-
False Prophets
- British Leaders' Fateful Fascination with the Middle East from Suez to Syria
- Narrated by: Bruno Roubicek
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
False Prophets
Buy for $25.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
China After Mao
- The Rise of a Superpower
- By: Frank Dikötter
- Narrated by: Daniel York Loh
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 4
Award-winning historian Frank Dikötter explores how the People’s Republic of China was transformed from a backwater economy in the 1970s into the world superpower of today. His account is the first to be based on hundreds of previously unseen archival documents, from the secret minutes of top party meetings to confidential bank reports. Unfolding with great narrative sweep, this riveting, richly detailed chronicle recasts our understanding of an era that both the regime and foreign admirers celebrate as an economic miracle.
By: Frank Dikötter
-
Command
- The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine
- By: Lawrence Freedman
- Narrated by: Richard Burnip
- Length: 24 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 13
Using examples from a wide variety of conflicts, Lawrence Freedman shows that successful military command depends on the ability not only to use armed forces effectively, but also to understand the political context in which they are operating.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
LF remains dependable for scholarship and presentation quality
- By ronald waters on 01-15-23
-
The Story of Russia
- By: Orlando Figes
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 173
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 154
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 154
The Story of Russia is about how the Russians defined themselves―and repeatedly reinvented such definitions along the way. Moving from Russia’s agrarian beginnings in the first millennium to subsequent periods of monarchy, totalitarianism, and perestroika, all the way up to Vladimir Putin and his use of myths of Russian history to bolster his regime, celebrated historian Orlando Figes examines the ideas that have guided the country’s actions.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Good overview of Russia. History that Provides an Effective Premise for Greater Understanding of Current Events
- By James E Mclaughlin on 12-22-22
By: Orlando Figes
-
Confronting Saddam Hussein
- George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq
- By: Melvyn P. Leffler
- Narrated by: Christopher P. Brown
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6
America's decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003 is arguably the most important foreign policy choice of the entire post-Cold War era. Nearly two decades after the event, it remains central to understanding current international politics and US foreign relations. In Confronting Saddam Hussein, the eminent historian of US foreign policy Melvyn P. Leffler analyzes why the US chose war and who was most responsible for the decision.
-
Legacy of Violence
- A History of the British Empire
- By: Caroline Elkins
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 31 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 98
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 80
From a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian: a searing study of the British Empire that probes the country's pervasive use of violence throughout the twentieth century and traces how these practices were exported, modified, and institutionalized in colonies around the globe.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Great ideas, but very disappointing execution
- By Luc Rey-Bellet on 09-05-22
By: Caroline Elkins
-
The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy
- Weak Power, Great Power, Superpower, Hyperpower
- By: Michael Mandelbaum
- Narrated by: Lyle Blaker
- Length: 18 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6
In The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy, Michael Mandelbaum offers a new framework for understanding the evolution of the foreign policy of the United States. He divides that evolution into four distinct periods, with each defined by the consistent increase in American power relative to other countries. His history of the four periods features engaging accounts of the major events and important personalities in the foreign policy of each era.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Expectations are everything
- By Patristics Guy on 08-07-23
-
China After Mao
- The Rise of a Superpower
- By: Frank Dikötter
- Narrated by: Daniel York Loh
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 4
Award-winning historian Frank Dikötter explores how the People’s Republic of China was transformed from a backwater economy in the 1970s into the world superpower of today. His account is the first to be based on hundreds of previously unseen archival documents, from the secret minutes of top party meetings to confidential bank reports. Unfolding with great narrative sweep, this riveting, richly detailed chronicle recasts our understanding of an era that both the regime and foreign admirers celebrate as an economic miracle.
