The Shadow Commander
Soleimani, the US, and Iran’s Global Ambitions
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Narrated by:
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Eric Jason Martin
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By:
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Arash Azizi
About this listen
Until his assassination by US drone strike in January 2020, commander Qassem Soleimani was one of the most powerful men in Iran and the military spearhead for Iranian foreign policy, enacting the wishes of the country's Supreme Leader in the region. A widely popular but also feared maverick operator, he helped to establish the Islamic Republic as a major force in the Middle East, with interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. This was a long way from where he began as a youth, living on the margins in a country ruled by a monarch supported by the United States.
In this engaging account, historian Arash Azizi examines Soleimani's life, regional influence, and ambitions. The Shadow Commander breaks new ground through interviews with Iranians, Afghans, Iraqis, and Syrians who knew Soleimani for years, including his personal driver, the aides who accompanied him to his Moscow meeting with Vladimir Putin, and his brother. Ultimately, Azizi uses the story of this one important figure to make sense of the global ambitions of Iran, a country whose actions are much talked about but seldom understood.
©2020 Arash Azizi (P)2020 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Revolutionary Iran
- A History of the Islamic Republic
- By: Michael Axworthy
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 19 hrs
- Unabridged
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The Iranian Revolution of 1979 was a defining moment of the modern era. Its success unleashed a wave of Islamist fervor across the Middle East and signaled a sharp decline in the appeal of Western ideologies in the Islamic world. Michael Axworthy takes listeners through the major periods in Iranian history over the last 30 years: the overthrow of the old regime and the creation of the new one; the Iran-Iraq war; the reconstruction era following the war; the reformist wave led by Mohammed Khatami; and the present day, in which reactionaries have re-established control.
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Questionable Narration
- By Arya Pourtabatabaie on 07-17-21
By: Michael Axworthy
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Anatomy of Terror
- From the Death of bin Laden to the Rise of the Islamic State
- By: Ali Soufan
- Narrated by: Aaron Abano
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In Anatomy of Terror, former FBI special agent and New York Times best-selling author Ali Soufan dissects bin Laden's brand of jihadi terrorism and its major offshoots, revealing how these organizations were formed, how they operate, their strengths, and - crucially - their weaknesses.
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What every human on the planet needs to know!
- By drkraver on 05-24-17
By: Ali Soufan
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The Hidden History of Burma
- Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century
- By: Thant Myint-U
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Precariously positioned between China and India, Burma's population has suffered dictatorship, natural disaster, and the dark legacies of colonial rule. But when decades of military dictatorship finally ended and internationally beloved Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi emerged from long years of house arrest, hopes soared. As historian, former diplomat, and presidential advisor, Thant Myint-U saw the cracks forming. In this insider's diagnosis of a country at a breaking point, he dissects all of the elements that came together to challenge the incipient democracy.
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Comprehensive Account on Burma’s recent problems
- By Anonymous User on 11-18-19
By: Thant Myint-U
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The Arabs
- A History
- By: Eugene Rogan
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 27 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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In this definitive history of the modern Arab world, award-winning historian Eugene Rogan draws extensively on Arab sources and texts to place the Arab experience in its crucial historical context for the first time. Tracing five centuries of Arab history, Rogan reveals that there was an age when the Arabs set the rules for the rest of the world. Today, however, the Arab world's sense of subjection to external powers carries vast consequences for both the region and Westerners who attempt to control it.
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Superb Book About the Arab World
- By Nostromo on 05-29-16
By: Eugene Rogan
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The Hundred Years' War on Palestine
- A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917--2017
- By: Rashid Khalidi
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi, Rashid Khalidi - introduction
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on a wealth of untapped archival materials and the reports of generations of family members - mayors, judges, scholars, diplomats, and journalists - The Hundred Years' War on Palestine upends accepted interpretations of the conflict, which tend, at best, to describe a tragic clash between two peoples with claims to the same territory. Instead, Khalidi traces a hundred years of colonial war on the Palestinians, waged first by the Zionist movement and then Israel, but backed by Britain and the United States, the great powers of the age.
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Thoroughly Researched and Evidence-Based, but...
- By K on 05-24-21
By: Rashid Khalidi
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Hitler's True Believers
- How Ordinary People Became Nazis
- By: Robert Gellately
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 15 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Understanding Adolf Hitler's ideology provides insights into the mental world of an extremist politics that, over the course of the Third Reich, developed explosive energies culminating in the Second World War and the Holocaust. Too often the theories underlying National Socialism or Nazism are dismissed as an irrational hodgepodge of ideas. Yet that ideology drove Hitler's quest for power in 1933, colored everything in the Third Reich, and transformed him, however briefly, into the most powerful leader in the world.
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Fascinating listen
- By Amy Neff on 12-15-22
By: Robert Gellately
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Fascism
- A Warning
- By: Madeleine Albright
- Narrated by: Madeleine Albright
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
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At the end of the 1980s, when the Cold War ended, many, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, believed that democracy had triumphed politically once and for all. Yet nearly 30 years later, the direction of history no longer seems certain. A repressive and destructive force has begun to reemerge on the global stage - sweeping across Europe, parts of Asia, and the United States - that to Albright, looks very much like fascism.
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Warning!
- By JAL on 04-19-18
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Syria Burning
- ISIS and the Death of the Arab Spring
- By: Charles Glass
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Glass has reported extensively from the Middle East and travelled frequently in Syria over several decades. Here he melds together reportage, analysis, and history to provide an accessible overview of the origins and permutations defining the conflict, situating it clearly in the overall crisis of the region. His voice, elegant and concise, humane and richly informed, is a vital antidote to the sloganizing that shapes so much commentary and policy concerning the civil war.
