Nothing Less Than War
A New History of America's Entry into World War I
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Narrated by:
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Tom Lennon
About this listen
When war broke out in Europe in 1914, political leaders in the United States were swayed by popular opinion to remain neutral; yet less than three years later, the nation declared war on Germany. In Nothing Less Than War: A New History of America's Entry into World War I, Justus D. Doenecke examines the clash of opinions over the war during this transformative period and offers a fresh perspective on America's decision to enter World War I.
Doenecke reappraises the public and private diplomacy of President Woodrow Wilson and his closest advisors and explores in great depth the response of Congress to the war. He also investigates the debates that raged in the popular media and among citizen groups that sprang up across the country as the US economy was threatened by European blockades and as Americans died on ships sunk by German U-boats.
The decision to engage in battle ultimately belonged to Wilson, but as Doenecke demonstrates, Wilson's choice was not made in isolation. Nothing Less Than War provides a comprehensive examination of America's internal political climate and its changing international role during the seminal period of 1914-1917.
The book is published by The University Press of Kentucky.
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Good HISTORY AWFUL READING
- By Magyar on 02-05-20
By: David M. Kennedy
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The Marshall Plan
- Dawn of the Cold War
- By: Benn Steil
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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The award-winning author of The Battle of Bretton Woods reveals the gripping history behind the Marshall Plan—told with verve, insight, and resonance for today.
In the wake of World War II, with Britain’s empire collapsing and Stalin's on the rise, US officials under new secretary of state George C. Marshall set out to reconstruct western Europe as a bulwark against communist authoritarianism. Their massive, costly, and ambitious undertaking would confront Europeans and Americans alike with a vision at odds with their history and self-conceptions. In the process, they would drive the creation of NATO, the European Union, and a Western identity that continues to shape world events.
Focusing on the critical years 1947 to 1949, Benn Steil’s thrilling account brings to life the seminal episodes marking the collapse of postwar US-Soviet relations—the Prague coup, the Berlin blockade, and the division of Germany. In each case, we see and understand like never before Stalin’s determination to crush the Marshall Plan and undermine American power in Europe.
Given current echoes of the Cold War, as Putin’s Russia rattles the world order, the tenuous balance of power and uncertain order of the late 1940s is as relevant as ever. The Marshall Plan provides critical context into understanding today’s international landscape. Bringing to bear fascinating new material from American, Russian, German, and other European archives, Steil’s account will forever change how we see the Marshall Plan and the birth of the Cold War. A polished and masterly work of historical narrative, this is an instant classic of Cold War literature.
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A Deeply Researched Narrative
- By Jean on 10-18-18
By: Benn Steil
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The March of Folly
- From Troy to Vietnam
- By: Barbara W. Tuchman
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In The March of Folly, two-time Pulitzer Prize winning historian Barbara Tuchman tackles the pervasive presence of folly in governments through the ages. Defining folly as the pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interests, despite the availability of feasible alternatives, Tuchman details four decisive turning points in history that illustrate the very heights of folly in government.
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Tuchman surprises me...
- By Plimtuna on 09-24-09
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Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
- By: Herbert P. Bix
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 29 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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In this groundbreaking biography of the Japanese emperor Hirohito, Herbert P. Bix offers the first complete, unvarnished look at the enigmatic leader whose 63-year reign ushered Japan into the modern world. Never before has the full life of this controversial figure been revealed with such clarity and vividness. Bix describes what it was like to be trained from birth for a lone position at the apex of the nation's political hierarchy and as a revered symbol of divine status.
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Not what I bargained for
- By Alexander Crowell on 08-21-20
By: Herbert P. Bix
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Japan 1941
- Countdown to Infamy
- By: Eri Hotta
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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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?
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Japanese viewpoint
- By Jean on 01-01-14
By: Eri Hotta
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This Vast Southern Empire
- Slaveholders at the Helm of American Foreign Policy
- By: Matthew Karp
- Narrated by: Tom Zingarelli
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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For proslavery leaders like John C. Calhoun and Jefferson Davis, the 19th-century world was torn between two hostile forces: a rising movement against bondage and an Atlantic plantation system that was larger and more productive than ever before. In this great struggle, Southern statesmen saw the United States as slavery's most powerful champion. Overcoming traditional qualms about a strong central government, slaveholding leaders harnessed the power of the state to defend slavery abroad.
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Excellent Listen
- By NCmom on 09-03-17
By: Matthew Karp
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The Three Lives of James Madison
- Genius, Partisan, President
- By: Noah Feldman
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 34 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Over the course of his life, James Madison changed the United States three times: First, he designed the Constitution, led the struggle for its adoption and ratification, then drafted the Bill of Rights. As an older, cannier politician, he cofounded the original Republican party, setting the course of American political partisanship. Finally, having pioneered a foreign policy based on economic sanctions, he took the United States into a high-risk conflict, becoming the first wartime president and, despite the odds, winning.
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Cogently organized, meticulously balanced
- By Diana Black Kennedy on 06-15-18
By: Noah Feldman
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Magnificent Delusions
- Pakistan, the United States, and an Epic History of Misunderstanding
- By: Husain Haqqani
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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A character-driven history that describes the bizarrely ill-suited alliance between America and Pakistan, written by a uniquely insightful participant: Pakistan's former ambassador to the US. The relationship between America and Pakistan is based on mutual incomprehension, and always has been. Pakistan - to American eyes - has gone from being a stabilizing friend to an essential military ally to a seedbed of terror.
