-
Lisbon
- War in the Shadows of the City of Light, 1939–1945
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $14.40
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Throughout the Second World War, Lisbon was at the very center of the world’s attention and was the only European city in which both the Allies and the Axis powers openly operated. Portugal was frantically trying to hold on to its self-proclaimed wartime neutrality but in reality was increasingly caught in the middle of the economic, and naval, wars between the Allies and the Nazis. The story is not, however, a conventional tale of World War II in that barely a shot was fired or a bomb dropped. Instead, it is a gripping tale of intrigue, betrayal, opportunism, and double-dealing, all of which took place in the Cidade da Luz and along its idyllic Atlantic coastline. It is the story of how a relatively poor European country not only survived the war physically intact but came out of it in 1945 much wealthier than it had been when war broke out in 1939. Portugal’s emergence as a prosperous European Union nation would be financed in part, it turns out, by a cache of Nazi gold.
During the war, Lisbon was a temporary home to much of Europe’s exiled royalty, over one million refugees seeking passage to the US, and to a host of spies, secret police, captains of industry, bankers, prominent Jews, writers and artists, escaped POWs, and black marketeers. An operations officer writing in 1944 described the daily scene at Lisbon’s airport as being like the movie Casablanca - times twenty.
In this riveting narrative, renowned historian Neill Lochery draws on his relationships with high-level Portuguese contacts, records recently uncovered from Portuguese secret police and banking archives, and other unpublished documents to offer a revelatory portrait of the war’s backstage.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Estoril
- By: Dejan Tiago-Stankovic
- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in a luxurious grand hotel just outside Lisbon, at the height of the Second World War, Estoril is a delightful and poignant novel about exile, divided loyalties, fear and survival. The hotel's guests include spies, fallen kings, refugees from the Balkans, Nazis, American diplomats and stateless Jews. The Portuguese secret police broodingly observe the visitors, terrified that their country's neutrality will be compromised. The novel seamlessly fuses the stories of its invented characters with appearances by historical figures.
-
Conquerors
- How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire
- By: Roger Crowley
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Conquerors tells the almost forgotten story of how Portugal's navigators cracked the code of the Atlantic winds, launched the expedition of Vasco da Gama to India, and beat the Spanish to the spice kingdoms of the East - then set about creating the first long-range maritime empire.
-
-
Beautifully balanced
- By Nigel Roberts on 05-08-16
By: Roger Crowley
-
City of Spies
- By: Mara Timon
- Narrated by: Kristen Atherton
- Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lisbon, 1943: When her cover is blown, SOE agent Elisabeth de Mornay flees Paris. Pursued by the Gestapo, she makes her way to neutral Lisbon, where Europe’s elite rub shoulders with diplomats, businessmen, smugglers, and spies. There she receives new orders—and a new identity. Posing as wealthy French widow Solange Verin, Elisabeth must infiltrate a German espionage ring targeting Allied ships, before more British servicemen are killed. But, the closer Elisabeth comes to discovering the truth, the greater the risk grows.
-
-
Exciting and suspenseful
- By Sooz2U on 07-20-24
By: Mara Timon
-
The Dirty Tricks Department
- Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the Masterminds of World War II Secret Warfare
- By: John Lisle
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1942, Stanley Lovell, a renowned industrial chemist, received a mysterious order to report to an unfamiliar building in Washington, D.C. When he arrived, he was led to a barren room where he waited to meet the man who had summoned him. After a disconcerting amount of time, William “Wild Bill” Donovan, the head of the OSS, walked in the door. Following this life-changing encounter, Lovell became the head of a secret group of scientists who developed dirty tricks for the OSS, the precursor to the CIA.
-
-
amazing book finished in less than a week
- By xander on 03-17-23
By: John Lisle
-
Defend the Realm
- The Authorized History of MI5
- By: Christopher Andrew
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 39 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unprecedented publishing event: to mark the centenary of its foundation, the British Security Service, MI5, has for the first time opened its archives to an independent historian. The book reveals the precise role of the Security Service in 20th-century British history, from its foundation by Captain Kell of the British Army in October 1909, through two world wars, up to and including its present roles in counterespionage and counterterrorism.
-
-
A very throrough and impartial history.
- By Matthew on 12-01-09
-
Into the Wilderness
- A Novel
- By: Sara Donati
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 30 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Weaving a vibrant tapestry of fact and fiction, Into the Wilderness sweeps us into another time and place...and into the heart of a forbidden, incandescent affair between a spinster Englishwoman and an American frontiersman. Here is an epic of romance and history that will captivate readers from the start.
-
-
So much for "if you like Gabaldon"
- By randomactsofpunctuation on 11-24-15
By: Sara Donati
-
Estoril
- By: Dejan Tiago-Stankovic
- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in a luxurious grand hotel just outside Lisbon, at the height of the Second World War, Estoril is a delightful and poignant novel about exile, divided loyalties, fear and survival. The hotel's guests include spies, fallen kings, refugees from the Balkans, Nazis, American diplomats and stateless Jews. The Portuguese secret police broodingly observe the visitors, terrified that their country's neutrality will be compromised. The novel seamlessly fuses the stories of its invented characters with appearances by historical figures.
