Verdun
The Lost History of the Most Important Battle of World War I, 1914-1918
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
Buy for $30.08
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Wes Talbot
-
By:
-
John Mosier
About this listen
Alongside Waterloo and Gettysburg, the Battle of Verdun during World War I stands as one of history’s greatest clashes. Yet it is also one of the most complex and misunderstood. Conventional wisdom holds that the battle began in February 1916 and lasted until December, when the victorious French wrested all the territory they had lost back from the Germans. In fact, says historian John Mosier, from the very beginning of the war until the armistice in 1918, no fewer than eight distinct battles were waged for the possession of Verdun. These conflicts are largely unknown, even in France, owing to the obsessive secrecy of the French high command and its energetic propaganda campaign to fool the world into thinking that the war on the Western Front was a steady series of German checks and defeats.
Although British historians have always seen Verdun as a one-year battle designed by the German chief of staff to bleed France white, Mosier’s careful analysis of the German plans reveals a much more abstract and theoretical approach.Our understanding of Verdun has long been mired in myths, false assumptions, propaganda, and distortions. Now, using numerous accounts of military analysts, serving officers, and eyewitnesses, including French sources that have never been translated, Mosier offers a compelling reassessment of the Great War’s most important battle.
©2013 John Mosier (P)2013 Gildan Media LLCListeners also enjoyed...
-
No Man’s Land
- 1918, the Last Year of the Great War
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 25 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From freezing infantrymen huddled in bloodied trenches on the front lines to intricate political maneuvering and tense strategy sessions in European capitals, noted historian John Toland tells of the unforgettable final year of the First World War. In this audiobook, participants on both sides, from enlisted men to generals and prime ministers to monarchs, vividly recount the battles, sensational events, and behind-the-scenes strategies that shaped the climactic, terrifying year.
-
-
Oddly biased, but worthy account of the period
- By Hellocat on 04-04-18
By: John Toland
-
The Western Front
- A History of the Great War, 1914-1918
- By: Nick Lloyd
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Western Front evokes images of mud-spattered men in waterlogged trenches, shielded from artillery blasts and machine-gun fire by a few feet of dirt. This iconic setting was the most critical arena of the Great War. In this epic narrative history, the first volume in a groundbreaking trilogy on the Great War, Nick Lloyd captures the horrific fighting on the Western Front beginning with the surprise German invasion of Belgium in August 1914 and taking us to the Armistice of November 1918.
-
-
Incisive Overview
- By J.Brock on 01-19-22
By: Nick Lloyd
-
The First World War
- By: John Keegan
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 20 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The First World War created the modern world. A conflict of unprecedented ferocity, it abruptly ended the relative peace and prosperity of the Victorian era, unleashing such demons of the 20th century as mechanized warfare and mass death. It also helped to usher in the ideas that have shaped our times - modernism in the arts, new approaches to psychology and medicine, radical thoughts about economics and society - and in so doing shattered the faith in rationalism and liberalism that had prevailed in Europe since the Enlightenment.
-
-
Best Military History of First World War
- By Stephen F (SPFJR) on 06-13-19
By: John Keegan
-
The Great War
- A Combat History of the First World War
- By: Peter Hart
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 22 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
World War I altered the landscape of the modern world in every conceivable arena. Millions died; empires collapsed; new ideologies and political movements arose; poison gas, warplanes, tanks, submarines, and other technologies appeared. "Total war" emerged as a grim, mature reality. In The Great War, Peter Hart provides a masterful combat history of this global conflict.
-
-
Horrible Listen
- By Eric Ring on 11-16-21
By: Peter Hart
-
Deathride
- Hitler vs. Stalin: The Eastern Front, 1941-1945
- By: John Mosier
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Mosier presents a revisionist retelling of the war on the Eastern Front. The conventional wisdom is that Hitler was mad to think he could defeat the USSR, because of its vast size and population, and that the Battle of Stalingrad marked the turning point of the war. Neither statement is accurate, says Mosier; Hitler came very close to winning outright.
-
-
Speaking the un-speakable
- By Jonathan Gardner on 09-27-10
By: John Mosier
-
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
-
No Man’s Land
- 1918, the Last Year of the Great War
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 25 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From freezing infantrymen huddled in bloodied trenches on the front lines to intricate political maneuvering and tense strategy sessions in European capitals, noted historian John Toland tells of the unforgettable final year of the First World War. In this audiobook, participants on both sides, from enlisted men to generals and prime ministers to monarchs, vividly recount the battles, sensational events, and behind-the-scenes strategies that shaped the climactic, terrifying year.
-
-
Oddly biased, but worthy account of the period
- By Hellocat on 04-04-18
By: John Toland
-
The Western Front
- A History of the Great War, 1914-1918
- By: Nick Lloyd
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Western Front evokes images of mud-spattered men in waterlogged trenches, shielded from artillery blasts and machine-gun fire by a few feet of dirt. This iconic setting was the most critical arena of the Great War. In this epic narrative history, the first volume in a groundbreaking trilogy on the Great War, Nick Lloyd captures the horrific fighting on the Western Front beginning with the surprise German invasion of Belgium in August 1914 and taking us to the Armistice of November 1918.
-
-
Incisive Overview
- By J.Brock on 01-19-22
By: Nick Lloyd
-
The First World War
- By: John Keegan
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 20 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The First World War created the modern world. A conflict of unprecedented ferocity, it abruptly ended the relative peace and prosperity of the Victorian era, unleashing such demons of the 20th century as mechanized warfare and mass death. It also helped to usher in the ideas that have shaped our times - modernism in the arts, new approaches to psychology and medicine, radical thoughts about economics and society - and in so doing shattered the faith in rationalism and liberalism that had prevailed in Europe since the Enlightenment.