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The authors bias is insufferable.
- By Dan on 01-02-16
By: Charles Glass
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The Nazi Menace
- Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, and the Road to War
- By: Benjamin Carter Hett
- Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Berlin, November 1937. Adolf Hitler meets with his military commanders to impress upon them the urgent necessity for a war of aggression in Eastern Europe. Some generals are unnerved by the Führer’s grandiose plan, but these dissenters are silenced one by one, setting in motion events that will culminate in the most calamitous war in history.
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Bad Melodramatic Reading
- By Tess on 08-18-20
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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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Israel
- A Concise History of a Nation Reborn
- By: Daniel Gordis
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 16 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Israel is a tiny state, and yet it has captured the world's attention, aroused its imagination, and, lately, been the object of its opprobrium. Why does such a small country speak to so many global concerns? More pressingly: Why does Israel make the decisions it does? And what lies in its future? We cannot answer these questions until we understand Israel's people and the questions and conflicts, the hopes and desires, that have animated their conversations and actions.
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Excellent, mildly but honestly biased, terrible narration
- By Schaq on 04-01-17
By: Daniel Gordis
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Good until final chapter
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Captivating
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So much learned
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The Last Punisher
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The Last Punisher is a bold, no-holds-barred first-person account of the Iraq War. With wry humor and moving testimony, Kevin Lacz tells the story of his tour in Iraq with SEAL Team Three, the warrior elite of the navy. This legendary unit, known as The Punishers, included Chris Kyle ( American Sniper), Mike Monsoor, Ryan Job, and Marc Lee. These brave men were instrumental in securing the key locations in the pivotal 2006 Battle of Ramadi, told with stunning detail in this book.
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Good story, poorly read
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What listeners say about The Shadow Commander
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kindle Customer
- 07-02-24
Brilliant, absorbing and masterfully presented
An excellent book on the life of Qasem Soleimani. A great read for those interested in Iran and the greater Middle East conflicts today. Required reading for any student of Islamic resistance. I can’t recommend this book enough.
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- Anonymous User
- 01-27-21
Outstanding Story
This book captures the strategic relevancy of a leader who could have become the president of Iran.
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- SanFranReza
- 01-02-22
Who assassinated Soleimani?
I was hoping to hear more about the people behind his assassination. This version provided the common story reported in national media. I believe that the assassination was agreed upon between Washington and Tehran due to the rise of his popularity in Iran and the threat of a military coup by the IRGC.
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- Matthew
- 07-10-23
More ME history then Soleimani history
I found this book to be light on details about Soleimani’s role in events. Mostly it was a book about middle eastern history with only a little about Soleimani role. I get that a lot of his involvement might be difficult to assess but that is why I wanted to read this book, to find out. Unfortunately it seems more like a run down about open sources (which isn’t much) then some in-depth reporting with sources close to Soleimani.
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- N. Itayim
- 06-13-21
Great story, but narration let it down a bit.
Very well written and researched book, which I'd recommend to anybody interested in Middle East geopolitics. But I felt the book was a little let down by the choice of narrator who really struggled with the pronunciation of a lot of Iranian names of individuals/ places etc.
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- Matt
- 07-08-22
This book is excellent. So is the narrator.
The negative criticism here has been presented, as far as I’m concerned, without any more substantiation than personal opinion. The book is thorough, well written and clear. I believe that the author has given a good account of the man, his times and the personalities and places that were so much a part of his life. I do not feel that the title is misleading and the reader is treated to what I feel is a necessary discussion about the powers, people and events that shaped the region and provided the stage for the general and his career. The accusation of outright plagiarism was made in one of the reviews here without proof and I have found no other accusation like it anywhere else. As for the narrator: although he is criticized for the mispronunciation of words in another review here, he is in fact, clear, easy to understand and his pronunciations of names, places, events, etc. are entirely correct. While this is not an in depth biography of the man, the title of the book never suggested that it was. That book has yet to be written. This work, however, gives the best account of the man that I know of here in the west and is well worth the time invested.
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- Aliz
- 01-19-21
Rather disappointing
This book is neither a historical account nor a biography, but a journalistic account of Iranian ambitions and plans with focus on a specific player where details are available. The author has a fair understanding of events, places and people. However, on occasions material is simply patched together, for example chapter 11 which covers events in many countries in an incredible haste. The finale is very short, and seems to suggest the guy was killed because his ego got the best of him aiming to run for president - again based on a newspaper article by someone the author seems to regards highly. Interesting and easy read though.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Abu Covfefe
- 03-16-22
Questionable pronunciation
Somehow the narrator butchers pronunciation of “Quds” and “Muhammad” but pronounces “Khamenei” perfectly. Not acceptable.
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- Yanomami
- 08-24-24
A great introduction to the Shadow Commander Suleimani
Qassem Suleimani, aka The Shadow Commander, led Iran’s Quds Force brigade of the IRGC in its wars in Iraq- in the 80’s and after the U.S. invasion of 2003– and Lebanon and Syria. He was instrumental in Developing Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as other Shia terrorists groups throughout the Middle East. This biography gives the reader a great introduction to one of the most skilled and feared military commanders in the Middle East of the last 30 years.
Well worth it.
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- Jacob
- 01-26-21
Title a little misleading
Good book, a bit more generic than what I was looking for. It was more of a contemporary history of Iran than with some parts about Soleimani , rather a specific focus on Soleimani as the title implies.
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2 people found this helpful