By: Frank Dikötter
-
Command
- The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine
- By: Lawrence Freedman
- Narrated by: Richard Burnip
- Length: 24 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 13
Using examples from a wide variety of conflicts, Lawrence Freedman shows that successful military command depends on the ability not only to use armed forces effectively, but also to understand the political context in which they are operating.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
LF remains dependable for scholarship and presentation quality
- By ronald waters on 01-15-23
-
The Story of Russia
- By: Orlando Figes
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 173
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 154
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 154
The Story of Russia is about how the Russians defined themselves―and repeatedly reinvented such definitions along the way. Moving from Russia’s agrarian beginnings in the first millennium to subsequent periods of monarchy, totalitarianism, and perestroika, all the way up to Vladimir Putin and his use of myths of Russian history to bolster his regime, celebrated historian Orlando Figes examines the ideas that have guided the country’s actions.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Good overview of Russia. History that Provides an Effective Premise for Greater Understanding of Current Events
- By James E Mclaughlin on 12-22-22
By: Orlando Figes
-
Confronting Saddam Hussein
- George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq
- By: Melvyn P. Leffler
- Narrated by: Christopher P. Brown
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6
America's decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003 is arguably the most important foreign policy choice of the entire post-Cold War era. Nearly two decades after the event, it remains central to understanding current international politics and US foreign relations. In Confronting Saddam Hussein, the eminent historian of US foreign policy Melvyn P. Leffler analyzes why the US chose war and who was most responsible for the decision.
-
Legacy of Violence
- A History of the British Empire
- By: Caroline Elkins
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 31 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 98
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 80
From a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian: a searing study of the British Empire that probes the country's pervasive use of violence throughout the twentieth century and traces how these practices were exported, modified, and institutionalized in colonies around the globe.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Great ideas, but very disappointing execution
- By Luc Rey-Bellet on 09-05-22
By: Caroline Elkins
-
The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy
- Weak Power, Great Power, Superpower, Hyperpower
- By: Michael Mandelbaum
- Narrated by: Lyle Blaker
- Length: 18 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6
In The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy, Michael Mandelbaum offers a new framework for understanding the evolution of the foreign policy of the United States. He divides that evolution into four distinct periods, with each defined by the consistent increase in American power relative to other countries. His history of the four periods features engaging accounts of the major events and important personalities in the foreign policy of each era.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Expectations are everything
- By Patristics Guy on 08-07-23
-
Not One Inch
- America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate
- By: M.E. Sarotte
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 196
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 168
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 168
Based on over a hundred interviews and on secret records of White House-Kremlin contacts, Not One Inch shows how the United States successfully overcame Russian resistance in the 1990s to expand NATO to more than 900 million people. But it also reveals how Washington's hardball tactics transformed the era between the Cold War and the present day, undermining what could have become a lasting partnership.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
America's NATO problem
- By Jeffrey D on 03-24-22
By: M.E. Sarotte
-
Collapse
- The Fall of the Soviet Union
- By: Vladislav M. Zubok
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 23 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 363
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 311
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 309
In 1945, the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four million strong, 5,000 nuclear-tipped missiles, and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward, the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the 20th century.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Hopefully Not Prescient
- By Joshua on 01-29-22
-
Personality and Power
- Builders and Destroyers of Modern Europe
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: Matt Bates
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 15
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 15
From one of the leading historians of twentieth-century Europe and the author of the definitive biography of Hitler, Personality and Power is a masterful reckoning with how character conspired with opportunity to create the modern age’s uniquely devastating despots—and how and why other countries found better paths. The modern era saw the emergence of individuals who had command over a terrifying array of instruments of control, persuasion and death. Whole societies were reshaped and wars were fought, often with a merciless contempt for the most basic norms.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great book, but needs work on human groups
- By Thomas F. Winterbottom on 12-07-22
By: Ian Kershaw
-
Leadership
- Six Studies in World Strategy
- By: Henry Kissinger
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 407
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 359
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 359
In Leadership, Kissinger analyses the lives of six extraordinary leaders through the distinctive strategies of statecraft, which he believes they embodied. After the Second World War, Konrad Adenauer brought defeated and morally bankrupt Germany back into the community of nations by what Kissinger calls “the strategy of humility.” Charles de Gaulle set France beside the victorious Allies and renewed its historic grandeur by “the strategy of will.”
