In this magisterial book, Roy Jenkins' unparalleled command of the political history of Britain and his own high-level government experience combine in a narrative account of Churchill's astounding career that is unmatched in its shrewd insights, its unforgettable anecdotes, the clarity of its overarching themes, and the author's nuanced appreciation of his extraordinary subject.
Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East
By
Michael B. Oren
Narrated By
Robert Whitfield
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(34)
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In Israel and the West, it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War or, simply, as "the Setback". Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen, and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David accords, the controversy over Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the intifada, and the rise of Palestinian terror are all part of the outcome of those six days.
You've probably heard clips from Senator Clinton's interview with Barbara Walters. But now you can listen to her full account of her years in the White House. Hillary Clinton vividly describes her pain over her husband's betrayal with Monica Lewinky saying that former President Bill Clinton lied to her about the relationship until the weekend before he admitted the nature of it to a grand jury.
The Modern Scholar: World War l: The Great War and the World It Made
By
John Ramsden
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"The Great War", as it was known at the time, was also said to be the "war to end all wars." It seized all of Europe and much of the rest of the world in its grip of death and destruction. The first truly modern war, it changed how war and peace would be conducted throughout the remainder of the 20th century and even to the present.
Narrated By
Kenneth C. Davis,
Arthur Morey,
Kirby Heyborne,
Mark Bramhall
Overall
(10)
Performance
(1)
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(1)
For more than 20 years since his New York Times best-seller Don't Know Much About History first appeared, Davis has shown that Americans don't hate history, just the dull version dished out in school. Now Davis turns his attention to what is arguably the most important and most fascinating subject in American history: our presidents. From the heated debates over executive powers through the curious election of George Washington in 1789 and, for more than 200 years, up through the meteoric rise of Barack Obama, the presidency has been at the heart of American history.
A fresh look at the endlessly fascinating Tudors - the dramatic and overlooked story of Henry VII and his founding of the Tudor Dynasty - filled with spies, plots, counter-plots, and an uneasy royal succession to Henry VIII. Near the turn of the sixteenth century, England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy and civil war. Henry Tudor clambered to the top of the heap, a fugitive with a flimsy claim to England's crown who managed to win the throne and stay on it for 24 years.
Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History
By
George Crile
Narrated By
Christopher Lane
Overall
(44)
Performance
(1)
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(1)
Charlie Wilson's War is the untold story behind the last battle of the Cold War and how it fueled the rise of militant Islam. George Crile tells how Charlie Wilson, a maverick congressman from east Texas, conspired with a rogue CIA operative to launch the biggest, meanest, and most successful covert operation in the agency's history.
The first of Henry VIII's wives was Catherine of Aragon, the pious Catholic princess who suffered years of miscarriages and still births and yet failed to produce a male heir.
Heaven's Command: An Imperial Progress - Pax Britannica, Volume 1
By
Jan Morris
Narrated By
Roy McMillan
Overall
(29)
Performance
(4)
Story
(4)
The Pax Britannica trilogy is Jan Morris's epic story of the British Empire from the accession of Queen Victoria to the death of Winston Churchill. It is a towering achievement: informative, accessible, entertaining and written with all her usual bravura. Heaven's Command, the first volume, takes us from the crowning of Queen Victoria in 1837 to the Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The story moves effortlessly across the world, from the English shores to Fiji, Zululand, the Canadian prairies and beyond. Totally gripping history!
Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance
By
Noam Chomsky
Narrated By
Noam Chomsky,
Brian Jones
Overall
(22)
Performance
(1)
Story
(1)
For more than half a century, the United States has been pursuing a grand imperial strategy with the aim of staking out the globe. Our leaders have shown themselves willing, as in the Cuban missile crisis, to follow the dream of dominance no matter how high the risks. Now the Bush administration is intensifying this process, driving us toward the final frontiers of imperial control, toward a choice between the prerogatives of power and a livable Earth.
From the admiralty to the miner's strike, from the Battle of Britain to the Nobel Prize, Churchill oversaw some of the most important events the world has ever seen. Roy Jenkins faithfully presents these events, while also managing to convey the contradictions and quirks in Churchill's character.
In the days between May 24th and 28th, 1940, the British War Cabinet held a historical debate over whether to negotiate with Hitler or to continue the war. In this magisterial work, John Lukacs demonstrates the decisive importance of those five days. Lukacs takes us hour by hour into the critical unfolding of events at 10 Downing Street, where Churchill, who had only been prime minister for a fortnight, painfully considered his war responsibilities.
A tour-de-force of historical imagination, this is the story of three young men at the dawn of the French Revolution. Georges-Jacques Danton: zealous, energetic, debt-ridden. Maximilien Robespierre: small, diligent, and terrified of violence. And Camille Desmoulins: a genius of rhetoric, charming, handsome, but erratic and untrustworthy. As these key figures of the French Revolution taste the addictive delights of power, they must also come to face the horror that follows.
