The Weather Factor
How Nature Has Changed History
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Chris Kayser
-
By:
-
Erik Durschmied
About this listen
A riveting examination of the human experience as Mother Nature wreaks havoc.
From the author of The Hinge Factor comes a thrilling series of dramatic historical re-creations revealing how the fate of humankind has often been decided by the uncontrollable, unpredictable power of weather. From the doomed campaigns of the Roman legions and Napoleon to the fate of US forces in the South Pacific and Vietnam, torrential rain, brutal winters, monster typhoons, and killer hurricanes have had far-reaching - and often terrifying - consequences.
As Erik Durschmied vividly describes in heart-stopping vignettes, the elements have influenced human history even more than the spear, bullet, or atomic bomb. Drawing upon extensive research, as well as the author’s own experiences in Vietnam, The Weather Factor gives a fascinating account of the inevitable collision between weather fronts and human conflict.
©2012 Erik Durschmied (P)2012 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Planning to Fail
- The US Wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan
- By: James H. Lebovic
- Narrated by: Jim Seybert
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States national-security establishment is vast, yet the United States has failed to meet its initial objectives in almost every one of its major, post-World War II conflicts. Of these troubled efforts, the US wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan stand out for their endurance, resource investment, human cost, and miscalculated decisions. In Planning to Fail, James H. Lebovic argues that a profound myopia helps explain US decision-making failures. In each of the wars explored in this book, he identifies four stages of intervention.
By: James H. Lebovic
-
The Last Days of the Dinosaurs
- An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World
- By: Riley Black
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Picture yourself in the Cretaceous period. It’s a sunny afternoon in the Hell Creek of ancient Montana 66 million years ago. A Triceratops horridus ambles along the edge of the forest. In a matter of hours, everything here will be wiped away. Lush verdure will be replaced with fire. Tyrannosaurus rex will be toppled from their throne, along with every other species of non-avian dinosaur no matter their size, diet, or disposition. They just don’t know it yet.
-
-
One of the best
- By Amazon Customer on 05-02-22
By: Riley Black
-
The Story of World War II
- By: Donald L. Miller, Henry Steele Commager
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 24 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on previously unpublished eyewitness accounts, prizewinning historian Donald L. Miller has written what critics are calling one of the most powerful accounts of warfare ever published. Here are the horror and heroism of World War II in the words of the men who fought it, the journalists who covered it, and the civilians who were caught in its fury. Miller gives us an up-close, deeply personal view of a war that was more savagely fought - and whose outcome was in greater doubt - than one might imagine. This is the war that Americans on the home front would have read about had they had access to previously censored testimony.
-
-
INCREDIBLE! WELL-RESEARCHED, COMPLETE & UNBIASED!
- By The Louligan on 07-15-14
By: Donald L. Miller, and others
-
On Desperate Ground
- The Marines at the Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: David Pittu
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hampton Sides' superb account of this epic clash in the Korean War relies on years of archival research, unpublished letters, declassified documents, and interviews with scores of marines and Koreans who survived the siege. While expertly detailing the follies of the American leaders, On Desperate Ground is an immediate, grunt's-eye view of history, enthralling in its narrative pace and powerful in its portrayal of what ordinary men are capable of in the most extreme circumstances.
-
-
typical armchair critic armed with hign site
- By Brent on 10-03-18
By: Hampton Sides
-
The Rising Sun
- The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 41 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This Pulitzer Prize-winning history of World War II chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of the Japanese empire, from the invasion of Manchuria and China to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Told from the Japanese perspective, The Rising Sun is, in the author’s words, "a factual saga of people caught up in the flood of the most overwhelming war of mankind, told as it happened - muddled, ennobling, disgraceful, frustrating, full of paradox."
-
-
A political as well as military history
- By Mike From Mesa on 07-30-15
By: John Toland
-
An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa (1942-1943)
- The Liberation Trilogy, Volume 1
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 26 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The liberation of Europe and the destruction of the Third Reich is a story of courage and enduring triumph, of calamity and miscalculation. In this first volume of the Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson shows why no modern learner can understand the ultimate victory of the Allied powers without a grasp of the great drama that unfolded in North Africa in 1942 and 1943. That first year of the Allied war was a pivotal point in American history, the moment when the United States began to act like a great power.