-
Conquerors
- How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire
- By: Roger Crowley
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Conquerors tells the almost forgotten story of how Portugal's navigators cracked the code of the Atlantic winds, launched the expedition of Vasco da Gama to India, and beat the Spanish to the spice kingdoms of the East - then set about creating the first long-range maritime empire.
-
-
Beautifully balanced
- By Nigel Roberts on 05-08-16
By: Roger Crowley
-
City of Spies
- By: Mara Timon
- Narrated by: Kristen Atherton
- Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lisbon, 1943: When her cover is blown, SOE agent Elisabeth de Mornay flees Paris. Pursued by the Gestapo, she makes her way to neutral Lisbon, where Europe’s elite rub shoulders with diplomats, businessmen, smugglers, and spies. There she receives new orders—and a new identity. Posing as wealthy French widow Solange Verin, Elisabeth must infiltrate a German espionage ring targeting Allied ships, before more British servicemen are killed. But, the closer Elisabeth comes to discovering the truth, the greater the risk grows.
-
-
Exciting and suspenseful
- By Sooz2U on 07-20-24
By: Mara Timon
-
The Dirty Tricks Department
- Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the Masterminds of World War II Secret Warfare
- By: John Lisle
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1942, Stanley Lovell, a renowned industrial chemist, received a mysterious order to report to an unfamiliar building in Washington, D.C. When he arrived, he was led to a barren room where he waited to meet the man who had summoned him. After a disconcerting amount of time, William “Wild Bill” Donovan, the head of the OSS, walked in the door. Following this life-changing encounter, Lovell became the head of a secret group of scientists who developed dirty tricks for the OSS, the precursor to the CIA.
-
-
amazing book finished in less than a week
- By xander on 03-17-23
By: John Lisle
-
Defend the Realm
- The Authorized History of MI5
- By: Christopher Andrew
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 39 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unprecedented publishing event: to mark the centenary of its foundation, the British Security Service, MI5, has for the first time opened its archives to an independent historian. The book reveals the precise role of the Security Service in 20th-century British history, from its foundation by Captain Kell of the British Army in October 1909, through two world wars, up to and including its present roles in counterespionage and counterterrorism.
-
-
A very throrough and impartial history.
- By Matthew on 12-01-09
-
Into the Wilderness
- A Novel
- By: Sara Donati
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 30 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Weaving a vibrant tapestry of fact and fiction, Into the Wilderness sweeps us into another time and place...and into the heart of a forbidden, incandescent affair between a spinster Englishwoman and an American frontiersman. Here is an epic of romance and history that will captivate readers from the start.
-
-
So much for "if you like Gabaldon"
- By randomactsofpunctuation on 11-24-15
By: Sara Donati
-
Deadly Scandal
- The Deadly Series, Book 1
- By: Kate Parker
- Narrated by: Henrietta Meire
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Olivia Denis is a content young wife with a carefree life in late 1930s London. Then her world is shattered with the violent death of her husband, Reggie. The police want to call it a suicide and close the case, but Olivia knows Reggie couldn't possibly have fired the fatal shot. Further mysteries surface surrounding her husband's death. Did the trustworthy Foreign Office employee betray government secrets? Was his murder linked to the death of a German embassy clerk the same night? And who searched their flat?
-
-
Insipid Heroine
- By James on 08-14-17
By: Kate Parker
-
The War for the Seas
- A Maritime History of World War II
- By: Evan Mawdsley
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 28 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Command of the oceans was crucial to winning World War II. By the start of 1942 Nazi Germany had conquered mainland Europe, and Imperial Japan had overrun Southeast Asia and much of the Pacific. How could Britain and distant America prevail in what had become a "war of continents"? In this definitive account, Evan Mawdsley traces events at sea from the first U-boat operations in 1939 to the surrender of Japan. He argues that the Allied counterattack involved not just decisive sea battles, but a long struggle to control shipping arteries and move armies across the sea.
-
-
An Unengaging Survey that Disappoints
- By Scott Eckert on 08-06-20
By: Evan Mawdsley
-
The Real Odessa
- By: Uki Goñi
- Narrated by: Pat Grimes
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Russian forces closed in on Berlin and Hitler’s premiership drew to a close, many Nazi officials fled Germany. In this startling, meticulously researched account, acclaimed journalist Uki Goñi unravels the complex network that led them to Argentina. Relying on international support—in Scandinavia, Switzerland, and Italy—and the enthusiasm of the Vatican and President Juan Perón, Goñi shows how this ratline allowed Adolf Eichmann—the architect of the Final Solution—Josef Mengele, Eric Priebke, and many more, into the country.
-
-
An historical masterpiece
- By Sue N. on 08-28-23
By: Uki Goñi
-
Fall of Giants
- Book One of the Century Trilogy
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 30 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ken Follett's World Without End was a global phenomenon, a work of grand historical sweep beloved by millions of readers and acclaimed by critics. Fall of Giants is his magnificent new historical epic. The first novel in The Century Trilogy, it follows the fates of five interrelated families - American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh - as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.
-
-
Loved it and learned alot.
