Listen free for 30 days
-
Finest Years
- Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
- Length: 27 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: History, Military
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £25.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Bomber Command
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With an introduction read by Max Hastings. Bomber Command's offensive against the cities of Germany was one of the epic campaigns of the Second World War. More than 56,000 British and Commonwealth aircrew and 600,000 Germans died in the course of the RAF's attempt to win the war by bombing. The struggle began in 1939 with a few score primitive Whitleys, Hampdens and Wellingtons, and ended six years later with 1,600 Lancasters, Halifaxes, and Mosquitoes razing whole cities in a single night.
-
-
Unvarnished truth in painful detail
- By Kirstine on 24-10-17
-
Overlord
- D-Day and the Battle for Normandy 1944
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The famous D-Day landings of 6 June, 1944, marked the beginning of Operation Overlord, the battle for the liberation of Europe. Republished as part of the Pan Military Classics series, Max Hastings’ acclaimed account overturns many traditional legends in this memorable study. Drawing together the eyewitness accounts of survivors from both sides, plus a wealth of previously untapped sources and documents, Overlord provides a brilliant, controversial perspective on the devastating battle.
-
-
Excellent unbiased account of Overlord
- By Ronan on 06-06-15
-
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
-
Warriors
- Extraordinary Tales from the Battlefield
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Nigel Carrington
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With an introduction read by Max Hastings. An exhilarating and uplifting account of the lives of 16 ‘warriors’ from the last three centuries, hand-picked for their bravery or extraordinary military experience by the eminent military historian, author and ex-editor of the Daily Telegraph, Sir Max Hastings. Over the course of 40 years of writing about war, Max Hastings has grown fascinated by outstanding deeds of derring-do on the battlefield (land, sea, or air) - and by their practitioners.
-
-
Crikey. Couldn't get past the Introduction.
- By Dave Coleman on 18-01-21
-
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
-
All Hell Let Loose
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Cameron Stewart
- Length: 32 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The complete magisterial history of the greatest and most terrible event in history, from one of the finest historians of the Second World War. This shows the impact of war upon hundreds of millions of people around the world - soldiers, sailors and airmen; housewives, farm workers and children. Reflecting Max Hastings' 35 years of research on World War II, All Hell Let Loose describes the course of events but focuses chiefly upon human experience.
-
-
40 hours long yet still felt too short.
- By MR on 10-09-16
-
Bomber Command
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With an introduction read by Max Hastings. Bomber Command's offensive against the cities of Germany was one of the epic campaigns of the Second World War. More than 56,000 British and Commonwealth aircrew and 600,000 Germans died in the course of the RAF's attempt to win the war by bombing. The struggle began in 1939 with a few score primitive Whitleys, Hampdens and Wellingtons, and ended six years later with 1,600 Lancasters, Halifaxes, and Mosquitoes razing whole cities in a single night.
-
-
Unvarnished truth in painful detail
- By Kirstine on 24-10-17
-
Overlord
- D-Day and the Battle for Normandy 1944
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The famous D-Day landings of 6 June, 1944, marked the beginning of Operation Overlord, the battle for the liberation of Europe. Republished as part of the Pan Military Classics series, Max Hastings’ acclaimed account overturns many traditional legends in this memorable study. Drawing together the eyewitness accounts of survivors from both sides, plus a wealth of previously untapped sources and documents, Overlord provides a brilliant, controversial perspective on the devastating battle.
-
-
Excellent unbiased account of Overlord
- By Ronan on 06-06-15
-
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
-
Warriors
- Extraordinary Tales from the Battlefield
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Nigel Carrington
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With an introduction read by Max Hastings. An exhilarating and uplifting account of the lives of 16 ‘warriors’ from the last three centuries, hand-picked for their bravery or extraordinary military experience by the eminent military historian, author and ex-editor of the Daily Telegraph, Sir Max Hastings. Over the course of 40 years of writing about war, Max Hastings has grown fascinated by outstanding deeds of derring-do on the battlefield (land, sea, or air) - and by their practitioners.
-
-
Crikey. Couldn't get past the Introduction.
- By Dave Coleman on 18-01-21
-
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
-
All Hell Let Loose
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Cameron Stewart
- Length: 32 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The complete magisterial history of the greatest and most terrible event in history, from one of the finest historians of the Second World War. This shows the impact of war upon hundreds of millions of people around the world - soldiers, sailors and airmen; housewives, farm workers and children. Reflecting Max Hastings' 35 years of research on World War II, All Hell Let Loose describes the course of events but focuses chiefly upon human experience.