-
-
Fascinating book, great performance
- By Ted on 05-30-16
By: Rick Atkinson
-
Planning to Fail
- The US Wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan
- By: James H. Lebovic
- Narrated by: Jim Seybert
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States national-security establishment is vast, yet the United States has failed to meet its initial objectives in almost every one of its major, post-World War II conflicts. Of these troubled efforts, the US wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan stand out for their endurance, resource investment, human cost, and miscalculated decisions. In Planning to Fail, James H. Lebovic argues that a profound myopia helps explain US decision-making failures. In each of the wars explored in this book, he identifies four stages of intervention.
By: James H. Lebovic
-
The Last Days of the Dinosaurs
- An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World
- By: Riley Black
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Picture yourself in the Cretaceous period. It’s a sunny afternoon in the Hell Creek of ancient Montana 66 million years ago. A Triceratops horridus ambles along the edge of the forest. In a matter of hours, everything here will be wiped away. Lush verdure will be replaced with fire. Tyrannosaurus rex will be toppled from their throne, along with every other species of non-avian dinosaur no matter their size, diet, or disposition. They just don’t know it yet.
-
-
One of the best
- By Amazon Customer on 05-02-22
By: Riley Black
-
The Story of World War II
- By: Donald L. Miller, Henry Steele Commager
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 24 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on previously unpublished eyewitness accounts, prizewinning historian Donald L. Miller has written what critics are calling one of the most powerful accounts of warfare ever published. Here are the horror and heroism of World War II in the words of the men who fought it, the journalists who covered it, and the civilians who were caught in its fury. Miller gives us an up-close, deeply personal view of a war that was more savagely fought - and whose outcome was in greater doubt - than one might imagine. This is the war that Americans on the home front would have read about had they had access to previously censored testimony.
-
-
INCREDIBLE! WELL-RESEARCHED, COMPLETE & UNBIASED!
- By The Louligan on 07-15-14
By: Donald L. Miller, and others
-
On Desperate Ground
- The Marines at the Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: David Pittu
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hampton Sides' superb account of this epic clash in the Korean War relies on years of archival research, unpublished letters, declassified documents, and interviews with scores of marines and Koreans who survived the siege. While expertly detailing the follies of the American leaders, On Desperate Ground is an immediate, grunt's-eye view of history, enthralling in its narrative pace and powerful in its portrayal of what ordinary men are capable of in the most extreme circumstances.
-
-
typical armchair critic armed with hign site
- By Brent on 10-03-18
By: Hampton Sides
-
The Rising Sun
- The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 41 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This Pulitzer Prize-winning history of World War II chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of the Japanese empire, from the invasion of Manchuria and China to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Told from the Japanese perspective, The Rising Sun is, in the author’s words, "a factual saga of people caught up in the flood of the most overwhelming war of mankind, told as it happened - muddled, ennobling, disgraceful, frustrating, full of paradox."
-
-
A political as well as military history
- By Mike From Mesa on 07-30-15
By: John Toland
-
An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa (1942-1943)
- The Liberation Trilogy, Volume 1
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 26 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The liberation of Europe and the destruction of the Third Reich is a story of courage and enduring triumph, of calamity and miscalculation. In this first volume of the Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson shows why no modern learner can understand the ultimate victory of the Allied powers without a grasp of the great drama that unfolded in North Africa in 1942 and 1943. That first year of the Allied war was a pivotal point in American history, the moment when the United States began to act like a great power.
-
-
Fascinating book, great performance
- By Ted on 05-30-16
By: Rick Atkinson
-
Citizen Soldiers
- The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: George K. Wilson
- Length: 21 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A masterful biography of the U.S. Army in the European Theater of Operations during World War II, Citizen Soldiers provides a compelling account of the extraordinary stories of ordinary men in their fight for democracy. From the high command on down to the enlisted men, Stephen E. Ambrose draws on hundreds of interviews and oral histories from men on both sides who were there.