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Architects of World Order
- By GrimLockz on 09-21-22
By: Henry Kissinger
-
The Back Channel
- A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal
- By: William J. Burns
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall, William J. Burns
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 416
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 368
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 364
Over the course of more than three decades as an American diplomat, William J. Burns played a central role in the most consequential diplomatic episodes of his time - from the bloodless end of the Cold War to the collapse of post-Cold War relations with Putin’s Russia, from post-9/11 tumult in the Middle East to the secret nuclear talks with Iran. In The Back Channel, Burns recounts, with novelistic detail and incisive analysis, some of the seminal moments of his career.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Definitive look at Diplomacy
- By Jean on 07-19-19
By: William J. Burns
-
Losing an Enemy
- Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy
- By: Trita Parsi
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 17 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 45
This timely book focuses on President Obama's deeply considered strategy toward Iran's nuclear program and reveals how the historic agreement of 2015 broke the persistent stalemate in negotiations that had blocked earlier efforts. Drawing from more than 75 in-depth interviews with key decision-makers, including Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry, this is the first authoritative account of President Obama's signature foreign policy achievement.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
required reading
- By Seth K on 07-18-19
By: Trita Parsi
-
The Cold War
- A New History
- By: John Lewis Gaddis
- Narrated by: Jay Gregory, Alan Sklar
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 947
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 678
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 673
Drawing on new and often startling information from newly opened Soviet, Eastern European, and Chinese archives, this thrilling account explores the strategic dynamics that drove the Cold War, provides illuminating portraits of its major personalities, and offers much fresh insight into its most crucial events. Riveting, revelatory, and wise, it tells a story whose lessons it is vitally necessary to understand as America once more faces an implacable ideological enemy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
WOW
- By Cordell eddings on 10-13-07
-
The Sleepwalkers
- How Europe Went to War in 1914
- By: Christopher Clark
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 24 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 857
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 745
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 747
The Sleepwalkers is historian Christopher Clark's riveting account of the explosive beginnings of World War I. Drawing on new scholarship, Clark offers a fresh look at World War I, focusing not on the battles and atrocities of the war itself but on the complex events and relationships that led a group of well-meaning leaders into brutal conflict.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very interesting take on a complex problem
- By Steve on 01-24-15
-
Diplomacy
- By: Henry Kissinger
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 37 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 290
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 246
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 243
Moving from a sweeping overview of history to blow-by-blow accounts of his negotiations with world leaders, Henry Kissinger describes how the art of diplomacy has created the world in which we live, and how America's approach to foreign affairs has always differed vastly from that of other nations. Brilliant, controversial, and profoundly incisive, Diplomacy stands as the culmination of a lifetime of diplomatic service and scholarship. It is a must-listen for anyone concerned with the forces that have shaped our world today and will impact upon it tomorrow.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great foreign policy overview!
- By Mikhail on 02-02-20
By: Henry Kissinger
-
HITLER: 1936-1945 Nemesis
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 38 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 543
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 493
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 488
As Nemesis opens, Adolf Hitler has achieved absolute power within Germany and triumphed in his first challenge to the European powers. Idolized by large segments of the population and firmly supported by the Nazi regime, Hitler is poised to subjugate Europe. Nine years later, his vaunted war machine destroyed, Allied forces sweeping across Germany, Hitler will end his life with a pistol shot to his head.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Well worn ground
- By Mike From Mesa on 04-06-14
By: Ian Kershaw
-
Camelot's Court
- Inside the Kennedy White House
- By: Robert Dallek
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 79
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 68
Fifty years after John F. Kennedy's assassination, presidential historian Robert Dallek, whom The New York Times calls "Kennedy's leading biographer", delivers a riveting new portrait of this president and his inner circle of advisors, their rivalries, personality clashes, and political battles. In Camelot's Court, Dallek analyzes the brain trust whose contributions to the successes and failures of Kennedy's administration - including the Bay of Pigs, civil rights, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Vietnam - were indelible.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Well Researched but Critically Flawed
- By brent lloyd on 02-08-22
By: Robert Dallek
-
JFK's War with the National Security Establishment: Why Kennedy Was Assassinated
- By: Douglas Horne
- Narrated by: Larry Wayne
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 73
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 70
Ever since researchers and commentators began questioning the conclusions of the Warren Report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the response has been: Why would the US national-security establishment - that is, the military and the CIA - kill Kennedy? As Douglas P. Horne details in this audiobook, JFK's War with the National Security Establishment: Why Kennedy Was Assassinated, the answer is because Kennedy's ideas about foreign policy collided with those of the US national-security establishment during the height of the Cold War.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
FINALLY THE TRUTH!