-
-
40 hours long yet still felt too short.
- By MR on 10-09-16
-
Battle for the Falklands
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Cameron Stewart
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Falklands War was one of the strangest in British history - 28,000 men sent to fight for a tiny relic of empire 8,000 miles from home. At the time, many Britons saw it as a tragic absurdity, but the British victory confirmed the quality of British arms and boosted the political fortunes of the Conservative government.
-
-
Comprehensive But Not What I Hoped For
- By S. Morris on 26-07-16
-
The Korean War
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Cameron Stewart
- Length: 19 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On 25 June, 1950, the invasion of South Korea by the Communist North launched one of the bloodiest conflicts of the last century. The seemingly limitless power of the Chinese-backed North was thrown against the ferocious firepower of the UN-backed South in a war that can be seen today as the stark prelude to Vietnam.
-
-
A missing piece of history
- By Mark P on 14-12-14
-
Operation Pedestal
- The Fleet that Battled to Malta 1942
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Max Hastings, John Hopkins
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August 1942, beleaguered Malta was within weeks of surrender to the Axis, because its 300,000 people could no longer be fed. Churchill made a personal decision that at all costs, the ‘island fortress’ must be saved. The largest fleet the Royal Navy committed to any operation of the western war was assembled to escort 14 fast merchantmen across a thousand of miles of sea defended by 600 German and Italian aircraft. This is the saga Max Hastings unfolds in his first full-length narrative of the Royal Navy, which he believes was the most successful of Britain’s wartime services.
-
-
Very Good But...
- By Man-O-War1977 on 16-05-21
-
Catastrophe: Europe Goes to War 1914
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Max Hastings, Nigel Harrington
- Length: 28 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Amazon History Book of the Year 2013 is a magisterial chronicle of the calamity that befell Europe in 1914 as the continent shifted from the glamour of the Edwardian era to the tragedy of total war. Nineteen fourteen was a year of unparalleled change. The year that diplomacy failed, imperial Europe was thrown into its first modernised warfare and white-gloved soldiers rode in their masses across pastoral landscapes into the blaze of machine guns. What followed were the costliest days of the entire war.
-
-
Highly recommended
- By Tommy on 08-04-17
-
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
-
Chastise
- The Dambusters
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Peter Noble, Max Hastings - introduction
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Operation Chastise was one of the most extraordinary episodes of the Second World War, yet it has also become one of the most misunderstood. Max Hastings tells the gripping story of the Dambusters raid, from the invention of the bouncing bomb to the moonlit cockpits of young pilots flying at treetop height through lethal enemy fire. But Hastings also challenges what we think we know about the Dambusters, bringing to light the difficult truths that have often been left out of the legend.
-
-
A Story of Real People and Moral Complexity
- By huskywoo on 15-09-19
-
Vietnam
- An Epic History of a Divisive War 1945-1975
- By: Max Hastings, Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Max Hastings - introduction
- Length: 33 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vietnam became the Western world’s most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation for France in 1954, then a vastly greater one for the United States in 1975. Max Hastings has spent the past three years interviewing scores of participants on both sides, as well as researching a multitude of American and Vietnamese documents and memoirs, to create an epic narrative of an epic struggle. He portrays the set pieces of Dienbienphu, the Tet offensive, the air blitz of North Vietnam and less familiar battles such as the bloodbath at Daido.
-
-
Brilliant
- By Derrick on 20-10-18
-
The Secret War: Spies, Codes and Guerrillas 1939 - 1945
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 30 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Examining the espionage and intelligence stories in World War II on a global basis, bringing together the British, American, German, Russian and Japanese histories. In The Secret War, Max Hastings examines the espionage and intelligence machines of all sides in World War II, and the impact of spies, code breakers and partisan operations on events.
-
-
Bored me to death
- By Joe 🤟 on 02-04-16
-
The Second World War: Milestones to Disaster
- By: Winston Churchill
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Churchill's history of the Second World War is, and will remain, the definitive work. Lucid, dramatic, remarkable for its breadth and sweep and for its sense of personal involvement, it is universally acknowledged as a magnificent reconstruction.
