Bismarck's War
The Franco-Prussian War and the Making of Modern Europe
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Bismarck's War
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Narrated by:
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Sarah Borges
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By:
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Rachel Chrastil
About this listen
A new history of the war that toppled the French Empire, unified Germany, and set Europe on the path to World War I
Among the conflicts that convulsed Europe during the nineteenth century, none was more startling and consequential than the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. Deliberately engineered by Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the war succeeded in shattering French supremacy, deposing Napoleon III, and uniting a new German Empire. But it also produced brutal military innovations and a precarious new imbalance of power that together set the stage for the devastating world wars of the next century.
In Bismarck’s War, historian Rachel Chrastil chronicles events on the battlefield in full, while also showing in intimate detail how the war reshaped and blurred the boundaries between civilian and soldier as the fighting swept across France. The result is the definitive history of a transformative conflict that changed Europe, and the history of warfare, forever.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2023 Rachel Chrastil (P)2023 Basic BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 139
Concluding his acclaimed series on the Eastern Front in World War I, Prit Buttar comprehensively details not only these climactic events, but also the "successor wars" that raged long after the armistice of 1918. New states rose from the ashes of empire and war raged as German forces sought to keep them under the aegis of the Fatherland. These unresolved tensions between the former Great Powers and the new states would ultimately lead to the rise of Hitler and a new, terrible world war only two decades later.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Explains a lot about
- By Elizabeth on 02-27-20
By: Prit Buttar
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A World Undone
- The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918
- By: G. J. Meyer
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 27 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 236
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 213
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Story5 out of 5 stars 213
On a summer day in 1914, a nineteen-year-old Serbian nationalist gunned down Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. While the world slumbered, monumental forces were shaken. In less than a month, a combination of ambition, deceit, fear, jealousy, missed opportunities, and miscalculation sent Austro-Hungarian troops marching into Serbia, German troops streaming toward Paris, and a vast Russian army into war, with England as its ally. As crowds cheered their armies on, no one could guess what lay ahead in the First World War.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A great book!
- By Jodi Bernard on 07-11-23
By: G. J. Meyer
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The First World War
- A Complete History
- By: Martin Gilbert
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 33 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 461
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 406
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 406
It was to be the war to end all wars, and it began at 11:15 on the morning of June 28, 1914, in an outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire called Sarajevo. It would officially end nearly five years later. Unofficially, however, it has never ended: Many of the horrors we live with today are rooted in the First World War. The Great War left millions of civilians and soldiers maimed or dead. It also saw the creation of new technologies of destruction: tanks, planes, and submarines; machine guns and field artillery; poison gas and chemical warfare.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Unbiased true facts of the first world war
- By troy a myers on 07-27-20
By: Martin Gilbert
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For God and Kaiser
- The Imperial Austrian Army, 1619-1918
- By: Richard Bassett
- Narrated by: Aaron Blain
- Length: 28 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 95
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 81
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 80
The definitive history of Austria’s multinational army and its immense role during three centuries of European military history. Among the finest examples of deeply researched military history, For God and Kaiser is a major account of the Habsburg army. It shows how the Imperial Austrian Army, time and again, was a decisive factor in the story of Europe, the balance of international power, and the defense of Christendom...it was the first pan-European army made up of different nationalities and faiths, counting among its soldiers not only Christians but also Muslims, and Jews.
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5 out of 5 stars
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excellent insight
- By Nicholas on 08-04-19
By: Richard Bassett
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The Fall of the Ottomans
- The Great War in the Middle East
- By: Eugene Rogan
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,524
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,332
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,320
In The Fall of the Ottomans, award-winning historian Eugene Rogan brings the First World War and its immediate aftermath in the Middle East to vivid life, uncovering the often ignored story of the region's crucial role in the conflict.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Book About A Little Known Part of WWI
- By Nostromo on 06-08-15
By: Eugene Rogan
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Poland 1939
- The Outbreak of World War II
- By: Roger Moorhouse
- Narrated by: Roger Moorhouse
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 140
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 122
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Story5 out of 5 stars 123
For Americans, World War II began in December of 1941, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor; but for Poland, the war began on September 1, 1939, when Hitler's soldiers invaded, followed later that month by Stalin's Red Army. The conflict that followed saw the debut of many of the features that would come to define the later war-blitzkrieg, the targeting of civilians, ethnic cleansing, and indiscriminate aerial bombing-yet it is routinely overlooked by historians.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Always Overlooked
- By C. G. Telcontar on 05-27-21
By: Roger Moorhouse
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The American Heritage History of World War I
- By: S. L. A. Marshall
- Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
- Length: 19 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 65
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 56
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Story4 out of 5 stars 57
Drawing on a lifetime of military experience, Brigadier General S. L. A. Marshall, "one of our most distinguished military writers" ( New York Times), delivers this unflinching history of the war that was supposed to end all wars. From the perspective of more than half a century, Marshall examines the blunders and complacency that turned what everyone thought would be a brief campaign and an easy victory into a relentless four-year slaughter that left 10 million dead and 20 million wounded.
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4 out of 5 stars
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WW1 from American point of view
- By Jean on 10-19-12
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Catastrophe 1914
- Europe Goes to War
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 25 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 141
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 131
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 129
From the acclaimed military historian, a new history of the outbreak of World War I: the dramatic stretch from the breakdown of diplomacy to the battles - the Marne, Ypres, Tannenberg - that marked the frenzied first year before the war bogged down in the trenches. In Catastrophe 1914, Max Hastings gives us a conflict different from the familiar one of barbed wire, mud, and futility.
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4 out of 5 stars
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I thought I knew the battle of the frontiers
- By Anonymous User on 04-02-21
By: Max Hastings
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Crimea
- By: Orlando Figes
- Narrated by: Malk Williams
- Length: 20 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 520
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 454
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 451
The terrible conflict that dominated the mid-19th century, the Crimean War, killed at least 800,000 men and pitted Russia against a formidable coalition of Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. It was a war for territory, provoked by fear that if the Ottoman Empire were to collapse then Russia could control a huge swathe of land from the Balkans to the Persian Gulf. But it was also a war of religion, driven by a fervent, populist and ever more ferocious belief by the Tsar and his ministers that it was Russia's task to rule all Orthodox Christians and control the Holy Land.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding History of the Crimean War
- By Rick Sailor on 11-08-18
By: Orlando Figes
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The Making of Oliver Cromwell
- By: Ronald Hutton
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 59
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Story4 out of 5 stars 53
Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) - the only English commoner to become the overall head of state - is one of the great figures of history, but his character was very complex. He was at once courageous and devout, devious and self-serving; as a parliamentarian, he was devoted to his cause; as a soldier, he was ruthless. Cromwell's speeches and writings surpass in quantity those of any other ruler of England before Victoria, and, for those seeking to understand him, he has usually been taken at his word. In this remarkable new work, Ronald Hutton untangles the facts from the fiction.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Very specialized
- By Draperbart on 04-23-22
By: Ronald Hutton
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The Battle for Spain
- The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 18 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 596
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 520
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 518
Antony Beevor has written a completely updated and revised account of one of the most bitter and hard-fought wars of the 20th century. With new material gleaned from Russian archives and numerous other sources, this brisk and accessible audiobook (Spain's number-one best seller for 12 weeks) provides a balanced and penetrating perspective, explaining the tensions that led to this terrible overture to World War II and affording new insights into the war - its causes, course, and consequences.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Not an Accurate History Book
- By Jose on 10-16-19
By: Antony Beevor
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The Fortress
- The Siege of Przemysl and the Making of Europe's Bloodlands
- By: Alexander Watson
- Narrated by: James Edward Thomas
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
In September 1914, just a month into World War I, the Russian army laid siege to the fortress city of Przemysl, the Hapsburg Empire's most important bulwark against invasion. For six months, against storm and starvation, the ragtag garrison bitterly resisted, denying the Russians a quick victory. Only in March 1915 did the city fall, bringing occupation, persecution, and brutal ethnic cleansing. In The Fortress, historian Alexander Watson tells the story of the battle for Przemysl, showing how it marked the dawn of total war in Europe.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating story about eastern and Central Europe
- By John D. on 05-10-23
By: Alexander Watson
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Winning Independence
- The Decisive Years of the Revolutionary War, 1778-1781
- By: John Ferling
- Narrated by: Rhett Samuel Price
- Length: 24 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 37
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Story5 out of 5 stars 36
It was 1778, and the recent American victory at Saratoga had netted the US a powerful ally in France. Many, including General George Washington, presumed France’s entrance into the war meant independence was just around the corner. Meanwhile, having lost an entire army at Saratoga, Great Britain pivoted to a 'southern strategy'. The army would henceforth seek to regain its southern colonies, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, a highly profitable segment of its prewar American empire.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Superb
- By Aldy on 06-10-21
By: John Ferling
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Eight Days in May
- The Final Collapse of the Third Reich
- By: Volker Ullrich, Jefferson Chase - translator
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 124
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 117
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 116
On April 30, 1945, in a bunker deep beneath the Old Reich Chancellery, Adolf Hitler and his newly wedded wife, Eva Braun, killed themselves. But Nazi Germany lived on, however briefly. The subsequent eight days were among the most turbulent in history, witnessing not only the final battles of World War II and the collapse of the Wehrmacht, but the near-total disintegration of the once-mighty Third Reich.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Interesting history incompetently read
- By Oralabor Bondurant on 01-26-22
By: Volker Ullrich, and others
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The First World War
- By: John Keegan
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 20 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 695
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 580
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 576
The First World War created the modern world. A conflict of unprecedented ferocity, it abruptly ended the relative peace and prosperity of the Victorian era, unleashing such demons of the 20th century as mechanized warfare and mass death. It also helped to usher in the ideas that have shaped our times - modernism in the arts, new approaches to psychology and medicine, radical thoughts about economics and society - and in so doing shattered the faith in rationalism and liberalism that had prevailed in Europe since the Enlightenment.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best Military History of First World War
- By Stephen F (SPFJR) on 06-13-19
By: John Keegan
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The Liberation of Paris
- How Eisenhower, de Gaulle, and von Choltitz Saved the City of Light
- By: Jean Edward Edward Smith
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 54
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
Prize-winning and best-selling historian Jean Edward Smith tells the dramatic story of the liberation of Paris during World War II - a triumph that was achieved through the remarkable efforts of Americans, French, and Germans, all racing to save the city from destruction.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A great story, told with authority
- By An Alexandria music lover on 09-11-19
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Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45
- By: Barbara W. Tuchman
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 29 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 415
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 330
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 325
In this Pulitzer Prize - winning biography, Barbara Tuchman explores American relations with China through the experiences of one of our men on the ground. In the cantankerous but level-headed "Vinegar Joe", Tuchman found a subject who allowed her to perform, in the words of the National Review, "one of the historian's most envied magic acts: conjoining a fine biography of a man with a fascinating epic story."
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4 out of 5 stars
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A period that directly affected our world today
- By Charlotte on 08-29-12
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11
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