- By Helen Williamson on 05-28-16
By: Douglas Horne
Publisher's summary
Selected by the New Statesman as an essential read for 2022.
Britain shaped the modern Middle East through the lines that it drew in the sand after the First World War and through the League of Nations mandates over the fledgling states that followed. Less than forty years later, the Suez crisis dealt a fatal blow to Britain's standing in the Middle East and is often represented as the final throes of British imperialism. However, as this insightful and compelling new book reveals, successive prime ministers have all sought to extend British influence in the Middle East and their actions have often led to a disastrous outcome.
While Anthony Eden and Tony Blair are the two most prominent examples of prime ministers whose reputations have been ruined by their interventions in the region, they were not alone in taking significant risks in deploying British forces to the Middle East. There was an unspoken assumption that Britain could help solve its problems, even if only for the reason that British imperialism had created the problems in the first place.
Drawing these threads together, Nigel Ashton explores the reasons why British leaders have been unable to resist returning to the mire of the Middle East, while highlighting the misconceptions about the region that have helped shape their interventions, and the legacy of history that has fuelled their pride and arrogance. Ultimately, he shows how their fears and insecurities made them into false prophets who conjured existential threats out of the sands of the Middle East.
Critic reviews
"Fascinating." (Guardian, 'Book of the Day')
"A truly masterly book... A tour de force that will be read for a very long time." (Peter Hennessy)
More from the same
Narrator
Related to this topic
-
Master of the Game
- Henry Kissinger and the Art of Middle East Diplomacy
- By: Martin Indyk
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 25 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
More than 20 years have elapsed since the United States last brokered a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians. In that time, three presidents have tried and failed. Martin Indyk - a former United States ambassador to Israel and special envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in 2013 - has experienced these political frustrations and disappointments firsthand.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Sad in its lack of creativity
- By Uri Pilichowski on 11-16-21
By: Martin Indyk
-
The Sleepwalkers
- How Europe Went to War in 1914
- By: Christopher Clark
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 24 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 857
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 745
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 747
The Sleepwalkers is historian Christopher Clark's riveting account of the explosive beginnings of World War I. Drawing on new scholarship, Clark offers a fresh look at World War I, focusing not on the battles and atrocities of the war itself but on the complex events and relationships that led a group of well-meaning leaders into brutal conflict.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very interesting take on a complex problem
- By Steve on 01-24-15
-
Appeasement
- Chamberlain, Hitler, Churchill, and the Road to War
- By: Tim Bouverie
- Narrated by: John Sessions
- Length: 22 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 131
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 109
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 109
On a wet afternoon in September 1938, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain stepped off an airplane and announced that his visit to Hitler had averted the greatest crisis in recent memory. It was, he later assured the crowd in Downing Street, "peace for our time." Less than a year later, Germany invaded Poland and the Second World War began. Appeasement is a groundbreaking history of the disastrous years of indecision, failed diplomacy, and parliamentary infighting that enabled Hitler's domination of Europe.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I cannot tolerate the narrator
- By DrBCFR on 06-05-19
By: Tim Bouverie
-
Gambling with Armageddon
- Nuclear Roulette from Hiroshima to the Cuban Missile Crisis
- By: Martin J. Sherwin
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
In this groundbreaking look at the Cuban Missile Crisis, Martin Sherwin not only gives us a riveting sometimes hour-by-hour explanation of the crisis itself, but also explores the origins, scope, and consequences of the evolving place of nuclear weapons in the post-World War II world. Mining new sources and materials, and going far beyond the scope of earlier works on this critical face-off between the United States and the Soviet Union — triggered when Khrushchev began installing missiles in Cuba at Castro's behest....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Important History
- By J. B. Evans on 06-12-21
-
Saving Freedom
- Truman, the Cold War, and the Fight for Western Civilization
- By: Joe Scarborough
- Narrated by: Joe Scarborough
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 275