- By Louis on 10-19-10
By: Ken Follett
-
The Invisible Bridge
- By: Julie Orringer
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 27 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paris, 1937. Andras Lévi, a Hungarian-Jewish architecture student, arrives from Budapest with a scholarship, a single suitcase, and a mysterious letter he has promised to deliver to C. Morgenstern on the rue de Sévigné. As he falls into a complicated relationship with the letter’s recipient, he becomes privy to a secret history that will alter the course of his own life. Meanwhile, as his elder brother takes up medical studies in Modena and their younger brother leaves school for the stage, Europe’s unfolding tragedy sends each of their lives into terrifying uncertainty.
-
-
Stumbling Narration
- By Sara on 02-29-16
By: Julie Orringer
-
Madame Tussaud
- A Novel of the French Revolution
- By: Michelle Moran
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marie Tussaud has learned the secrets of wax sculpting by working alongside her uncle in their celebrated wax museum, the Salon de Cire. From her popular model of the American ambassador Thomas Jefferson to her tableau of the royal family at dinner, Marie's museum provides Parisians with the very latest news on fashion, gossip, even politics. Her customers hail from every walk of life, and word even arrives that the royals themselves are coming to see their likenesses....
-
-
Tales from a turbulent time
- By Tim on 07-23-12
By: Michelle Moran
-
Winter in Madrid
- By: C. J. Sansom
- Narrated by: Gordon Gordon
- Length: 21 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winter in Madrid is set just after the bloody Spanish Civil War, with World War II looming over Europe. Reluctantly, Harry Brett looks for an old schoolmate who's become a person of interest for British intelligence.
-
-
realistic characters in historical context
- By Annie on 10-04-09
By: C. J. Sansom
-
The Winds of War
- By: Herman Wouk
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 45 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Herman Wouk's sweeping epic of World War II stands as the crowning achievement of one of America's most celebrated storytellers. Like no other books about the war, Wouk's spellbinding narrative captures the tide of global events - and all the drama, romance, heroism, and tragedy of World War II - as it immerses us in the lives of a single American family drawn into the very center of the war's maelstrom.
-
-
A Masterpiece
- By Robert on 05-24-13
By: Herman Wouk
-
When France Fell
- The Vichy Crisis and the Fate of the Anglo-American Alliance
- By: Michael S. Neiberg
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
According to US Secretary of War Henry Stimson, the "most shocking single event" of World War II was not the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but rather the fall of France in spring 1940. Michael Neiberg offers a dramatic history of the American response - a policy marked by panic and moral ineptitude, which placed the United States in league with fascism and nearly ruined the alliance with Britain.
-
-
Proceeds from a faulty premise
- By Buretto on 12-11-21
-
The Devils' Alliance
- Hitler's Pact With Stalin, 1939-1941
- By: Roger Moorhouse
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
History remembers the Soviets and the Nazis as bitter enemies and ideological rivals - the two opposing totalitarian regimes of World War II whose conflict would be the defining and deciding clash of the war. Yet for nearly a third of the conflict's entire timespan, Hitler and Stalin stood side by side as partners.
-
-
Fascinating look at much neglected peiod
- By Mike From Mesa on 07-11-15
By: Roger Moorhouse
-
In the Garden of Beasts
- Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history. A mild-mannered professor from Chicago, Dodd brings along his wife, son, and flamboyant daughter, Martha. At first Martha is entranced by the parties and pomp, and the handsome young men of the Third Reich with their infectious enthusiasm for restoring Germany to a position of world prominence. Enamored of the “New Germany,” she has one affair after another....
-
-
I loved it ... and hated it ... simultaneously
- By History on 11-21-11
By: Erik Larson
-
Seven Years in Tibet
- By: Heinrich Harrer, Richard Graves
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A landmark in travel writing, this is the incredible true story of Heinrich Harrer’s escape across the Himalayas to Tibet, set against the backdrop of the Second World War. Heinrich Harrer, already one of the greatest mountaineers of his time, was climbing in the Himalayas when war broke out in Europe. He was imprisoned by the British in India but succeeded in escaping and fled to Tibet.
-
-
An Adventure Classic
- By Jean on 01-29-16
By: Heinrich Harrer, and others
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
The Devils' Alliance
- Hitler's Pact With Stalin, 1939-1941
- By: Roger Moorhouse
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
History remembers the Soviets and the Nazis as bitter enemies and ideological rivals - the two opposing totalitarian regimes of World War II whose conflict would be the defining and deciding clash of the war. Yet for nearly a third of the conflict's entire timespan, Hitler and Stalin stood side by side as partners.
-
-
Fascinating look at much neglected peiod
- By Mike From Mesa on 07-11-15
By: Roger Moorhouse
-
Nixon and Mao
- The Week That Changed the World
- By: Margaret MacMillan
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 15 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Margaret MacMillan brings her extraordinary gifts to two of the most important countries today, the United States and China, and one of the most significant moments in modern history: Richard Nixon's week in China in February 1972, which opened relations between America and China (closed since the communists came to power in 1949).
-
-
Incisive
- By Roy on 08-23-10
-
Stalin, Volume I
- Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928
- By: Stephen Kotkin
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 38 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Volume One of Stalin begins and ends in January 1928 as Stalin boards a train bound for Siberia, about to embark upon the greatest gamble of his political life. He is now the ruler of the largest country in the world, but a poor and backward one, far behind the great capitalist countries in industrial and military power, encircled on all sides. In Siberia, Stalin conceives of the largest program of social reengineering ever attempted.
