Listen free for 30 days
-
Ardennes 1944
- Hitler's Last Gamble
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Categories: History, Europe
People who bought this also bought...
-
Arnhem
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On 17 September 1944, General Kurt Student, the founder of Nazi Germany's parachute forces, heard the growing roar of aeroplane engines. He went out onto his balcony above the flat landscape of southern Holland to watch the air armada of Dakotas and gliders carrying the British 1st Airborne and the American 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions. He gazed up in envy at this massive demonstration of paratroop power.
-
-
Excellent book
- By Mr James Carter on 05-06-18
-
D-Day
- The Battle for Normandy
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Cameron Stewart
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Normandy landings that took place on D-day involved by far the largest invasion fleet ever known. The scale of the undertaking was simply awesome. What followed them was some of the most cunning and ferocious fighting of the war, at times as savage as anything seen on the Eastern Front. As casualties mounted, so, too, did the tensions between the principal commanders on both sides. Meanwhile, French civilians caught in the middle of these battlefields or under Allied bombing endured terrible suffering.
-
-
brilliant book but please drop the accents
- By Blobbo on 16-03-18
-
Berlin
- The Downfall: 1945
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 18 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Red Army had much to avenge when it finally reached the frontiers of the Reich in January 1945. Political instructors rammed home the message of Wehrmacht and SS brutality. The result was the most terrifying example of fire and sword ever known, with tanks crushing refugee columns under their tracks, mass rape, pillage and destruction. Over seven million fled westwards from the terror of the Red Army. Antony Beevor reconstructs the experiences of those millions caught up in the nightmare of the Third Reich's final collapse.
-
-
Enthralling
- By Conor Naylor on 03-08-17
-
Stalingrad
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 16 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The battle for Stalingrad became the focus of Hitler and Stalin's determination to win the gruesome, vicious war on the eastern front. The citizens of Stalingrad endured unimaginable hardship; the battle, with fierce hand-to-hand fighting in each room of each building, was brutally destructive to both armies. But the eventual victory of the Red Army, and the failure of Hitler's Operation Barbarossa, was the first defeat of Hitler's territorial ambitions in Europe and the start of his decline.
-
-
Simply the best
- By Dave on 29-09-17
-
The Second World War
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 39 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A magisterial, single volume history of the greatest conflict the world has ever known, by our foremost military historian. The Second World War began in August 1939 on the edge of Manchuria and ended there exactly six years later with the Soviet invasion of northern China. The war in Europe appeared completely divorced from the war in the Pacific and China, and yet events on opposite sides of the world had profound effects.
-
-
Concise, Interesting and Entertaining
- By David on 16-08-12
-
The End: Hitler's Germany, 1944-45
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 17 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The last months of the Second World War were a nightmarish time to be alive. Unimaginable levels of violence destroyed entire cities. Millions died or were dispossessed. By all kinds of criteria it was the end: the end of the Third Reich and its terrible empire but also, increasingly, it seemed to be the end of European civilization itself. In his gripping, revelatory new book Ian Kershaw describes these final months, from the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in July 1944 to the German surrender in May 1945.
-
-
The End of Hitler
- By Dr.Stuart on 01-02-14
-
Arnhem
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On 17 September 1944, General Kurt Student, the founder of Nazi Germany's parachute forces, heard the growing roar of aeroplane engines. He went out onto his balcony above the flat landscape of southern Holland to watch the air armada of Dakotas and gliders carrying the British 1st Airborne and the American 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions. He gazed up in envy at this massive demonstration of paratroop power.
-
-
Excellent book
- By Mr James Carter on 05-06-18
-
D-Day
- The Battle for Normandy
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Cameron Stewart
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Normandy landings that took place on D-day involved by far the largest invasion fleet ever known. The scale of the undertaking was simply awesome. What followed them was some of the most cunning and ferocious fighting of the war, at times as savage as anything seen on the Eastern Front. As casualties mounted, so, too, did the tensions between the principal commanders on both sides. Meanwhile, French civilians caught in the middle of these battlefields or under Allied bombing endured terrible suffering.
