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Upheaval
- Turning Points for Nations in Crisis
- Narrated by: Henry Strozier
- Length: 18 hrs and 44 mins
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Publisher's summary
A brilliant new theory of how and why some nations recover from trauma and others don't, by the author of the landmark best sellers Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse.
In his earlier best sellers Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, Jared Diamond transformed our understanding of what makes civilizations rise and fall. Now, in the final audiobook in this monumental trilogy, he reveals how successful nations recover from crisis through selective change - a coping mechanism more commonly associated with personal trauma.
In a dazzling comparative study, Diamond shows us how seven countries have survived defining upheavals in the recent past - from US Commodore Perry's arrival in Japan to the Soviet invasion of Finland to Pinochet's regime in Chile - through a process of painful self-appraisal and adaptation, and he identifies patterns in the way that these distinct nations recovered from calamity. Looking ahead to the future, he investigates whether the US and the world are squandering their natural advantages on a path toward political conflict and decline. Or can we still learn from the lessons of the past?
Adding a psychological dimension to the awe-inspiring grasp of history, geography, economics, and anthropology that marks all Diamond's work, Upheaval reveals how both nations and individuals can become more resilient. The result is an audiobook that is epic, urgent, and groundbreaking.
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- By: Noam Chomsky, C.J. Polychroniou
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Precipice, Noam Chomsky sheds light into the phenomenon of Trumpism, exposes the catastrophic nature and impact of Trump's policies on people, the environment, and the planet as a whole, and captures the dynamics of the brutal class warfare launched by the masters of capital to maintain and even enhance the features of a dog-eat-dog society to the unprecedented mobilization of millions of people against neoliberal capitalism, racism, and police violence.
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Of Incalculable Importance
- By Anonymous User on 12-15-21
By: Noam Chomsky, and others
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Blood Oil
- Tyrants, Violence, and the Rules That Run the World
- By: Leif Wenar
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 20 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Natural resources empower the world's most coercive men. Autocrats like Putin and the Saudis spend oil money on weapons and repression. ISIS and Congo's militias spend resource money on atrocities and ammunition. For decades resource-fueled authoritarians and extremists have forced endless crises on the West - and the ultimate source of their resource money is us, paying at the gas station and the mall.
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Caveat: Human beings -- Totally untrustworthy
- By lost the power cord could you send me another cord address 13 east wilmont ave somers point nj 08244 on 05-17-16
By: Leif Wenar
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The Last President of Europe
- Emmanuel Macron's Race to Revive France and Save the World
- By: William Drozdiak
- Narrated by: Paul Hodgson
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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A revelatory examination of the global impact of Emmanuel Macron's tumultuous presidency. In The Last President of Europe, William Drozdiak tells with exclusive inside access the story of Macron's presidency and the political challenges the French leader continues to face.
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Interesting but poorly read
- By Anonymous User on 05-12-22
By: William Drozdiak
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Hopes and Prospects
- By: Noam Chomsky
- Narrated by: Brian Jones
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In this urgent new book, Noam Chomsky examines the dangers and prospects of our early 21st century. Exploring challenges such as the growing gap between North and South, American exceptionalism (including under President Obama), the fiascos of Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S.-Israeli assault on Gaza, and the recent recent financial bailouts, he also sees hope for the future. Chomsky surveys the democratic wave in Latin America and the growing global solidarity movements.
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An Intellectual Wind Tunnel
- By Cellar_Door_Books on 04-23-11
By: Noam Chomsky
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The Post-American World 2.0
- By: Fareed Zakaria
- Narrated by: Fareed Zakaria
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is the New York Times and international best seller, revised and expanded with a new afterword. This is the essential update of Fareed Zakaria's analysis about America and its shifting position in world affairs. In this new edition, Zakaria makes sense of the rapidly changing global landscape. With his customary lucidity, insight, and imagination, he draws on lessons from the two great power shifts of the past 500 years - the rise of the Western world and the rise of the United States - to tell us what we can expect from the third shift, the rise of the rest.