-
-
Excellent Book But First Time Listener Beware
- By Nostromo on 03-23-15
By: Stephen Kotkin
-
The Angel
- The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel
- By: Uri Bar-Joseph
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the son-in-law of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser and a close advisor to his successor, Anwar Sadat, Ashraf Marwan had access to the deepest secrets of the country's government. But he himself had a secret: he was a spy for the Mossad, Israel's intelligence service. Under the codename "The Angel", Marwan turned Egypt into an open book for the Israeli intelligence services and, by alerting the Mossad in advance of the joint Egyptian-Syrian attack on Yom Kippur, saved Israel from a devastating defeat.
-
-
Buena biografía
- By Rony M on 07-05-20
By: Uri Bar-Joseph
-
Spymaster
- Startling Cold War Revelations of a Soviet KGB Chief
- By: Tennent H. Bagley
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the dark days of World War II through the Cold War, Sergey A. Kondrashev was a major player in Russia’s notorious KGB espionage apparatus. Rising through its ranks through hard work and keen understanding of how the spy and political games are played, he “handled” American and British defectors, recruited Western operatives as double agents, served as a ranking officer at the East Berlin and Vienna KGB bureaus, and tackled special assignments from the Kremlin.
-
-
An brilliant personal Cold War perspective
- By Iamnotaspy on 01-09-15
-
Yalta
- The Price of Peace
- By: S. M. Plokhy
- Narrated by: Henry Strozier
- Length: 22 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning Harvard historian S.M. Plokhy delivers a “convincing revisionist analysis” ( Publishers Weekly) of the February 1945 Yalta conference. Bolstered by Soviet wiretaps, Plokhy’s engrossing narrative of Stalin, Churchill, and FDR’s negotiations reveals the West did better than previously thought.
-
-
The depth and breadth of understanding
- By Robin LaCorte on 06-27-19
By: S. M. Plokhy
-
The Devils' Alliance
- Hitler's Pact With Stalin, 1939-1941
- By: Roger Moorhouse
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
History remembers the Soviets and the Nazis as bitter enemies and ideological rivals - the two opposing totalitarian regimes of World War II whose conflict would be the defining and deciding clash of the war. Yet for nearly a third of the conflict's entire timespan, Hitler and Stalin stood side by side as partners.
-
-
Fascinating look at much neglected peiod
- By Mike From Mesa on 07-11-15
By: Roger Moorhouse
-
Nixon and Mao
- The Week That Changed the World
- By: Margaret MacMillan
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 15 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Margaret MacMillan brings her extraordinary gifts to two of the most important countries today, the United States and China, and one of the most significant moments in modern history: Richard Nixon's week in China in February 1972, which opened relations between America and China (closed since the communists came to power in 1949).
-
-
Incisive
- By Roy on 08-23-10
-
Stalin, Volume I
- Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928
- By: Stephen Kotkin
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 38 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Volume One of Stalin begins and ends in January 1928 as Stalin boards a train bound for Siberia, about to embark upon the greatest gamble of his political life. He is now the ruler of the largest country in the world, but a poor and backward one, far behind the great capitalist countries in industrial and military power, encircled on all sides. In Siberia, Stalin conceives of the largest program of social reengineering ever attempted.
-
-
Excellent Book But First Time Listener Beware
- By Nostromo on 03-23-15
By: Stephen Kotkin
-
The Angel
- The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel
- By: Uri Bar-Joseph
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the son-in-law of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser and a close advisor to his successor, Anwar Sadat, Ashraf Marwan had access to the deepest secrets of the country's government. But he himself had a secret: he was a spy for the Mossad, Israel's intelligence service. Under the codename "The Angel", Marwan turned Egypt into an open book for the Israeli intelligence services and, by alerting the Mossad in advance of the joint Egyptian-Syrian attack on Yom Kippur, saved Israel from a devastating defeat.
-
-
Buena biografía
- By Rony M on 07-05-20
By: Uri Bar-Joseph
-
Spymaster
- Startling Cold War Revelations of a Soviet KGB Chief
- By: Tennent H. Bagley
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the dark days of World War II through the Cold War, Sergey A. Kondrashev was a major player in Russia’s notorious KGB espionage apparatus. Rising through its ranks through hard work and keen understanding of how the spy and political games are played, he “handled” American and British defectors, recruited Western operatives as double agents, served as a ranking officer at the East Berlin and Vienna KGB bureaus, and tackled special assignments from the Kremlin.
-
-
An brilliant personal Cold War perspective
- By Iamnotaspy on 01-09-15
-
Yalta
- The Price of Peace
- By: S. M. Plokhy
- Narrated by: Henry Strozier
- Length: 22 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning Harvard historian S.M. Plokhy delivers a “convincing revisionist analysis” ( Publishers Weekly) of the February 1945 Yalta conference. Bolstered by Soviet wiretaps, Plokhy’s engrossing narrative of Stalin, Churchill, and FDR’s negotiations reveals the West did better than previously thought.
-
-
The depth and breadth of understanding
- By Robin LaCorte on 06-27-19
By: S. M. Plokhy
-
Potsdam
- The End of World War II and the Remaking of Europe
- By: Michael Neiberg
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After Germany's defeat in World War II, Europe lay in tatters. Millions of refugees were dispersed across the continent. Food and fuel were scarce. Britain was bankrupt while Germany had been reduced to rubble. In July 1945, Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin gathered in a quiet suburb of Berlin to negotiate a lasting peace - a peace that would finally put an end to the conflagration that had started in 1914, a peace under which Europe could be rebuilt.