-
-
Required reading, excellent narration
- By Jeremy on 06-30-11
-
Rogue Heroes
- The History of the SAS, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War
- By: Ben Macintyre
- Narrated by: Ben Macintyre
- Length: 13 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Britain's Special Air Service - or SAS - was the brainchild of David Stirling, a young, gadabout aristocrat whose aimlessness in early life belied a remarkable strategic mind. Where most of his colleagues looked at a battlefield map of World War II's African theater and saw a protracted struggle with Rommel's desert forces, Stirling saw an opportunity: Given a small number of elite, well-trained men, he could parachute behind enemy lines and sabotage their airplanes and war matériel.
-
-
Those Who Dared, Won!
- By Matthew on 10-07-16
By: Ben Macintyre
-
1918
- A Very British Victory
- By: Peter Hart
- Narrated by: Clive Mantle, Peter Hart
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This epic account of the events of 1918 is the first major reappraisal of the end of the war for more than 20 years, and describes what is in some respects a forgotten chapter in history. The soldiers who returned to Britain in November 1918 were not the martyrs or victims of popular memory - they were a victorious army and were greeted as heroes.
-
-
1918: a one sided twisting of history
- By Maarten Demont on 02-03-19
By: Peter Hart
-
The Liberator
- One World War II Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From July 10, 1943, the date of the Allied landing in Sicily, to May 8, 1945, when victory in Europe was declared - the entire time it took to liberate Europe - no regiment saw more action, and no single platoon, company, or battalion endured worse, than the ones commanded by Felix Sparks, who had entered the war as a greenhorn second lieutenant of the 157th "Eager for Duty" Infantry Regiment of the 45th "Thunderbird" Division. Sparks and his fellow Thunderbirds fought longest and hardest to defeat Hitler.
-
-
Now I Know What a Hero Really Is
- By Steven on 11-27-12
By: Alex Kershaw
-
Valor
- The Astonishing World War II Saga of One Man's Defiance and Indomitable Spirit
- By: Dan Hampton
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lieutenant William Frederick “Bill” Harris was 25 years old when captured by Japanese forces during the Battle of Corregidor in May 1942. This son of a decorated Marine general escaped from hell on earth by swimming eight hours through a shark-infested bay; but his harrowing ordeal had just begun. Shipwrecked on the southern coast of the Philippines, he was sheltered by a Filipino aristocrat, engaged in guerilla fighting, and eventually set off through hostile waters to China.
-
-
Epic story of survival, and sacrifice
- By Michael V McKenney on 02-03-23
By: Dan Hampton
-
Enemy at the Gates
- The Battle for Stalingrad
- By: William Craig
- Narrated by: David Baker
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On August 5, 1942, giant pillars of dust rose over the Russian steppe, marking the advance of the 6th Army, an elite German combat unit dispatched by Hitler to capture the industrial city of Stalingrad and press on to the oil fields of Azerbaijan. The Germans were supremely confident; in three years, they had not suffered a single defeat. The Luftwaffe had already bombed the city into ruins. German soldiers hoped to complete their mission and be home in time for Christmas.
-
-
An Unforgettable and Haunting Read
- By Jean on 02-03-16
By: William Craig
-
The Longest Day
- June 6, 1944
- By: Cornelius Ryan
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
> The Longest Day is Cornelius Ryan’s unsurpassed account of D-day, a book that endures as a masterpiece of military history. In this compelling tale of courage and heroism, glory and tragedy, Ryan painstakingly re-creates the fateful hours that preceded and followed the massive invasion of Normandy to retell the story of an epic battle that would turn the tide against world fascism.
-
-
Horrendous narration makes it impossible to listen
- By Mary on 03-18-12
By: Cornelius Ryan
-
This Kind of War
- The Classic Korean War History
- By: T. R. Fehrenbach
- Narrated by: Kevin Foley
- Length: 24 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This Kind of War is a monumental study of the conflict that began in June 1950. Successive generations of U.S. military officers have considered this book an indispensable part of their education. T. R. Fehrenbach's narrative brings to life the harrowing and bloody battles that were fought up and down the Korean Peninsula.
-
-
Great narrative, frustrating redundancy
- By Ted on 08-16-10
By: T. R. Fehrenbach
-
Against All Odds
- A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the Allies raced to defeat Hitler, four men, all in the same unit, earned medal after medal for battlefield heroism. Maurice “Footsie” Britt, a former professional football player, became the very first American to receive every award for valor in a single war. Michael Daly was a West Point dropout who risked his neck over and over to keep his men alive. Keith Ware would one day become the first and only draftee in history to attain the rank of general before serving in Vietnam. In WWII, Ware owed his life to the finest soldier he ever commanded, a baby-faced Texan named Audie Murphy.
