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The Whisperers
- Private Life in Stalin's Russia
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 29 hrs and 47 mins
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Publisher's summary
Drawing on a huge range of sources - letters, memoirs, conversations - Orlando Figes tells the story of how Russians tried to endure life under Stalin. Those who shaped the political system became, very frequently, its victims. Those who were its victims were frequently quite blameless.
The Whisperers re-creates the sort of maze in which Russians found themselves, where an unwitting wrong turn could either destroy a family or, perversely, later save it: a society in which everyone spoke in whispers - whether to protect themselves, their families, neighbours or friends - or to inform on them.
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After the failure of the Weimar Republic, the Nazis believed their mission was to "masculinize" life in Germany. Hermann Goering told women, "Take a pot, a dustpan and a broom, and marry a man", but many still became active participants in murder and mayhem. From the Reich Bride Schools through the Bund Deutscher Mädel and the bizarre Lebensborn Aryan breeding programme to the brothels of the Sicherheitsdienst, this book covers the lives of women in the Third Reich, concentrating on those who sought personal power and influence amid the chaos.
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People are human
- By Stephen H on 07-04-18
By: Paul Roland
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Stalin
- The First In-depth Biography Based on Explosive New Documents from Russia's Secret Archives
- By: Edvard Radzinsky
- Narrated by: David McCallum
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Abridged
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The Kremlin intrigues, the private worlds of the Soviet Empire's ruling class, Radzinsky thrillingly brings them to life. And the riddle of that most cold-blooded of leaders, a man for whom nothing was sacred in his pursuit of absolute might, and perhaps the greatest mass murderer in Western history, is solved.
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A Great Book About a Great Tyrant
- By Moon Man on 05-01-05
By: Edvard Radzinsky
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Red Famine
- Stalin's War on Ukraine
- By: Anne Applebaum
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 17 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1929 Stalin launched his policy of agricultural collectivization - in effect a second Russian Revolution - which forced millions of peasants off their land and onto collective farms. The result was a catastrophic famine, the most lethal in European history. At least five million people died between 1931 and 1933 in the USSR. But instead of sending relief, the Soviet state made use of the catastrophe to rid itself of a political problem.
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Horrifying
- By Mendy on 01-21-18
By: Anne Applebaum
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Mussolini's Daughter
- The Most Dangerous Woman in Europe
- By: Caroline Moorehead
- Narrated by: Kathleen Gati
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Edda Mussolini was the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s oldest and favorite child. At 19, she was married to Count Galleazzo Ciano, Il Duce’s Minister for Foreign Affairs during the 1930s, the most turbulent decade in Italy’s fascist history. In the years preceding World War II, Edda ruled over Italy’s aristocratic families and the cultured and middle classes while selling Fascism on the international stage. How a young woman wielded such control is the heart of Moorehead’s fascinating history.
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Mind Blowing
- By Greg on 01-27-23
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Stalin's Daughter
- The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva
- By: Rosemary Sullivan
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 19 hrs and 43 mins
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The award-winning author of Villa Air-Bel returns with a painstakingly researched, revelatory biography of Svetlana Stalin, a woman fated to live her life in the shadow of one of history's most monstrous dictators—her father, Josef Stalin. Born in the early years of the Soviet Union, Svetlana Stalin spent her youth inside the walls of the Kremlin. Communist Party privilege protected her from the mass starvation and purges that haunted Russia, but she did not escape tragedy—the loss of everyone she loved, including her mother, two brothers, aunts and uncles, and a lover twice her age, deliberately exiled to Siberia by her father.
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Insightful and thoroughly researched
- By Jean on 06-16-15
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Aftermath
- Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich, 1945-1955
- By: Harald Jähner, Shaun Whiteside - translator
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
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How does a nation recover from fascism and turn toward a free society once more? This internationally acclaimed revelatory history of the transformational decade that followed World War II illustrates how Germany raised itself out of the ashes of defeat and reckoned with the corruption of its soul and the horrors of the Holocaust - and features over 40 eye-opening black-and-white photographs and posters from the period.