In this magisterial book, Roy Jenkins' unparalleled command of the political history of Britain and his own high-level government experience combine in a narrative account of Churchill's astounding career that is unmatched in its shrewd insights, its unforgettable anecdotes, the clarity of its overarching themes, and the author's nuanced appreciation of his extraordinary subject.
A fresh look at the endlessly fascinating Tudors - the dramatic and overlooked story of Henry VII and his founding of the Tudor Dynasty - filled with spies, plots, counter-plots, and an uneasy royal succession to Henry VIII. Near the turn of the sixteenth century, England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy and civil war. Henry Tudor clambered to the top of the heap, a fugitive with a flimsy claim to England's crown who managed to win the throne and stay on it for 24 years.
Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East
by
Michael B. Oren
Narrated by
Robert Whitfield
4.5
(34 ratings)
In Israel and the West, it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War or, simply, as "the Setback". Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen, and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David accords, the controversy over Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the intifada, and the rise of Palestinian terror are all part of the outcome of those six days.
Heaven's Command: An Imperial Progress - Pax Britannica, Volume 1
by
Jan Morris
Narrated by
Roy McMillan
4.2
(29 ratings)
The Pax Britannica trilogy is Jan Morris's epic story of the British Empire from the accession of Queen Victoria to the death of Winston Churchill. It is a towering achievement: informative, accessible, entertaining and written with all her usual bravura. Heaven's Command, the first volume, takes us from the crowning of Queen Victoria in 1837 to the Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The story moves effortlessly across the world, from the English shores to Fiji, Zululand, the Canadian prairies and beyond. Totally gripping history!
One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War
by
Michael Dobbs
Narrated by
Bob Walter
4.0
(5 ratings)
In October 1962, at the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union appeared to be sliding inexorably toward a nuclear conflict over the placement of missiles in Cuba. Veteran Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs has pored over previously untapped American, Soviet, and Cuban sources to produce the most authoritative book yet on the Cuban missile crisis.
In the days between May 24th and 28th, 1940, the British War Cabinet held a historical debate over whether to negotiate with Hitler or to continue the war. In this magisterial work, John Lukacs demonstrates the decisive importance of those five days. Lukacs takes us hour by hour into the critical unfolding of events at 10 Downing Street, where Churchill, who had only been prime minister for a fortnight, painfully considered his war responsibilities.
Narrated by
Kenneth C. Davis,
Arthur Morey,
Kirby Heyborne,
Mark Bramhall
4.5
(10 ratings)
For more than 20 years since his New York Times best-seller Don't Know Much About History first appeared, Davis has shown that Americans don't hate history, just the dull version dished out in school. Now Davis turns his attention to what is arguably the most important and most fascinating subject in American history: our presidents. From the heated debates over executive powers through the curious election of George Washington in 1789 and, for more than 200 years, up through the meteoric rise of Barack Obama, the presidency has been at the heart of American history.
The first of Henry VIII's wives was Catherine of Aragon, the pious Catholic princess who suffered years of miscarriages and still births and yet failed to produce a male heir.
This famous treatise began as a letter to a young French friend who asked Edmund Burke's opinion on whether France's new ruling class would succeed in creating a better order. Doubtless the friend expected a favorable reply, but Burke was suspicious of certain tendencies of the Revolution from the start and perceived that the revolutionaries were actually subverting the true "social order". Blending history with principle and graceful imagery with profound practical maxims, this book is one of the most influential political treatises in the history of the world.
The "southern cone" of South America has a vibrant yet checkered history. Argentina in 1920 was a productive and wealthy nation, yet by the 1980s was reduced to virtual third world status. Chile has a long history of internal strife, usually with representative politics until authoritarians seized power in 1973. Chile was influenced by Spanish conquerors; Argentina's Italian and German immigrants made it the most "European" of any South American country.
Il 10 giugno 1940 l'Italia entra nella Seconda guerra mondiale. Questo è il racconto della politica di Benito Mussolini dalla Guerra in Etiopia all'alleanza con il Reich di Hitler fino al fatidico 10 giugno 1940. June 10, 1940. Italy entered the Second World War. This is the story of the politics of Benito Mussolini from the war in Ethiopia to the alliance with Hitler's Reich until the fateful June 10, 1940.
A Bad Day on the Romney Campaign: An Insider's Account
By
Gabriel Schoenfeld
Narrated By
Don Hagen
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In A Bad Day on the Romney Campaign: An Insider's Account, Gabriel Schoenfeld, a senior adviser to the Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney for nearly two years, for the first time speaks out about the internal failures of the 2012 campaign. The book illuminates the chain of errors that ultimately contributed to Romney's defeat. Rich with detail and full of high drama, it will be of interest to anyone who wants to go behind the scenes to gain an inside look at how our political system actually operates, with all of its charms and all of its flaws.