-
-
The Greatest Generation.
- By Jay Voigt on 05-28-22
By: Alex Kershaw
-
The Retreat
- Hitler's First Defeat
- By: Michael Jones
- Narrated by: Simon Shepherd
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The thrilling history of the turning point of the Second World War, when Hitler's armies were halted on the Eastern Front. At the moment of crisis in 1941 on the Eastern Font, with the forces of Hitler massing on the outskirts of Moscow, the miraculous occurred: Moscow was saved. Yet this turning point was followed by a long retreat, in which Russian forces, inspired by old beliefs in the sacred motherland, pushed back German forces steeled by the vision of the ubermensch, the iron-willed fighter.
-
-
how common soldiers experienced the Eastern Front
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 08-12-18
By: Michael Jones
-
Voices of the Foreign Legion
- The History of the World's Most Famous Fighting Corps
- By: Adrian D. Gilbert
- Narrated by: Eric Brooks
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The French Foreign Legion has established a reputation as the most formidable of military forces. Created as a means of protecting French interests abroad, the legion spearheaded French colonialism in North Africa during the nineteenth century. Accepting volunteers from all parts of the world, the legion acquired an aura of mystery—and a less than enviable reputation for brutality within its ranks.
-
-
A good, if not amazing listen
- By Shaun on 03-06-13
-
A Storm in Flanders
- The Ypres Salient, 1914-1918: Tragedy and Triumph on the Western Front
- By: Winston Groom
- Narrated by: David Baker
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Novelist and prizewinning historian Winston Groom's gripping history of the four-year battle for Ypres in Belgian Flanders, the pivotal engagement of World War I that would forever change the way the world fought - and thought about - war. This is Groom's account of what would become the most dreaded place on Earth.
-
-
I love, love, love this book!
- By Amazon Customer on 08-16-16
By: Winston Groom
Editorial reviews
Author Erik Durschmied writes striking descriptions of the elemental world and its at times catastrophic impact on life. These heart-stopping essays enable the listener to relive 15 different occasions when inclement weather has altered history. The essays are as brief and vivid as comic book vignettes, although the past news reported here is real and quite dire. Narrator Chris Kayser’s nostalgic radio-news-announcer style highlights the vivid writing and heightens each fateful weather event. Some events reported here are famous, but rarely has the impact of bad weather been given its proper due in turning the tide of history. Listeners will value the chance to wonder what would have been different if the weather had not weighed in with such insistence.
Related to this topic
-
The Story of World War II
- By: Donald L. Miller, Henry Steele Commager
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 24 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on previously unpublished eyewitness accounts, prizewinning historian Donald L. Miller has written what critics are calling one of the most powerful accounts of warfare ever published. Here are the horror and heroism of World War II in the words of the men who fought it, the journalists who covered it, and the civilians who were caught in its fury. Miller gives us an up-close, deeply personal view of a war that was more savagely fought - and whose outcome was in greater doubt - than one might imagine. This is the war that Americans on the home front would have read about had they had access to previously censored testimony.
-
-
INCREDIBLE! WELL-RESEARCHED, COMPLETE & UNBIASED!
- By The Louligan on 07-15-14
By: Donald L. Miller, and others
-
Enemy at the Gates
- The Battle for Stalingrad
- By: William Craig
- Narrated by: David Baker
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On August 5, 1942, giant pillars of dust rose over the Russian steppe, marking the advance of the 6th Army, an elite German combat unit dispatched by Hitler to capture the industrial city of Stalingrad and press on to the oil fields of Azerbaijan. The Germans were supremely confident; in three years, they had not suffered a single defeat. The Luftwaffe had already bombed the city into ruins. German soldiers hoped to complete their mission and be home in time for Christmas.
