The Allure of Battle
A History of How Wars Have Been Won and Lost
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Narrated by:
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Julian Elfer
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By:
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Cathal J. Nolan
About this listen
History has tended to measure war's winners and losers in terms of its major engagements, battles in which the result was so clear-cut that they could be considered "decisive". Cannae, Konigsberg, Austerlitz, Midway, Agincourt - all resonate in the literature of war and in our imaginations as tide-turning. But these legendary battles may or may not have determined the final outcome of the wars in which they were fought.
Cathal J. Nolan's The Allure of Battle systematically and engrossingly examines the great battles, tracing what he calls "short-war thinking", the hope that victory might be swift and wars brief. As he proves persuasively, however, such has almost never been the case. Even the major engagements have mainly contributed to victory or defeat by accelerating the erosion of the other side's defenses.
Massive conflicts, the so-called "people's wars", beginning with Napoleon and continuing until 1945, have consisted of and been determined by prolonged stalemate and attrition, industrial wars in which the determining factor has been not military but materiel. Nolan's masterful book places battles squarely and mercilessly within the context of the wider conflict in which they took place. In the process it helps correct a distorted view of battle's role in war.
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World War 2
- A Captivating Guide From Beginning to End
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 2 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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The Second World War was one of the most traumatic events in human history. Across the world, existing conflicts became connected, entangling nations in a vast web of violence. It was fought on land, sea, and air, touching every inhabited continent. Over 55 million people died, some of them combatants, some civilians caught up in the violence, and some murdered by their own governments.
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Too superficial
- By Luciano H Apponi on 01-09-18
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World War One
- A Short History
- By: Norman Stone
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1914, a new kind of war came about, bringing with it a new kind of world. World War One began on horseback, with generals employing bayonet charges to gain ground, and ended with attacks resembling the Nazi blitzkriegs. The scale of devastation was unlike anything the world had seen before: 14 million combatants died, a further 20 million were wounded, and four empires were destroyed. Even the victors' empires were fatally damaged.
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Well told, well narrated; needs maps
- By Tad Davis on 09-23-09
By: Norman Stone
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How Great Generals Win
- By: Bevin Alexander
- Narrated by: James Slattery
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout history great generals have done what their enemies have least expected. Instead of direct, predictable attack, they have deceived, encircled, outflanked, out-thought, and triumphed over often superior armies commanded by conventional thinkers.
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The Problem with Case-Study-Centric Analysis
- By Horace on 03-30-14
By: Bevin Alexander
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The Ottoman Endgame
- War, Revolution, and the Making of the Modern Middle East, 1908-1923
- By: Sean McMeekin
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 19 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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An astonishing retelling of 20th-century history from the Ottoman perspective, delivering profound new insights into World War I and the contemporary Middle East. Between 1911 and 1922, a series of wars would engulf the Ottoman Empire and its successor states, in which the central conflict, of course, was World War I - a story we think we know well. As Sean McMeekin shows us in this revelatory new history of what he calls the "wars of the Ottoman succession", we know far less than we think.
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WWI from a different perspective
- By Michael L Krogh on 11-09-15
By: Sean McMeekin
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American Heritage History of World War II
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose, C. L. Sulzberger
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In planes and foxholes, in deserts and jungles, on ships and beaches, Ambrose shines a light on the people involved - the leaders, the fighters, the victims. With chapters on the atrocities of the Holocaust and revelations about the secret war of espionage, Ambrose's analysis also offers insight into the events that precipitated the Cold War.
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Excellent overview of WWII
- By Laura Kernen on 11-15-18
By: Stephen E. Ambrose, and others
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Afghanistan
- A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban
- By: Stephen Tanner
- Narrated by: Raymond Todd
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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For more than 2,500 years, the forbidding territory of Afghanistan has served as a vital crossroads not only for armies but also for clashes between civilizations. As a result of the United States' engaging in armed conflict with the Afghan regime, an understanding of the military history of that blood-soaked land has become essential to every American.
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A Great Overview
- By Colin on 10-16-08
By: Stephen Tanner
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The First World War
- By: Hew Strachan
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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A century has passed since the outbreak of World War I, yet as military historian Hew Strachan argues in this brilliant and authoritative new book, the legacy of the "war to end all wars" is with us still. The First World War was a truly global conflict from the start, with many of the most decisive battles fought in or directly affecting the Balkans, Africa, and the Ottoman Empire. Even more than World War II, the First World War continues to shape the politics and international relations of our world.
