Golden Ghetto
How the Americans & French Fell in & out of Love During the Cold War
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.
Golden Ghetto
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Bill Fike
-
By:
-
Steve Bassett
About this listen
Considering the suspicions, jealousies, bigotry, and crass opportunism inherent whenever one power occupies another, Golden Ghetto: How the Americans and French Fell in and out of Love During the Cold War pieces together an improbable tale of how fear and skepticism were crushed by trust and friendship.
Award-winning journalist Steve Bassett stumbled onto this story shortly after he and his wife purchased a home in Sainte Colombe in Central France. They heard countless, somewhat mystical tales about how a huge US Air Force base transformed the political, economic, and social lives of two French and American generations lucky enough to grab onto the base’s brass ring. If ever a US military base deserved the sobriquet “Golden Ghetto”, it was the Déols-Châteauroux Air Station (CHAS), which for 16 years during the height of the Cold War was considered one of the most desirable postings in the world, until Charles de Gaulle booted the Americans and other NATO military out of France and the Golden Ghetto was padlocked.
Based on hundreds of hours of research and interviews, Golden Ghetto is a collective memoir, a first-ever look at life on an overseas base from the perspectives of both the occupied and occupier. Professional and amateur historians as well as casual listeners will be enthralled by this bird’s-eye view of how early Communist-driven distrust and paranoia never stood a chance against handshakes, smiles, and kisses.
©2013 Steve Bassett (P)2018 Steve BassettListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Inheritors
- An Intimate Portrait of South Africa's Racial Reckoning
- By: Eve Fairbanks
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 25
Dipuo, who grew up in apartheid-era Johannesburg’s largest Black township, conceived her only daughter, Malaika, on the mine dump that separated the Black city from the white one. Christo, one of the last white men drafted to police that boundary, would come to realize—one night on the same mine dump—that everything he had been taught to believe was collapsing to make way for something unprecedented. For Malaika and her peers would be born to a historic destiny: to grow up and live in a Black-led society.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
disagree with other reviewers
- By Anna Martine on 09-29-23
By: Eve Fairbanks
-
Grateful American
- A Journey from Self to Service
- By: Gary Sinise, Marcus Brotherton
- Narrated by: Gary Sinise
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,913
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,613
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,598
Theater icon, award-winning film and television star, and American patriot Gary Sinise shares the never-before-told story of his journey from trouble-making Chicago kid to cofounder of the legendary Steppenwolf Theater Company, world-famous actor, and tireless advocate for America’s active duty defenders, veterans, and first responders.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very Grateful
- By itseaya on 02-12-19
By: Gary Sinise, and others
-
The Day the World Came to Town
- 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland
- By: Jim DeFede
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,042
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,669
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,653
When 38 jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land at Gander International Airport in Canada by the closing of US airspace on September 11, the population of this small town on Newfoundland Island swelled from 10,300 to nearly 17,000. The citizens of Gander met the stranded passengers with an overwhelming display of friendship and goodwill.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
👍👍 From one of the Plane People
- By Timothy on 12-30-19
By: Jim DeFede
-
Soldier Girls
- The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War
- By: Helen Thorpe
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 291
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 250
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 255
Soldier Girls follows the lives of three women on their paths to the military. These women, who are quite different in every way, become friends, and we watch their interaction and also what happens when they are separated. We see their families, their lovers, their spouses, their children. We see them work extremely hard, deal with the attentions of men on base and in war zones, and struggle to stay connected to their families back home.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Valor Knows No Gender
- By Cynthia on 03-21-15
By: Helen Thorpe
-
Code Girls
- The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II
- By: Liza Mundy
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,589
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,202
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,186
Recruited by the US Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than 10,000 women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of codebreaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Just released, about 80% through this story
- By Roobah on 10-11-17
By: Liza Mundy
-
The Girls of Atomic City
- The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II
- By: Denise Kiernan
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,913
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,623
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,612
At the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents, consuming more electricity than New York City. But to most of the world, the town did not exist. Thousands of civilians - many of them young women from small towns across the South - were recruited to this secret city, enticed by solid wages and the promise of war-ending work. Kept very much in the dark, few would ever guess the true nature of the tasks they performed each day in the hulking factories in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Important story of this secret city
- By CBlox on 11-14-13
By: Denise Kiernan
-
The Inheritors
- An Intimate Portrait of South Africa's Racial Reckoning
- By: Eve Fairbanks
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 25