-
-
An Unforgettable and Haunting Read
- By Jean on 02-03-16
By: William Craig
-
The Retreat
- Hitler's First Defeat
- By: Michael Jones
- Narrated by: Simon Shepherd
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The thrilling history of the turning point of the Second World War, when Hitler's armies were halted on the Eastern Front. At the moment of crisis in 1941 on the Eastern Font, with the forces of Hitler massing on the outskirts of Moscow, the miraculous occurred: Moscow was saved. Yet this turning point was followed by a long retreat, in which Russian forces, inspired by old beliefs in the sacred motherland, pushed back German forces steeled by the vision of the ubermensch, the iron-willed fighter.
-
-
how common soldiers experienced the Eastern Front
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 08-12-18
By: Michael Jones
-
Voices of the Foreign Legion
- The History of the World's Most Famous Fighting Corps
- By: Adrian D. Gilbert
- Narrated by: Eric Brooks
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The French Foreign Legion has established a reputation as the most formidable of military forces. Created as a means of protecting French interests abroad, the legion spearheaded French colonialism in North Africa during the nineteenth century. Accepting volunteers from all parts of the world, the legion acquired an aura of mystery—and a less than enviable reputation for brutality within its ranks.
-
-
A good, if not amazing listen
- By Shaun on 03-06-13
-
On Desperate Ground
- The Marines at the Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: David Pittu
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hampton Sides' superb account of this epic clash in the Korean War relies on years of archival research, unpublished letters, declassified documents, and interviews with scores of marines and Koreans who survived the siege. While expertly detailing the follies of the American leaders, On Desperate Ground is an immediate, grunt's-eye view of history, enthralling in its narrative pace and powerful in its portrayal of what ordinary men are capable of in the most extreme circumstances.
-
-
typical armchair critic armed with hign site
- By Brent on 10-03-18
By: Hampton Sides
-
A Storm in Flanders
- The Ypres Salient, 1914-1918: Tragedy and Triumph on the Western Front
- By: Winston Groom
- Narrated by: David Baker
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Novelist and prizewinning historian Winston Groom's gripping history of the four-year battle for Ypres in Belgian Flanders, the pivotal engagement of World War I that would forever change the way the world fought - and thought about - war. This is Groom's account of what would become the most dreaded place on Earth.
-
-
I love, love, love this book!
- By Amazon Customer on 08-16-16
By: Winston Groom
-
The Story of World War II
- By: Donald L. Miller, Henry Steele Commager
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 24 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on previously unpublished eyewitness accounts, prizewinning historian Donald L. Miller has written what critics are calling one of the most powerful accounts of warfare ever published. Here are the horror and heroism of World War II in the words of the men who fought it, the journalists who covered it, and the civilians who were caught in its fury. Miller gives us an up-close, deeply personal view of a war that was more savagely fought - and whose outcome was in greater doubt - than one might imagine. This is the war that Americans on the home front would have read about had they had access to previously censored testimony.
-
-
INCREDIBLE! WELL-RESEARCHED, COMPLETE & UNBIASED!
- By The Louligan on 07-15-14
By: Donald L. Miller, and others
-
Enemy at the Gates
- The Battle for Stalingrad
- By: William Craig
- Narrated by: David Baker
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On August 5, 1942, giant pillars of dust rose over the Russian steppe, marking the advance of the 6th Army, an elite German combat unit dispatched by Hitler to capture the industrial city of Stalingrad and press on to the oil fields of Azerbaijan. The Germans were supremely confident; in three years, they had not suffered a single defeat. The Luftwaffe had already bombed the city into ruins. German soldiers hoped to complete their mission and be home in time for Christmas.
-
-
An Unforgettable and Haunting Read
- By Jean on 02-03-16
By: William Craig
-
The Retreat
- Hitler's First Defeat
- By: Michael Jones
- Narrated by: Simon Shepherd
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The thrilling history of the turning point of the Second World War, when Hitler's armies were halted on the Eastern Front. At the moment of crisis in 1941 on the Eastern Font, with the forces of Hitler massing on the outskirts of Moscow, the miraculous occurred: Moscow was saved. Yet this turning point was followed by a long retreat, in which Russian forces, inspired by old beliefs in the sacred motherland, pushed back German forces steeled by the vision of the ubermensch, the iron-willed fighter.