-
-
Richly told and entertaining.
- By John Kaiser on 06-20-15
By: Michael Neiberg
-
Goebbels: A Biography
- By: Peter Longerich, Alan Bance - translator, Jeremy Noakes - translator, and others
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 28 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In life and in his grisly family suicide, Goebbels was one of Hitler's most loyal acolytes. Though powerful in the party and in wartime Germany, Longerich's Goebbels is a man dogged by insecurities and consumed by his fierce adherence to the Nazi cause. Longerich engages and challenges the careful self-portrait that Goebbels left behind in his diaries, and, as he delves deep into the mind of Hitler's master propagandist, Longerich discovers firsthand how the Nazi message was conceived. This complete portrait of the man behind the message is sure to become a standard for historians and students of the Holocaust for years to come.
-
-
Excellent Account of the Private Goebbels, But...
- By Derek on 05-29-15
By: Peter Longerich, and others
-
Stalin
- New Biography of a Dictator
- By: Oleg V. Khlevniuk, Nora Seligman Favorov - translator
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 18 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This essential biography, by the author most deeply familiar with the vast archives of the Soviet era, offers an unprecedented, fine-grained portrait of Stalin, the man and dictator. Without mythologizing Stalin as either benevolent or an evil genius, Khlevniuk resolves numerous controversies about specific events in the dictator's life while assembling many hundreds of previously unknown letters, memos, reports, and diaries into a comprehensive, compelling narrative of a life that altered the course of world history.
-
-
Loved it, but wouldn't want to live it
- By Neil on 01-12-20
By: Oleg V. Khlevniuk, and others
-
The Sleepwalkers
- How Europe Went to War in 1914
- By: Christopher Clark
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 24 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Sleepwalkers is historian Christopher Clark's riveting account of the explosive beginnings of World War I. Drawing on new scholarship, Clark offers a fresh look at World War I, focusing not on the battles and atrocities of the war itself but on the complex events and relationships that led a group of well-meaning leaders into brutal conflict.
-
-
Very interesting take on a complex problem
- By Steve on 01-24-15
-
Defend the Realm
- The Authorized History of MI5
- By: Christopher Andrew
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 39 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unprecedented publishing event: to mark the centenary of its foundation, the British Security Service, MI5, has for the first time opened its archives to an independent historian. The book reveals the precise role of the Security Service in 20th-century British history, from its foundation by Captain Kell of the British Army in October 1909, through two world wars, up to and including its present roles in counterespionage and counterterrorism.
-
-
A very throrough and impartial history.
- By Matthew on 12-01-09
-
The General
- Charles De Gaulle and the France He Saved
- By: Jonathan Fenby
- Narrated by: Robin Bloodworth
- Length: 28 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No leader of modern times was more uniquely patriotic than Charles de Gaulle. As founder and first president of the Fifth Republic, General de Gaulle saw himself as "carrying France on [his] shoulders." In his 20s, he fought for France in the trenches and at the epic battle of Verdun. In the 1930s, he waged a lonely battle to enable France to better resist Hitler's Germany. Thereafter, he twice rescued the nation from defeat and decline by extraordinary displays of leadership, political acumen, daring, and bluff, heading off civil war and leaving a heritage adopted by his successors of right and left.
-
-
Book Great Read. Narrator Horrible-slow dead voice
- By marigoyle on 10-23-13
By: Jonathan Fenby
-
Speer
- Hitler's Architect
- By: Martin Kitchen
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 19 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his best-selling autobiography, Albert Speer, Minister of Armaments and chief architect of Nazi Germany, repeatedly insisted he knew nothing of the genocidal crimes of Hitler's Third Reich. In this revealing new biography, author Martin Kitchen disputes Speer's lifelong assertions of ignorance and innocence, portraying a far darker figure who was deeply implicated in the appalling crimes committed by the regime he served so well. Kitchen reconstructs Speer's life with what we now know, including information from valuable new sources that have come to light only in recent years.
-
-
Interesting, but extremely biased
- By Rodney on 10-28-18
By: Martin Kitchen
-
Agent 110
- An American Spymaster and the German Resistance in WWII
- By: Scott Miller
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the secret and suspenseful account of how OSS spymaster Allen Dulles led a network of Germans conspiring to assassinate Hitler and negotiate surrender to bring about the end of World War II before the Soviet's advance. Agent 110 is Allen Dulles, a newly minted spy from an eminent family. Dulles met with and facilitated the plots of Germans who were trying to destroy the country's leadership.
By: Scott Miller
-
Ike's Gamble
- America's Rise to Dominance in the Middle East
- By: Michael Doran
- Narrated by: Casey Jones
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1956 President Nasser of Egypt moved to take possession of the Suez Canal, thereby bringing the Middle East to the brink of war. The British and the French, who operated the canal, joined with Israel in a plan to retake it by force. Despite the special relationship between England and America, Dwight Eisenhower intervened to stop the invasion.
