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Hitler's Rockets
- The Story of the V-2s
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 16 hrs and 16 mins
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Editorial reviews
Rumors that the Nazis had developed a new weapon capable of traveling at a supersonic speed surfaced during the early 1940s, but Winston Churchill’s scientific advisor deemed the technology to be impossible. Yet, in 1944, the unthinkable happened: Britain came under a ballistic missile attack - courtesy of the German armed forces - from outside its borders. Hitler’s Rockets, by author and military historian Norman Longmate, recounts the history of this deadly weapon, featuring Englishman Steve West performing the text with his sonorous, dulcet voice.
Publisher's summary
Britain was the first country to ever suffer a ballistic missile attack from beyond its borders. This book tells the story of that attack. During 1942 and 1943, confusing rumours circulated about the German development of a 'giant rocket'. Most experts, including Winston Churchill's own scientific adviser Lord Cherwell, declared that such a weapon was impossible. It was only after the patient sifting of European intelligence that the most influential doubters were convinced such a weapon was being built. Then on 8 September 1944, the first V-2 landed in Chiswick. Between then and the final rocket impact on 27 March 1945, more than a thousand landed on British soil, killing nearly three thousand people and seriously injuring more than six thousand.
Arriving at supersonic speed, without warning, and with the defenses powerless against them they did enormous damage and had a serious effect on morale. In Hitler's Rockets, Norman Longmate tells the story of this technically brilliant weapon, the ancestor and forerunner of all subsequent ballistic missiles. He reveals the devious power-play within the German armed forces and the Nazi establishment which so influenced the creation of the rockets. He also shows through contemporary documents and protagonists' accounts how the British intelligence skillfully pieced together often contradictory evidence as it sought to establish the true nature of the threat.
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- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 25 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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A comprehensive history of Britain's greatest bomber plane. The Spitfire and the Lancaster were the two RAF weapons of victory in the Second World War, but the glamour of the fighter has tended to overshadow the performance of the heavy bomber. Yet without the Lancaster, Britain would never have been able to take the fight to the German homeland. Highlights the scale of the bomber's achievements, including the famous Dambusters attacks. With its vast bomb bay, ease of handling and surprising speed, the mighty Lancaster transformed the effectiveness of the Bomber Command.
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Personal connection to a book section
- By Paul on 01-21-19
By: Leo McKinstry
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The Battle of Britain
- Five Months That Changed History; May-October 1940
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 26 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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The Battle of Britain paints a stirring picture of an extraordinary summer when the fate of the world hung by a thread. Historian James Holland has now written the definitive account of those months based on extensive new research from around the world, including thousands of new interviews with people on both sides of the battle.
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The battle up to The Battle of Britain
- By Chiefkent on 11-07-17
By: James Holland
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Saving Italy
- By: Robert Edsel
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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When Hitler’s armies occupied Italy in 1943, they also seized control of mankind’s greatest cultural treasures. As they had done throughout Europe, the Nazis could now plunder the masterpieces of the Renaissance, the treasures of the Vatican, and the antiquities of the Roman Empire. On the eve of the Allied invasion, General Dwight Eisenhower empowered a new kind of soldier to protect these historic riches. In May 1944 two unlikely American heroes—artist Deane Keller and scholar Fred Hartt—embarked from Naples on the treasure hunt of a lifetime, tracking billions of dollars of missing art, including works by Michelangelo, Donatello, Titian, Caravaggio, and Botticelli.
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More Personalities than Art Chasing
- By Craig on 01-17-15
By: Robert Edsel
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Hell and Good Company
- The Spanish Civil War and the World It Made
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Christian Coulson
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) inspired and haunted an extraordinary number of exceptional artists and writers, including Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Martha Gellhorn, Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, and John Dos Passos. The idealism of the cause--defending democracy from fascism at a time when Europe was darkening toward another world war--and the brutality of the conflict drew from them some of their best work.
