The Empire Must Die
Russia's Revolutionary Collapse, 1900 - 1917
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Narrated by:
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Simon Vance
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By:
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Mikhail Zygar
About this listen
The window between two equally stifling autocracies - the imperial family and the communists - was open only briefly, in the last couple of years of the 19th century until the end of WWI, by which time the revolution was in full fury.
From the last years of Tolstoy until the death of the Tsar and his family, however, Russia experimented with liberalism and cultural openness. In Europe, the Ballet Russe was the height of chic. Novelists and playwrights blossomed, political ideas were swapped in coffee houses, and St. Petersburg felt briefly like Vienna or Paris. The state, however, couldn't tolerate such experimentation against the backdrop of a catastrophic war and a failing economy. The autocrats moved in and the liberals were overwhelmed. This story seems to have strangely prescient echoes of the present.
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- Length: 28 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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No leader of modern times was more uniquely patriotic than Charles de Gaulle. As founder and first president of the Fifth Republic, General de Gaulle saw himself as "carrying France on [his] shoulders." In his 20s, he fought for France in the trenches and at the epic battle of Verdun. In the 1930s, he waged a lonely battle to enable France to better resist Hitler's Germany. Thereafter, he twice rescued the nation from defeat and decline by extraordinary displays of leadership, political acumen, daring, and bluff, heading off civil war and leaving a heritage adopted by his successors of right and left.
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Book Great Read. Narrator Horrible-slow dead voice
- By marigoyle on 10-23-13
By: Jonathan Fenby
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Gandhi & Churchill
- By: Arthur Herman
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 29 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In this fast-paced epic, best-selling historian and master storyteller Arthur Herman spotlights two giants of the 20th century. Gandhi & Churchill shows how their 40-year rivalry revolutionized India and the British Empire, paving the way for a new era. Gandhi championed India's independence, Churchill the British Empire.
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A motif that works well
- By Maine Dave on 11-30-09
By: Arthur Herman
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Lioness
- Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel
- By: Francine Klagsbrun
- Narrated by: Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 32 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Golda Meir was a world figure unlike any other. Born in tsarist Russia in 1898, she immigrated to America in 1906 and grew up in Milwaukee, where from her earliest years she displayed the political consciousness and organizational skills that would eventually catapult her into the inner circles of Israel's founding generation. Moving to mandatory Palestine in 1921 with her husband, the passionate socialist joined a kibbutz but soon left and was hired at a public works office by the man who would become the great love of her life.
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The persistent mispronunciations of Hebrew and Yiddish words ruined this performance
- By YH-O on 12-30-18
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Paris
- After the Liberation 1944-1949
- By: Antony Beevor, Artemis Cooper
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 18 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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In this brilliant synthesis of social, political, and cultural history, Antony Beevor and Artemis Cooper present a vivid and compelling portrayal of the City of Lights after its liberation. Paris became the diplomatic battleground in the opening stages of the Cold War.
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Worthwhile listen
- By DanBudda on 07-27-16
By: Antony Beevor, and others
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Prague Winter
- A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948
- By: Madeleine Albright
- Narrated by: Madeleine Albright
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Before Madeleine Albright turned twelve, her life was shaken by the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia—the country where she was born—the Battle of Britain, the near total destruction of European Jewry, the Allied victory in World War II, the rise of communism, and the onset of the Cold War. Albright's experiences, and those of her family, provide a lens through which to view the most tumultuous dozen years in modern history.
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History from a Personal Perspective
- By Jeanette Finan on 02-22-13
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Phantom Terror
- Political Paranoia and the Creation of the Modern State, 1789 - 1848
- By: Adam Zamoyski
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 22 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Phantom Terror explores this troubled, fascinating period, when politicians and cultural leaders from Edmund Burke to Mary Shelley were forced to choose sides and either support or resist the counterrevolutionary spirit embodied in the newly omnipotent central states. The turbulent political situation that coalesced during this era would lead directly to the revolutions of 1848 and to the collapse of order in World War I.
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Amazing
- By Mike Johnson on 07-14-15
By: Adam Zamoyski
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Troublesome Young Men
- The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England
- By: Lynne Olson
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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On May 7, 1940, the House of Commons began perhaps the most crucial debate in British parliamentary history. On its outcome hung the future of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's government and also of Britain - indeed, perhaps, the world. Troublesome Young Men is Lynne Olson's fascinating account of how a small group of rebellious Tory MPs defied the Chamberlain government's defeatist policies that aimed to appease Europe's tyrants and eventually forced the prime minister's resignation.
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Spectacular Narrative History Book
- By Nostromo on 11-30-18
By: Lynne Olson
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Mao
- The Unknown Story
- By: Jung Chang, Jon Halliday
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 29 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on a decade of research and on interviews with many of Mao's close circle in China who have never talked before, and with virtually everyone outside China who had significant dealings with him, this is the most authoritative biography of Mao ever written.
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Fills many gaps! Very good..but!
- By Jene on 08-07-06
By: Jung Chang, and others
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Adolf Hitler
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 44 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on previously unpublished documents, diaries, notes, photographs, and dramatic interviews with Hitler's colleagues and associates, this is the definitive biography of one of the most despised yet fascinating figures of the 20th century. Painstakingly documented, it is a work that will not soon be forgotten.
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Strange Person
- By Mark on 11-25-14
By: John Toland
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A bit dry and academic
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What listeners say about The Empire Must Die
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jason Close
- 05-21-18
This was a decent history book.
This book was done well. It has a good ratio of data-to-anecdote. Your won't get lost in the weeds too much with repetitive listing of dates and people, but that info is included where relevant.
It will give you a good grounding on how the stage was set for the Communist regime of early 20th century.
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- Habibus Magnus
- 07-28-23
Stunningly good!
I must admit that I was skeptical when I saw that the author was a journalist and not an academic historian. I am so very delighted to have given it a try. I have really encountered such vivid portraits of the protagonists of this tragic story. Highly recommend it. one of my favorite books ever on the Russian Revolution.
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- brian
- 06-22-18
An excellent look at an interesting history.
A documentary format, if you will, through old diary and other forms to look on those interesting and dark days. Narration by Simon Vance is excellent as always, a narrator I love to hear, among many others, American and British.
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3 people found this helpful
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- JohnWells
- 03-02-19
Simon Vance is excellent
Very good book excellent narration, well written and recommended for those interested in Russian history.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Marina
- 04-29-22
Heartbreaking synopsis
This is an absolutely heartbreaking and poignant synopsis of HOW what happened in Russia - happened. A general but pretty thorough account - I really enjoyed the book. I escaped USSR aged 14 for America, as a Jewish refugee, with my family. So much blood spilled in that country, for all involved, generations past, and - by now as we are in Putin’s war on Ukraine- onto the future generations of that land. Utterly heartbreaking. Informative. A must-read.
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- Becks
- 03-11-21
Have to agree with boring review
This book is VERY boring. And I seek out long novels- many of them historical- that would be considered boring by the typical reader. Simon Vance is great; one of my favorite narrators. I just can’t even explain the tedium.
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- Will
- 09-04-19
OMG This Is Boring
I have listened intently to many long audio books about history, things that would make other people fall asleep at the wheel. I love them. But this is a boring book. It has the occasional interest tidbit. But waiting for those is agonizing. I really wanted to like it.
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1 person found this helpful