-
-
Best Military History of First World War
- By Stephen F (SPFJR) on 06-13-19
By: John Keegan
-
The Great War
- A Combat History of the First World War
- By: Peter Hart
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 22 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
World War I altered the landscape of the modern world in every conceivable arena. Millions died; empires collapsed; new ideologies and political movements arose; poison gas, warplanes, tanks, submarines, and other technologies appeared. "Total war" emerged as a grim, mature reality. In The Great War, Peter Hart provides a masterful combat history of this global conflict.
-
-
Horrible Listen
- By Eric Ring on 11-16-21
By: Peter Hart
-
Deathride
- Hitler vs. Stalin: The Eastern Front, 1941-1945
- By: John Mosier
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Mosier presents a revisionist retelling of the war on the Eastern Front. The conventional wisdom is that Hitler was mad to think he could defeat the USSR, because of its vast size and population, and that the Battle of Stalingrad marked the turning point of the war. Neither statement is accurate, says Mosier; Hitler came very close to winning outright.
-
-
Speaking the un-speakable
- By Jonathan Gardner on 09-27-10
By: John Mosier
-
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
-
WW1: Tales from the Trenches
- By: War History Journals
- Narrated by: Daniel Griffin
- Length: 2 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The First World War was four long years of slaughter, exhaustion, and the near-collapse of a civilization that until 1914 had dominated the globe. Instead of rote memorization of endless facts, figures, names, and places, why not show what happened from those that were there in the trenches, skies, and on the seas? What did they see, hear, and feel?
-
-
Tales from the Trenches - or opinions.
- By SandiD on 07-06-24
-
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
-
Passchendaele
- Requiem for Doomed Youth
- By: Paul Ham
- Narrated by: Robert Meldrum
- Length: 17 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Paul Ham, winner of the NSW Premier's Prize for Australian History, comes the story of ordinary men in the grip of a political and military power struggle that determined their fate and has foreshadowed the destiny of the world for a century. Passchendaele epitomises everything that was most terrible about the Western Front. The photographs never sleep of this four-month battle, fought from July to November 1917, the worst year of the war.
-
-
Very compelling - good story, good narration
- By DPM on 11-25-16
By: Paul Ham
-
The Napoleonic Wars
- By: Alexander Mikaberidze
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 35 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
No description of battles
- By John Gaston on 01-15-21
-
Meat Grinder
- The Battles for the Rzhev Salient, 1942–43
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Nathan Osgood
- Length: 21 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fighting between the German and Russian armies in the Rzhev Salient during World War II was so grisly, so murderous, and saw such vast losses that the troops called the campaign 'The Meat Grinder'. Though millions of men would fight and die there, the Rzhev Salient does not have the name recognition of Leningrad or Moscow. It has been largely ignored by Western historians – until now.
-
-
A totally absurd effort in racist German Bashing with some grudging respect for the German soldier and German Army.
- By Anonymous User on 05-01-24
By: Prit Buttar
-
Collision of Empires
- The War on the Eastern Front in 1914
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 21 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fighting that raged in the East during the First World War was every bit as fierce as that on the Western Front, but the titanic clashes between three towering empires - Russia, Austro-Hungary, and Germany - remains a comparatively unknown facet of the Great War. With the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war in 2014, Collision of Empires is a timely expose of the bitter fighting on this forgotten front - a clash that would ultimately change the face of Europe forever.
-
-
Best book non-fiction book ever on the Eastern Front in 1914
- By HistoricalReader on 01-31-18
By: Prit Buttar
-
Armor and Blood
- The Battle of Kursk: The Turning Point of World War II
- By: Dennis E. Showalter
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While the Battle of Kursk has long captivated World War II aficionados, it has been unjustly overlooked by historians. Drawing on the masses of new information made available by the opening of the Russian military archives, Dennis E. Showalter at last corrects that error. This battle was the critical turning point on World War II's Eastern Front. In the aftermath of the Red Army's brutal repulse of the Germans at Stalingrad, the stakes could not have been higher.
-
-
Big Ups to Prof. Showalter and Audible
- By Placeholder on 08-28-13
-
Somme
- Into the Breach
- By: Hugh Sebag-Montefiore
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 19 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No conflict better encapsulates all that went wrong on the Western Front than the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The tragic loss of life and stoic endurance by troops who walked towards their death is an iconic image which will be hard to ignore during the centennial year. Despite this, this book shows the extent to which the Allied armies were in fact able repeatedly to break through the German front lines.
-
-
A gentle look at a horrific subject
- By J Beachboard on 02-27-17
-
Black Snow
- Curtis LeMay, the Firebombing of Tokyo, and the Road to the Atomic Bomb
- By: James M. Scott
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seven minutes past midnight on March 10, 1945, nearly 300 American B-29s thundered into the skies over Tokyo. Their payloads of incendiaries ignited a firestorm that reached up to 2,800 degrees, liquefying asphalt and vaporizing thousands; sixteen square miles of the city were flattened and more than 100,000 men, women, and children were killed. Black Snow is the story of this devastating operation, orchestrated by Major General Curtis LeMay, who famously remarked: "If we lose the war, we'll be tried as war criminals."
-
-
Top notch!