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Outstanding narrative of the military action
- By Tad Davis on 04-30-17
By: Hew Strachan
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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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Deathride
- Hitler vs. Stalin: The Eastern Front, 1941-1945
- By: John Mosier
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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John Mosier presents a revisionist retelling of the war on the Eastern Front. The conventional wisdom is that Hitler was mad to think he could defeat the USSR, because of its vast size and population, and that the Battle of Stalingrad marked the turning point of the war. Neither statement is accurate, says Mosier; Hitler came very close to winning outright.
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Speaking the un-speakable
- By Jonathan Gardner on 09-27-10
By: John Mosier
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America at War
- Concise Histories of U.S. Military Conflicts from Lexington to Afghanistan
- By: Terence T. Finn
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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War-organized violence against an enemy of the state-seems part and parcel of the American journey. Indeed, the United States was established by means of violence as ordinary citizens from New Hampshire to Georgia answered George Washington's call to arms. Since then, war has become a staple of American history. Counting the War for Independence, the United States has fought the armed forces of other nations at least twelve times, averaging a major conflict every twenty years.
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Remember the past
- By Mary on 12-13-23
By: Terence T. Finn
What listeners say about The Allure of Battle
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- David Ellison
- 12-08-23
Good military history of early modern Europe
This should be required reading for any political or military leader to reconsider the wisdom of seeking a shirt, sharp clash. Wide ranging western history from classical Greece to Hiroshima but the strength of the book was from Thirty Years war through the German Wars of Unification. A pleasant surprise.
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- PJ Hamilton
- 09-16-18
deep pockets & a long magazine.
well read, do holes in thought but well stated and credible. He will make you stop and engage in some rethinking
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- jake
- 05-15-18
very good...
but I do not believe some of the conclusions the author came to. it's a detailed look at major recent wars and how they were won.
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- G. Masterson
- 05-09-18
Excellent overview but leaves several questions
Good performance but glosses over Hitler (and Napoleon's) near triumphs as criticisms of his thesis.
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- Anonymous User
- 10-31-19
insightful.
battles are real attention grabbers and the ability of the author to step back and look at the context of battles throughout Western history is an approach I appreciated. the forest after all is more important than the spectacular trees.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Scott
- 04-09-23
Powerful and beautifully written
Fantastic overview of major conflicts, their roles in establishing our collective view of war, and how wars have been won and lost over the ages. Nolan makes a compelling case for understanding war for what it is (horrific, grinding, and endlessly complicated) and for avoiding romanticizing it through the veneration of generals and battle. Detailed, gripping, and surprisingly empathetic. Highly recommended.
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- Glenn Anthony
- 07-06-18
A book to break the hearts of those who love war.
“The more one studies war, the more one comes to hate war.” That is the theme, and while there is the very occasional detail which I can dispute, the overall point is made perhaps beyond rational dispute. Well done, and kudos to the narrator as well!
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5 people found this helpful
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- Jeff
- 03-19-20
A must read refutation of the concept decisiveness
absolutely amazing. As a fan of military history I had taken it for granted that there were decisive moments which determined the course of history. This work is an invaluable look at the true nature of war.
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2 people found this helpful
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- TwoGunSAMURAI LLC
- 01-26-20
A ‘must read’ for all military professionals
The author gives a very in depth and unvarnished look into the realities of war throughout human history. He addresses and astutely details the heroic historical inaccuracies which still mesmerize today’s public and military leaders alike. The great captains of war are held accountable for their mistakes and their hubris. It gives a pragmatic basis to understand the repeated failures by top military leaders throughout history. It disputes the faulty idea of war as a positive economic venture. While the author aptly and thoroughly details the mechanics, strategy and technologies from the classical to the modern era, he explains the hard truth of war, namely the carnage, the human cost and the false rationalizations by historic figures. Ultimately it dispels the myth of ‘Short War’ by decisive battles. It serves as a warning against the faulty allure of offensive actions and other ill conceived motivations encouraging diplomatic paths to Total War.
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1 person found this helpful
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- A You
- 08-27-24
Information Dense
There's a ton of detailed information which made for a rather dense audiobook. The thesis is well thought out and defended but trying to follow along by listening can be quite difficult and required close attention.
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