Cold War-era conflict, fought between the United States and the Viet Cong, the Vietnam People’s Army and their Communist allies. It was one of the most traumatic military conflicts America has ever been involved in – and provoked a backlash of anti-war protests at home.
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Garbage
- By Michael on 08-06-12
By: Neil Smith
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Hitler's Soldiers
- The German Army in the Third Reich
- By: Ben H. Shepherd
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 26 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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For decades after 1945, it was generally believed that the German army, professional and morally decent, had largely stood apart from the SS, Gestapo, and other corps of the Nazi machine. Ben Shepherd draws on a wealth of primary sources and recent scholarship to convey a much darker, more complex picture. For the first time, the German army is examined throughout the Second World War, across all combat theaters and occupied regions, and from multiple perspectives: its battle performance, social composition, relationship with the Nazi state, and involvement in war crimes and occupation.
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Thorough and scholarly
- By Mary A. on 03-23-18
By: Ben H. Shepherd
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World War 2
- A Captivating Guide From Beginning to End
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 2 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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The Second World War was one of the most traumatic events in human history. Across the world, existing conflicts became connected, entangling nations in a vast web of violence. It was fought on land, sea, and air, touching every inhabited continent. Over 55 million people died, some of them combatants, some civilians caught up in the violence, and some murdered by their own governments.
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Too superficial
- By Luciano H Apponi on 01-09-18
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Spanish Civil War
- A History from Beginning to End
- By: Hourly History
- Narrated by: Stephen Paul Aulridge Jr
- Length: 1 hr and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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The Spanish Civil War was much more than just an overture to World War II. It was a war born out of schisms in Spanish society between rich and poor, monarchists and Republicans, the right and the left, and between those who supported the church and those who saw it as an instrument of oppression. For all its brutality and horror, the Spanish Civil War was a conflict between ideals often fought by volunteers on each side who truly believed that they were helping to build a better world.
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Only honest book I have found on the subject.
- By brendan f kelly on 05-18-21
By: Hourly History
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Too anglocentric
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What listeners say about For the Common Defense, 3rd Edition
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Evry1sLostButMe
- 11-18-20
A fantastic Military Textbo
I used this in a military history class in College. This updated version is far better in all regards.
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- Michael
- 04-22-21
Comprehensive but with Distracting Pronunciation
Mr. Pruden's performance would've benefited from learning to better pronounce unfamiliar names and locations beforehand.
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- Zach
- 07-22-19
An Excellent Perspective
The book provides a comprehensive and interesting exploration of the complex relationship between the government and armed forces of the United States.
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- Hermione
- 01-31-23
The chapters in the book are badly labled
The chapters in the audiobook don't line up with the chapters in the physical book. I'm reading this book for class and this caused a great deal of confusion. The chapters in the audiobook are segments of the actual books chapters, but this is unclear to the casual eye, and took some testing to actually figure out where I was in the physical book compared with the audiobook
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- Darrin
- 06-08-18
For me, It's a supplemental textbook...
I'm reading this for Military History 1 for my online bachelor's program. The book covers so much, but so far, so good. I have a physical copy and so this audible version is supplemental to the printed version. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to put their loved ones to sleep on a long road trip for its' 33-hour length.
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- john carrillo
- 09-21-21
Great for school
Great resource for school I was able to study off this book and use it as a great resource
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- JM
- 09-15-18
thanks audible
As a military history teacher this version makes course prep so much easier. I prefer The American Way of War as a text book for students but this is what I use for lecture. this has helped me significantly. PLEASE keep producing audiobooks of common textbooks.
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- Baal K'reeah
- 08-24-23
Not a Military History
If you are looking for a Military History of the United States from 1607 to 2012 you will not find it here. This is a history of politics surrounding military appropriations. Found it quite uninteresting and did not fulfill its promise.
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- ThrasherSOWT
- 08-27-18
Interesting politics
And just a few minutes into the introduction, a blatant and historically inaccurate note on our common defense, that being the 2nd Amendment.
I have requested a refund from Amazon.
As a graduate fellow in US History, this insulting interpretation will not be iterated in my presence.
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1 person found this helpful