Prelude to Blitzkrieg
The 1916 Austro-German Campaign in Romania
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
Buy for $25.79
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
David de Vries
About this listen
An authoritative study of World War I's often-overlooked Romanian front.
In contrast to the trench-war deadlock on the Western Front, combat in Romania and Transylvania in 1916 foreshadowed the lightning warfare of World War II. When Romania joined the Allies and invaded Transylvania without warning, the Germans responded by unleashing a campaign of bold, rapid infantry movements, with cavalry providing cover or pursuing the crushed foe.
Hitting where least expected and advancing before the Romanians could react - even bombing their capital from a Zeppelin soon after war was declared - the Germans and Austrians poured over the formidable Transylvanian Alps onto the plains of Walachia, rolling up the Romanian army from west to east, and driving the shattered remnants into Russia.
Prelude to Blitzkrieg tells the story of this largely ignored campaign to determine why it did not devolve into the mud and misery of trench warfare, so ubiquitous elsewhere.
©2013 Michael B. Barrett (P)2020 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Fortress
- The Siege of Przemysl and the Making of Europe's Bloodlands
- By: Alexander Watson
- Narrated by: James Edward Thomas
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In September 1914, just a month into World War I, the Russian army laid siege to the fortress city of Przemysl, the Hapsburg Empire's most important bulwark against invasion. For six months, against storm and starvation, the ragtag garrison bitterly resisted, denying the Russians a quick victory. Only in March 1915 did the city fall, bringing occupation, persecution, and brutal ethnic cleansing. In The Fortress, historian Alexander Watson tells the story of the battle for Przemysl, showing how it marked the dawn of total war in Europe.
-
-
Fascinating story about eastern and Central Europe
- By John D. on 05-10-23
By: Alexander Watson
-
Collision of Empires
- The War on the Eastern Front in 1914
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 21 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fighting that raged in the East during the First World War was every bit as fierce as that on the Western Front, but the titanic clashes between three towering empires - Russia, Austro-Hungary, and Germany - remains a comparatively unknown facet of the Great War. With the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war in 2014, Collision of Empires is a timely expose of the bitter fighting on this forgotten front - a clash that would ultimately change the face of Europe forever.
-
-
Best book non-fiction book ever on the Eastern Front in 1914
- By HistoricalReader on 01-31-18
By: Prit Buttar
-
The Reckoning
- The Defeat of Army Group South, 1944
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 20 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Prit Buttar retraces the ebb and flow of the various battles and campaigns fought throughout the Ukraine and Romania in 1944. January and February saw Army Group South encircled in the Korsun Pocket. Although many of the encircled troops did escape, in part due to Soviet intelligence and command failures, the Red Army would endeavour to not make the same mistakes again. Indeed, in the coming months the Red Army would demonstrate an ability to learn and improve, reinventing itself as a war-winning machine, demonstrated clearly in its success in the Iasi-Kishinev operation.
-
-
Exceptional
- By Amazon Customer on 04-25-21
By: Prit Buttar
-
To Besiege a City
- Leningrad 1941–42
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 20 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At a huge cost, the Red Army and the civilian population of Leningrad ultimately endured a bitter 900-day siege, struggling against constant bombing, shelling, and starvation. Throughout the siege, Soviet forces tried to break the German lines and restore contact with the garrison. To Besiege a City charts the first of these offensives which began in January 1942 and was followed by repeated assaults.
-
-
Outstanding
- By E. Ronakov on 09-30-23
By: Prit Buttar
-
African Kaiser
- General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918
- By: Robert Gaudi
- Narrated by: Paul Hodgson
- Length: 18 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the continent of Africa was a hotbed of international trade, colonialism, and political gamesmanship. So when World War I broke out, the European powers were forced to contend with each other not just in the bloody trenches - but in the treacherous jungle. And it was in that unforgiving land that General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck would make history.
-
-
Well Written, Well Read, Well Done!
