
The Thirty Years War
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Narrated by:
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Charlton Griffin
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By:
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C. V. Wedgwood
About this listen
Initially, the Thirty Years War was precipitated in 1618 by religious conflicts between Protestants and Catholics in the Holy Roman Empire. But the conflict soon spread beyond religion to encompass the internal politics and balance of power within the Empire, and then later to the other European powers. By the end, it became simply a dynastic struggle between Bourbon France and Habsburg Spain. And almost all of it was fought out in Germany. After 30 years of conflict, entire regions of Germany and Bohemia were depopulated and destroyed by marching armies, fire, famine, and disease. It bankrupted most of the participants while leaving thousands of German villages, towns, and even cities in smoldering ruin.
Because of the political and geographical complexity of the early 17th century, an understanding of The Thirty Years War can be difficult to grasp in the beginning. Listeners will be rewarded by patience. As an aid to comprehension, we recommend the online Wikipedia article "The Thirty Years War" for maps and overviews of the geography, principle leaders, and major battles.
Total running time: 19 hours and 48 minutes. Narrator: Charlton Griffin.
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The Dark Ages is the story of the birth of Western civilization. It was a harrowing crucible of war, destruction, and faith. For over 100 years, Charles Oman's famous history has remained one of the finest sources for the study of this period. Covering a period of 500 years and an area stretching from Northern Germany to Egypt, this is the definitive history that will alter your conceptions of a period of history that gave birth to the civilization we live in today.
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An Excellent Production
- By Ken on 08-11-17
By: Charles Oman
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The Twelve Caesars
- By: Suetonius
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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The Twelve Caesars was written based on the information of eyewitnesses and public records. It conveys a very accurate picture of court life in Rome and contains some of the raciest and most salacious material to be found in all of ancient literature. The writing is clear, simple and easy to understand, and the numerous anecdotes of juicy scandal, bitter court intrigue, and murderous brigandage easily hold their own against the most spirited content of today's tabloids.
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A pleasure to read...
- By Robyn C. Blaber on 03-13-10
By: Suetonius
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The Warwolf
- A Peasant Chronicle of the Thirty Years War
- By: Hermann Löns, Robert Kvinnesland - translator
- Narrated by: Paul Bellantoni
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Warwolf, Hermann Löns's acclaimed historical novel, the tragedy and horrors of war in general, and these times in particular are revealed. The Warwolf, based on the author's careful research, traces the life of Harm Wulf, a land-owning peasant farmer of the northern German heath who realizes after witnessing the murder of neighbors and family at the hands of marauding troops that he has a choice between compromising his morals or succumbing to inevitable torture and death.
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Excellent Description of the Time
- By kevin on 12-23-24
By: Hermann Löns, and others
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The Napoleonic Wars
- By: Alexander Mikaberidze
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 35 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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The Napoleonic Wars saw fighting on an unprecedented scale in Europe and the Americas. It took the wealth of the British Empire, combined with the might of the continental armies, almost two decades to bring down one of the world's greatest military leaders and the empire that he had created. Napoleon's ultimate defeat was to determine the history of Europe for almost 100 years. From the frozen wastelands of Russia, through the brutal fighting in the Peninsula to the blood-soaked battlefield of Waterloo, this book tells the story of the dramatic rise and fall of the Napoleonic Empire.
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No description of battles
- By John Gaston on 01-15-21
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The Habsburgs
- To Rule the World
- By: Martyn Rady
- Narrated by: Simon Boughey
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The definitive history of a powerful family dynasty who dominated Europe for centuries - from their rise to power to their eventual downfall.
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An Excellent and Interesting History
- By Darrel Bishop on 09-14-20
By: Martyn Rady
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Justinian
- Emperor, Soldier, Saint
- By: Peter Sarris
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Justinian is a radical reassessment of an emperor and his times. In the sixth century CE, the emperor Justinian presided over nearly four decades of remarkable change, in an era of geopolitical threats, climate change, and plague. From the eastern Roman—or Byzantine—capital of Constantinople, Justinian’s armies reconquered lost territory in Africa, Italy, and Spain. But these military exploits, historian Peter Sarris shows, were just one part of a larger program of imperial renewal.
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Good telling of Justinian's reign
- By Amazon Customer on 02-04-24
By: Peter Sarris
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The Birth of Classical Europe
- A History from Troy to Augustine
- By: Simon Price, Peter Thonemann
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
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Excellent overview of the Classical World
- By David I. Williams on 01-12-14
By: Simon Price, and others
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Hellenica
- By: Xenophon
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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The Hellenica is Xenophon’s continuation of Thucydides’ history of the Peloponnesian War, literally resuming from where the previous author’s history was abruptly left unfinished and narrating the events of the final seven years of the conflict and the war’s aftermath. Some historians consider the Hellenica to be a personal work, written by Xenophon in retirement on his Spartan estate, and intended primarily for circulation among his friends, who would have known the main protagonists and events, having most likely participated in them.
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A read no history lover should do without!
- By Epaminondas on 11-07-19
By: Xenophon
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The Story of the Goths
- By: Henry Bradley
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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The Goths are the most enigmatic of all the ancient German tribes. Their name today is still widely in use for a variety of cultural and artistic movements. But unlike other famous German tribes whose names are still descriptive of nations they founded - the Franks, the Lombards, the Angles, the Saxons and the Alemanni - the Goths simply disappeared. The subject of Henry Bradley's splendid short history is tracing the rise, the migrations, and the impact of the Goths on European history along with their spectacular fall.
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Interesting Book about a little understood people
- By Mark on 07-29-15
By: Henry Bradley
Hard work
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One of the best
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I love this narrator
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Excellent Historical Treatise
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Where does The Thirty Years War rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
It's a bit dated compared to more recently written war histories. The sweeping one-line characterizations of personalities and moods would be rare in a modern history, for example. But the book is clearly an incredibly thoroughly-researched masterpiece, and really transports you into the strange, chaotic era of the 30 Years' War.A bit dated but a masterful classic nonetheless
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Thorough and Well Written
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Written in the best of the British historical tradition, with all of the commentary and incisive wit one could hope for.
This is not light reading or light history. The names fly by and so do the years. But you'll close the book remembering the right names and ready to keep digging and learning more.
wow
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Yes It's Complicated.
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References
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What did you like best about The Thirty Years War? What did you like least?
I like the era and the evolution of government that occurred in Germany. I disliked the lack of coherent narrative or point of view and I found the performance distracting as the narrator lapses in an out of Churchillian delivery–without a corresponding Churchillian sense of timing.How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
Basic narrative or thesis established earlyWould you be willing to try another one of Charlton Griffin’s performances?
NeverWas The Thirty Years War worth the listening time?
BreakevenPainful performance, incoherent story line
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