-
-
Tightly Argued
- By Jean on 01-10-17
By: Michael Doran
-
A Spy at the Heart of the Third Reich
- By: Lucas Delattre
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A work of remarkable scholarship that moves with the swift pace of a John le Carre thriller, A Spy at the Heart of the Third Reich is a chilling addition to the literature of espionage. In 1943, a young official named Fritz Kolbe from the German foreign ministry arranged to meet with Allen Dulles, then an OSS officer in Switzerland and later the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
-
-
100% very good
- By Coco on 06-11-07
By: Lucas Delattre
-
Japan 1941
- Countdown to Infamy
- By: Eri Hotta
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Japan attacked the United States in 1941, argues Eri Hotta, its leaders, in large part, understood they were entering a conflict they were bound to lose. Availing herself of rarely consulted material, Hotta poses essential questions overlooked by historians in the seventy years since: Why did these men - military men, civilian politicians, diplomats, the emperor - put their country and its citizens in harm's way? Why did they make a decision that was doomed from the start?
-
-
Japanese viewpoint
- By Jean on 01-01-14
By: Eri Hotta
-
Hitler
- A Biography
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: Alan Robertson
- Length: 46 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hailed as the most compelling biography of the German dictator yet written, Ian Kershaw's Hitler brings us closer than ever before to the heart of its subject's immense darkness. From his illegitimate birth in a small Austrian village to his fiery death in a bunker under the Reich chancellery in Berlin, Adolf Hitler left a murky trail, strewn with contradictory tales and overgrown with self-created myths. One truth prevails: the sheer scale of the evils that he unleashed on the world has made him a demonic figure without equal in the 20th century.
-
-
An Excellent Read
- By Rodney on 09-19-13
By: Ian Kershaw
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Conquerors
- How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire
- By: Roger Crowley
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Conquerors tells the almost forgotten story of how Portugal's navigators cracked the code of the Atlantic winds, launched the expedition of Vasco da Gama to India, and beat the Spanish to the spice kingdoms of the East - then set about creating the first long-range maritime empire.
-
-
Beautifully balanced
- By Nigel Roberts on 05-08-16
By: Roger Crowley
-
The Night in Lisbon
- By: Erich Marie Remarque
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With the world slowly sliding into war, it is crucial that enemies of the Reich flee Europe at once. But so many routes are closed, and so much money is needed. Then one night in Lisbon, as a poor young refugee gazes hungrily at a boat bound for America, a stranger approaches him with two tickets and a story to tell.
-
-
A heartwrenching nailbiter WW2 perspective!
- By Emris Nurse Ferraro on 05-13-19
-
History of Portugal
- A Captivating Guide to Portuguese History from Ancient Times to the Present
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Portugal has a rich history that dates to prehistoric times. The first settlers left amazing art behind in the form of rock carvings and rock monoliths. Even though Portugal is probably best known for exploring the world during the Age of Discovery, the history of mainland Portugal is rarely described outside of the country. The purpose of this audiobook is to familiarize English speakers with the events and personas that built the Portuguese kingdom, its overseas empire, and the state that Portugal is today.
-
-
Solid overview
- By Casey Parsons on 11-13-22
-
A Brief History of Portugal
- Blazing the Trail of a Voyage-Shaped Nation
- By: Dominic Haynes
- Narrated by: Jeff Bower
- Length: 3 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the western part of the Iberian Peninsula, touching the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean lies a nation with a proud history that influenced Europe and the rest of the world. But the Portugal of today carries within its soil the history of bygone eras, one that you can trace back to prehistoric times.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Najib Bousakr on 08-21-24
By: Dominic Haynes
-
Two Nights in Lisbon
- A Novel
- By: Chris Pavone
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ariel Price wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is gone—no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong. She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, at each confronting questions she can’t fully answer: What exactly is John doing in Lisbon? Why would he drag her along on his business trip? Who would want to harm him? And why does Ariel know so little about her new—much younger—husband?
-
-
Don’t bother reading unless you enjoy…
- By Cynthia on 05-29-22
By: Chris Pavone
-
The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis
- By: Giovanni Pontiero - translator, José Saramago
- Narrated by: Michael McConnohie
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year: 1936. Europe dances while an invidious dictator establishes himself in Portugal. The city: Lisbon-gray, colorless, chimerical. Ricardo Reis, a doctor and poet, has just come home after sixteen years in Brazil.
-
-
A great novelist deserves a competent reader!
- By Prof. Neil Larsen on 11-26-13
By: Giovanni Pontiero - translator, and others
-
Conquerors
- How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire
- By: Roger Crowley
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Conquerors tells the almost forgotten story of how Portugal's navigators cracked the code of the Atlantic winds, launched the expedition of Vasco da Gama to India, and beat the Spanish to the spice kingdoms of the East - then set about creating the first long-range maritime empire.
-
-
Beautifully balanced
- By Nigel Roberts on 05-08-16
By: Roger Crowley
-
The Night in Lisbon
- By: Erich Marie Remarque
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With the world slowly sliding into war, it is crucial that enemies of the Reich flee Europe at once. But so many routes are closed, and so much money is needed. Then one night in Lisbon, as a poor young refugee gazes hungrily at a boat bound for America, a stranger approaches him with two tickets and a story to tell.
-
-
A heartwrenching nailbiter WW2 perspective!