- By Matthew on 02-25-17
By: Robert Gaudi
-
Sicily '43
- The First Assault on Fortress Europe
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: Al Murray
- Length: 19 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On July 10, 1943, the largest amphibious invasion ever mounted took place, larger even than the Normandy invasion 11 months later: 160,000 American, British, and Canadian troops came ashore or were parachuted onto Sicily, signaling the start of the campaign to defeat Nazi Germany on European soil. Operation HUSKY, as it was known, was enormously complex, involving dramatic battles on land, in the air, and at sea. Yet, despite its paramount importance to ultimate Allied victory, and its drama, very little has been written about the 38-day Battle for Sicily.
-
-
Great writing, great narration, interesting topic
- By ItalCali on 08-02-21
By: James Holland
-
The Fortress
- The Siege of Przemysl and the Making of Europe's Bloodlands
- By: Alexander Watson
- Narrated by: James Edward Thomas
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In September 1914, just a month into World War I, the Russian army laid siege to the fortress city of Przemysl, the Hapsburg Empire's most important bulwark against invasion. For six months, against storm and starvation, the ragtag garrison bitterly resisted, denying the Russians a quick victory. Only in March 1915 did the city fall, bringing occupation, persecution, and brutal ethnic cleansing. In The Fortress, historian Alexander Watson tells the story of the battle for Przemysl, showing how it marked the dawn of total war in Europe.
-
-
Fascinating story about eastern and Central Europe
- By John D. on 05-10-23
By: Alexander Watson
-
Collision of Empires
- The War on the Eastern Front in 1914
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 21 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fighting that raged in the East during the First World War was every bit as fierce as that on the Western Front, but the titanic clashes between three towering empires - Russia, Austro-Hungary, and Germany - remains a comparatively unknown facet of the Great War. With the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war in 2014, Collision of Empires is a timely expose of the bitter fighting on this forgotten front - a clash that would ultimately change the face of Europe forever.
-
-
Best book non-fiction book ever on the Eastern Front in 1914
- By HistoricalReader on 01-31-18
By: Prit Buttar
-
The Reckoning
- The Defeat of Army Group South, 1944
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 20 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Prit Buttar retraces the ebb and flow of the various battles and campaigns fought throughout the Ukraine and Romania in 1944. January and February saw Army Group South encircled in the Korsun Pocket. Although many of the encircled troops did escape, in part due to Soviet intelligence and command failures, the Red Army would endeavour to not make the same mistakes again. Indeed, in the coming months the Red Army would demonstrate an ability to learn and improve, reinventing itself as a war-winning machine, demonstrated clearly in its success in the Iasi-Kishinev operation.
-
-
Exceptional
- By Amazon Customer on 04-25-21
By: Prit Buttar
-
To Besiege a City
- Leningrad 1941–42
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 20 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At a huge cost, the Red Army and the civilian population of Leningrad ultimately endured a bitter 900-day siege, struggling against constant bombing, shelling, and starvation. Throughout the siege, Soviet forces tried to break the German lines and restore contact with the garrison. To Besiege a City charts the first of these offensives which began in January 1942 and was followed by repeated assaults.
-
-
Outstanding
- By E. Ronakov on 09-30-23
By: Prit Buttar
-
African Kaiser
- General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918
- By: Robert Gaudi
- Narrated by: Paul Hodgson
- Length: 18 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the continent of Africa was a hotbed of international trade, colonialism, and political gamesmanship. So when World War I broke out, the European powers were forced to contend with each other not just in the bloody trenches - but in the treacherous jungle. And it was in that unforgiving land that General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck would make history.
-
-
Well Written, Well Read, Well Done!
- By Matthew on 02-25-17
By: Robert Gaudi
-
Sicily '43
- The First Assault on Fortress Europe
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: Al Murray
- Length: 19 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On July 10, 1943, the largest amphibious invasion ever mounted took place, larger even than the Normandy invasion 11 months later: 160,000 American, British, and Canadian troops came ashore or were parachuted onto Sicily, signaling the start of the campaign to defeat Nazi Germany on European soil. Operation HUSKY, as it was known, was enormously complex, involving dramatic battles on land, in the air, and at sea. Yet, despite its paramount importance to ultimate Allied victory, and its drama, very little has been written about the 38-day Battle for Sicily.