Dipuo, who grew up in apartheid-era Johannesburg’s largest Black township, conceived her only daughter, Malaika, on the mine dump that separated the Black city from the white one. Christo, one of the last white men drafted to police that boundary, would come to realize—one night on the same mine dump—that everything he had been taught to believe was collapsing to make way for something unprecedented. For Malaika and her peers would be born to a historic destiny: to grow up and live in a Black-led society.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
disagree with other reviewers
- By Anna Martine on 09-29-23
By: Eve Fairbanks
-
Grateful American
- A Journey from Self to Service
- By: Gary Sinise, Marcus Brotherton
- Narrated by: Gary Sinise
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,913
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,613
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,598
Theater icon, award-winning film and television star, and American patriot Gary Sinise shares the never-before-told story of his journey from trouble-making Chicago kid to cofounder of the legendary Steppenwolf Theater Company, world-famous actor, and tireless advocate for America’s active duty defenders, veterans, and first responders.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very Grateful
- By itseaya on 02-12-19
By: Gary Sinise, and others
-
The Day the World Came to Town
- 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland
- By: Jim DeFede
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,042
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,669
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,653
When 38 jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land at Gander International Airport in Canada by the closing of US airspace on September 11, the population of this small town on Newfoundland Island swelled from 10,300 to nearly 17,000. The citizens of Gander met the stranded passengers with an overwhelming display of friendship and goodwill.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
👍👍 From one of the Plane People
- By Timothy on 12-30-19
By: Jim DeFede
-
Soldier Girls
- The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War
- By: Helen Thorpe
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 291
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 250
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 255
Soldier Girls follows the lives of three women on their paths to the military. These women, who are quite different in every way, become friends, and we watch their interaction and also what happens when they are separated. We see their families, their lovers, their spouses, their children. We see them work extremely hard, deal with the attentions of men on base and in war zones, and struggle to stay connected to their families back home.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Valor Knows No Gender
- By Cynthia on 03-21-15
By: Helen Thorpe
-
Code Girls
- The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II
- By: Liza Mundy
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,589
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,202
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,186
Recruited by the US Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than 10,000 women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of codebreaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Just released, about 80% through this story
- By Roobah on 10-11-17
By: Liza Mundy
-
The Girls of Atomic City
- The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II
- By: Denise Kiernan
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,913
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,623
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,612
At the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents, consuming more electricity than New York City. But to most of the world, the town did not exist. Thousands of civilians - many of them young women from small towns across the South - were recruited to this secret city, enticed by solid wages and the promise of war-ending work. Kept very much in the dark, few would ever guess the true nature of the tasks they performed each day in the hulking factories in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Important story of this secret city
- By CBlox on 11-14-13
By: Denise Kiernan
-
My Life on the Road
- By: Gloria Steinem
- Narrated by: Debra Winger, Gloria Steinem
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,317
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,065
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,054
Gloria Steinem - writer, activist, organizer, and one of the most inspiring leaders in the world - now tells a story she has never told before, a candid account of how her early years led her to live an on-the-road kind of life, traveling, listening to people, learning, and creating change. She reveals the story of her own growth in tandem with the growth of an ongoing movement for equality. This is the story at the heart of My Life on the Road.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Completely Changed Me
- By Angel Adams on 11-05-15
By: Gloria Steinem
-
Surviving Deep Waters
- A Legendary Reporter's Story of Overcoming Poverty, Race, Violence, and His Mother's Deepest Secret
- By: Bruce Johnson
- Narrated by: Bruce Johnson
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 31
There was no reason to bet on Bruce Johnson, given where he started out. Poor, Black, and raised by a single mother who had a secret. He was the child she hid in plain view from the rest of her family. As an adult, he set out to just make a living - to do better than Black folks who tried their best before, while making his Momma and Grandmomma proud. His journey to becoming a successful TV journalist nearly killed him, but he refused to treat himself as a victim. His role was to use his voice and example to pull others out of deep waters.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wake up call
- By Francenia Beech-Martin on 12-05-22
By: Bruce Johnson
-
My American Journey
- An Autobiography
- By: Colin Powell
- Narrated by: Colin Powell
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 653
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 531
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 525
Colin Powell is the embodiment of the American dream. He was born in Harlem to immigrant parents from Jamaica. He knew the rough life of the streets. He overcame a barely average start at school. Then he joined the Army. The rest is history - including Vietnam, the Pentagon, Panama, and Desert Storm - but a history that until now has been known only on the surface.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Audio book is abridged!