-
-
brilliant book but please drop the accents
- By Blobbo on 16-03-18
-
Berlin
- The Downfall: 1945
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 18 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Red Army had much to avenge when it finally reached the frontiers of the Reich in January 1945. Political instructors rammed home the message of Wehrmacht and SS brutality. The result was the most terrifying example of fire and sword ever known, with tanks crushing refugee columns under their tracks, mass rape, pillage and destruction. Over seven million fled westwards from the terror of the Red Army. Antony Beevor reconstructs the experiences of those millions caught up in the nightmare of the Third Reich's final collapse.
-
-
Enthralling
- By Conor Naylor on 03-08-17
-
Stalingrad
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 16 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The battle for Stalingrad became the focus of Hitler and Stalin's determination to win the gruesome, vicious war on the eastern front. The citizens of Stalingrad endured unimaginable hardship; the battle, with fierce hand-to-hand fighting in each room of each building, was brutally destructive to both armies. But the eventual victory of the Red Army, and the failure of Hitler's Operation Barbarossa, was the first defeat of Hitler's territorial ambitions in Europe and the start of his decline.
-
-
Simply the best
- By Dave on 29-09-17
-
The Second World War
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 39 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A magisterial, single volume history of the greatest conflict the world has ever known, by our foremost military historian. The Second World War began in August 1939 on the edge of Manchuria and ended there exactly six years later with the Soviet invasion of northern China. The war in Europe appeared completely divorced from the war in the Pacific and China, and yet events on opposite sides of the world had profound effects.
-
-
Concise, Interesting and Entertaining
- By David on 16-08-12
-
The End: Hitler's Germany, 1944-45
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 17 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The last months of the Second World War were a nightmarish time to be alive. Unimaginable levels of violence destroyed entire cities. Millions died or were dispossessed. By all kinds of criteria it was the end: the end of the Third Reich and its terrible empire but also, increasingly, it seemed to be the end of European civilization itself. In his gripping, revelatory new book Ian Kershaw describes these final months, from the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in July 1944 to the German surrender in May 1945.
-
-
The End of Hitler
- By Dr.Stuart on 01-02-14
-
Das Reich
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Nigel Carrington
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Within days of the D-Day landings, the 'Das Reich' 2nd SS Panzer Division marched north through France to reinforce the front-line defenders of Hitler's Fortress Europe. Veterans of the bloodiest fighting of the Russian Front, 15,000 men with their tanks and artillery, they were hounded for every mile of their march by saboteurs of the Resistance and agents of the Allied Special Forces. Along their route they took reprisals so savage they will live forever in the chronicles of the most appalling atrocities of war.
-
-
Gripping, balanced, multifaceted
- By Jim on 04-08-14
-
The War in the West: Volume 1
- A New History: Germany Ascendant 1939-1941
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 26 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Are you ready for the truth about World War Two? In the first of an extraordinary three-volume account of the war on land, in the air and at sea, James Holland not only reveals the truth behind the familiar legends of the Second World War but he also unveils those lesser known events which were to have the greatest significance. The first book to consider the economic, political and social as well as the military aspects of World War Two, this is a unique retelling of a monumental event in all its terrible and majestic glory.
-
-
The first of a projected three-volume study
- By SirChutney on 02-12-18
-
The Battle of Britain
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: Al Murray
- Length: 23 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
'If Hitler fails to invade or destroy Britain, he has lost the war,' Churchill said in the summer of 1940. He was right. The Battle of Britain was a crucial turning point in the history of the Second World War. Had Britain's defences collapsed, Hitler would have dominated all of Europe and been able to turn his full attention east to the Soviet Union. The German invasion of France and the Low Countries in May 1940 was unlike any the world had ever seen. It hit with a force and aggression that no-one could counter and in just a few short weeks, all in their way crumbled.
-
-
Not the usual Battle of Britain narrative.
- By Ian David Williamson on 20-05-20
-
Nemesis
- The Battle for Japan, 1944-45
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Stewart Cameron
- Length: 29 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With an introduction read by Max Hastings. A companion volume to his best-selling ‘Armageddon’, Max Hastings’ account of the battle for Japan is a masterful military history. Featuring the most remarkable cast of commanders the world has ever seen, the dramatic battle for Japan of 1944-45 was acted out across the vast stage of Asia: Imphal and Kohima, Leyte Gulf and Iwo Jima, Okinawa and the Soviet assault on Manchuria.
