
Revolution 1989
The Fall of the Soviet Empire
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Narrated by:
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Paul Hecht
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By:
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Victor Sebestyen
About this listen
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Editorial reviews
If it were fiction nobody would believe it. Real life events just don’t happen in such dramatic and thematic sync, right? A succession of aged, feeble, and sclerotic Soviet leaders General Secretaries Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, and Konstantin Chernenko become embodiments of the total moral rot that was the Soviet Union. The next in line, Mikhail Gorbachev, believed in communism and, unlike almost all of his colleagues, admired Lenin. Who would have thought that a man with such beliefs would introduce glasnost (openness), and perestroika (restructuring), and that he would be serious about it? That he would insist upon the unthinkable: that the Soviet satellite states independently make their own political decisions? The Soviet Union was ideologically, militarily, and fiscally bankrupt, and in cutting loose the satellite states, Gorbachev believed these states would choose communism. Victor Sebestyen’s Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire chronicles the transformation of the Soviet leadership under Gorbachev and the revolutions in the six nations of the Warsaw Pact East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria that toppled the old guards of the Soviet Union and altered the course of history.
Sebestyen had access to the Soviet archives, and the finely detailed narrative renderings that pervade Revolution 1989 indicate the archives were extensively used. Paul Hecht, with his rich baseline baritone voice, his precise dramatic control, his evocative vocal cadences and inflections, and careful detailing of characters and events, is the perfect narrator for this book. At 18 hours, 40 minutes in length, the narrative is presented both chronologically and by shifts to and from the six Warsaw Pact states and Soviet Russia. The narrative architecture of the Soviet Union’s deconstruction is a complex and involved and exhilarating story. For this listener and reviewer, the effect of dynamic events of such scale and on all fronts produced a stark, dramatic, and fluid rendering of visual images. Without Hecht’s superb narration I doubt this visual enhancement would have been present in the audiobook. Revolution 1989 is a richly compelling, historically important, and very exciting listen. David Chasey
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Story
In 1945, the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four million strong, 5,000 nuclear-tipped missiles, and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward, the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the 20th century.
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Hopefully Not Prescient
- By Joshua on 01-29-22
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The Landscape of History
- How Historians Map the Past
- By: John Lewis Gaddis
- Narrated by: Jack Chekijian
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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What is history, and why should we study it? Is there such a thing as historical truth? Is history a science? One of the most accomplished historians at work today, John Lewis Gaddis, answers these and other questions in this short, witty, and humane book. The Landscape of History provides a searching look at the historian's craft as well as a strong argument for why a historical consciousness should matter to us today.
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Excellent Book!
- By Billy on 09-15-18
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Afgantsy
- The Russians in Afghanistan 1979-89
- By: Rodric Braithwaite
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The story of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan is well known: the expansionist Communists overwhelmed a poor country as a means of reaching a warm-water port on the Persian Gulf. It is a great story—but it never happened. In this brilliant, myth-busting account, Rodric Braithwaite, the former British ambassador to Moscow, challenges much of what we know about the Soviets in Afghanistan. He provides an inside look at this little-understood episode, using first-hand accounts and piercing analysis to show the war as it was fought and experienced by the Russians.
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Concise Book of Soviet-Afghan War
- By Chris on 07-18-22
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Woodrow Wilson
- A Biography
- By: John Milton Cooper
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 35 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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John Milton Cooper, Jr., is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s preeminent Woodrow Wilson biographers. This thoroughly researched profile of America’s 28th president is universally hailed for its scholarship and insight into the life and career ofone of the nation’s most polarizing leaders.
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On the outside looking in
- By Doris on 09-02-13
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Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World
- By: Philip Matyszak
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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This thorough guide explores those civilizations that have faded from the pages of our textbooks but played a significant role in the development of modern society. Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World covers the Hyksos to the Hephthalites and everyone in between, providing a unique overview of humanity's history from approximately 3000 BCE-550 CE. Each entry exposes a diverse culture, highlighting their important contributions.
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Gripping and seamless
- By Mike Heim on 05-13-21
By: Philip Matyszak
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The End
- The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944-1945
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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From the preeminent Hitler biographer, a fascinating and original exploration of how the Third Reich was willing and able to fight to the bitter end of World War II. Countless books have been written about why Nazi Germany lost World War II, yet remarkably little attention has been paid to the equally vital question of how and why it was able to hold out as long as it did.
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Engrossing yet horrifying
- By Liz on 10-14-11
By: Ian Kershaw
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The Fall of the Ottomans
- The Great War in the Middle East
- By: Eugene Rogan
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Fall of the Ottomans, award-winning historian Eugene Rogan brings the First World War and its immediate aftermath in the Middle East to vivid life, uncovering the often ignored story of the region's crucial role in the conflict.