- By anonymous on 10-24-22
By: James M. Scott
-
The Battle of Verdun: A Captivating Guide to the Longest and Largest Battle of World War 1
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Desmond Manny
- Length: 1 hr and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today, the landscape is marked by shell craters, pillboxes, and empty trenches. Mother Nature has tried to reclaim the terrain; the trees have grown again, and the ground is covered by lush green grass, but despite her best efforts, the scars on the landscape still remain, a constant reminder of the devastation and misery that was experienced here more than a century ago.
-
-
Read like a Wiki article
- By Roger Evans on 04-02-19
-
Blood and Iron
- The Rise and Fall of the German Empire; 1871-1918
- By: Katja Hoyer
- Narrated by: Natasha Soudek
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before 1871, Germany was not yet a nation but simply an idea. Its founder, Otto von Bismarck, had a formidable task at hand. How would he bring 39 individual states under the yoke of a single Kaiser? How would he convince proud Prussians, Bavarians, and Rhinelanders to become Germans? Once united, could the young European nation wield enough power to rival the empires of Britain and France - all without destroying itself in the process?
-
-
Misleading title/subtitle
- By Ethan Brown on 12-15-21
By: Katja Hoyer
-
Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942
- By: Ian W. Toll
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the first Sunday in December 1941, an armada of Japanese warplanes appeared suddenly over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and devastated the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Six months later, in a sea fight north of the tiny atoll of Midway, four Japanese aircraft carriers were sent into the abyss. Pacific Crucible tells the epic tale of these first searing months of the Pacific war, when the U.S. Navy shook off the worst defeat in American military history and seized the strategic initiative.
-
-
Astonishingly good.
- By Mike From Mesa on 09-01-12
By: Ian W. Toll
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
Deathride
- Hitler vs. Stalin: The Eastern Front, 1941-1945
- By: John Mosier
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Mosier presents a revisionist retelling of the war on the Eastern Front. The conventional wisdom is that Hitler was mad to think he could defeat the USSR, because of its vast size and population, and that the Battle of Stalingrad marked the turning point of the war. Neither statement is accurate, says Mosier; Hitler came very close to winning outright.
-
-
Speaking the un-speakable
- By Jonathan Gardner on 09-27-10
By: John Mosier
-
Three Armies on the Somme
- The First Battle of the Twentieth Century
- By: William Philpott
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 26 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On July 1, 1916, British and French forces launched the first attack on the German armies lined up along the Somme in what was to become the defining battle of World War I. To this day, July 1 is often remembered for being the bloodiest day in British military history. Indeed, the British suffered some 62,000 casualties in that one day of fighting alone. As gruesome as that statistic is, it's just one of the many dark legacies left by the Somme Offensive.
-
-
An insightful and exhaustive analysis of the Somme
- By Anthony on 06-07-12
By: William Philpott
-
Haig's Enemy
- Crown Prince Rupprecht and Germany's War on the Western Front
- By: Jonathan Boff
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During the First World War, the British army's most consistent German opponent was Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria. Commanding more than a million men as a General, and then Field Marshal, in the Imperial German Army, he held off the attacks of the British Expeditionary Force under Sir John French and then Sir Douglas Haig for four long years. But Rupprecht was to lose not only the war, but his son and his throne. In Haig's Enemy, Jonathan Boff explores the tragic tale of Rupprecht's war - the story of a man caught under the wheels of modern industrial warfare.
-
-
Insightful look inside dysfunctional WW1 Germany
- By J.Brock on 11-04-19
By: Jonathan Boff
-
Kiev 1941
- Hitler's Battle for Supremacy in the East
- By: David Stahel
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In just four weeks in the summer of 1941 the German Wehrmacht wrought unprecedented destruction on four Soviet armies, conquering central Ukraine and killing or capturing three quarters of a million men. This was the Battle of Kiev - one of the largest and most decisive battles of World War II and, for Hitler and Stalin, a battle of crucial importance. For the first time, David Stahel charts the battle's dramatic course and aftermath.
-
-
The book you must read on Hitler's War with Russia
- By Kindle Customer on 05-28-19
By: David Stahel
-
Sun Tzu at Gettysburg
- Ancient Military Wisdom in the Modern World
- By: Bevin Alexander
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Imagine the impact on world history if Robert E. Lee had listened to General Longstreet at Gettysburg and withdrawn to higher ground instead of sending Pickett uphill against the entrenched Union line. Or if Napolon, at Waterloo, had avoided mistakes he'd never made before. The advice that would have changed the outcome of these crucial battles is found in a book on strategy written centuries before Christ was born.
-
-
How Different History Could Be
- By Lifeisshort on 09-13-14
By: Bevin Alexander
-
Collision of Empires
- The War on the Eastern Front in 1914
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 21 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fighting that raged in the East during the First World War was every bit as fierce as that on the Western Front, but the titanic clashes between three towering empires - Russia, Austro-Hungary, and Germany - remains a comparatively unknown facet of the Great War. With the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war in 2014, Collision of Empires is a timely expose of the bitter fighting on this forgotten front - a clash that would ultimately change the face of Europe forever.
-
-
Best book non-fiction book ever on the Eastern Front in 1914
- By HistoricalReader on 01-31-18
By: Prit Buttar
-
Deathride
- Hitler vs. Stalin: The Eastern Front, 1941-1945
- By: John Mosier
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Mosier presents a revisionist retelling of the war on the Eastern Front. The conventional wisdom is that Hitler was mad to think he could defeat the USSR, because of its vast size and population, and that the Battle of Stalingrad marked the turning point of the war. Neither statement is accurate, says Mosier; Hitler came very close to winning outright.