-
-
Great writing, great narration, interesting topic
- By ItalCali on 08-02-21
By: James Holland
-
A Frozen Hell
- The Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939-1940
- By: William R. Trotter
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1939, tiny Finland waged war - the kind of war that spawns legends - against the mighty Soviet Union, and yet, their epic struggle has been largely ignored. Guerrillas on skis, heroic single-handed attacks on tanks, unfathomable endurance, and the charismatic leadership of one of this century's true military geniuses - these are the elements of both the Finnish victory and a gripping tale of war.
-
-
Causes and consequences of ruso-finish 1939 war
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 04-06-18
-
A Time for Trumpets
- The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge
- By: Charles B. MacDonald
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 28 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On December 16, 1944, the vanguard of three German armies, totaling half a million men, attacked US forces in the Ardennes region of Belgium and Luxembourg, achieving what had been considered impossible - total surprise. In the most abysmal failure of battlefield intelligence in the history of the US Army, 600,000 American soldiers found themselves facing Hitler's last desperate effort of the war. The brutal confrontation that ensued became known as the Battle of the Bulge, the greatest battle ever fought by the US Army - a triumph of American ingenuity and dedication.
-
-
Outstanding history
- By J. Norman Reid on 11-22-16
-
Enemy at the Gates
- The Battle for Stalingrad
- By: William Craig
- Narrated by: David Baker
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On August 5, 1942, giant pillars of dust rose over the Russian steppe, marking the advance of the 6th Army, an elite German combat unit dispatched by Hitler to capture the industrial city of Stalingrad and press on to the oil fields of Azerbaijan. The Germans were supremely confident; in three years, they had not suffered a single defeat. The Luftwaffe had already bombed the city into ruins. German soldiers hoped to complete their mission and be home in time for Christmas.
-
-
An Unforgettable and Haunting Read
- By Jean on 02-03-16
By: William Craig
-
Catastrophe 1914
- Europe Goes to War
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 25 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the acclaimed military historian, a new history of the outbreak of World War I: the dramatic stretch from the breakdown of diplomacy to the battles - the Marne, Ypres, Tannenberg - that marked the frenzied first year before the war bogged down in the trenches. In Catastrophe 1914, Max Hastings gives us a conflict different from the familiar one of barbed wire, mud, and futility.
-
-
I thought I knew the battle of the frontiers
- By Anonymous User on 04-02-21
By: Max Hastings
-
From the Realm of a Dying Sun, Volume 1
- IV. SS-Panzerkorps and the Battles for Warsaw, July - November 1944
- By: Douglas E. Nash Sr.
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 28 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The histories of the first three SS corps are well known - the actions of I, II, and III (Germanic) SS-Panzerkorps and their subordinate divisions, including the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, Das Reich, Hitlerjugend, Hohenstaufen, Frundsberg, and Nordland divisions, have been thoroughly documented and publicized. Overlooked in this pantheon is another SS corps that never fought in the west or in Berlin but one that participated in many of the key battles fought on the Eastern Front during the last year of the war - the IV SS-Panzerkorps.
-
-
Excellent top to bottom
- By Anonymous User on 11-01-20
-
Meat Grinder
- The Battles for the Rzhev Salient, 1942–43
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Nathan Osgood
- Length: 21 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fighting between the German and Russian armies in the Rzhev Salient during World War II was so grisly, so murderous, and saw such vast losses that the troops called the campaign 'The Meat Grinder'. Though millions of men would fight and die there, the Rzhev Salient does not have the name recognition of Leningrad or Moscow. It has been largely ignored by Western historians – until now.
-
-
A totally absurd effort in racist German Bashing with some grudging respect for the German soldier and German Army.