- By Lydia on 02-11-21
By: Colin Powell
-
Eddie: The Life and Times of America's Preeminent Bad Boy
- By: Ken Osmond, Christopher J. Lynch
- Narrated by: Gary Fearon, Kelly Cruise
- Length: 4 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 31
Eddie Haskell was the bad kid who never went away. When child actor Ken Osmond stepped onto the set of Leave It to Beaver in 1957, he not only entered our living rooms, he homesteaded a permanent place in the American pop culture. Now it’s time to meet Ken Osmond, the man behind America’s preeminent bad boy. A devoted husband, father and patriot, he’s a man who’s been forever shadowed by Eddie Haskell, but whose own life was even more amazing than the character he portrayed.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great Autobiography
- By kutzkai on 06-30-21
By: Ken Osmond, and others
-
The Greatest Generation
- By: Tom Brokaw
- Narrated by: Tom Brokaw
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 881
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 684
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 678
In this superb audiobook, Tom Brokaw goes out into America to tell through the stories of individual men and women the story of a generation. America's citizen heroes and heroines who came of age during the Great Depression and the Second World War and went on to build modern America. This generation was united not only by a common purpose, but also by common values- duty, honor, economy, courage, service, love of family and country, and, above all, responsibility for oneself.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Why abridged?
- By MacGyver124 on 02-24-17
By: Tom Brokaw
-
Once Upon a Town
- The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen
- By: Bob Greene
- Narrated by: Fritz Weaver
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 128
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 99
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 100
During World War II, American soldiers from every city and walk of life rolled through North Platte, Nebraska, on troop trains, en route to Europe and the Pacific. The tiny town transformed its modest railroad depot into the North Platte Canteen, a place where soldiers could enjoy coffee, music, home-cooked food, magazines, and friendly conversation during a stopover that lasted only a few minutes.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Long Tale of a Truly Inspiring Short Tale
- By Suzy on 02-25-11
By: Bob Greene
-
The Reluctant Communist
- My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea
- By: Charles Robert Jenkins, Jim Fredrick
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 96
In January of 1965, 24-year-old US Army sergeant Charles Robert Jenkins abandoned his post in South Korea, walked across the DMZ, and surrendered to communist North Korean soldiers standing sentry along the world's most heavily militarized border. He believed his action would get him back to the States and a short jail sentence. Instead he found himself in another sort of prison, where for 40 years he suffered under one of the most brutal and repressive regimes the world has known. This fast-paced, harrowing tale, told plainly and simply by Jenkins (with journalist Jim Frederick).
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent history and human story
- By Anonymous User on 09-16-21
By: Charles Robert Jenkins, and others
-
Strange Stones
- By: Peter Hessler
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 157
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 136
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 139
Full of unforgettable figures and an unrelenting spirit of adventure, Strange Stones is a far-ranging, thought-provoking collection of Peter Hessler’s best reportage - a dazzling display of the powerful storytelling, shrewd cultural insight, and warm sense of humor that are the trademarks of his work. Over the last decade, as a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of three books, Peter Hessler has lived in Asia and the United States, writing as both native and knowledgeable outsider in these two very different regions.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
funny, entertaining
- By Katherine on 08-02-13
By: Peter Hessler
-
The Opposite of Woe
- My Life in Beer and Politics
- By: John Hickenlooper
- Narrated by: John Hickenlooper
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 65
In just over a decade, John Hickenlooper has gone from a craft-brew entrepreneur to mayor of Denver to governor of Colorado, hailed by many political analysts, The New York Times, and Fox News alike as a solid contender to be the next vice president. It is an unlikely tale of success, quintessentially American yet utterly exceptional. In The Opposite of Woe, Hickenlooper tells his own story of determination and daring, from business to politics, in his singularly sharp and often hilarious voice.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
proud of Hickenlooper and teams forward thinking
- By Heather L de Gortari on 10-28-20
-
The Adventures of Herbie Cohen
- World's Greatest Negotiator
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Paul Adelstein
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
Meet Herbie Cohen, World’s Greatest Negotiator, dealmaker, risk taker, raconteur, adviser to presidents and corporations, hostage and arms negotiator, lesson giver and justice seeker, author of the how-to business classic You Can Negotiate Anything. And, of course, Rich Cohen’s father.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Lots of fun and rewarding
- By John H. on 07-28-24
By: Rich Cohen
-
Seoul Man
- A Memoir of Cars, Culture, Crisis, and Unexpected Hilarity Inside a Korean Corporate Titan
- By: Frank Ahrens
- Narrated by: Frank Ahrens
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 61
When Frank Ahrens, a middle-aged bachelor and 18-year veteran at the Washington Post, fell in love with a diplomat, his life changed dramatically. Following his new bride to her first appointment in Seoul, South Korea, Frank traded the newsroom for a corporate suite, becoming director of global communications at Hyundai Motors. In a land whose population is 97 percent Korean, he was one of fewer than 10 non-Koreans in a company of 5,000 employees.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Must read for anyone working Korea!