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 233
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 228
History called on Harry Truman to unite the Western world against Soviet communism, but first he had to rally Republicans and Democrats behind America’s most dramatic foreign policy shift since George Washington delivered his farewell address. How did one of the least prepared presidents to walk into the Oval Office become one of its most successful?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An engaging review of a remarkable president
- By Mark A on 11-29-20
By: Joe Scarborough
-
The Nazi Menace
- Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, and the Road to War
- By: Benjamin Carter Hett
- Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 24
Berlin, November 1937. Adolf Hitler meets with his military commanders to impress upon them the urgent necessity for a war of aggression in Eastern Europe. Some generals are unnerved by the Führer’s grandiose plan, but these dissenters are silenced one by one, setting in motion events that will culminate in the most calamitous war in history.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Bad Melodramatic Reading
- By Tess on 08-18-20
-
Master of the Game
- Henry Kissinger and the Art of Middle East Diplomacy
- By: Martin Indyk
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 25 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
More than 20 years have elapsed since the United States last brokered a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians. In that time, three presidents have tried and failed. Martin Indyk - a former United States ambassador to Israel and special envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in 2013 - has experienced these political frustrations and disappointments firsthand.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Sad in its lack of creativity
- By Uri Pilichowski on 11-16-21
By: Martin Indyk
-
The Sleepwalkers
- How Europe Went to War in 1914
- By: Christopher Clark
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 24 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 857
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 745
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 747
The Sleepwalkers is historian Christopher Clark's riveting account of the explosive beginnings of World War I. Drawing on new scholarship, Clark offers a fresh look at World War I, focusing not on the battles and atrocities of the war itself but on the complex events and relationships that led a group of well-meaning leaders into brutal conflict.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very interesting take on a complex problem
- By Steve on 01-24-15
-
Appeasement
- Chamberlain, Hitler, Churchill, and the Road to War
- By: Tim Bouverie
- Narrated by: John Sessions
- Length: 22 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 131
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 109
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 109
On a wet afternoon in September 1938, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain stepped off an airplane and announced that his visit to Hitler had averted the greatest crisis in recent memory. It was, he later assured the crowd in Downing Street, "peace for our time." Less than a year later, Germany invaded Poland and the Second World War began. Appeasement is a groundbreaking history of the disastrous years of indecision, failed diplomacy, and parliamentary infighting that enabled Hitler's domination of Europe.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I cannot tolerate the narrator
- By DrBCFR on 06-05-19
By: Tim Bouverie
-
Gambling with Armageddon
- Nuclear Roulette from Hiroshima to the Cuban Missile Crisis
- By: Martin J. Sherwin
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
In this groundbreaking look at the Cuban Missile Crisis, Martin Sherwin not only gives us a riveting sometimes hour-by-hour explanation of the crisis itself, but also explores the origins, scope, and consequences of the evolving place of nuclear weapons in the post-World War II world. Mining new sources and materials, and going far beyond the scope of earlier works on this critical face-off between the United States and the Soviet Union — triggered when Khrushchev began installing missiles in Cuba at Castro's behest....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Important History
- By J. B. Evans on 06-12-21
-
Saving Freedom
- Truman, the Cold War, and the Fight for Western Civilization
- By: Joe Scarborough
- Narrated by: Joe Scarborough
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 275
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 233
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 228
History called on Harry Truman to unite the Western world against Soviet communism, but first he had to rally Republicans and Democrats behind America’s most dramatic foreign policy shift since George Washington delivered his farewell address. How did one of the least prepared presidents to walk into the Oval Office become one of its most successful?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An engaging review of a remarkable president