- By Anonymous User on 05-01-24
By: Prit Buttar
-
Crimea
- By: Orlando Figes
- Narrated by: Malk Williams
- Length: 20 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The terrible conflict that dominated the mid-19th century, the Crimean War, killed at least 800,000 men and pitted Russia against a formidable coalition of Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. It was a war for territory, provoked by fear that if the Ottoman Empire were to collapse then Russia could control a huge swathe of land from the Balkans to the Persian Gulf. But it was also a war of religion, driven by a fervent, populist and ever more ferocious belief by the Tsar and his ministers that it was Russia's task to rule all Orthodox Christians and control the Holy Land.
-
-
Outstanding History of the Crimean War
- By Rick Sailor on 11-08-18
By: Orlando Figes
-
The Rise of Athens
- The Story of the World's Greatest Civilization
- By: Anthony Everitt
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Filled with tales of adventure and astounding reversals of fortune, The Rise of Athens celebrates the city-state that transformed the world - from the democratic revolution that marked its beginning through the city's political and cultural golden age to its decline into the ancient equivalent of a modern-day university town. Anthony Everitt constructs his history with unforgettable portraits of the talented, tricky, ambitious, and unscrupulous Athenians who fueled the city's rise.
-
-
Good but not great. With some disturbing opinions.
- By Anthony on 06-25-19
By: Anthony Everitt
-
Iron and Blood
- A Military History of the German-Speaking Peoples Since 1500
- By: Peter H. Wilson
- Narrated by: Rory Alexander
- Length: 34 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
German military history is typically viewed as an inexorable march to the rise of Prussia and the two world wars, the road paved by militarism and the result a specifically German way of war. Peter Wilson challenges this narrative. Looking beyond Prussia to German-speaking Europe across the last five centuries, Wilson finds little unique or preordained in German militarism or warfighting. Iron and Blood takes as its starting point the consolidation of the Holy Roman Empire, which created new mechanisms for raising troops but also for resolving disputes diplomatically.
-
-
Awesome
- By Will Georgiadis on 04-11-23
By: Peter H. Wilson
-
StuG III Brigade 191, 1940-1945
- The Buffalo Brigade in Action in the Balkans, Greece and from Moscow to Kursk and Sevastopol
- By: Bruno Bork, Anthony Tucker-Jones - foreword
- Narrated by: Bruce Mann
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on their experiences during the First World War, the Reichswehr decided that the infantry support gun of the future should be an armored, motorized vehicle: the Sturmgeschütz III. The weapon was used in the 'fire brigade role' at hotspots along the Front, where it was much feared by enemy forces. This book tells the tale of Brigade 191, aka the 'Buffalo Brigade', who used the Sturmgeschütz III as they took part in Operation Barbarossa in the Ukraine, saw action during the fight for Greece and were deployed to the areas of heaviest fighting in the campaign against the Soviet Union.
-
-
Ruined by awful narrator
- By MortonC on 01-19-24
By: Bruno Bork, and others
-
Panzer Ace
- The Memoirs of an Iron Cross Panzer Commander from Barbarossa to Normandy
- By: Richard Freiherr von Rosen, Robert Forczyk
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard Freiherr von Rosen was a highly decorated Wehrmacht soldier and outstanding panzer commander. After serving as a gunlayer on a Pz.Mk.III during Barbarossa, he led a company of Tigers at Kursk. Later he led a company of King Tiger panzers at Normandy and in late 1944 commanded a battle group (12 King Tigers and a flak company) against the Russians in Hungary in the rank of junior, later senior lieutenant (from November 1944, his final rank). Only 489 of these King Tiger tanks were ever built.
-
-
Not what I expected
- By Gabriel on 01-04-19
By: Richard Freiherr von Rosen, and others
-
The First World War
- By: John Keegan
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 20 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The First World War created the modern world. A conflict of unprecedented ferocity, it abruptly ended the relative peace and prosperity of the Victorian era, unleashing such demons of the 20th century as mechanized warfare and mass death. It also helped to usher in the ideas that have shaped our times - modernism in the arts, new approaches to psychology and medicine, radical thoughts about economics and society - and in so doing shattered the faith in rationalism and liberalism that had prevailed in Europe since the Enlightenment.