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Great Book About A Little Known Part of WWI
- By Nostromo on 06-08-15
By: Eugene Rogan
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Stalin, Volume I
- Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928
- By: Stephen Kotkin
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 38 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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Excellent Book But First Time Listener Beware
- By Nostromo on 03-23-15
By: Stephen Kotkin
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Lafayette
- By: Harlow Giles Unger
- Narrated by: Matthew Boston
- Length: 18 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In this gripping biography, acclaimed author Harlow Giles Unger paints an intimate portrait of the heroic young French soldier who, at 19, renounced a life of luxury in Paris and Versailles to fight and bleed for liberty - at Brandywine, Valley Forge, and Yorktown. A major general in the Continental army, he quickly earned the love of his troops, his fellow commanders, and his commander in chief, George Washington, who called him his "adopted son".
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WE GET IT! HE'S A "KNIGHT"
- By Anonymous User on 01-13-22
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Special Forces Berlin
- Clandestine Cold War Operations of the US Army's Elite, 1956-1990
- By: James Stejskal
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The massive armies of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies posed a huge threat to the nations of Western Europe. US military planners decided they needed a plan to slow the juggernaut they expected when and if a war began. The plan was Special Forces Berlin. Their mission, should hostilities commence, was to wreak havoc behind enemy lines and buy time for vastly outnumbered NATO forces to conduct a breakout from the city.
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I was there...
- By rowca on 09-15-18
By: James Stejskal
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The Korean War
- A History
- By: Bruce Cumings
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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In sobering detail, The Korean War chronicles a US home front agitated by Joseph McCarthy, where absolutist conformity discouraged open inquiry and citizen dissent. Cumings incisively ties our current foreign policy back to Korea: an America with hundreds of permanent military bases abroad, a large standing army, and a permanent national security state at home, the ultimate result of a judicious and limited policy of containment evolving into an ongoing and seemingly endless global crusade.
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A real eye-opener
- By Bookworm on 10-09-19
By: Bruce Cumings
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Lenin
- The Man, the Dictator, and the Master of Terror
- By: Victor Sebestyen
- Narrated by: Jonathan Aris
- Length: 20 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on new research, including the diaries, memoirs, and personal letters of both Lenin and his friends, Victor Sebestyen's unique biography - the first in English in nearly two decades - is not only a political examination of one of the most important historical figures of the 20th century but a portrait of Lenin the man. Unexpectedly, Lenin was someone who loved nature, hunting, and fishing and could identify hundreds of species of plants, a despotic ruler whose closest ties and friendships were with women.
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Lenin totally took an extra piece of that cake.
- By John Gathly on 05-14-19
By: Victor Sebestyen
Would you consider the audio edition of Revolution 1989 to be better than the print version?
Never read the print.What did you like best about this story?
The author researched well and I enjoyed the flow of information.Have you listened to any of Paul Hecht’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I don't remember but he does a great job.Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
When Nicolae Ceaușescu showed absolutely no remorse when confronted with his crimes.Cold War "101"
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Informative but exciting
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Engaging Informative Entertaining
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For those who want to know why the Berlin wall fell
The puzzle fits together
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Top notch popular history
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Factual, historical and we'll written recollection
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It examines the Soviet Union, specifically the satellite states, from the appointment of Pope John Paul II in 1978, to Nicolae Ceausescu's execution in December of 1989. The scope of this book is immense, we watch three Russian dictator's come and go and see the progression that will lead to the collapse of Eastern Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, the Ukraine, and Poland. At the end, Russia stands as a completely different country. How did all these events happen within months of each other in relatively bloodless uprisings?
That's a lot of ground to cover and I wanted to get to know all the amazing people who made it happen. As it is, we get to see them on a cursory level but have to move quickly through time, as there is so much to cover (my favorite two chapters were in Chernobyl and the revolution in Romania during Ceausescu's last speech.) It's incredible that a 20 hour book can feel rushed, but this does.
That said, it's an amazing book. Even though these events happened in my lifetime, I did not see them for all their colors and intrigue. So here it is, a book that isn't perfect, but one that's on my Highly Recommended List.
A Beautiful Collapse
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The book is detailed but never dry. The author tells a balanced story, explaining that the economic decay of the Warsaw Pact nations ultimately doomed its members while describing the individuals, events, and specific actions that perpetuated the historic changes of 1989.
Excellent reader - interesting voice and never annoying.
Terrific overview; well-written; wonderfully read
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Would you listen to Revolution 1989 again? Why?
I would and I am - I finished it and immediately started again.What about Paul Hecht’s performance did you like?
Good pace, good pronunciation.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Too long for one sitting - But I got through it very quickly. I was using Wikipedia to get more details and check out some maps as I progressed through the book. This is fascinating stuff!Any additional comments?
Get this and listen. Even being aware of a lot of this stuff I still found tons of new insight and information. If you don't know much about the Revolutions of 1989 and how the Commies fell apart this is a GREAT resource. EVERYONE should know ALL about this stuff!!Excellent - Everyone should know this stuff
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Masterpiece
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