-
-
Speaking the un-speakable
- By Jonathan Gardner on 09-27-10
By: John Mosier
-
Three Armies on the Somme
- The First Battle of the Twentieth Century
- By: William Philpott
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 26 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On July 1, 1916, British and French forces launched the first attack on the German armies lined up along the Somme in what was to become the defining battle of World War I. To this day, July 1 is often remembered for being the bloodiest day in British military history. Indeed, the British suffered some 62,000 casualties in that one day of fighting alone. As gruesome as that statistic is, it's just one of the many dark legacies left by the Somme Offensive.
-
-
An insightful and exhaustive analysis of the Somme
- By Anthony on 06-07-12
By: William Philpott
-
Haig's Enemy
- Crown Prince Rupprecht and Germany's War on the Western Front
- By: Jonathan Boff
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During the First World War, the British army's most consistent German opponent was Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria. Commanding more than a million men as a General, and then Field Marshal, in the Imperial German Army, he held off the attacks of the British Expeditionary Force under Sir John French and then Sir Douglas Haig for four long years. But Rupprecht was to lose not only the war, but his son and his throne. In Haig's Enemy, Jonathan Boff explores the tragic tale of Rupprecht's war - the story of a man caught under the wheels of modern industrial warfare.
-
-
Insightful look inside dysfunctional WW1 Germany
- By J.Brock on 11-04-19
By: Jonathan Boff
-
Kiev 1941
- Hitler's Battle for Supremacy in the East
- By: David Stahel
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In just four weeks in the summer of 1941 the German Wehrmacht wrought unprecedented destruction on four Soviet armies, conquering central Ukraine and killing or capturing three quarters of a million men. This was the Battle of Kiev - one of the largest and most decisive battles of World War II and, for Hitler and Stalin, a battle of crucial importance. For the first time, David Stahel charts the battle's dramatic course and aftermath.
-
-
The book you must read on Hitler's War with Russia
- By Kindle Customer on 05-28-19
By: David Stahel
-
Sun Tzu at Gettysburg
- Ancient Military Wisdom in the Modern World
- By: Bevin Alexander
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Imagine the impact on world history if Robert E. Lee had listened to General Longstreet at Gettysburg and withdrawn to higher ground instead of sending Pickett uphill against the entrenched Union line. Or if Napolon, at Waterloo, had avoided mistakes he'd never made before. The advice that would have changed the outcome of these crucial battles is found in a book on strategy written centuries before Christ was born.
-
-
How Different History Could Be
- By Lifeisshort on 09-13-14
By: Bevin Alexander
-
Collision of Empires
- The War on the Eastern Front in 1914
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 21 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fighting that raged in the East during the First World War was every bit as fierce as that on the Western Front, but the titanic clashes between three towering empires - Russia, Austro-Hungary, and Germany - remains a comparatively unknown facet of the Great War. With the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war in 2014, Collision of Empires is a timely expose of the bitter fighting on this forgotten front - a clash that would ultimately change the face of Europe forever.
-
-
Best book non-fiction book ever on the Eastern Front in 1914
- By HistoricalReader on 01-31-18
By: Prit Buttar
-
World War One
- A Short History
- By: Norman Stone
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1914, a new kind of war came about, bringing with it a new kind of world. World War One began on horseback, with generals employing bayonet charges to gain ground, and ended with attacks resembling the Nazi blitzkriegs. The scale of devastation was unlike anything the world had seen before: 14 million combatants died, a further 20 million were wounded, and four empires were destroyed. Even the victors' empires were fatally damaged.
-
-
Well told, well narrated; needs maps
- By Tad Davis on 09-23-09
By: Norman Stone
-
A Savage War
- A Military History of the Civil War
- By: Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh, Williamson Murray
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 24 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Civil War represented a momentous change in the character of war. It combined the projection of military might across a continent on a scale never before seen with an unprecedented mass mobilization of peoples. Yet despite the revolutionizing aspects of the Civil War, its leaders faced the same uncertainties that have vexed combatants since the days of Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War.
-
-
A Book about Conclusions
- By Terry Masters on 10-18-17
By: Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh, and others
-
Instrument of War
- The German Army 1914-18
- By: Dennis E. Showalter
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on more than a half-century of research and teaching, Dennis Showalter presents a fresh perspective on the German Army during World War I. Showalter surveys an army at the heart of a national identity, driven by - yet also defeated by - warfare in the modern age, that struggled to capitalize on its victories, and ultimately forgot the lessons of its defeat.
-
-
German Side Of WW1
- By David A on 06-21-18
-
Blitzkrieg
- Myth, Reality, and Hitler's Lightning War: France 1940
- By: Lloyd Clark
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the spring of 1940, the Germans launched a military offensive in France and the Low Countries that married superb intelligence, the latest military thinking, and new technology. It was a stunning victory, altering the balance of power in Europe in one stroke, and convincing the entire world that the Nazi war machine was unstoppable. But as Lloyd Clark, a leading British military historian and academic, argues, much of our understanding of this victory, and blitzkrieg itself, is based on myth.
-
-
Very good and detailed about the Fall of France
- By Arthur on 03-15-17
By: Lloyd Clark
-
A Frozen Hell
- The Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939-1940
- By: William R. Trotter
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1939, tiny Finland waged war - the kind of war that spawns legends - against the mighty Soviet Union, and yet, their epic struggle has been largely ignored. Guerrillas on skis, heroic single-handed attacks on tanks, unfathomable endurance, and the charismatic leadership of one of this century's true military geniuses - these are the elements of both the Finnish victory and a gripping tale of war.