-
-
Best Military History of First World War
- By Stephen F (SPFJR) on 06-13-19
By: John Keegan
Related to this topic
-
The Reckoning
- The Defeat of Army Group South, 1944
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 20 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Prit Buttar retraces the ebb and flow of the various battles and campaigns fought throughout the Ukraine and Romania in 1944. January and February saw Army Group South encircled in the Korsun Pocket. Although many of the encircled troops did escape, in part due to Soviet intelligence and command failures, the Red Army would endeavour to not make the same mistakes again. Indeed, in the coming months the Red Army would demonstrate an ability to learn and improve, reinventing itself as a war-winning machine, demonstrated clearly in its success in the Iasi-Kishinev operation.
-
-
Exceptional
- By Amazon Customer on 04-25-21
By: Prit Buttar
-
On a Knife’s Edge
- The Ukraine, November 1942-March 1943
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The battle of Stalingrad was the turning point of World War II. The German capture of the city, their encirclement by Soviet forces shortly afterwards, and the hard-fought but futile attempts to relieve them, saw bitter attritional fighting and extremes of human misery inflicted on both sides. In this title, a renowned expert on warfare on the Eastern Front reveals the often-overlooked German counteroffensive post-Stalingrad, and how it prevented the whole Axis front line from collapsing.
-
-
Best of its kind!
- By Max on 02-10-20
By: Prit Buttar
-
From the Realm of a Dying Sun, Volume 1
- IV. SS-Panzerkorps and the Battles for Warsaw, July - November 1944
- By: Douglas E. Nash Sr.
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 28 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The histories of the first three SS corps are well known - the actions of I, II, and III (Germanic) SS-Panzerkorps and their subordinate divisions, including the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, Das Reich, Hitlerjugend, Hohenstaufen, Frundsberg, and Nordland divisions, have been thoroughly documented and publicized. Overlooked in this pantheon is another SS corps that never fought in the west or in Berlin but one that participated in many of the key battles fought on the Eastern Front during the last year of the war - the IV SS-Panzerkorps.
-
-
Excellent top to bottom
- By Anonymous User on 11-01-20
-
The Western Front
- A History of the Great War, 1914-1918
- By: Nick Lloyd
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Western Front evokes images of mud-spattered men in waterlogged trenches, shielded from artillery blasts and machine-gun fire by a few feet of dirt. This iconic setting was the most critical arena of the Great War. In this epic narrative history, the first volume in a groundbreaking trilogy on the Great War, Nick Lloyd captures the horrific fighting on the Western Front beginning with the surprise German invasion of Belgium in August 1914 and taking us to the Armistice of November 1918.
-
-
Incisive Overview
- By J.Brock on 01-19-22
By: Nick Lloyd
-
The Mighty Endeavor
- American Armed Forces in the European Theater in World War II
- By: Charles B. MacDonald
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 22 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the first landings at Casablanca straight through to the crossing of the Elbe River and V-E Day, this book tells the gripping story of the European theater of operations battles of World War II that American soldiers, sailors, and airmen took part in and of the strategy behind them. The book's core is its account of such famous and dramatic episodes as the landings in North Africa, Kasserine Pass, Salerno and Anzio; D-day; the liberation of Paris; the Battle of the Bulge; the crossing of the Rhine; and the race across Germany.
-
-
Great background on US Armed Forces in the ETO and MTO
- By Dan McGrew on 05-16-17
-
The Anvil of War
- German Generalship in Defense of the Eastern Front
- By: Erhard Rauss, Oldwig von Natzmer, Peter G. Tsouras - editor
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written as part of a US Army program instigated after World War II by Colonel S. L. A. Marshall of the Army Historical Division, who was convinced that no record of the war could be complete without the input of the German commanding officers and their main staff officers, these reports offer an invaluable record of German operations for historians and general audiences.