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S/B req reading for every man, woman and child...
- By Kopernicus on 10-20-11
By: Fareed Zakaria
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China and Japan
- Facing History
- By: Ezra F. Vogel
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 22 hrs and 51 mins
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China and Japan have cultural and political connections that stretch back 1,500 years. But today, their relationship is strained. China's military buildup deeply worries Japan, while Japan's brutal occupation of China in World War II remains an open wound. In recent years, less than 10 percent of each population had positive feelings toward the other, and both countries insist that the other side must deal openly with its history before relations can improve. Ezra Vogel's China and Japan examines key turning points in Sino-Japanese history.
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China & Japan is first rate by a top scholar
- By Louise Stone on 06-17-20
By: Ezra F. Vogel
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When the Facts Change
- Essays, 1995-2010
- By: Tony Judt
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 14 hrs
- Unabridged
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In When the Facts Change, Tony Judt's widow and fellow historian Jennifer Homans has assembled an essential collection of the most important and influential pieces written in the last 15 years of Judt's life, the years in which he found his voice in the public sphere. Included are seminal essays on the full range of Judt's concerns, including Europe as an idea and in reality, before 1989 and thereafter; Israel, the Holocaust and the Jews; American hyperpower and the world after 9/11.
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Essential
- By Herman Utik on 09-19-16
By: Tony Judt
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The Cold War
- A World History
- By: Odd Arne Westad
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 22 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Cold War, Odd Arne Westad offers a new perspective on a century when a superpower rivalry and an ideological war transformed every corner of our globe. We traditionally think of the Cold War as a post-World War II diplomatic and military conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. But in this major new work, Westad argues that the conflict must be understood as a global ideological confrontation with roots in the industrial revolution and with continuing implications for the world today.
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A lenghy treatise on the Cold War
- By Donald Hill on 11-21-17
By: Odd Arne Westad
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Cuba Libre
- A 500-Year Quest for Independence
- By: Philip Brenner, Peter Eisner
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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This timely book provides a balanced, deeply knowledgeable introduction to Cuba since 1492. Tracing the island's history over 500 years, the authors provide an incisive overview for anyone interested in exploring beyond the enduring stereotypes.
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Lost Opportunity (and time)
- By Alexander Piquer on 05-04-18
By: Philip Brenner, and others
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Foreign Policy Begins at Home
- By: Richard Haass
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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The biggest threat to the United States comes not from abroad but from within. This is the provocative, timely, and unexpected message of Council on Foreign Relations President Richard N. Haass’ Foreign Policy Begins at Home. A rising China, climate change, terrorism, a nuclear Iran, a turbulent Middle East, and a reckless North Korea all present serious challenges. But U.S. national security depends even more on the United States addressing its burgeoning deficit and debt, crumbling infrastructure, second-class schools, and outdated immigration system
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Last 4 years
- By Don on 07-22-17
By: Richard Haass
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What listeners say about Upheaval
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Tim B
- 05-17-19
Terrible narration, buying it in paper instead
I have never had trouble reading Jared Diamond 's books. This one, has put me to sleep several times already. The narrator is incredibly boring and monotone. Terrible,that Diamond's excellent material gets distorted like this.
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- David A. Sparkman
- 08-02-21
Great on History, poor on science
Diamond has an interesting and thoughtful way of looking at societal evolution that is very worthy of consideration. He missed a few details like the expulsion of all Dutch-Indonesians after WWII. Some of my extended family were actually kept in the Japanese Concentration camps by the Americans and not released until after Indonesia had elected a government. Then they were released and expelled. Racial purity you know.
The real problem is that Mr. Diamond does not know science very well and parrots the Green movement ideas. Example: he talks about the Floro hydrocarbons causing the ozone hole - something debunked by science. Most of the civilization of the world lives in the northern hemisphere, and an even larger amount of the wealthy who able to afford air conditioning and refrigeration. Yet the northern Ozone hole remained small during all the excitement and the southern hole was very large. The air masses do not mix well between north and south, so if Florine was a problem, we would expect it to attach the northerner Ozone hole, which it didn't.