- By Mark A on 11-29-20
By: Joe Scarborough
-
The Nazi Menace
- Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, and the Road to War
- By: Benjamin Carter Hett
- Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 24
Berlin, November 1937. Adolf Hitler meets with his military commanders to impress upon them the urgent necessity for a war of aggression in Eastern Europe. Some generals are unnerved by the Führer’s grandiose plan, but these dissenters are silenced one by one, setting in motion events that will culminate in the most calamitous war in history.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Bad Melodramatic Reading
- By Tess on 08-18-20
-
Ike's Gamble
- America's Rise to Dominance in the Middle East
- By: Michael Doran
- Narrated by: Casey Jones
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
In 1956 President Nasser of Egypt moved to take possession of the Suez Canal, thereby bringing the Middle East to the brink of war. The British and the French, who operated the canal, joined with Israel in a plan to retake it by force. Despite the special relationship between England and America, Dwight Eisenhower intervened to stop the invasion.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Tightly Argued
- By Jean on 01-10-17
By: Michael Doran
-
How Wars End
- Why We Always Fight the Last Battle
- By: Gideon Rose
- Narrated by: Gideon Rose
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 117
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 72
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 70
In 1991, the United States Army trounced the Iraqi army in battle only to stumble blindly into postwar turmoil. Then in 2003 the United States did it again. How could this happen? How could the strongest power in modern history fight two wars against the same opponent in just over a decade, win lightning victories both times, and yet still be woefully unprepared for the aftermath? Because Americans always forget the political aspects of war.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent book
- By Luis on 11-04-10
By: Gideon Rose
-
A Failed Empire
- The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev
- By: Vladimir Zubok
- Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
- Length: 20 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 258
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 191
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 190
Western interpretations of the Cold War--both realist and neoconservative--have erred by exaggerating either the Kremlin's pragmatism or its aggressiveness, argues Vladislav Zubok. Explaining the interests, aspirations, illusions, fears, and misperceptions of the Kremlin leaders and Soviet elites, Zubok offers a Soviet perspective on the greatest standoff of the 20th century.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Focus on the Top Leadership
- By Augustus T. White on 08-13-10
By: Vladimir Zubok
-
The Abyss
- Nuclear Crisis Cuba 1962
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Max Hastings, John Hopkins
- Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 149
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 134
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 132
Bestselling author Max Hastings offers a welcome re-evaluation of one of the most gripping and tense international events in modern history—the Cuban Missile Crisis—providing a people-focused narrative that explores the attitudes and conduct of Russians, Cubans, Americans, and a terrified world that followed each moment as it unfolded.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good book, but has some issues
- By Mike From Mesa on 11-10-22
By: Max Hastings
-
When France Fell
- The Vichy Crisis and the Fate of the Anglo-American Alliance
- By: Michael S. Neiberg
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
According to US Secretary of War Henry Stimson, the "most shocking single event" of World War II was not the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but rather the fall of France in spring 1940. Michael Neiberg offers a dramatic history of the American response - a policy marked by panic and moral ineptitude, which placed the United States in league with fascism and nearly ruined the alliance with Britain.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Proceeds from a faulty premise
- By Buretto on 12-11-21
-
Hanoi’s War
- An International History of the War for Peace in Vietnam
- By: Lien-Hang T. Nguyen
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 43
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
While most historians of the Vietnam War focus on the origins of US involvement and the Americanization of the conflict, Lien-Hang T. Nguyen examines the international context in which North Vietnamese leaders pursued the war and American intervention ended. This riveting narrative takes the listener from the marshy Mekong Delta swamps to the bomb-saturated Red River Delta, from the corridors of power in Hanoi and Saigon to the Nixon White House, and from the peace negotiations in Paris to high-level meetings in Beijing and Moscow.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Understanding politics in SE Asia.