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Awkward approach to a civil war
- By sabas on 01-17-17
By: Richard Rhodes
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A Higher Form of Killing
- Six Weeks in World War I That Forever Changed the Nature of Warfare
- By: Diana Preston
- Narrated by: Christine Williams
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In six weeks during April and May 1915, as World War I escalated, Germany forever altered the way war would be fought. On April 22, at Ypres, German canisters spewed poison gas at French and Canadian soldiers in their trenches; on May 7, the German submarine U-20, without warning, torpedoed the passenger liner Lusitania, killing 1,198 civilians; and on May 31, a German Zeppelin began the first aerial bombardment of London and its inhabitants.
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Very Informative
- By Anonymous User on 05-24-23
By: Diana Preston
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Hiroshima Nagasaki
- By: Paul Ham
- Narrated by: Robert Meldrum
- Length: 20 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed more than 100,000 instantly, mostly women, children, and the elderly. Many hundreds of thousands more succumbed to their horrific injuries later, or slowly perished of radiation-related sickness. Yet the bombs were "our least abhorrent choice", American leaders claimed at the time - and still today most people believe they ended the Pacific War and saved millions of American and Japanese lives. Ham challenges this view, arguing that the bombings, when Japan was on its knees, were the culmination of a strategic Allied air war on enemy civilians that began in Germany.
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While extraordinary, I can only give it 3 stars
- By Gillian on 12-17-14
By: Paul Ham
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Moscow 1941
- A City and Its People at War
- By: Rodric Braithwaite
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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The 1941 Battle of Moscow, unquestionably one of the most decisive battles of World War II, marked the first strategic defeat of the German armed forces in their seemingly unstoppable march across Europe. The Soviets lost many more people in this one battle than the British and Americans lost in the whole of the Second World War. Now, with authority and narrative power, Rodric Braithwaite tells the story in large part through the individual experiences of ordinary Russian men and women.
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slow, repetitive
- By Wylie on 12-27-06
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Dunkirk
- By: Joshua Levine
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble, Leighton Pugh
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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The Battle of Dunkirk, in May/June 1940, is remembered as a stunning defeat yet a major victory as well. The Nazis had beaten back the Allies and pushed them across France to the northern port of Dunkirk. In the ultimate race against time, more than 300,000 Allied soldiers were daringly evacuated across the Channel. This moment of German aggression was used by Winston Churchill as a call to Franklin Roosevelt to enter the war.
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I am so pissed
- By SCOTT on 07-04-17
By: Joshua Levine
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Target Tokyo
- Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor
- By: James M. Scott
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 20 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The dramatic account of one of America's most celebrated - and controversial - military campaigns: the Doolittle Raid. In December 1941, as American forces tallied the dead at Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt gathered with his senior military counselors to plan an ambitious counterstrike against the heart of the Japanese Empire: Tokyo.
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Vengence is Mine, Thus Sayeth Doolittle
- By Jonathan Love on 06-13-16
By: James M. Scott
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Dutch Girl
- Audrey Hepburn and World War II
- By: Robert Matzen, Luca Dotti - foreword
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Twenty-five years after her passing, Audrey Hepburn remains the most beloved of all Hollywood stars, known as much for her role as UNICEF ambassador as for films like Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Several biographies have chronicled her stardom, but none has covered her intense experiences through five years of Nazi occupation in the Netherlands. According to her son, Luca Dotti, "The war made my mother who she was."
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Good story, poor narration
- By sas on 07-09-19
By: Robert Matzen, and others
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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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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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Midnight in Chernobyl is the book to listen to.
- By NH on 03-21-19
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Leningrad
- By: Michael Jones
- Narrated by: Simon Shepherd
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1941 Hitler's armies blocked the last roads leading into Leningrad. What followed was one of the most horrific sieges in history. When the German High Command encircled Leningrad it was a deliberate policy to eradicate the city's civilian population by starving them to death. As winter set in and food supplies dwindled, starvation and panic set in.
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Great narration and a enthralling story line.