-
-
STUDY YOUR EASTERN EUROPEAN GEOGRAPHY
- By JOAQUIN M. on 04-18-16
By: Erhard Rauss, and others
-
The Reckoning
- The Defeat of Army Group South, 1944
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 20 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Prit Buttar retraces the ebb and flow of the various battles and campaigns fought throughout the Ukraine and Romania in 1944. January and February saw Army Group South encircled in the Korsun Pocket. Although many of the encircled troops did escape, in part due to Soviet intelligence and command failures, the Red Army would endeavour to not make the same mistakes again. Indeed, in the coming months the Red Army would demonstrate an ability to learn and improve, reinventing itself as a war-winning machine, demonstrated clearly in its success in the Iasi-Kishinev operation.
-
-
Exceptional
- By Amazon Customer on 04-25-21
By: Prit Buttar
-
On a Knife’s Edge
- The Ukraine, November 1942-March 1943
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The battle of Stalingrad was the turning point of World War II. The German capture of the city, their encirclement by Soviet forces shortly afterwards, and the hard-fought but futile attempts to relieve them, saw bitter attritional fighting and extremes of human misery inflicted on both sides. In this title, a renowned expert on warfare on the Eastern Front reveals the often-overlooked German counteroffensive post-Stalingrad, and how it prevented the whole Axis front line from collapsing.
-
-
Best of its kind!
- By Max on 02-10-20
By: Prit Buttar
-
From the Realm of a Dying Sun, Volume 1
- IV. SS-Panzerkorps and the Battles for Warsaw, July - November 1944
- By: Douglas E. Nash Sr.
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 28 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The histories of the first three SS corps are well known - the actions of I, II, and III (Germanic) SS-Panzerkorps and their subordinate divisions, including the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, Das Reich, Hitlerjugend, Hohenstaufen, Frundsberg, and Nordland divisions, have been thoroughly documented and publicized. Overlooked in this pantheon is another SS corps that never fought in the west or in Berlin but one that participated in many of the key battles fought on the Eastern Front during the last year of the war - the IV SS-Panzerkorps.
-
-
Excellent top to bottom
- By Anonymous User on 11-01-20
-
The Western Front
- A History of the Great War, 1914-1918
- By: Nick Lloyd
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Western Front evokes images of mud-spattered men in waterlogged trenches, shielded from artillery blasts and machine-gun fire by a few feet of dirt. This iconic setting was the most critical arena of the Great War. In this epic narrative history, the first volume in a groundbreaking trilogy on the Great War, Nick Lloyd captures the horrific fighting on the Western Front beginning with the surprise German invasion of Belgium in August 1914 and taking us to the Armistice of November 1918.
-
-
Incisive Overview
- By J.Brock on 01-19-22
By: Nick Lloyd
-
The Mighty Endeavor
- American Armed Forces in the European Theater in World War II
- By: Charles B. MacDonald
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 22 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the first landings at Casablanca straight through to the crossing of the Elbe River and V-E Day, this book tells the gripping story of the European theater of operations battles of World War II that American soldiers, sailors, and airmen took part in and of the strategy behind them. The book's core is its account of such famous and dramatic episodes as the landings in North Africa, Kasserine Pass, Salerno and Anzio; D-day; the liberation of Paris; the Battle of the Bulge; the crossing of the Rhine; and the race across Germany.
-
-
Great background on US Armed Forces in the ETO and MTO
- By Dan McGrew on 05-16-17
-
The Anvil of War
- German Generalship in Defense of the Eastern Front
- By: Erhard Rauss, Oldwig von Natzmer, Peter G. Tsouras - editor
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written as part of a US Army program instigated after World War II by Colonel S. L. A. Marshall of the Army Historical Division, who was convinced that no record of the war could be complete without the input of the German commanding officers and their main staff officers, these reports offer an invaluable record of German operations for historians and general audiences.
-
-
STUDY YOUR EASTERN EUROPEAN GEOGRAPHY
- By JOAQUIN M. on 04-18-16
By: Erhard Rauss, and others
-
The First World War
- By: John Keegan
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 20 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The First World War created the modern world. A conflict of unprecedented ferocity, it abruptly ended the relative peace and prosperity of the Victorian era, unleashing such demons of the 20th century as mechanized warfare and mass death. It also helped to usher in the ideas that have shaped our times - modernism in the arts, new approaches to psychology and medicine, radical thoughts about economics and society - and in so doing shattered the faith in rationalism and liberalism that had prevailed in Europe since the Enlightenment.