-
-
Causes and consequences of ruso-finish 1939 war
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 04-06-18
-
The Face of Battle
- By: John Keegan
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this major and wholly original contribution to military history, John Keegan reverses the usual convention of writing about war in terms of generals and nations in conflict, which tends to leave the common soldier as cipher. Instead, he focuses on what a set battle is like for the man in the thick of it.
-
-
Amazing! But probably better in print.
- By D. Martin on 04-20-13
By: John Keegan
-
Armor and Blood
- The Battle of Kursk: The Turning Point of World War II
- By: Dennis E. Showalter
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While the Battle of Kursk has long captivated World War II aficionados, it has been unjustly overlooked by historians. Drawing on the masses of new information made available by the opening of the Russian military archives, Dennis E. Showalter at last corrects that error. This battle was the critical turning point on World War II's Eastern Front. In the aftermath of the Red Army's brutal repulse of the Germans at Stalingrad, the stakes could not have been higher.
-
-
Big Ups to Prof. Showalter and Audible
- By Placeholder on 08-28-13
-
The Drive on Moscow, 1941
- Operation Taifun and Germany’s First Great Crisis of World War II
- By: Niklas Zetterling, Anders Frankson
- Narrated by: Dave Courvoisier
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the end of September 1941, more than a million German soldiers lined up along the frontline just 180 miles west of Moscow. They were well trained, confident, and had good reasons to hope that the war in the East would be over with one last offensive. Facing them was an equally large Soviet force, but whose soldiers were neither as well trained nor as confident. When the Germans struck, disaster soon befell the Soviet defenders.
-
-
Add the maps, lose the accents
- By Carrick on 07-03-14
By: Niklas Zetterling, and others
-
Hitler's Final Push
- The Battle of the Bulge from the German Point of View
- By: Danny S. Parker - editor
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Notes on one of the most infamous and bloody battles of World War II - from the German perspective. As the Allied armies swept toward the Reich in late 1944, the German high command embarked on an ambitious plan to gain the initiative on the western front and deal a crippling blow to the Allied war effort. As early as August 1944, when the Germans were being crushed in the east and hammered in Normandy, Hitler was talking of an offensive aimed at destroying as many American and British divisions as possible in a massive surprise assault.
-
-
Not what was expected
- By S.C. James on 05-30-16
-
Eisenhower's Armies
- By: Niall Barr
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 20 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eisenhower's Armies is the story of two very different armies learning to live, work, and fight together even in the face of serious strategic disagreements. The Anglo-American relationship from 1941-1945 proved to be the most effective military alliance in history. Yet there were also constant tensions and disagreements that threatened to pull the alliance apart.
-
-
One of the unsung efforts during World War II
- By Mike From Mesa on 07-31-16
By: Niall Barr
-
Rommel
- Leadership Lessons from the Desert Fox
- By: Charles Messenger
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This exciting series opens with “the Desert Fox”, the most famous German field marshal in World War II, Erwin Rommel. A hero of the people of the Third Reich and widely respected by his opponents, Rommel proved himself highly adept at blitzkrieg warfare. He displayed an outstanding ability to seize the initiative and retain it, and here, Charles Messenger draws on the skills behind this ability for the benefit of modern-day leaders.
-
-
Not particularly new, insightful, or good.
- By William Simkiss on 08-17-21
-
Erwin Rommel
- The Life and Career of the Desert Fox
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
- Length: 2 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of his biographers called him "a complex man: a born leader, a brilliant soldier, a devoted husband, a proud father; intelligent, instinctive, brave, compassionate, vain, egotistical, and arrogant." As that description suggests, every account of Erwin Rommel's life must address what appears to be its inherent contradictions.
-
-
Rommel Review
- By EHDR Maintenence on 01-14-23
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Price of Glory
- Verdun 1916
- By: Alistair Horne
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The battle of Verdun lasted ten months. It was a battle in which at least 700,000 men fell, along a front of fifteen miles. Its aim was less to defeat the enemy than bleed him to death and a battleground whose once fertile terrain is even now a haunted wilderness. Alistair Horne's classic work, continuously in print for over fifty years, is a profoundly moving, sympathetic study of the battle and the men who fought there. It shows that Verdun is a key to understanding the First World War.
-
-
Epic Account, Masterful in Its Scope, Power and Resonance
- By Ted Shealy on 05-01-24
By: Alistair Horne
-
The Western Front
- A History of the Great War, 1914-1918
- By: Nick Lloyd
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Western Front evokes images of mud-spattered men in waterlogged trenches, shielded from artillery blasts and machine-gun fire by a few feet of dirt. This iconic setting was the most critical arena of the Great War. In this epic narrative history, the first volume in a groundbreaking trilogy on the Great War, Nick Lloyd captures the horrific fighting on the Western Front beginning with the surprise German invasion of Belgium in August 1914 and taking us to the Armistice of November 1918.
-
-
Incisive Overview
- By J.Brock on 01-19-22
By: Nick Lloyd
-
Collision of Empires
- The War on the Eastern Front in 1914
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 21 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fighting that raged in the East during the First World War was every bit as fierce as that on the Western Front, but the titanic clashes between three towering empires - Russia, Austro-Hungary, and Germany - remains a comparatively unknown facet of the Great War. With the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war in 2014, Collision of Empires is a timely expose of the bitter fighting on this forgotten front - a clash that would ultimately change the face of Europe forever.