-
-
how common soldiers experienced the Eastern Front
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 08-12-18
By: Michael Jones
-
Voices of the Foreign Legion
- The History of the World's Most Famous Fighting Corps
- By: Adrian D. Gilbert
- Narrated by: Eric Brooks
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The French Foreign Legion has established a reputation as the most formidable of military forces. Created as a means of protecting French interests abroad, the legion spearheaded French colonialism in North Africa during the nineteenth century. Accepting volunteers from all parts of the world, the legion acquired an aura of mystery—and a less than enviable reputation for brutality within its ranks.
-
-
A good, if not amazing listen
- By Shaun on 03-06-13
-
On Desperate Ground
- The Marines at the Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: David Pittu
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hampton Sides' superb account of this epic clash in the Korean War relies on years of archival research, unpublished letters, declassified documents, and interviews with scores of marines and Koreans who survived the siege. While expertly detailing the follies of the American leaders, On Desperate Ground is an immediate, grunt's-eye view of history, enthralling in its narrative pace and powerful in its portrayal of what ordinary men are capable of in the most extreme circumstances.
-
-
typical armchair critic armed with hign site
- By Brent on 10-03-18
By: Hampton Sides
-
A Storm in Flanders
- The Ypres Salient, 1914-1918: Tragedy and Triumph on the Western Front
- By: Winston Groom
- Narrated by: David Baker
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Novelist and prizewinning historian Winston Groom's gripping history of the four-year battle for Ypres in Belgian Flanders, the pivotal engagement of World War I that would forever change the way the world fought - and thought about - war. This is Groom's account of what would become the most dreaded place on Earth.
-
-
I love, love, love this book!
- By Amazon Customer on 08-16-16
By: Winston Groom
-
The Liberator
- One World War II Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau
- By: Alex Kershaw
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From July 10, 1943, the date of the Allied landing in Sicily, to May 8, 1945, when victory in Europe was declared - the entire time it took to liberate Europe - no regiment saw more action, and no single platoon, company, or battalion endured worse, than the ones commanded by Felix Sparks, who had entered the war as a greenhorn second lieutenant of the 157th "Eager for Duty" Infantry Regiment of the 45th "Thunderbird" Division. Sparks and his fellow Thunderbirds fought longest and hardest to defeat Hitler.
-
-
Now I Know What a Hero Really Is
- By Steven on 11-27-12
By: Alex Kershaw
-
African Kaiser
- General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918
- By: Robert Gaudi
- Narrated by: Paul Hodgson
- Length: 18 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the continent of Africa was a hotbed of international trade, colonialism, and political gamesmanship. So when World War I broke out, the European powers were forced to contend with each other not just in the bloody trenches - but in the treacherous jungle. And it was in that unforgiving land that General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck would make history.
-
-
Well Written, Well Read, Well Done!
- By Matthew on 02-25-17
By: Robert Gaudi
-
An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa (1942-1943)
- The Liberation Trilogy, Volume 1
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 26 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The liberation of Europe and the destruction of the Third Reich is a story of courage and enduring triumph, of calamity and miscalculation. In this first volume of the Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson shows why no modern learner can understand the ultimate victory of the Allied powers without a grasp of the great drama that unfolded in North Africa in 1942 and 1943. That first year of the Allied war was a pivotal point in American history, the moment when the United States began to act like a great power.
-
-
Fascinating book, great performance
- By Ted on 05-30-16
By: Rick Atkinson
-
This Kind of War
- The Classic Korean War History
- By: T. R. Fehrenbach
- Narrated by: Kevin Foley
- Length: 24 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This Kind of War is a monumental study of the conflict that began in June 1950. Successive generations of U.S. military officers have considered this book an indispensable part of their education. T. R. Fehrenbach's narrative brings to life the harrowing and bloody battles that were fought up and down the Korean Peninsula.
-
-
Great narrative, frustrating redundancy
- By Ted on 08-16-10
By: T. R. Fehrenbach
-
In Deadly Combat
- A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front
- By: Gottlob Herbert Bidermann, Derek S. Zumbro - translator
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wounded five times and awarded numerous decorations for valor, Gottlob Herbert Bidermann saw action in the Crimea and siege of Sebastopol, participated in the vicious battles in the forests south of Leningrad, and ended the war in the Courland Pocket. In his memoir, he shares his impressions of countless Russian POWs seen at the outset of his service, of peasants struggling to survive the hostilities while caught between two ruthless antagonists, and of corpses littering the landscape.