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Where are the photos?
- By Cassandra on 01-17-22
By: Harald Jähner, and others
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Iron Curtain
- The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956
- By: Anne Applebaum
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 26 hrs and 39 mins
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At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union to its surprise and delight found itself in control of a huge swath of territory in Eastern Europe. Stalin and his secret police set out to convert a dozen radically different countries to Communism, a completely new political and moral system. In Iron Curtain, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anne Applebaum describes how the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe were created and what daily life was like once they were complete.
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Important story, imperfectly executed
- By jackifus on 12-08-12
By: Anne Applebaum
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True Believer
- Stalin's Last American Spy
- By: Kati Marton
- Narrated by: Amanda Carlin
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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True Believer reveals the life of Noel Field, an American who betrayed his country and crushed his family. Field, once a well-meaning and privileged American, spied for Stalin during the 1930s and '40s. Then, a pawn in Stalin's sinister master strategy, Field was kidnapped and tortured by the KGB and forced to testify against his own Communist comrades.
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Misplaced Loyalty
- By Joanne on 04-08-18
By: Kati Marton
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Always Remember Your Name
- A True Story of Family and Survival in Auschwitz
- By: Andra Bucci, Tatiana Bucci
- Narrated by: Gabrielle De Cuir
- Length: 4 hrs and 26 mins
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On March 28, 1944, six-year-old Tati and her four-year-old sister, Andra, were roused from their sleep and arrested. Along with their mother, Mira, their aunt, and cousin Sergio, they were deported to Auschwitz. Over 230,000 children were deported to the camp, where Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death, performed deadly experiments on them. Only a few dozen children survived, Tati and Andra among them.
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Important read!
- By Holly Thomas on 02-24-22
By: Andra Bucci, 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
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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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Arab and Jew
- Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land
- By: David K. Shipler
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 27 hrs and 55 mins
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Performance
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David Shipler delves into the origins of the prejudices of Jews and Arabs that have been intensified by war, terrorism, and nationalism. Focusing on the diverse cultures that exist side by side in Israel and Israeli-controlled territories, Shipler examines the process of indoctrination that begins in schools; he discusses the far ranging effects of socioeconomic differences, historical conflicts between Islam and Judaism, attitudes about the Holocaust, and much more.
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'Arab and Jew' Needs a Good Editor
- By Robert W. Gillespie on 10-23-03
By: David K. Shipler
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Arif Naqvi was charismatic, inspiring, and self-made—all the qualities of a successful business leader. The founder of Abraaj, a Dubai-based private-equity firm, Naqvi was the Key Man to the global elite searching for impact investments to make money and do good. In 2018, Simon Clark and Will Louch were contacted by an anonymous whistleblower who said Naqvi had swindled investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars and offered bribes to sustain his billionaire lifestyle. In April 2019—months after their exposé broke—Naqvi was arrested on charges of fraud and racketeering.
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Doctor Zhivago
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In celebration of the 40th anniversary of its original publication, here is a new translation of the classic story of the life and loves of a poet/physician during the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. Taking his family from Moscow to what he hopes will be shelter in the Ural Mountains, Zhivago finds himself instead embroiled in the battle between the Whites and the Reds. Set against this backdrop of cruelty and strife is Zhivago’s love for the tender and beautiful Lara.
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Russian Philosophical Feast
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Red Famine
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In 1929 Stalin launched his policy of agricultural collectivization - in effect a second Russian Revolution - which forced millions of peasants off their land and onto collective farms. The result was a catastrophic famine, the most lethal in European history. At least five million people died between 1931 and 1933 in the USSR. But instead of sending relief, the Soviet state made use of the catastrophe to rid itself of a political problem.