-
-
Brilliant as usual
- By Jim on 02-11-14
-
Normandy ‘44
- D-Day and the Battle for France
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 24 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Renowned World War Two historian James Holland presents an entirely new perspective on one of the most important moments in recent history. Unflinchingly examining the brutality and violence that characterised the campaign, it's time to draw some radically different conclusions. D-Day and the 76 days of bitter fighting in Normandy that followed have come to be seen as a defining episode in the Second World War. Its story has been endlessly retold, and yet it remains a narrative burdened by both myth and assumed knowledge.
-
-
New perspectives on D-Day
- By Ian David Williamson on 28-05-19
-
The Battle for Spain
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 18 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The civil war that tore Spain apart between 1936 and 1939 and attracted liberals and socialists from across the world to support the cause against Franco was one of the most hard-fought and bitterest conflicts of the 20th century: a war of atrocities and political genocide and a military testing ground before WWII for the Russians, Italians and Germans, whose Condor Legion so notoriously destroyed Guernica.
-
-
Excellent, complete, not for beginners
- By Christian LEHMANN on 21-10-12
-
Burma '44
- The Battle That Turned Britain's War in the East
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: Al Murray
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In February 1944, a rag-tag collection of clerks, drivers, doctors, muleteers and other base troops, stiffened by a few dogged Yorkshiremen and a handful of tank crews, managed to hold out against some of the finest infantry in the Japanese Army and then defeat them in what was one of the most astonishing battles of the Second World War. What became known as the Defence of the Admin Box, fought amongst the paddy fields and jungle of Northern Arakan over a 15-day period, turned the battle for Burma.
-
-
Little known story of the Battle of the Admin Box
- By Amazon Customer on 06-07-20
-
Armageddon
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: John Sessions
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Armageddon tells the story of the climatic months of the Second World War and the destruction of Hitler's Germany. In this compelling study, the author addresses the big human and military questions. Why did the Allies not win the war in 1944, when they were vastly stronger than the Germans? Why did the Russians produce the best generals? What was it like to fight the British, American, German and Soviet armies?
-
-
Masterful history. Story telling at its best.
- By J NEILL on 18-11-08
-
Crucible of Hell: Okinawa
- The Last Great Battle of the Second World War
- By: Saul David
- Narrated by: William Roberts, Saul David - introduction
- Length: 15 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 83 blood-soaked days, the fighting on the island of Okinawa plumbed depths of savagery as bad as anything seen on the Eastern Front. When it was over, almost a quarter of a million people had lost their lives, making it by far the bloodiest US battle of the Pacific. In Okinawa, the death toll included thousands of civilians lost to mass suicide, convinced by Japanese propaganda that they would otherwise be raped and murdered by the enemy. On the US side, David argues that the horror of the battle ultimately determined President Truman’s choice to use atomic bombs in August 1945.
-
-
Download the book in parts
- By Mr. M. S. Cranmer on 06-04-20
-
The Battle of Midway (Pivotal Moments in American History)
- By: Craig L. Symonds
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are few moments in American history in which the course of events tipped so suddenly and so dramatically as at the Battle of Midway. At dawn of June 4, 1942, a rampaging Japanese navy ruled the Pacific. By sunset, their vaunted carrier force (the Kido Butai) had been sunk and their grip on the Pacific had been loosened forever. In this absolutely riveting account of a key moment in the history of World War II, one of America's leading naval historians, Craig L. Symonds, paints an unforgettable portrait of ingenuity, courage, and sacrifice.
-
-
Terrific
- By Dubliner on 26-06-20
-
On a Knife’s Edge
- The Ukraine, November 1942-March 1943
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The battle of Stalingrad was the turning point of World War II. The German capture of the city, their encirclement by Soviet forces shortly afterwards, and the hard-fought but futile attempts to relieve them, saw bitter attritional fighting and extremes of human misery inflicted on both sides. In this title, a renowned expert on warfare on the Eastern Front reveals the often-overlooked German counteroffensive post-Stalingrad, and how it prevented the whole Axis front line from collapsing.