- By Jim In Texas! on 10-03-16
By: Frank Ahrens
-
They Are All My Family
- A Daring Rescue in the Chaos of Saigon's Fall
- By: John P. Riordan, Monique Brinson Demery
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 24
Published for the 40th anniversary of the final days of the Vietnam War, this is the suspenseful and moving tale of how John P. Riordan, an assistant manager of Citibank's Saigon branch, devised a daring plan to save 106 Vietnamese from the dangers of the Communist takeover.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
While Many Others Fled, Riordan Returned
- By Ghost on 03-16-24
By: John P. Riordan, and others
Related to this topic
-
Soldier Girls
- The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War
- By: Helen Thorpe
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 291
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 250
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 255
Soldier Girls follows the lives of three women on their paths to the military. These women, who are quite different in every way, become friends, and we watch their interaction and also what happens when they are separated. We see their families, their lovers, their spouses, their children. We see them work extremely hard, deal with the attentions of men on base and in war zones, and struggle to stay connected to their families back home.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Valor Knows No Gender
- By Cynthia on 03-21-15
By: Helen Thorpe
-
The Greatest Generation
- By: Tom Brokaw
- Narrated by: Tom Brokaw
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 881
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 684
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 678
In this superb audiobook, Tom Brokaw goes out into America to tell through the stories of individual men and women the story of a generation. America's citizen heroes and heroines who came of age during the Great Depression and the Second World War and went on to build modern America. This generation was united not only by a common purpose, but also by common values- duty, honor, economy, courage, service, love of family and country, and, above all, responsibility for oneself.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Why abridged?
- By MacGyver124 on 02-24-17
By: Tom Brokaw
-
Once Upon a Town
- The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen
- By: Bob Greene
- Narrated by: Fritz Weaver
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 128
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 99
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 100
During World War II, American soldiers from every city and walk of life rolled through North Platte, Nebraska, on troop trains, en route to Europe and the Pacific. The tiny town transformed its modest railroad depot into the North Platte Canteen, a place where soldiers could enjoy coffee, music, home-cooked food, magazines, and friendly conversation during a stopover that lasted only a few minutes.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Long Tale of a Truly Inspiring Short Tale
- By Suzy on 02-25-11
By: Bob Greene
-
The Reluctant Communist
- My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea
- By: Charles Robert Jenkins, Jim Fredrick
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 96
In January of 1965, 24-year-old US Army sergeant Charles Robert Jenkins abandoned his post in South Korea, walked across the DMZ, and surrendered to communist North Korean soldiers standing sentry along the world's most heavily militarized border. He believed his action would get him back to the States and a short jail sentence. Instead he found himself in another sort of prison, where for 40 years he suffered under one of the most brutal and repressive regimes the world has known. This fast-paced, harrowing tale, told plainly and simply by Jenkins (with journalist Jim Frederick).
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent history and human story
- By Anonymous User on 09-16-21
By: Charles Robert Jenkins, and others
-
Strange Stones
- By: Peter Hessler
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 157
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 136
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 139
Full of unforgettable figures and an unrelenting spirit of adventure, Strange Stones is a far-ranging, thought-provoking collection of Peter Hessler’s best reportage - a dazzling display of the powerful storytelling, shrewd cultural insight, and warm sense of humor that are the trademarks of his work. Over the last decade, as a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of three books, Peter Hessler has lived in Asia and the United States, writing as both native and knowledgeable outsider in these two very different regions.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
funny, entertaining
- By Katherine on 08-02-13
By: Peter Hessler
-
My American Journey
- An Autobiography
- By: Colin Powell
- Narrated by: Colin Powell
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 653
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 531
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 525
Colin Powell is the embodiment of the American dream. He was born in Harlem to immigrant parents from Jamaica. He knew the rough life of the streets. He overcame a barely average start at school. Then he joined the Army. The rest is history - including Vietnam, the Pentagon, Panama, and Desert Storm - but a history that until now has been known only on the surface.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Audio book is abridged!