- By nathanfisch on 10-19-21
By: Michael Jones
What listeners say about Hitler's Rockets
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Michael J Canning
- 07-22-14
Excellent history of the V-2
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes, absolutely. The book is a serious but accessible history of the V-2 program, covering the key developments in rocketry technology the made the V-2 possible in the late 1930s; the military and political imperatives that propelled its development by the Reich (but not by the allies) in the final years of the war; it's operational success and strategic failure; and ultimately, the V-2's role as the direct precursor of all strategic nuclear missiles, especially those which defined balance-of-power during the Cold War. It succeeds in doing all of this.
The level of technical detail is just-right for the average reader interested in learning more about this fascinating niche of warfare during WW II, and early modern ballistic rocketry more generally, and the pace is quick and entertaining. The book does not offer much if any new insight on military strategy and doctrines of Hitler and the Reich, but limits its scope to the V-2 program and it's impact (or lack thereof) on the air war in Europe.
Very good history. Well worth the credit.
What other book might you compare Hitler's Rockets to and why?
Demons under the Microscope
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Too little, too late, thank God.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Helmut F Hoyer
- 12-06-21
Does not cover the subject in enough detail
Unfortunately sometimes it happens that there is only one available book on an interesting subject, but that doesn't suficciently cover the topic. This is the case with Hitler's Rocket by Norman Longmate. Only a somewhat cursory review of the biographies of von Braun and Dornberger are covered here. Their efforts towards building a rocket (either to hit the moon or London [LOL]) are not covered in enough detail during the 1920s and 1930s. In addition, the author seems to go on forever about the British cabinets' discussion of whether the Germans were actually building a rocket (prior to the first launching in Sept of 1944). This would not be a problem if the author had spent more time in writing on the development of the bomb itself.
If you're interested in this topic, there's nothing else available in spoken word format. I would
suggest getting a copy of The Rocket and the Reich by Michael J. Neufeld as alternative.
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- Scott
- 12-02-14
Lots of facts but sterile reading
Was Hitler's Rockets worth the listening time?
This history of Hitler’s V2 rocket program is a well-researched, fact-abundant chronology of mankind’s first guided ballistic missile. It deals primarily with the period of 1941-45 and the efforts of the Nazis to develop/use it as a terror weapon and the British attempts to monitor its development and then, once it began to rain down on British cities, minimize its impact on morale. In this, the book succeeds mostly through its preponderance of facts, including an almost missile by missile account of devastation and causalities, interspersed with eyewitness statements. Clearly, Longmate has done his homework and my eyes were opened to both the scale of its use as well as the utter helplessness of the British to defend against/cope with it. What is lacking here though is really any compelling narrative to draw the reader in – Longmate does not offer much in terms of either the technical challenges the German scientists faced in developing it or the British in defending against it or the personalities, motives, and conflicts of the key figures on either side. Rather, what you get is a somewhat sterile chronological recap of events with perhaps the first quarter of the book devoted almost exclusively to the development of the V2 and the last three quarters to its effects as a weapon. A more adept writer might have found a way to interweave the two storylines throughout the book in order to create a more continuous and less fragmented narrative. Still, for those who want to know more about this small bit of WWII history, Hitler’s Rockets will satisfy but likely not delight
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- Andrew Scott McClanahan
- 03-02-15
Another British Version of the War
What disappointed you about Hitler's Rockets?
Poorly titled - mostly details of missile hits in England
What was most disappointing about Norman Longmate’s story?
Boring repetition of missile hit reports - not really a story.
Any additional comments?
Scientific and historic interest in the V2 will find this book a great disappointment. Look elsewhere. This book is just the British perspective of V2 attacks.
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- Randy
- 10-05-15
New title
What did you like best about Hitler's Rockets? What did you like least?
The best part of this book was the beginning chapters about the progress of the V-Rockets.
Would you ever listen to anything by Norman Longmate again?
Yes
What do you think the narrator could have done better?
Nothing
Did Hitler's Rockets inspire you to do anything?
No
Any additional comments?
This book should have been called "Hitler's Rockets: V-2 in London," as most of the book is about the people and events regarding the explosions of the V-2. I would have much rather had a book that describes the V-2 in greater detail with most about the scientists behind it and how it actually worked, etc. I would not recommend this book to anyone that wants a book about the rockets themselves. This book is more for people wanting to read about the rockets' affects.
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