- By Emris Nurse Ferraro on 05-13-19
-
History of Portugal
- A Captivating Guide to Portuguese History from Ancient Times to the Present
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Portugal has a rich history that dates to prehistoric times. The first settlers left amazing art behind in the form of rock carvings and rock monoliths. Even though Portugal is probably best known for exploring the world during the Age of Discovery, the history of mainland Portugal is rarely described outside of the country. The purpose of this audiobook is to familiarize English speakers with the events and personas that built the Portuguese kingdom, its overseas empire, and the state that Portugal is today.
-
-
Solid overview
- By Casey Parsons on 11-13-22
-
A Brief History of Portugal
- Blazing the Trail of a Voyage-Shaped Nation
- By: Dominic Haynes
- Narrated by: Jeff Bower
- Length: 3 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the western part of the Iberian Peninsula, touching the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean lies a nation with a proud history that influenced Europe and the rest of the world. But the Portugal of today carries within its soil the history of bygone eras, one that you can trace back to prehistoric times.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Najib Bousakr on 08-21-24
By: Dominic Haynes
-
Two Nights in Lisbon
- A Novel
- By: Chris Pavone
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ariel Price wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is gone—no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong. She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, at each confronting questions she can’t fully answer: What exactly is John doing in Lisbon? Why would he drag her along on his business trip? Who would want to harm him? And why does Ariel know so little about her new—much younger—husband?
-
-
Don’t bother reading unless you enjoy…
- By Cynthia on 05-29-22
By: Chris Pavone
-
The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis
- By: Giovanni Pontiero - translator, José Saramago
- Narrated by: Michael McConnohie
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year: 1936. Europe dances while an invidious dictator establishes himself in Portugal. The city: Lisbon-gray, colorless, chimerical. Ricardo Reis, a doctor and poet, has just come home after sixteen years in Brazil.
-
-
A great novelist deserves a competent reader!
- By Prof. Neil Larsen on 11-26-13
By: Giovanni Pontiero - translator, and others
-
Viaje a Portugal [Travel to Portugal]
- By: José Saramago
- Narrated by: Víctor Velasco
- Length: 17 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Conocer un país significa comprender, de la manera más exacta posible, su paisaje, su cultura y el pueblo que lo habita, por eso José Saramago viaja a Portugal y ofrece al oyente el auténtico rostro de una tierra inagotable.
-
-
El lenguaje y la descripción
- By Enrique Delgado on 04-27-24
By: José Saramago
-
Cashing Out
- The Flight of Nazi Treasure, 1945–1948
- By: Neill Lochery
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the end of January 1945, it was clear to Germany that the war was lost. The Third Reich was in freefall, and its leaders, apart from those clustered around Hitler in his Berlin bunker, sought to abscond before they were besieged. But they wanted to take their wealth with them. Bestselling author Neill Lochery here brilliantly recounts the flight of the Nazi-looted riches—the last great escape of World War II—and the Allied quest for justice.
By: Neill Lochery
-
A Brief History of Germany
- Indispensable for Travellers
- By: Jeremy Black
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In A Brief History of Germany, Jeremy Black questions how the Germany we know today came to be, chronicling the events that shaped its past, present and future in a fascinating new way. From the fall of Rome in the 1500s to the enlightenment in the 1700s, from World War I and World War II to Germany post-unification, Black's writing will unlock the places and people that formed Germany and enrich your visit with stories of its society and culture.
-
-
No consistency
- By Kateryna Bilous on 09-07-23
By: Jeremy Black
-
Lisbon Story
- By: Katherine Vaz
- Narrated by: Judith West
- Length: 1 hr and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Cat arrives in Portugal, she discovers that her friend Tónio has installed his ex-lover, Mateus, in the apartment, where he too is dying - of AIDS. As Cat struggles to untangle a complicated web of present desires and past secrets, she makes a series of shocking discoveries.
-
-
Unusual character-driven story that captivates...
- By Ela B. on 08-06-18
By: Katherine Vaz
-
Night Train to Lisbon
- By: Pascal Mercier, Barbara Harshav - translator
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raimund Gregorius teaches classical languages at a Swiss lycée, and lives a life governed by routine. One day, a chance encounter with a Portuguese woman inspires him to question his life - and leads him to an extraordinary book that will open the possibility of changing it. Inspired by the words of Amadeu de Prado, a doctor whose intelligence and magnetism left a mark on everyone who met him and whose principles led him into a confrontation with Salazar’s dictatorship, Gregorius boards a train to Lisbon.
-
-
It is not enough to be able to read...
- By Alana on 01-22-12
By: Pascal Mercier, and others
-
Baltasar and Blimunda
- By: Giovanni Pontiero - translator, José Saramago
- Narrated by: Tamir
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature, a "brilliant...enchanting novel" (New York Times Book Review) of romance, deceit, religion, and magic set in 18th-century Portugal at the height of the Inquisition.
-
-
Devastating narration
- By Deladier on 01-13-13
By: Giovanni Pontiero - translator, and others
What listeners say about Lisbon
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ari
- 12-01-15
Insight into WWII Spy Culture - Nuetral Country?
Who was your favorite character and why?