-
-
Best book non-fiction book ever on the Eastern Front in 1914
- By HistoricalReader on 01-31-18
By: Prit Buttar
-
Hell's Angels
- The True Story of the 303rd Bomb Group in World War II
- By: Jay A. Stout
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Although the United States declared war against Germany in December 1941, a successful assault on Nazi-occupied Europe could not happen until Germany’s industrial and military might were crippled. The first target was the Luftwaffe—the most powerful and battle-hardened air force in the world. The United States Army Air Forces joined with Great Britain’s already-engaged Royal Air Force to launch a strategic air campaign that ultimately brought the Luftwaffe to its knees. One of the standout units of this campaign was the legendary 303rd Bomb Group—Hell’s Angels.
-
-
Captivating
- By rswaf86 on 11-12-21
By: Jay A. Stout
-
Deathride
- Hitler vs. Stalin: The Eastern Front, 1941-1945
- By: John Mosier
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Mosier presents a revisionist retelling of the war on the Eastern Front. The conventional wisdom is that Hitler was mad to think he could defeat the USSR, because of its vast size and population, and that the Battle of Stalingrad marked the turning point of the war. Neither statement is accurate, says Mosier; Hitler came very close to winning outright.
-
-
Speaking the un-speakable
- By Jonathan Gardner on 09-27-10
By: John Mosier
-
Lancaster and York
- The Wars of the Roses
- By: Alison Weir
- Narrated by: Maggie Mash
- Length: 22 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lancater and York is a riveting account of the Wars of the Roses, from beloved historian Alison Weir. The war between the houses of Lancaster and York was characterised by treachery, deceit, and bloody battles. Alison Weir's lucid and gripping account focuses on the human side of history. At the centre of the book stands Henry VI, the pious king whose mental instability led to political chaos, and his wife Margaret of Anjou, who took up her arms in her husband's cause and battled in a violent man's world.
-
-
Dense, fascinating history...questionable delivery
- By kbreezy on 10-04-17
By: Alison Weir
-
The Price of Glory
- Verdun 1916
- By: Alistair Horne
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The battle of Verdun lasted ten months. It was a battle in which at least 700,000 men fell, along a front of fifteen miles. Its aim was less to defeat the enemy than bleed him to death and a battleground whose once fertile terrain is even now a haunted wilderness. Alistair Horne's classic work, continuously in print for over fifty years, is a profoundly moving, sympathetic study of the battle and the men who fought there. It shows that Verdun is a key to understanding the First World War.
-
-
Epic Account, Masterful in Its Scope, Power and Resonance
- By Ted Shealy on 05-01-24
By: Alistair Horne
-
The Western Front
- A History of the Great War, 1914-1918
- By: Nick Lloyd
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Western Front evokes images of mud-spattered men in waterlogged trenches, shielded from artillery blasts and machine-gun fire by a few feet of dirt. This iconic setting was the most critical arena of the Great War. In this epic narrative history, the first volume in a groundbreaking trilogy on the Great War, Nick Lloyd captures the horrific fighting on the Western Front beginning with the surprise German invasion of Belgium in August 1914 and taking us to the Armistice of November 1918.
-
-
Incisive Overview
- By J.Brock on 01-19-22
By: Nick Lloyd
-
Collision of Empires
- The War on the Eastern Front in 1914
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 21 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fighting that raged in the East during the First World War was every bit as fierce as that on the Western Front, but the titanic clashes between three towering empires - Russia, Austro-Hungary, and Germany - remains a comparatively unknown facet of the Great War. With the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war in 2014, Collision of Empires is a timely expose of the bitter fighting on this forgotten front - a clash that would ultimately change the face of Europe forever.
-
-
Best book non-fiction book ever on the Eastern Front in 1914
- By HistoricalReader on 01-31-18
By: Prit Buttar
-
Hell's Angels
- The True Story of the 303rd Bomb Group in World War II
- By: Jay A. Stout
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Although the United States declared war against Germany in December 1941, a successful assault on Nazi-occupied Europe could not happen until Germany’s industrial and military might were crippled. The first target was the Luftwaffe—the most powerful and battle-hardened air force in the world. The United States Army Air Forces joined with Great Britain’s already-engaged Royal Air Force to launch a strategic air campaign that ultimately brought the Luftwaffe to its knees. One of the standout units of this campaign was the legendary 303rd Bomb Group—Hell’s Angels.
-
-
Captivating
- By rswaf86 on 11-12-21
By: Jay A. Stout
-
Deathride
- Hitler vs. Stalin: The Eastern Front, 1941-1945
- By: John Mosier
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Mosier presents a revisionist retelling of the war on the Eastern Front. The conventional wisdom is that Hitler was mad to think he could defeat the USSR, because of its vast size and population, and that the Battle of Stalingrad marked the turning point of the war. Neither statement is accurate, says Mosier; Hitler came very close to winning outright.
-
-
Speaking the un-speakable
- By Jonathan Gardner on 09-27-10
By: John Mosier
-
Lancaster and York
- The Wars of the Roses
- By: Alison Weir
- Narrated by: Maggie Mash
- Length: 22 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lancater and York is a riveting account of the Wars of the Roses, from beloved historian Alison Weir. The war between the houses of Lancaster and York was characterised by treachery, deceit, and bloody battles. Alison Weir's lucid and gripping account focuses on the human side of history. At the centre of the book stands Henry VI, the pious king whose mental instability led to political chaos, and his wife Margaret of Anjou, who took up her arms in her husband's cause and battled in a violent man's world.