-
-
Extremely good listening
- By William on 18-08-09
-
The World Crisis 1911-18
- Part 1 - 1911 to 1914
- By: Sir Winston Churchill
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Part One Winston Churchill's superlative account of the prelude to and events of the First World War is a defining work of 20th-century history. With dramatic narrative power Churchill reconstructs the action on the Western and Eastern Fronts, the wars at sea and in the air and the advent of tanks and U-boats.
-
-
Living History
- By Graham on 03-02-10
-
Britain's War
- Volume 1, Into Battle, 1937-1941
- By: Daniel Todman
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 35 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The most terrible emergency in Britain's history, the Second World War, required an unprecedented national effort. An exhausted country had to fight an unexpectedly long war and found itself much diminished amongst the victors. The outcome of the war was nonetheless a triumph, not least for a political system that proved well adapted to the demands of a total conflict and for a population who had to make many sacrifices but who were spared most of the horrors experienced in the rest of Europe.
-
-
Dreadful Narration
- By G. Williams on 10-04-20
-
Fateful Choices
- Ten Decisions that Changed the World, 1940-1941
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
- Length: 24 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ian Kershaw's Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions That Changed the World, 1940-41 offers a penetrating insight into a series of momentous political decisions that shaped the course of the Second World War. The hurricane of events that marked the opening of the Second World War meant that anything could happen. For the aggressors there was no limit to their ambitions; for their victims a new Dark Age beckoned. Over the next few months their fates would be determined.
-
-
Fantastic Narrator, Barnaby Edwards
- By Olivier on 11-04-16
Summary
Preeminent military historian Max Hastings presents Winston Churchill as he has never been seen before. Winston Churchill was the greatest war leader Britain ever had. In 1940, the nation rallied behind him in an extraordinary fashion. But thereafter, argues Max Hastings, there was a deep divide between what Churchill wanted from the British people and their army, and what they were capable of delivering.
Himself a hero, he expected others to show themselves heroes also, and was often disappointed. It is little understood how low his popularity fell in 1942, amid an unbroken succession of battlefield defeats. Some of his closest colleagues joined a clamour for him to abandon his role directing the war machine.
Hastings paints a wonderfully vivid image of the Prime Minister in triumph and tragedy. He describes the ‘second Dunkirk’, in 1940, when Churchill’s impulsiveness threatened to lose Britain almost as many troops in north-west France as had been saved from the beaches; his wooing of the Americans, and struggles with the Russians. British wartime unity was increasingly tarnished by workers’ unrest, with many strikes in mines and key industries.
By looking at Churchill from the outside in, through the eyes of British soldiers, civilians and newspapers - and also those of Russians and Americans - Hastings provides new perspectives on the greatest Englishman. He condemns as folly Churchill’s attempt to promote mass uprisings in occupied Europe, and details ‘Unthinkable’ - his amazing 1945 plan for an Allied offensive against the Russians to liberate Poland. Here is an intimate and affectionate portrait of Churchill as Britain’s saviour, but also an unsparing examination of the wartime nation which he led and the performance of its armed forces.
Max Hastings studied at Charterhouse and Oxford and became a foreign correspondent, reporting from more than 60 countries and 11 wars for BBC TV and the London Evening Standard. He has won many awards for his journalism. Among his best-selling books, Bomber Command won the Somerset Maugham Prize, and both Overlord and Battle for the Falklands won the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year Prize. After 10 years as editor and then editor-in-chief of the Daily Telegraph, he became editor of the Evening Standard, in 1996. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he was knighted in 2002.
More from the same
What listeners say about Finest Years
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carol Crowther
- 11-08-18
Compelling listening marred by Sir Max’s favourite hobbyhorse plus a hint of ‘faint praise’
I’ve read and enjoyed several MH books always finding them compelling and hard to put down. This one on Churchill, excellently narrated, was up to a point, no exception.
In fact, up to two points.
First. The author seems obsessed on the subject of the incompetence of the WW2 British Army. On the one hand It is hard to disagree given the dismal performances at Tobruk and Singapore, among others. On the other hand I got the message on this in some of his other WW2 books. For listeners/readers new to MH, the point was driven home early in this book, reinforced by the over use of irrelevant quotes from the likes of ‘Mrs So and So of London’ (and others, elsewhere) ‘writing in her/his diary’
MH is obviously very passionate on this subject but I’m finding the criticism somewhat tedious. Instead of using books like this one as a platform to again bash the WW2 British Army, why does he not write a book exclusively on the topic where he can fully vent his sentiments, hopefully to completion?