- By Mark U. on 04-26-15
-
Kissinger: Volume I
- 1923-1968: The Idealist
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 34 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 256
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 227
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 226
No American statesman has been as revered and as reviled as Henry Kissinger. Once hailed as "Super-K" - the "indispensable man" whose advice has been sought by every president from Kennedy to Obama - he has also been hounded by conspiracy theorists, scouring his every "telcon" for evidence of Machiavellian malfeasance. Yet as Niall Ferguson shows in this magisterial biography, the idea of Kissinger as the ruthless arch-realist is based on a profound misunderstanding.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Riveting
- By Jean on 11-10-15
By: Niall Ferguson
-
Japan 1941
- Countdown to Infamy
- By: Eri Hotta
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 329
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 290
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 290
When Japan attacked the United States in 1941, argues Eri Hotta, its leaders, in large part, understood they were entering a conflict they were bound to lose. Availing herself of rarely consulted material, Hotta poses essential questions overlooked by historians in the seventy years since: Why did these men - military men, civilian politicians, diplomats, the emperor - put their country and its citizens in harm's way? Why did they make a decision that was doomed from the start?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Japanese viewpoint
- By Jean on 01-01-14
By: Eri Hotta
-
America and Iran
- A History, 1720 to the Present
- By: John Ghazvinian
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 27 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 202
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 178
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 178
In this rich, fascinating history, John Ghazvinian traces the complex story of the relations between these two nations back to the Persian Empire of the 18th century - the subject of great admiration by Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams - and an America seen by Iranians as an ideal to emulate for their own government.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Distortions Galore
- By Chuck S. on 03-15-21
By: John Ghazvinian
-
Camelot's Court
- Inside the Kennedy White House
- By: Robert Dallek
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 79
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 68
Fifty years after John F. Kennedy's assassination, presidential historian Robert Dallek, whom The New York Times calls "Kennedy's leading biographer", delivers a riveting new portrait of this president and his inner circle of advisors, their rivalries, personality clashes, and political battles. In Camelot's Court, Dallek analyzes the brain trust whose contributions to the successes and failures of Kennedy's administration - including the Bay of Pigs, civil rights, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Vietnam - were indelible.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Well Researched but Critically Flawed
- By brent lloyd on 02-08-22
By: Robert Dallek
-
JFK's War with the National Security Establishment: Why Kennedy Was Assassinated
- By: Douglas Horne
- Narrated by: Larry Wayne
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 73
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 70
Ever since researchers and commentators began questioning the conclusions of the Warren Report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the response has been: Why would the US national-security establishment - that is, the military and the CIA - kill Kennedy? As Douglas P. Horne details in this audiobook, JFK's War with the National Security Establishment: Why Kennedy Was Assassinated, the answer is because Kennedy's ideas about foreign policy collided with those of the US national-security establishment during the height of the Cold War.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
FINALLY THE TRUTH!
- By Helen Williamson on 05-28-16
By: Douglas Horne
-
Europe's Last Summer
- By: David Fromkin
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 388
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 343
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 340
The early summer of 1914 was the most glorious Europeans could remember. But, behind the scenes, the most destructive war the world had yet known was moving inexorably into being, a war that would continue to resonate into the 21st century. The question of how the Great War of 1914 began has long vexed historians. In a gripping narrative, Fromkin shows that hostilities were started deliberately and that two wars were waged, one serving as pretext for the other.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A different take on the events leading to the Great War
- By Chris on 09-04-20
By: David Fromkin
Love Books? You'll Love Audible.
Transform your day
Replace endless scrolling with endless listening. Chores can be fun.
Listen everywhere
Download titles to listen offline, wherever you are in the world.
Carry your entire Library
Your stories go where you go. Audiobooks don’t weigh a thing.
Listen and learn
Discover stories that can change your mind, your well-being, and your life.
Reach your reading goals
You can’t turn pages while you drive—but you can press play.
Find your niche
WIth thousands of titles to explore, there’s something for everyone.