- By Lydia on 02-11-21
By: Colin Powell
-
Soldier Girls
- The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War
- By: Helen Thorpe
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 291
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 250
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 255
Soldier Girls follows the lives of three women on their paths to the military. These women, who are quite different in every way, become friends, and we watch their interaction and also what happens when they are separated. We see their families, their lovers, their spouses, their children. We see them work extremely hard, deal with the attentions of men on base and in war zones, and struggle to stay connected to their families back home.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Valor Knows No Gender
- By Cynthia on 03-21-15
By: Helen Thorpe
-
The Greatest Generation
- By: Tom Brokaw
- Narrated by: Tom Brokaw
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 881
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 684
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 678
In this superb audiobook, Tom Brokaw goes out into America to tell through the stories of individual men and women the story of a generation. America's citizen heroes and heroines who came of age during the Great Depression and the Second World War and went on to build modern America. This generation was united not only by a common purpose, but also by common values- duty, honor, economy, courage, service, love of family and country, and, above all, responsibility for oneself.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Why abridged?
- By MacGyver124 on 02-24-17
By: Tom Brokaw
-
Once Upon a Town
- The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen
- By: Bob Greene
- Narrated by: Fritz Weaver
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 128
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 99
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 100
During World War II, American soldiers from every city and walk of life rolled through North Platte, Nebraska, on troop trains, en route to Europe and the Pacific. The tiny town transformed its modest railroad depot into the North Platte Canteen, a place where soldiers could enjoy coffee, music, home-cooked food, magazines, and friendly conversation during a stopover that lasted only a few minutes.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Long Tale of a Truly Inspiring Short Tale
- By Suzy on 02-25-11
By: Bob Greene
-
The Reluctant Communist
- My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea
- By: Charles Robert Jenkins, Jim Fredrick
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 96
In January of 1965, 24-year-old US Army sergeant Charles Robert Jenkins abandoned his post in South Korea, walked across the DMZ, and surrendered to communist North Korean soldiers standing sentry along the world's most heavily militarized border. He believed his action would get him back to the States and a short jail sentence. Instead he found himself in another sort of prison, where for 40 years he suffered under one of the most brutal and repressive regimes the world has known. This fast-paced, harrowing tale, told plainly and simply by Jenkins (with journalist Jim Frederick).
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent history and human story
- By Anonymous User on 09-16-21
By: Charles Robert Jenkins, and others
-
Strange Stones
- By: Peter Hessler
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 157
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 136
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 139
Full of unforgettable figures and an unrelenting spirit of adventure, Strange Stones is a far-ranging, thought-provoking collection of Peter Hessler’s best reportage - a dazzling display of the powerful storytelling, shrewd cultural insight, and warm sense of humor that are the trademarks of his work. Over the last decade, as a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of three books, Peter Hessler has lived in Asia and the United States, writing as both native and knowledgeable outsider in these two very different regions.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
funny, entertaining
- By Katherine on 08-02-13
By: Peter Hessler
-
My American Journey
- An Autobiography
- By: Colin Powell
- Narrated by: Colin Powell
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 653
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 531
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 525
Colin Powell is the embodiment of the American dream. He was born in Harlem to immigrant parents from Jamaica. He knew the rough life of the streets. He overcame a barely average start at school. Then he joined the Army. The rest is history - including Vietnam, the Pentagon, Panama, and Desert Storm - but a history that until now has been known only on the surface.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Audio book is abridged!
- By Lydia on 02-11-21
By: Colin Powell
-
The Girls of Atomic City
- The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II
- By: Denise Kiernan
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,913
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,623
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,612
At the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents, consuming more electricity than New York City. But to most of the world, the town did not exist. Thousands of civilians - many of them young women from small towns across the South - were recruited to this secret city, enticed by solid wages and the promise of war-ending work. Kept very much in the dark, few would ever guess the true nature of the tasks they performed each day in the hulking factories in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Important story of this secret city
- By CBlox on 11-14-13
By: Denise Kiernan
-
The Train to Crystal City
- FDR's Secret Prisoner Exchange Program and America's Only Family Internment Camp During World War II
- By: Jan Jarboe Russell
- Narrated by: Andrea Gallo
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 136
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 120
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 120
The dramatic and never-before-told story of a secret FDR-approved American internment camp in Texas during World War II, where thousands of families - many US citizens - were incarcerated.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I didn't know...