History's Most Insane Rulers: Lunatics, Eccentrics, and Megalomaniacs From Emperor Caligula to Kim Jong Il
By
Michael Rank
Narrated By
Kevin Pierce
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Few mixtures are as toxic as absolute power and insanity. When nothing stands between a leader's delusion whims and seeing them carried them out, all sorts of bizarre outcomes are possible. Whatever their background, these rulers show that dynastic politics made sure that a rightful heir always got on the throne - despite that heir's mental condition - and that power can destroy a mind worse than any mental illness.
Though sometimes exaggerated, Las Casas' account sheds valuable light on the "Spanish Black Legend." A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies includes chapters covering Spanish treatment of Native Americans in Cuba, Nicaragua, Hispaniola, Guatemala, Venezuela, Florida, and many other areas conquered by the Spaniards. Though short (as the name implies), A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies reveals a dark but important episode in the history of Spain and America.
In this Very Short Introduction, Linda Greenhouse draws on her deep knowledge of the court's history and of its written and unwritten rules to show readers how the Supreme Court really works. She offers a fascinating institutional biography of a place and its people--men and women who exercise great power but whose names and faces are unrecognized by many Americans and whose work often appears cloaked in mystery.
How to Run a Country: An Ancient Guide for Modern Leaders
By
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Narrated By
James Adams
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Marcus Cicero, Rome's greatest statesman and orator, was elected to the Roman Republic's highest office at a time when his beloved country was threatened by power-hungry politicians, dire economic troubles, foreign turmoil, and political parties that refused to work together. Sound familiar? Cicero's letters, speeches, and other writings are filled with timeless wisdom and practical insight about how to solve these and other problems of leadership and politics. How to Run a Country collects the best of these writings to provide an entertaining, common-sense guide for modern leaders and citizens
For Liberty and Equality: The Life and Times of the Declaration of Independence
By
Alexander Tsesis
Narrated By
Robert O'Gorman
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The Declaration of Independence is one of the most influential documents in modern history - the inspiration for what would become the most powerful democracy in the world. Indeed, at every stage of American history, the Declaration has been a touchstone for evaluating the legitimacy of legal, social, and political practices. Not only have civil rights activists drawn inspiration from its proclamation of inalienable rights, but individuals decrying a wide variety of governmental abuses have turned for support to the document's enumeration of British tyranny.
The Price of the Ticket: Barack Obama and Rise and Decline of Black Politics
By
Fredrick Harris
Narrated By
Mary Kane
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The historical significance of Barack Obama's triumph in the presidential election of 2008 scarcely requires comment. Yet it contains an irony: He won a victory as an African American only by denying that he was the candidate of African Americans. Obama's very success, writes Fredrick Harris, exacted a heavy cost on black politics.
In The Price of the Ticket, Harris puts Obama's career in the context of decades of black activism, showing how his election undermined the very movement that made it possible.
Losing the News: The Future of the News that Feeds Democracy
By
Alex Jones
Narrated By
Kurt Elftmann
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In Losing the News, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Alex S. Jones offers a probing look at the epochal changes sweeping the media, changes which are eroding the core news that has been the essential food supply of our democracy. Losing the News depicts an unsettling situation in which the American birthright of fact-based, reported news is in danger. But it is also a call to arms to fight to keep the core of news intact.
Why Intelligence Fails: Lessons from the Iranian Revolution and the Iraq War (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs Series)
By
Robert L. Jervis
Narrated By
Kevin Pierce
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The U.S. government spends enormous resources each year on the gathering and analysis of intelligence, yet the history of American foreign policy is littered with missteps and misunderstandings that have resulted from intelligence failures. In Why Intelligence Fails, Robert Jervis examines the politics and psychology of two of the more spectacular intelligence failures in recent memory: the belief that the Shah in Iran was secure and stable in 1978, and the claim that Iraq had active WMD programs in 2002.
A tour-de-force of historical imagination, this is the story of three young men at the dawn of the French Revolution. Georges-Jacques Danton: zealous, energetic, debt-ridden. Maximilien Robespierre: small, diligent, and terrified of violence. And Camille Desmoulins: a genius of rhetoric, charming, handsome, but erratic and untrustworthy. As these key figures of the French Revolution taste the addictive delights of power, they must also come to face the horror that follows.
Che Guevara Speaks: Selected Speeches and Writings
By
Che Guevara
Narrated By
Che Guevara
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"A faithful reflection of Che as he was, or, better, as he developed." (Joseph Hansen)
In 20 speeches, interviews, and letters, Guevara dissects the workings of the imperialist system with scientific clarity, unflinching truthfulness, and biting humor. Cuba has shown by its example, he says, that "People can liberate themselves and keep themselves free."
History's Worst Dictators: A Short Guide to the Most Brutal Rulers, From Emperor Nero to Ivan the Terrible
By
Michael Rank
Narrated By
Kevin Pierce
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Nasty, brutish, and short. This is the way English philosopher Thomas Hobbes described the living conditions into which humans inevitably fall without a strong, central authority. However, Hobbes would agree that living under a brutal dictator could lead to the same conditions. This exciting new book from historian Michael Rank looks at the lives and times of the worst dictators in history.