-
-
Dense, fascinating history...questionable delivery
- By kbreezy on 10-04-17
By: Alison Weir
-
Case Red
- The Collapse of France
- By: Robert Forczyk
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even after the legendary evacuation from Dunkirk in June 1940 there were still large British formations fighting the Germans alongside their French allies. After mounting a vigorous counterattack at Abbeville and then engaging a tough defense along the Somme, the British were forced to conduct a second evacuation from the ports of Le Havre, Cherbourg, Brest, and St. Nazaire. Case Red captures the drama of the final three weeks of military operations in France in June 1940.
-
-
Not Forczyk's best offering
- By S.C. James on 01-30-18
By: Robert Forczyk
-
No Man’s Land
- 1918, the Last Year of the Great War
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 25 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From freezing infantrymen huddled in bloodied trenches on the front lines to intricate political maneuvering and tense strategy sessions in European capitals, noted historian John Toland tells of the unforgettable final year of the First World War. In this audiobook, participants on both sides, from enlisted men to generals and prime ministers to monarchs, vividly recount the battles, sensational events, and behind-the-scenes strategies that shaped the climactic, terrifying year.
-
-
Oddly biased, but worthy account of the period
- By Hellocat on 04-04-18
By: John Toland
-
Russia in Flames
- War, Revolution, Civil War, 1914 - 1921
- By: Laura Engelstein
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 31 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
October 1917, heralded as the culmination of the Russian Revolution, remains a defining moment in world history. Even a hundred years after the events that led to the emergence of the world's first self-proclaimed socialist state, debate continues over whether, as historian E. H. Carr put it decades ago, these earth-shaking days were a "landmark in the emancipation of mankind from past oppression" or "a crime and a disaster."
-
-
Solid overview of events
- By Anonymous User on 06-27-19
By: Laura Engelstein
-
Case White
- The Invasion of Poland 1939
- By: Robert Forczyk
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The German invasion of Poland on 1 September, 1939, designated as Fall Weiss (Case White), was the event that sparked the outbreak of World War II in Europe. The campaign has widely been described as a textbook example of Blitzkrieg, but it was actually a fairly conventional campaign as the Wehrmacht was still learning how to use its new Panzers and dive-bombers. The Polish military is often misrepresented as hopelessly obsolete and outclassed by the Wehrmacht, yet in fact it was well-equipped with modern weapons and armor.
-
-
Surprise
- By Kindle Customer on 11-24-19
By: Robert Forczyk
-
The First World War
- A Complete History
- By: Martin Gilbert
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 33 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was to be the war to end all wars, and it began at 11:15 on the morning of June 28, 1914, in an outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire called Sarajevo. It would officially end nearly five years later. Unofficially, however, it has never ended: Many of the horrors we live with today are rooted in the First World War. The Great War left millions of civilians and soldiers maimed or dead. It also saw the creation of new technologies of destruction: tanks, planes, and submarines; machine guns and field artillery; poison gas and chemical warfare.
-
-
Unbiased true facts of the first world war
- By troy a myers on 07-27-20
By: Martin Gilbert
-
Battle of Verdun
- A History from Beginning to End (World War 1)
- By: Hourly History
- Narrated by: Matthew J. Chandler-Smith
- Length: 1 hr and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fought from February to December 1916, the Battle of Verdun was intended to “bleed the French white” and bring their army to the point of collapse. Instigated by the Germans under the command of General Erich von Falkenhayn, it became a war of attrition that would benefit neither side. With its devastating death toll and the appalling number of wounded, the Battle of Verdun is one of the deadliest in history.
-
-
good for a short road trip
- By jason Faucher on 11-11-22
By: Hourly History
What listeners say about Verdun
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Charles
- 05-03-20
Learned so much
Interesting to learn so much more of the war than was covered in high school. I'm glad I picked this.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jean
- 07-22-14
Hunt for the truth
This book might be a good preparatory reading for World War One. Dr. Mosier covers a number of topics, geography of France, German and French history prior to WWI, railroads and their usefulness and limitations as well as military preparedness. He explains in pain-staking detail why the French artillery was terribly inaccurate and inadequate. French politics are reviewed along with their divisive role in military preparedness.
The author claims the lost history is actually buried history. The French army controlled all information or disinformation of the war. The author delved into this mass of suppressed information finding that each layer of command lied to the one above it as to the results of the latest offensive effort. One of the main points the author makes is that Verdun was not one battle but a series of battles fought from late 1914 to 1918.
One need to carefully review the source of the information provided in the index and keep a skeptical viewpoint to decide for yourself, is the book a fresh viewpoint and a struggle with official “truth” or a powerful revisionist account. Mosier also points out that WWI had no hero General to catch the public attention. Whereas, WWII had many Hero Generals that has kept the public interested in WWII for years. For those interested in World War One history the book is well worth the read. The book was narrated by Wes Talbot.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- vonmax
- 08-01-18
New view of Verdun
I felt like the book had me unlearn what I knew about the battle in the start, then tought me it all over again, but from a very different and interesting view. I learned not just about the battle, but a helpful way to look at history. A must read for anyone interested in Verdun.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Military History Nerd
- 08-16-19
Good military history of Verdun thru the war
Narrator was not as bad as other reviewers were complaining about, although it was amusing to here "Joffre" pronounced like "Jeffery" the whole time.
