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The Nightingale's Song

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The Nightingale's Song

By: Robert Timberg
Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
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Robert Timberg weaves together the lives of Annapolis graduates John McCain, James Webb, Oliver North, Robert McFarlane, and John Poindexter to reveal how the Vietnam War continues to haunt America. Casting all five men as metaphors for a legion of well-meaning if ill-starred warriors, Timberg probes the fault line between those who fought the war and those who used money, wit, and connections to avoid battle.

Here is a riveting tale that illuminates the flip side of the fabled Vietnam generation: those who went.

©1995 Robert Timberg (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Americas Armed Forces Military Military & War Naval Forces Politics & Government United States Vietnam War War Air Force
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Critic reviews

"[A] terrific book about courage and cowardice, honor and betrayal, suffering and the death, and the indomitability of the human spirit." ( Washington Post)
"[A]n amazing work that could make you cry over descriptions of bravery so bold and big....It is about the soul of a nation....This is a stunning book." ( Boston Globe)
"[I]n Timberg's telling of their specific combat experiences, insightful angles on their subsequent careers emerge....A well-researched and well-written account of five interesting lives." ( Booklist)
All stars
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This is the best Audiobook I've listened to this year and it grips from the first page. in following the careers of five US Naval Academy graduates - one traditional navy, one aviator and three marines - it explores themes of courage, loyalty, politics, and ethical challenge. All are honourable and decent, clever and brave, and rise to challenges that so many of their contemporise could only shirk. None are perfect and some make serious mistakes as they move on to White House appointments in the Regan years, but all impress for dedication and patriotism. They embody the lesson of Theodore Roosevelt's Sorbonne speech: "It isn't the critic that counts, it's the man in the arena with sweat on his brow and dust on his face". Great book - and inspirational. Only downside is author's dislike of Reagan to be so blatant in last chapters. Highly recommended.

Superb narrative history - gripping!

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What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If it did not jump around the characters so much, chopping and changing made it hard to follow

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Dissapointment

Any additional comments?

cannot recommend it

Rubbish

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