This was a fascinating book about a period of WWII that is not frequently covered. I really was able to get a good feel for what life was like in neutral Lisbon during that treacherous time. You are taken on a journey into the lives of European refugees seeking passage wandering through the pricey hotels to the various celebrities, spies and Nazi officers that occupy the casinos and restaurants. It’s an education of how all the earliest spy characters came into being, tracking both Ian Fleming and Graham Greene who were living there. There is also an interesting look into the balancing act that the Dictator Salazar had to perform between the alliance and the axis to serve Portuguese economic and national interests. The book portrays the dictator as a very shrewd and cool customer but does not go into the abuses that he is famous for. I would have loved to have learned more about why Portugal made the decisions it did and gotten a few more anecdotes into the adventures of some of these characters on the streets of Lisbon, but that just shows how much I enjoyed the book. Another helping please….
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mark Falcoff
- 08-05-22
A neglected sideshow in World War II
As a sometime student of Spanish history and politics, I have been aware for some time that Antonio Salazar, although a dictator, was far different from Francisco Franco. And Portugal is, as Portuguese always remind us, very different to Spain. The background to this book is the fact that Portugal is Britain's oldest European ally going back hundreds of years, and that did not totally change during World War II, even though for domestic and geostrategic reasons Salazar had to balance his private (and his country's historic) preferences with evolving military realities. As one of the few neutral countries in Europe during the war, its capital Lisbon became a nest of intrigue and espionage. It was also the gathering place of those unfortunates who could escape Nazi occupied Europe to liase with one of the few air links to the United States. Parts of the book read like a noir thriller, a kind of Joseph von Sternberg film. I must congratulate the narrator. His pronunciation of continental Portuguese is perfect, and it is not an easy language for a foreigner to master. Quite possibly he was brought up in the country.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J. Charde
- 02-20-12
great story but the writing could be better
Is there anything you would change about this book?
The writer presented this too much like what I remember history books I read in school. Although the story is great and compelling, it could have been written much better
What did you like best about this story?
learning the story and role of Lisbon during the war; we had visited it this fall
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
If they could learn from Casablanca [good intro but couldn't sustain it]
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sirin
- 08-02-22
Excellent telling of unknown history
The history of Portugal has fee sources in English. This fills a gap of a fascinating period in world history. Lisbon served as a”neutral” haven for spies and diplomats along with fleeing refugees and war profiteers. Who knew? I didn’t but now I do. Well recommended.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- joe blower
- 12-24-11
great book
What did you love best about Lisbon?
book is easy to listen to. very interesting in its narrative. It portrayed Mr Salazar in a very interesting light, certainly an immensely smart man that dealt with both warring sides with great diplomacy and tact and was able to keep Portugal safe. He describes in a very entertainng way the intricacies of the relationships taking place during the war,
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- NetBoss
- 09-24-21
Wolfram?
I won’t give away any other details on the book, but to begin, I had never heard of Wolfram. Where have I been? 🤷🏻♂️ I had to stop the book and look it up. At first I thought the narrator was saying “wolfem.” Not so! He was saying, “Wolfram.”
For those in the same sad state of ignorance as me, “Wolfram” is “Tungsten.” For everyone else, please move on to the next review. According to the bottomless source if irrefutable facts, “The Internet,” the word “Tungsten” is used primarily in the US and Great Britain.
Aside from having no idea what wolfram was, I thought it was an interesting book with good narration, with the Portuguese supply of “wolfram” during WWII to both the Nazis and the British being a point of contention.
There does not seem to be much out there on recent Portuguese history, so this was a good find. The book is about way more than wolfram, so give it a go!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Denzil J. Gunaratne
- 11-29-11
Little known
I am a World War fan and thought I knew all about the first and second World Wars, that is until I read (heard) Lisbon. The story was fascinating. Portugal was lucky to escape the horrors of the 2nd world War, but could well have been entrapped into it. Its refusal to accept the fleeing Jews was indeed very sad and may have left a stigma on the nation. However a very good listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Greg
- 06-15-22
Not That Much Happened
This was short enough book that I made it to the end but the spies were bureaucrats and the spats were financial and diplomatic. I was hoping for more on MI6 personalities at least.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lynn
- 06-16-12
Expostiion of Little Known Story
I didn’t know much (well truthfully – nothing) about the role that Portugal played in the Second World War when I opened Lisbon: War in the Shadows of the City of Light, 1939-45. I found Neil Lochery’s book both engaging, informative, and entertaining. In this volume, Lochery (While Blame Israel 2011; View from the Fence 2006) tells the story of how dictator Antonio Salazar kept Portugal neutral in WWII and left his country relatively intact after the conflict. I found insights into how Salazar dealt with day-to-day management of the country intriguing. Anecdotes revealing how Salazar made decisions and implemented policies are particularly interesting. Certainly, Salazar was a gifted leader in this context. I would have appreciated more discussion of fascism in this context and how Salazar fit into that era. Perhaps Lochery has another book which will shed more light. At any rate, I was well rewarded by reading this book. The narration of Robin Sachs is excellent.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Brad
- 12-10-13
A Sideshow That Played A Major Role in WWII
Portugal and its capital Lisbon were neutral during WWII. Despite this, Portugal played a major part in some of the key dramas, escapees from the pending Holocaust, wartime profiteering and asset/gold looting. The author paints a very interest scene of what a decadent wartime city of intrigue and deception Lisbon was. This is an area of history that has been largely neglected. I found it highly engaging and informative. Excellent narration.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful