April 1945 Audiobook By Craig Shirley cover art

April 1945

The Hinge of History

Preview
Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

April 1945

By: Craig Shirley
Narrated by: Tom Parks
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $35.09

Buy for $35.09

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Acclaimed historian and New York Times best-selling author Craig Shirley delivers a compelling account of 1945, particularly the watershed events in the month of April, that details how America emerged from World War II as a leading superpower.

In the long-awaited follow-up to the widely praised December 1941, Craig Shirley's April 1945 paints a vivid portrait of America - her people, faith, economy, government, and culture. The year of 1945 bought a series of watershed events that transformed the country into an arsenal of democracy, one that no longer armed the world by necessity but henceforth protected the world by need.

At the start of 1945, America and the rest of the world were grieving millions of lives lost in the global conflict. As President Roosevelt was sworn into his fourth term, optimism over an end to the bloody war had grown - then, in April, several events collided that changed the face of the world forever: the sudden death of President Roosevelt followed by Harry S. Truman's rise to office; Adolph Hitler's suicide; and the horrific discoveries of Dachau and Auschwitz. Americans doubled down on their completion of the atomic bomb and their plans to drop them on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the destruction ultimately leading the Japanese Empire to surrender on V-J day and ending World War II for good.

Combining engaging anecdotes with deft research and details that are both diminutive and grand, April 1945 gives listeners a front-row seat to the American stage at the birth of a brand-new world.

©2022 Craig Shirley (P)2022 Thomas Nelson
20th Century Americas Military Modern United States Wars & Conflicts World War II Franklin D. Roosevelt War Imperialism Interwar Period Prisoners of War
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup
All stars
Most relevant  
Great overlay of military and civilian life of the times. interesting details in the history of both theaters of war.

damn good work

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Historical tidbits surrounding WWII, but there are many errors,miss pronunciation of names, Alfred Speer, Paul von Rundstedt, events, Hitler shoots Eva Bruan, etc.

Too Many Errors

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Just as good as December 1941. So insightful makes you think you are in 1945.

Amazing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Now I understand what the greatest generation really means. Not just our brave military but every civilian in the United States of America. Everyone sacrificed. God bless them all.

The Greatest Generation

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

overall this history is very informative. However, going between the war and home front constantly with every new thought made me feel like a pingpong ball going back and forth.

A bit confusing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

So much information, to digest & absorb - many details left or overlooked by other authors, but most interesting!

Loved all of the info seldom included elsewhere!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The “story” is nothing more than a unorganized collection of newspaper articles read by the narrator one after the other, not necessarily in a thematic way, in order of one article after the other that are inter-related. The bouncing around becomes distracting and irritating. This was a waste of a credit, and I do NOT recommend it.

HOW DISORGANIZED

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.