My second point.
Throughout the book, even when speaking positively of Churchill, I detected a touch of ‘going through the motions’ to demonstrate even handedness. The expression ‘Dammed by faint praise’ came to me several times throughout the book. What’s more I felt that MH did not recognise, or failed to give more fulsome credit for some of the exceptionally brave initiatives of Churchill.
For example, on Greece, Churchill demonstrated courage and commitment in travelling there on a Christmas Eve, eventually, by sheer force of his personality wringing an agreement out of the Greeks.
What’s more, his sincere and compassionate attempt to improve the desperate situation of the Polish people by travelling to the Moscow vipers nest, otherwise known as the Kremlin, at that late stage of the war, was covered with some appreciation by MH but did not fully reflect Churchill extraordinary bravery and commitment.
Nor did he adequately contrast Churchill’s actions to the naive and even politically ignorant actions (or inactions) of the Americans
Finally, MH’s glowing peroration of Churchill did not for me quite reflect the conditional tone of his writing in earlier chapters
Despite my comments, I could not, as it were, put this one down until completed.
Compelling reading, indeed.
20 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J
- 13-11-14
Superbly written and delivered
If you could sum up Finest Years in three words, what would they be?
Thorough, compelling, entertaining
Who was your favorite character and why?
Churchill, with his big heart and indefatigable energy, dominates this book. A flawed leader, maybe, but a giant among his peers. He never went to University and took three attempts to pass the Sandhurst entrance examination and yet he put his well educated colleagues in the shade when it came to vision and strategy. What if Churchill had died during his reckless Boer War escapades or his experimental flights in pre WW1 planes? This book reminds us of the debt we owe to WSC.
Have you listened to any of Barnaby Edwards’s other performances? How does this one compare?
This is my first Barnaby Edwards performance and the narration is absolutely superb. His impersonations of the various characters are perfect and, for a moment, you think you are listening to Churchill himself.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
In a world gone mad with hatred, oppression and disregard for human life, Churchill stood out as a man of compassion. His heart for his enemies was remarkable.
Any additional comments?
This book is superbly written and expertly narrated. Production of the narration is as good as I've heard and Barnaby Edwards' theatrical ability makes the book a compelling read. Profoundly disappointed to have finished it - must look now for another Hastings / Edwards combination.
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nephrite
- 08-11-15
A Fine Biography Of The Finest Years
What made the experience of listening to Finest Years the most enjoyable?
Winston Churchill is certainly a man of whom several biographies have been written but I feel that Finest Years is one of the best I have ever read. The audio version narrated superbly by Baranaby Edwards made it much more enjoyable by allowing the listener to have a much stronger grasp of Max Hastings's points.
This specifically applied to areas where Hastings discussed certain battles or strategic decisions for an extended period of time as it became much easier to follow without being in danger of forgetting what was being discussed.
Regardless if it was elements of The Battle Of Britain, American involvement or Churchill's failure to understand he was being either ignored or played by Stalin I as a listener could follow the book even when it went into extensive depth unlike other books on the topic where I had to listen to certain sections multiple times.
Which character – as performed by Barnaby Edwards – was your favourite?
Edwards is possibly one of the most 'true to life' Churchills I have ever heard. It felt sometimes like they had used the actual recordings themselves as he truly convinced you that Churchill himself was persuading you to invest troops in a particular plan - or during more personal moments - was asking those around him if he was liked as a man.
Churchill was personally a very flawed and old-fashioned figure with his own bias and beliefs that the majority of his public - even those in his own party - knew would not and could not work. Despite this Edwards manages to make you not only sympathize with his position but understand why he believed it. I congratulate Edwards on an excellent narration.
Any additional comments?
This book was one of the best biographies - be it of Churchill or otherwise - I have ever read. Hastings does a maverllous job of explaining each decision in just the right level of depth and enabling the listener to understand the consequences without talking down to them. Because of this book I just recently purchased Hastings's book on World War II spies and espionage and look forward to it greatly. Both the book itself and the perfect narration get a 10 out of 10 from me. You will not regret getting this book.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sp Wickes
- 05-02-18
poor Churchill narrative
you won't get much from this book that isn't coveredbetter elsewhere. the history is lacking far too much detail.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Phil A.
- 28-06-20
Completely compelling.