This book describes Verdun the eye of a hurricane of violence all through the war years. It is very heavy with the military side of things and there isn't much accounts of soldiers experiences on the ground, but that doesnt make it totally unlistenable like Okinawa: the Last Battle.
Overall this is a good book that dispels many legends and myths about what happened at Verdun, and paints a clearer picture of a otherwise murky battle, but I might need to relisten a couple times to fully appreciate.
Need more soldiers accounts for sure
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Robert F.
- 10-01-16
AUTHOR LEANS HEAVILY TO GERMAN POINT OF VIEW
Would you consider the audio edition of Verdun to be better than the print version?
ABSOLUTELY!
What did you like best about this story?
I FINALLY UNDERSTAND THE MANY, MANY BATTLES OF VERDUN. IT TRULY IS A LOST, VERY LOST HISTORY. THE BOOK COVERS EVERY BATTLE FROM 1914 TO 1918.I BOUGHT TO HARDCOVER EDITION FOR THE MAPS.BUT THE MAPS ARE AWFUL AND NOT ENOUGH OF THEM.
Which scene was your favorite?
PETAIN--ARROGANT-WOMANIZER-ASTUTE AND LOVING COMMANDER (AND I DO MEAN LOVING) STANDING BY THE SACRED WAY WATCHING HIS FRENCH SOLDIERS TRUDGE INTO THE BATTLE.:NO WONDER THAT THEY LOVED HIM BACK.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
YES, EXCEPT WHEN HE GOES OFF TOPIC OR TOO DEEP INTO NON BATTLE TOPICS EG THE TRUE NUMBER OF CASUALATIES ON BOTH SIDE ETC.
Any additional comments?
HIS OBVIOUS GERMAN SYMPATHIES STUCK IN MY CRAW---I.E. THEY ONLY WANTED PEACE THAT'S WHY THEY INFLICTED THE WORSE BARRAGE IN HISTORY, PHOSGENE (POISON GAS) AND FLAME THROWERS ON THE FRENCH.AT VERDUN. IF THEY WANTED PEACE SO MUCH WHAT IN SAM HILL ARE THEY DOING 30 MILES FROM PARIS? WE WOULD FIGHT TOO, IF THEY WERE 30 MILES FROM WASHINGTON.BUT FOR THAT--I DON'T THINK HE WRITES AS WELL AS ALISTER HORNE WHO WROTE THE CLASSIC VERDUN ACCOUNT, BUT AT LEAST I COULD UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING--DESCRIBING THE MANY FRENCH FORTS AS A BATTLE SHIP BURIED IN SAND AND THE FRENCH TOWN OF FLUERY AS A RUBBLE HEAP WITH A SIGN, OR THE VAUQUOIS (ANOTHER BITTERLY FOUGHT OVER FRENCH TOWN) AS LOOKING LIKE A CHILD'S SAND CASTLE STEPPED ON, I CAN'T GET OUT OF MIND. AND HE HAS THESE LITTLE GEMS, LIKE ON EVERY OTHER PAGE.WONDERFUL BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John
- 08-01-21
Very interesting, but very opinionated
This book is extremely interesting. I strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest WW1 western front. The author clearly put in a vast amount of research and has an excellent understanding of both the French and German languages.
He unravels the deliberately obstructed history of this multi-year regional battle. He also ties in a great deal that lead to the battle all the way from post Franco-Prussian war thinking, to geography, and a host of intricate and sometimes obscure details of how the French and German armies operated. I certainly learned much.
The reason I say its opinionated to the point of taking 2 stars off the 'story' points is once he builds his case for how obtrusive the French high command was were and how 'relatively' progressive -some- German field commanders were he doesn't let it go. And by that I mean he's constantly on the GQG (French high command) being bad, which they were, and German being smart, which some of them were. The amount he harps on this seriously detracts from an otherwise well researched and insightful book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Mike
- 08-31-19
great
awesome for long road trips and very informative and also great to listen to in parts
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Josiah Olsson
- 03-30-23
Very statistical but not riveting
The overall thesis of the book is that the French military altered their number of casualties and that of the Germans to help with their propaganda efforts to keep up moral, especially over the fight for Verdun. In several places he seems to deviate from this thesis, speaking in detail on artillery, and the fact that there were multiple battles for Verdun besides 1916. Not a very riveting read, but did learn some. I’d prefer a firsthand account on the battle.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dan B.
- 03-31-16
Most Thought-provoking
Many of the Great War "battle" books provide excellent detail, first hand accounts, just like Mosier's Verdun. Some, like Peter Hart's books give better detail in that respect. However, Out of all the WW1 books I've listened to, Verdun is the one where I felt like I got the most perspective and context...More "why" less how.
The narration is abysmal. The pronunciation of French names is especially bad. But it is still worth listening to, if you can get over the countless "Joffreys".
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Felicity
- 05-08-22
Fantastic dive into symmetric propaganda
A well written account of not only the battle but foremostly the events surrounding it and the bumbling of many people responsible - as most such histories of the great War relate. However, the performance has cringe worthy pronunciation of both French and German words, and sometimes almost comedically bad. Coup with a hard p was a good one. In you can bear Argonne being pronounced wrong over and over again, you will love this book.
Other reviews seem to be critical of there not being a specific overview of the battle, but that was the entire point of the first few chapters- there was no true battle of Verdun. It was much more than that. Other reviews are ironic reflections of the exact propaganda talked of in those same chapters- if you go in expecting the central powers to be villains, you do not understand the Grear War or history itself.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!