-
-
Best Military History of First World War
- By Stephen F (SPFJR) on 06-13-19
By: John Keegan
-
Defeat into Victory
- Battling Japan in Burma and India, 1942-1945
- By: Field-Marshal Viscount William Slim, David W. Hogan Jr. - introduction
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 23 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Field Marshal Viscount Slim (1891-1970) led shattered British forces from Burma to India in one of the lesser-known but more nightmarish retreats of World War II. He then restored his army's fighting capabilities and morale with virtually no support from home and counterattacked. His army's slaughter of Japanese troops ultimately liberated India and Burma.
-
-
Excellent account of a theatre of ww2 that many Americans know little about of
- By Thomas W White on 01-06-24
By: Field-Marshal Viscount William Slim, and others
-
The Compleat Victory
- Saratoga and the American Revolution
- By: Kevin Weddle
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 18 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late summer and fall of 1777, after two years of indecisive fighting on both sides, the outcome of the American War of Independence hung in the balance. Having successfully expelled the Americans from Canada in 1776, the British were determined to end the rebellion the following year and devised what they believed a war-winning strategy, sending General John Burgoyne south to rout the Americans and take Albany.
-
-
A reasonable summary of the revolutionary War of the Northern Army
- By Astrobuf on 12-22-23
By: Kevin Weddle
-
"Lee Is Trapped, and Must Be Taken"
- Eleven Fateful Days After Gettysburg: July 4 - 14, 1863
- By: Thomas J. Ryan, Richard R. Schaus
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Lee Is Trapped, and Must Be Taken": Eleven Fateful Days After Gettysburg: July 4 to July 14, 1863 focuses on the immediate aftermath of the battle of Gettysburg and addresses how Maj. Gen. George G. Meade organized and motivated his Army of the Potomac in response to President Abraham Lincoln's mandate to bring about the "literal or substantial destruction" of Gen. Robert E. Lee's retreating Army of Northern Virginia.
-
-
Detailed and Well Written
- By Ezekiel Z. Conover on 04-22-21
By: Thomas J. Ryan, and others
-
The Drive on Moscow, 1941
- Operation Taifun and Germany’s First Great Crisis of World War II
- By: Niklas Zetterling, Anders Frankson
- Narrated by: Dave Courvoisier
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the end of September 1941, more than a million German soldiers lined up along the frontline just 180 miles west of Moscow. They were well trained, confident, and had good reasons to hope that the war in the East would be over with one last offensive. Facing them was an equally large Soviet force, but whose soldiers were neither as well trained nor as confident. When the Germans struck, disaster soon befell the Soviet defenders.
-
-
Add the maps, lose the accents
- By Carrick on 07-03-14
By: Niklas Zetterling, and others
-
The American Heritage History of World War I
- By: S. L. A. Marshall
- Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
- Length: 19 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on a lifetime of military experience, Brigadier General S. L. A. Marshall, "one of our most distinguished military writers" ( New York Times), delivers this unflinching history of the war that was supposed to end all wars. From the perspective of more than half a century, Marshall examines the blunders and complacency that turned what everyone thought would be a brief campaign and an easy victory into a relentless four-year slaughter that left 10 million dead and 20 million wounded.
-
-
WW1 from American point of view
- By Jean on 10-19-12
-
When Titans Clashed
- How the Red Army Stopped Hitler
- By: David M. Glantz, Jonathan M. House
- Narrated by: James Romick
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Revised and updated to reflect recent Russian and Western scholarship on the subject, this new edition maintains the 1995 original's distinction as a crucial volume in the history of World War II and of the Soviet Union and the most informed and compelling perspective on one of the greatest military confrontations of all time.