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It it Delusions or Sleeping with the Enemy
- By Shah Alam on 01-28-14
By: Husain Haqqani
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Churchill, Hitler, and 'The Unnecessary War'
- How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World
- By: Patrick J. Buchanan
- Narrated by: Don Leslie
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In this monumental and provocative history, Patrick Buchanan makes the case that, if not for the blunders of British statesmen - Winston Churchill first among them - the horrors of two world wars and the Holocaust might have been avoided and the British Empire might never have collapsed into ruins.
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A classic of history books
- By Benedict on 04-04-09
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A Patriot’s History of the United States, Updated Edition
- From Columbus's Great Discovery to America's Age of Entitlement
- By: Larry Schweikart, Michael Allen
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 55 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Over the past decade, A Patriot's History of the United States has become the definitive conservative history of our country, correcting the biases of historians and other intellectuals who downplay the greatness of America's patriots. Professors Schweikart and Allen have now revised, updated, and expanded their book, which covers America's long history with an appreciation for the values that made this nation uniquely successful.
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A Fox News Version of American History
- By Stephen on 05-16-21
By: Larry Schweikart, and others
What listeners say about Nothing Less Than War
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-28-16
Important knowledge most American's lack
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes. This is a period little known in American history today. Everyone knows the US did fight with the Triple Entente in WWI, but almost no one asks, why? Why we were we not on the Central Alliance side? Why fight at all? We were never attacked. No treaties bound us to enter. There were almost as many Monarchs on both sides, so defending democracy was not a very valid excuse.
This book explains why. Unfortunately, especially in hindsight, the reasoning that led to our ultimate entry late into the conflict is greatly flawed in many areas.
Which character – as performed by Tom Lennon – was your favorite?
There were no characters as this was a non-fiction book. He did a commendable job with a very long book frequently full of very dry material and kept my interest all the way.
Any additional comments?
This may be one of those cases where a "condensed" version might be able to convey all the important information and be a more enjoyable experience.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Matt
- 05-29-15
Interesting and unknown period in America
If you could sum up Nothing Less Than War in three words, what would they be?
Educational, Detailed, Fascinating
Who was your favorite character and why?
Most Americans know very little about this period in history and Woodrow Wilson. This really gives insight into his personality and thought process.
Any additional comments?
This is not an easy read, or listen. The language is archaic and at limes tedious as much of the text is excerpts from letters and newspaper reports from the early 1900s. The comprehension and enjoyment would have both been better had the author simply restated the facts in more familiar modern day prose. Almost every sentence contain a quotation from an obscure source of the period. Keep your dictionary handy.The narrator's voice is very pleasant for long hours of listening, but he obviously also struggled at times with the style of writing and context. I give him a B for effort.
It is as if the book was published in 1917, not this century. I certainly didn't count, but it seems the average sentence length is probably 50 words!As a text book with a valuable lesson to be learned about an important, fascinating, and unknown period in American History this is 5 stars. As a read, or listen on the beech this summer - better pass.
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7 people found this helpful
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- xenduro
- 01-24-23
wow never taught us this in school
was great learned so much. very easy to follow. should have been taught in school
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1 person found this helpful
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- Rayc
- 07-15-21
A detailed history
Nothing Less than War.
A detailed history of America's entry into ww1.
The politics and the mistakes that led to the America declaring war.
I found that some of the statements made by politicians and capitalists are prophetic when we look at the world today 100 years later.
I received a free copy of this audio book at my own request and voluntarily left this honest review.
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1 person found this helpful
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- H S Kinder
- 08-08-15
Failure of Presidential Leadership
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
Yes if they have an interest in understanding why America entered a war that was clearly not in our National interest. Woodrow Wilson's folly.
Was Nothing Less Than War worth the listening time?
Yes. I've often wondered why America entered the War. Most agree that WW1 should never have happened. It was the result of incredibly poor leadership and ineffective diplomacy by the European powers. This book, in my opinion, makes it abundantly clear that there was no legitimate 'national interest' justification for Woodrow Wilson's decision to enter the war. Without American involvement, the the War would probably have ended in a stalemate due to war fatigue.
Why historians rate Wilson as a good President escapes me. Presidents should keep the country out of war, not drag the country into war unless there is a clear 'national interest' at stake. In this case there was none. And most agree that the draconian peace terms imposed on the Germans significantly contributed to the rise of Hitler and WW2. Woodrow Wilson foreign policy failure had enormous adverse consequences for the lives of millions of innocent people.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 10-22-22
good
Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! good overall
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1 person found this helpful
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- Lord Hampton
- 05-24-15
Awkwardly written, badly narrated
This audiobook came very close to being the first of the dozens I have listened to, to being the first I could not complete. The story is barely above what a first year university history student could write. The constant comparatives of the views of historians, or contemporary press accounts, becomes exceptionally tiresome. But worst of all is the narration, filled with mispronunciations, garbled words, and just plain bad pace. I cannot recommend this book, as important as the topic is.
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2 people found this helpful