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  • Possess the Air

  • Love, Heroism, and the Battle for the Soul of Mussolini's Rome
  • By: Taras Grescoe
  • Narrated by: Jeff Burling
  • Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (4 ratings)

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Possess the Air

By: Taras Grescoe
Narrated by: Jeff Burling
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Publisher's summary

Whoever you are, you are sure to be a severe critic of Fascism, and you must feel the servile shame. But even you are responsible for your inaction. Do not seek to justify yourself with the illusion that there is nothing to be done. That is not true. Every person of courage and honour is quietly working for a free Italy. Even if you do not want to join us, there are still TEN THINGS which you can do. You can, and therefore you must.

These unsayable words, printed on leaflets that rained down on Mussolini’s headquarters in the heart of Rome at the height of the dictator’s power, drive the central drama of Possess the Air. This is the story of freedom fighters who defied Italy’s despot by opposing the rising tide of populism and xenophobia. Chief among them: poet and aviator Lauro de Bosis, firstborn of an Italian aristocrat and a New Englander, who transformed himself into a modern Icarus and amazed the world as he risked his life in the skies to bring Il Duce down. Taras Grescoe’s inspiring story of resistance, risk, and sacrifice paints a portrait of heroes in the fight against authoritarianism. This is an essential biography for our time.

©2019 Taras Grescoe (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant book, outstanding author, mediocre reader

I have three versions of this fantastic book: the paperback version, the Kindle version, and the Audible version. The first two are flawless, but the last is marred by the reader’s inability to pronounce fairly standard English words. The actors who are hired to do this kind of work are often unable to properly pronounce foreign words. That is less than ideal, but it’s ultimately forgivable. This is not.

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    3 out of 5 stars

I simply can't listen to this reader any longer.

This book is about a fascinating time in European history. The story is complex and filled with interesting characters. However, the reader is the worst I've ever heard from any audiobook. His enunciation is clear and his pronunciation of most Italian words isn't bad, but his pronunciation of *English* words is so bad that it seriously distracts from the reading/listening experience. What's more, his herky-jerky pacing is equally distracting; apparently he interprets a comma as a period and a period as a comma, making it very difficult to follow. The book itself is promising, and I'm going to purchase it on physical paper and read it that way. I simply cannot bear to hear Jeff Burling destroy another sentence. And Giacomo is pronounced ZHOCK-ah-moe, not Gee-ah-KOE-moe.

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