-
-
The largest conflict in human history
- By Eddie on 05-15-22
By: David M. Glantz, and others
-
Case White
- The Invasion of Poland 1939
- By: Robert Forczyk
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The German invasion of Poland on 1 September, 1939, designated as Fall Weiss (Case White), was the event that sparked the outbreak of World War II in Europe. The campaign has widely been described as a textbook example of Blitzkrieg, but it was actually a fairly conventional campaign as the Wehrmacht was still learning how to use its new Panzers and dive-bombers. The Polish military is often misrepresented as hopelessly obsolete and outclassed by the Wehrmacht, yet in fact it was well-equipped with modern weapons and armor.
-
-
Surprise
- By Kindle Customer on 11-24-19
By: Robert Forczyk
-
Military Memoirs of a Confederate
- By: Edward Porter Alexander
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 25 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most important and objective firsthand accounts of the Civil War. Unlike some other Confederate memoirists, General Edward Porter Alexander objectively evaluated and criticized prominent Confederate officers, including Robert E. Lee. The result is a clear-eyed assessment of the bloody conflict that divided but subsequently united the nation.
-
-
The first one I may exchange
- By Brian on 05-27-20
-
The Fortress
- The Siege of Przemysl and the Making of Europe's Bloodlands
- By: Alexander Watson
- Narrated by: James Edward Thomas
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In September 1914, just a month into World War I, the Russian army laid siege to the fortress city of Przemysl, the Hapsburg Empire's most important bulwark against invasion. For six months, against storm and starvation, the ragtag garrison bitterly resisted, denying the Russians a quick victory. Only in March 1915 did the city fall, bringing occupation, persecution, and brutal ethnic cleansing. In The Fortress, historian Alexander Watson tells the story of the battle for Przemysl, showing how it marked the dawn of total war in Europe.
-
-
Fascinating story about eastern and Central Europe
- By John D. on 05-10-23
By: Alexander Watson
-
Blitzkrieg
- From the Ground Up
- By: Niklas Zetterling
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The successes of the German Blitzkrieg in 1939-41 were as surprising as they were swift. Allied decision-makers wanted to discover the secret to German success quickly, even though only partial, incomplete information was available to them. The false conclusions drawn became myths about the Blitzkrieg that have lingered for decades.
-
-
An interesting perspective
- By OCreviewer on 09-11-19
-
Blitzkrieg
- Myth, Reality, and Hitler's Lightning War: France 1940
- By: Lloyd Clark
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the spring of 1940, the Germans launched a military offensive in France and the Low Countries that married superb intelligence, the latest military thinking, and new technology. It was a stunning victory, altering the balance of power in Europe in one stroke, and convincing the entire world that the Nazi war machine was unstoppable. But as Lloyd Clark, a leading British military historian and academic, argues, much of our understanding of this victory, and blitzkrieg itself, is based on myth.
-
-
Very good and detailed about the Fall of France
- By Arthur on 03-15-17
By: Lloyd Clark
What listeners say about Prelude to Blitzkrieg
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chris Hummel
- 06-01-24
Useful Addendum to WW1 History
Barrett's study represents a useful addition to the history of WW1 in a neglected theater. While he does a fair job presenting this campaign as solid example of combined arms warfare and does much to bring focus to a truly interesting and complex theater, Barrett doesn't do much work to connect the 1916 campaign to the developing concept of Blitzkrieg used in WW2. While Blitzkrieg itself is debated as a term (historians disagree over its meaning--true combined arms warfare, a flexible system allowing significant power to lower officers, or an economic-based approach relying on rapid, often risky victories), Barrett does little to define it or draw comparisons until the very end of the work. You won't find this analysis integrated throughout the work or an extended and detailed comparative analysis. How is what happened here similar to what happened in Russia, or for that matter, in earlier wars like the Franco-Prussian conflict, a continuation of past trends (broken by WW1 trench warfare) rather than the precursor to Blitzkrieg? We don't get an answer to that and related questions. Perhaps meant to draw eyes to the work (it does deserve to be read by historians of WW1 and southern and eastern Europe), it doesn't quite deliver what its title seems to promise. Even so, it is well written, detailed, and well-narrated.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!