The second glaring error was his statement that we have a shortage of rare earths because they all come from China. No, they don't. China has about 20% of the earth's rare earths. But through regulation and influence buying the USA and Europe don't refine the rare earths they mine. Rare earth is commonly found with Thorium which is slightly radioactive just like raw uranium is. We can mine and process Uranium, but we are not allowed to process rare earths, only China does. We ship our rare earths to China for processing. One company in the US is applying for permits but spreading a little campaign money around by China will slow or stop that process. BTW legally we must process our own RE because our laws forbid us from being dependent on a foreign power for critical supplies. Exempted from that law is England and Candida and probably Australia who are trusted allies.
He is very right that we have to get better at maintaining natural resources. But on the energy problem he doesn’t follow his own learning. He wants first world nations to step back from being first world so that there will be resources enough for the third world. If he would follow the history of energy he would realize that it will be solved. He wrongly compares the US with Europe gasoline usage where density has made public transport practical. Again, he doesn’t realize that liquid fuel will be manufactured from water and hydrocarbons in the future when energy is abundant. It is that lack of science knowledge again.
As for his parroting of the usual Greenhouse gas theory of dangerous rising sea levels, well every prediction for the last 75 years has failed to materialize. Yes, the Eastern coastline is sinking and the western coastline rising. It is called subduction. So, something is wrong with that "science." It would be better for Diamond to stick with what he knows rather than lower his great reputation with social change by wandering into things he doesn't.
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- Joseph
- 07-13-19
Very good but somewhat dry sociological study
The material ia very interesting albeit presented a bit dryly. For some reason it lacks the energy of Guns, Germs and Steel, one of his earlier qrotongs. The reading was so slow and down right boring I put the speed at 110% which helped significantly. Still I recommend the book for the information and analysis it presents.
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- Patricia Everett
- 11-10-20
How appropriate!
A must read for anyone interested in where we are today politically, how we got here and possible solutions. A brilliant book.
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- K. L. Bernstein
- 11-20-20
Brilliant as usual
I have been binge reading / listening to all three of his books, Guns Germs and Steel, Collapse, and now Upheaval. I continue to be blown away by his insights into how societies work. I agree with his analysis of America's problems, and I hope some people in positions of power take the time to listen to him and take his advice on how to solve them.
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- Jennifer
- 01-16-20
Great analysis
Jared Diamond with another great book with a global perspective and excellent examples of historic upheval, their causes, and the dangers faced by the selected countries in terms of future sources of upheaval. Highly recommend. The first half of the book does focus on the historic aspect but is interesting, and important for the rest of the book.
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- William
- 04-30-20
A must read very informative
Loved this book, full of information and it made me look at Geopolitics in a different way. The history of the nations and the author's breakdown of the nations crisis was illuminating
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- Anonymous User
- 02-12-22
Great Book!!!
This book is a must read for all Americans. Humanity can control its destiny only through knowledge. This book provides that knowledge.
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- Joanne
- 03-12-23
Historical comparision of several countries
Compares history of turning points in Japan, Norway, Germany, Australia and US, Having just read The End of the World Is Just the Beginning Mapping the Collapse of Globalization By: Peter Zeihan I have been thinking about the current global crises and what lies in store for our future. No one can see the coming changes but I am not hopeful that the worlds people are going to prepare themselves for the coming paradigm changes.
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- kf smith
- 08-31-24
If You Want to Understand the World Better, GIVE THIS A LISTEN
Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs and Steel and many other narrative history books takes a look at the modern histories of several countries and compares their paths to resilience and reform to the journey an individual may encounter when enduring personal tragedy. The result is an extremely insightful and accessible look at the world which every individual on planet earth could find some benefit from reading. Narrator is a professional actor, not the author, and he does an excellent job of bringing the words to life in a tone that is suitable to the content.
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