-
-
Not as engaging as others
- By Bookworm on 12-20-17
By: Gottlob Herbert Bidermann, and others
-
Those Who Hold Bastogne
- The True Story of the Soldiers and Civilians Who Fought in the Biggest Battle of the Bulge
- By: Peter Schrijvers
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this dramatic account of the 1944-45 winter of war in Bastogne, historian Peter Schrijvers offers the first full story of the German assault on the strategically located town. From the December stampede of American and Panzer divisions racing to reach Bastogne first, through the bloody eight-day siege from land and air, and through three more weeks of unrelenting fighting even after the siege was broken, events at Bastogne hastened the long-awaited end of WWII.
-
-
How Did Anyone Survive?
- By Sher from Provo on 09-26-15
By: Peter Schrijvers
-
The Polar Bear Expedition
- The Heroes of America's Forgotten Invasion of Russia, 1918-1919
- By: James Carl Nelson
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An extraordinary lost chapter in the history of World War I: the story of America’s year-long invasion of Russia, in which a contingency of brave soldiers fought the Red Army and brutal conditions during the fall and winter of 1918-1919.
-
-
Good history, idiot author.
- By Glaudrung on 12-30-19
-
D-Days in the Pacific
- By: Donald L. Miller
- Narrated by: Gary Dikeos
- Length: 17 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Although most people associate the term D-day with the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944, it is military code for the beginning of any offensive operation. In the Pacific theater during World War II there were more than one hundred D-days. The largest - and last - was the invasion of Okinawa on April 1, 1945, which brought together the biggest invasion fleet ever assembled, far larger than that engaged in the Normandy invasion. D-Days in the Pacific tells the epic story of the campaign waged by American forces to win back the Pacific islands from Japan.
-
-
Terrific one volume history of the Pacific war.
- By Bill on 12-01-12
By: Donald L. Miller
-
Kokoda
- By: Paul Ham
- Narrated by: Peter Byrne
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was a war without mercy, fought back and forth along 90 miles of river crossings, steep inclines and precipitous descents, with both sides wracked by hunger and disease, and terrified of falling into enemy hands. Defeat was unthinkable: the Australian soldier was fighting for his homeland against an unyielding aggressor; the Japanese ordered to fight to the death in a bid to conquer ‘Greater East Asia’.
-
-
Pulls no Punchs
- By daryl on 10-03-10
By: Paul Ham
-
The Unknowns
- The Untold Story of America’s Unknown Soldier and WWI’s Most Decorated Heroes Who Brought Him Home
- By: Patrick K. O'Donnell
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brilliantly researched and vividly told, The Unknowns is a timeless tale of heeding the calls of duty and brotherhood and humanizes the most consequential event of the 20th century, which still casts a shadow a century later. Celebrated military historian and best-selling author Patrick O'Donnell illuminates the saga behind the creation of The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and recreates the moving ceremony during which it was consecrated.
-
-
The Unknowns
- By Logophile on 05-09-19
-
Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die
- How the Allies Won on D-Day
- By: Giles Milton
- Narrated by: Giles Milton
- Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventy-five years have passed since D-Day, the greatest seaborne invasion in history. The outcome of the Second World War hung in the balance on that chill June morning. Giles Milton’s bold new history narrates the day’s events through the tales of survivors from all sides: the teenage Allied conscript, the crack German defender, the French resistance fighter. Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die lays bare the absolute terror of those trapped in the front line of Operation Overlord.
-
-
Needs a map
- By James Lucas on 03-24-19
By: Giles Milton
-
Stalingrad
- The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August 1942, an overconfident Adolf Hitler would attempt to invade Stalin's namesake city on the Volga. The battle of Stalingrad is extraordinary in every way: the triumphant invader fought to a standstill; then the Soviet trap sprung, surrounding their attackers; and the terrible siege, with Germans starving and freezing, forced to fight on by a disbelieving Hitler.
-
-
Audible! Pls provide Michael Tudor Barnes
- By Anand on 07-02-15
By: Antony Beevor