A History of the Twentieth Century cover art

A History of the Twentieth Century

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A History of the Twentieth Century

By: Martin Gilbert
Narrated by: John Curless
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About this listen

Martin Gilbert, author of the multivolume biography of Winston Churchill and other brilliant works of history, chronicles world events year by year, from the dawn of aviation to the flourishing technology age, taking us through World War I to the inauguration of Franklin Roosevelt as president of the United States and Hider as chancellor of Germany. He continues on to document wars in South Africa, China, Ethiopia, Spain, Korea, Vietnam, and Bosnia, as well as apartheid, the arms race, the moon landing, and the beginnings of the computer age, while interspersing the influence of art, literature, music, and religion throughout this vivid work. A rich, textured look at war, celebration, suffering, life, death, and renewal in the century gone by, this volume is nothing less than extraordinary.

©2001 Martin Gilbert (P)2006 Recorded Books, LLC 20th Century Modern World War Military Self-Determination Imperialism Winston Churchill Socialism Interwar Period Russia Africa Soviet Union Middle Ages Imperial Japan China Iran Royalty Refugee Latin American Colonial Period Middle East Social justice Holocaust Franklin D Roosevelt British Empire

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All stars
Most relevant
Martin Gilbert's view of the 20th Century is the most dismal I have read or heard. Was it really like this?
This century was dominated by religious fanatics, meglomaniac dictators, tribal conflicts and human misery. Nothing good has come of it. Listen to this book and then kill yourself. Or go out and do something about it.

A century of massacre and slaughter

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Don't expect any light relief. This book is a chronological account of atrocities and disasters. There is very little commentary or analysis. It does, however, contain an immense amount of information and certainly identified and filled in the blanks I had. I do recommend it, but be aware of what you're letting yourself in for - it's not for the faint-hearted.

Factual and grim

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Simply the most incredible listen on the subject. Enjoyable and hugely informative with such a great voice for the historical information.

Concise History

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The author decides to give us a year by year account of 20th century history.  This means that you end up with a set of very brief sketches of events.  There is no depth and little analysis.  Often there are interesting facts to be heard, but if you have a decent knowledge of 20th century history then this is little more than a revision course.

An extended timeline

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The approach is completely chronological. Interesting idea, but hard to follow. I'm used to getting my history based on particular themes (like the beginning, middle, end of a multi-year war). Not so easy to make sense if the whole world is covered entirely according to the timeline, year by year. Factually interesting though and the juxtaposition of events across the world that happened to have occurred during the same year can be revealing.

Interesting but...

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