-
-
One of the best book
- By Anonymous User on 12-09-20
-
Paris After the Liberation
- By: Artemis Cooper, Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Antony Beevor's Paris After Liberation: 1944-1949 is a remarkable historical account of the chaos and uncertainty that followed the liberation of Paris in August 1944. Postliberation Paris: an epoch charged with political and conflicting emotions. Liberation was greeted with joy but marked by recriminations and the trauma of purges. The feverish intellectual arguments of the young took place amidst the mundane reality of hunger and fuel shortages. This is a thrilling, unsurpassed account of the drama and upheaval of one of history's most fascinating eras.
-
-
Disappointing
- By mcsmall on 05-07-18
Editor reviews
Summary
Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Ardennes 1944 by Antony Beever, read by Sean Barrett.
On 16 December 1944, Hitler launched his last gamble in the snow-covered forests and gorges of the Ardennes on the Belgian/German border.
Although Hitler's generals were doubtful of success, younger officers and NCOs were desperate to believe that their homes and families could be saved from the vengeful Red Army approaching from the east. The Ardennes offensive, with more than a million men involved, became the greatest battle of the war in Western Europe.
In January 1945, when the Red Army launched its onslaught towards Berlin, the once-feared German war machine was revealed to be broken beyond repair. The Ardennes was the battle which finally broke the Wehrmacht.
More from the same
What listeners say about Ardennes 1944
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mr.
- 06-07-15
Very good indeed.
This is an excellent listen. Sean Barrett is a very fine narrator whose splendid command of language always pleases, and Antony Beevor takes a subject which has become generally reduced to narratives of the siege of Bastogne and explores it in its entirety. A skilful introduction outlines the state of the war in the west, putting the german attack into context, and introduces all the major players before describing the battle's events in a clear and stimulating manner. Hard to fault and much to enjoy.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 16-02-17
Antony Beevor wins again
Antony Beevor has a unique method of reeling you in , I first read his book Stalingrad and was instantly hooked on his narrative which made a factual story read like a great novel .
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael Embree
- 29-05-20
Great book
Great book with an easy to follow narrative. Some of the voice actors accents are questionable, especially Sepp Dietrich. But overall very good
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Montees
- 15-07-16
From Bastogne to Hell and back
Excellent account of one of the most famous offensives of WWII. Excellently read of course from a great narrator. I've doubted the U.S. for a long time but will always be thankful of the major part they played in the final push. Bravo Beevor.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Louisa
- 27-05-16
Great
Classic - excellent and compelling Beevor. He really knows how to build momentum and suspense (without any pretentious quotes or other distractions). Like a Bruckner symphony.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joe
- 18-12-15
Detailed and absorbing
I'd been meaning to read both Antony Beevor and Max Hastings for quite some time and in fact I read a Hastings book first and found it to be a little dry. Maybe I'm wrong but I think that any male with an interest in the WW2 also has a technical interest in the vehicles, weapons and equipment used; or at least I do. Beevor's books seem to contain the interesting detail so notably absent in Max Hastings books, which I think is important. There's a rich technical history to accompany the historical events and this helps you understand the arms race and the technical as well as personal difficulties encountered by all sides. I found Ardennes 1944 to be incredibly well researched and the main historical thread is interlaced with interesting facts and individual tales of personal heroism and tragedy. Oh, and it's read by the master, Sean Barrett so what more could you want.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- G J PAXTON
- 10-11-20
Biased.
One-sided account of human egotism where morality it seems applies only to the loosing side.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anthony
- 22-02-20
Incredible
Eye opening, straight to the point and completely fascinating, I’m sure I’ll read it again in a few years time.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- G.Howard
- 28-11-19
Informative and moving
A piece of war history I knew little about, now I’m better informed. Not sure it needed accents, a little distracting.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Simon Bedford
- 14-11-19
brutal, terrifying and detailed account
very detailed account, but also anti Montgomery 🥺 describes the true horror and human cost of this brutal battle.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 05-04-16
Amazing book
Concise and emotional study of the battle of the bulge. Highly recommended to all history buffs.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Eusebius
- 27-09-15
Difficult to follow
While I enjoyed Beevor WWII account, I found this audiobook impossible to follow. It was all a succession of grim anecdotes, and I could not make sense of what was happening at the strategic level.