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What listeners say about The Whisperers
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jennifer
- 06-11-23
Well worth the time invested
It’s not an easy topic and not always easy to follow the story. At the beginning it feels disjointed and lacking in purpose but very quickly Figes paints small brush strokes into a beautiful evolving artwork. Individual stories become a history lesson and pull together to form a plot. This is a masterful telling of Stalinist Russia and the years after.
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- Ian D. Sheldon
- 09-24-24
Mostly excellent pronunciation of Russian names and phrases
A little repetitive at times, but the author follows characters through the historical process, showing how things turned out in the end.
I understand that the Soviets - both individuals and state - would not comment on their cruel treatment of German women at the war’s end, but some sort of authorial reference might have helped put the “official” story in context.
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- Jason Gross
- 12-16-18
A moving look at a terrible crime against humanity
I'd recommend it! Gets a little bogged down at points but the fact that the author is speaking for people long since murdered and forgotten by the system that they lived under is important.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Tor G Erickson
- 04-29-19
wow. this book was amazing.
this was an incredible exploration of the in er lives of people living under stalin.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Charles Jake Hildebrand
- 04-21-21
Required Reading
I have listened to SO many books on the broad topic of Soviet Russia. Despite this, this is the first type of book I have listened to of its kind. the only other book series thus far that is somewhat similar is the Gulag Archipelago series. However, the difference primarily lies in that it follows a limited number of families and what happened to the individual members of those families as a result of living under one of the most readily identifiable totalitarian systems in the past 100 years. It does an outstanding job of bridging the gap between macro third person and micro third person. This book would be enjoyed by anyone interested in the result of philosophy, propaganda, historic examples of the danger of religious faith/scientific faith in human logic, the danger of group think, lovers of Russian history, people of religious faith desiring examples of the consequences of faith in everything but a supernatural, and those fascinated by communism from a position of hate yet high intrigue.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 08-07-23
Very Personal History, Well Read
I loved the book and listened through it quickly. It covers a relatively narrow, but extremely interesting, fascinating and often incredible, period of Russian history y great depth, offering an abundance of individual “small” stories to illustrate how people pretty much like you and me lived through that time during which the soviet utopia became ever more dystopic. Very well read, with only the right amounts of inflection to let the strong emotion the text suggests, come through nicely.
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- Chris D. Stevenson
- 08-01-20
In-depth
I have listened to several books on the subject of the Stalin regime/the Gulag, and this book elaborates on the subject in its own unique way. Highly recommend it for anyone interested in learning more of the Soviet regime.
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2 people found this helpful
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- J.Brock
- 11-01-19
Another Figes marvel
There have been multiple exceptional books written about Russia during the time of Stalin's terror. Orlando Figes's work stands out as one of the very best. The story, though it revolves around multiple personalities, from famous Russian personas to regular persons, is easy to follow and continually riveting. Without a doubt, the story of Konstantin Simonov is exceptionally fascinating. This is the perfect fusion of author and narrator. John Telfer gives the perfect voice inflection for the precise time, never over doing it, reverting to monotone. It's utter perfection, just like this book.
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- Anonymous User
- 09-04-20
Fascinating, personal, thorough
This is the best book I've read about the effects of Stalin's personality cult on the people in Russia. Most histories focus on top officials or government policies or the military, but The Whisperers is all about ordinary citizens. Orlando Figes used first-hand accounts from people in every part of the USSR in every walk of life. He follows the lives of several families all the way from the October Revolution to the break-up of the Soviet Union, tracking the effects of systemic fear and repression through multiple generations.
John Telfer did a great job reading. His voice was very clear and precise, distinguishing easily between quotations and exposition. I would gladly listen to anything read by him again!
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4 people found this helpful
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- J. Whittle
- 01-31-19
A classic only hampered by poor editing
First, this is read beautifully. The shear number of stories of children's experiences of Stalinist Russia crushes any faith in humanity the reader may have harboured. The book though loses its way somewhat with an arbitrary biography of Simonov and several other stories that seem unrelated.
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6 people found this helpful