A true tour de force by Hastings. Many hours of engaging narrative about probably the greatest Briton of all time simply flew by. Outstanding narration too.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- mr g livings
- 29-05-18
Churchill impersonation irritating
I'd rather the book was read straight, i.e. no attempt at Churchill voice impressions. It got increasingly irritating as the book read on. Did the man really speak like the characterisation? MH actually didn't have that much positive to say about Churchill. I appreciate that's his view so I've no quibble in this are as regards to the quality of presentation. When I get round to it I'll need to have a chat with MH himself!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Swapcat
- 04-03-19
Truely a masterpiece
I am a fan of Churchill, I feel a little cheeky calling one of the worlds greatest leaders Churchill; however I believe he would have a moist eye and an even moister cigar, should he consider somebody in 2019 writing these humble words.
The introduction to the book is truly a baited hook.
What follow is so absorbing even to the best informed historians and followers of history. Detail in places is beyond belief.
If you want so a greater depth of knowledge of this subject look no further.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 24-06-22
Simply brilliant,
Although wished it was narrated by a uther. Another great work by max Hastings. Ace.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 03-06-22
uma grande oportunidade de olhar para o passado!
Um retrato histórico, bem detalhado. imparcial e esclarecedor.
obrigado ao autor e narrador !
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Terry clark
- 01-06-22
long, but great.
This is a long listen, but it's worth it in my opinion. Full of little insights that I haven't heard or read before.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jean
- 11-09-14
Full of perceptive insight
Max Hasting well known British historian attempt to take a realistic view of Winston Spencer Churchill. The author has written a subtly revisionist account of Winston Churchill during the war. Hasting has taken a different method of looking at Churchill that is by looking at him through the eyes of others at the time. Hasting used diaries, letters and stories then he ties it together with a bits and parts of Winston Churchill speeches. That Hasting is never seduced by Churchill’s effortless apothegms and anecdotes is an indication that this is a fine book rather than simply an addition to the hagiography.
During the period in which Britain fought almost alone—the Dominions being the exceptions—Churchill parsed what amounted to a series of defeats and evacuation as noble encounters. Finally the Russians entered the war and had to deal with 200 axis’s divisions, the British struggled to handle a couple of Afrika corps. I found one comment by Hasting that WSC was so frustrated with the British Army; all they could do is lose battles. Churchill praised the Air Corp and the Navy. Hastings said WSC was intensely frustrated by the caution and lack of imagination of his Army Generals—notably those who won the Victoria Cross in the First World War They were fighting the prior stationary war instead of adjusting to the fast moving current war.
The author wrote a damning indictment of Britain’s culture of war-making, making do with shoddy equipment, corruptions in procurement, appointments and promotions based on mere social statues not merit. These are the same complaints that Lord Wellington made during the Napoleonic war. Napoleon was the first to promote officers on merit. Napoleon once said “ give me my officers and the English soldiers and I could rule the world”. Hasting discussed the Russian Spies in England that kept Stalin abreast of every major development. The author also discussed the Union strikes during the War slowing down vital war materials.
This book may have some valuable lessons not just about leadership but about the relationship between soldiers and civil society. The book is well balanced revealing Churchill’s failings as well as his strengths. Despite his failings he is revealed as one of the greatest wartime leaders. If you are a history buff, a Churchill fan or interested in WWII you will find this an excellent book. Barnaby Edwards did a good job narrating the book.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- KRM
- 01-06-15
Max Hastings "Finest Years" | Winston Churchill
Superb honest account of an extraordinary man who was not a perfect warlord, strategist or politician...but he was a man and a steadfast rock when the world needed one more than ever before or since.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- TanstaaflRik
- 13-05-15
I loved it...
I'm a Churchill fan, and this is one of the best. The narration is excellent. Very welll done. I bought NEMESIS based on having enjoyed this so much.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Neil
- 06-04-15
WW iI A informative perspective
Extremely interesting after having listened to Winston Churchill's books on WW II.
Easy to listen to. Makes me want to read more.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- PJ
- 25-11-19
Unbearable narration
I think this is an excellent book, as indeed all Hastings' books are. However I have to say that the narrator is unbearable when doing the character voices... Unfortunately, I couldn't finish the book.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Patrick
- 21-01-17
Outstanding
Max Hastings has written another excellent book! A superlative and well balanced description of one of the giants of the 20th century.