- By Graham Emslie on 02-27-17
-
Call of Duty
- My Life Before, During, and After the Band of Brothers
- By: Lt. Lynn "Buck" Compton, Marcus Brotherton
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 264
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 217
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 214
As part of the elite 101st Airborne paratroopers, Lt. Lynn "Buck" Compton fought in the critical battles of Normandy and Market Garden and in the freezing cold of Bastogne. Easy Company, immortalized as the Band of Brothers, stands today as an unparalleled icon of brotherhood and bravery under fire.
This is the true story of a real-life hero who traveled to a faraway place and put his life on the line for the cause of freedom---and an insightful memoir about courage, leadership, camaraderie, compassion, and the opportunities for success that can only happen in America.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
No content
- By Amazon Customer on 06-16-08
By: Lt. Lynn "Buck" Compton, and others
-
Destined to Witness
- Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany
- By: Hans Massaquoi
- Narrated by: Peter Jay Fernandez
- Length: 19 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 148
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 132
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 133
What would life be like for a Black boy growing up in Nazi Germany? This unprecedented autobiography answers that question with the spellbinding true story of Hans J. Massaquoi’s life in Hamburg during the height of Hitler’s regime. Hans is the son of a Black Liberian diplomat father and a white German mother. His father returns to Africa at the beginning of the war, leaving them behind in poverty without the means to flee. Within this tense atmosphere, increasingly violent Nazi policies and Allied bombing raids make Hans and his mother’s lives a day-to-day survival struggle.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
An important story, marred by lackluster writing.
- By Christopher on 03-04-15
By: Hans Massaquoi
-
The Bletchley Girls
- War, Secrecy, Love and Loss: The Women of Bletchley Park Tell Their Story
- By: Tessa Dunlop
- Narrated by: Anna Bentinck
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
Historian and broadcaster Tessa Dunlop tells the story of the women of Bletchley Park through exclusive and unprecedented access to the women themselves. The Bletchley Girls weaves together the lives of 15 women who were all selected to work in Britain's most secret organisation - Bletchley Park. It is their story, told in their voices; Tessa met and talked to 15 veterans, often visiting them several times. Firm friendships were made as their epic journey unfolded on paper.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Disjointed & Confusing
- By Sara on 02-02-16
By: Tessa Dunlop
-
Dancing Bears
- By: Witold Szabłowski, Antonia Lloyd-Jones - translator, Claire Bloom - director
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 75
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 63
For hundreds of years, Bulgarian Gypsies trained bears to dance, welcoming them into their families and taking them on the road to perform. In the early 2000s, with the fall of Communism, they were forced to release the bears into a wildlife refuge. But even today, whenever the bears see a human, they still get up on their hind legs to dance. In the tradition of Ryszard Kapuściński, award-winning Polish journalist, Witold Szabłowski uncovers remarkable stories of people throughout Eastern Europe and in Cuba who, like Bulgaria’s dancing bears, are now free but who seem nostalgic for the time when they were not.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Intelligent, entertaining, & insightful
- By Kait on 07-23-19
By: Witold Szabłowski, and others
-
The Day the World Came to Town
- 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland
- By: Jim DeFede
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,042
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,669
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,653
When 38 jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land at Gander International Airport in Canada by the closing of US airspace on September 11, the population of this small town on Newfoundland Island swelled from 10,300 to nearly 17,000. The citizens of Gander met the stranded passengers with an overwhelming display of friendship and goodwill.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
👍👍 From one of the Plane People
- By Timothy on 12-30-19
By: Jim DeFede
-
Midnight in Siberia
- A Train Journey into the Heart of Russia
- By: David Greene
- Narrated by: David Greene
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 176
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 163
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 163
Through the stories of fellow travelers, Greene explores the challenges and opportunities facing the new Russia: a nation that boasts open elections and newfound prosperity yet still continues to endure oppression, corruption, and stark inequality. Set against the wintery landscape of Siberia, Greene’s lively travel narrative offers a glimpse into the soul of 20th century Russia: how its people remember their history and look forward to the future.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Long String of NPR Short Reports
- By Sara on 04-13-15
By: David Greene
-
Operation Whisper
- The Capture of Soviet Spies Morris and Lona Cohen
- By: Barnes Carr
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 53
In Operation Whisper, Barnes Carr tells the true story of the most effective Soviet spy couple in America, a pair who vanished under the FBI's nose only to turn up posing as rare book dealers in London, where they continued their atomic spying. The Cohens were talented, dedicated, worldly spies - an urbane, jet-set couple loyal to their service and their friends. Most people they met seemed to think they represented the best of America. The Soviets certainly thought so.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Too many facts details
- By Rebecca C. Browne on 10-02-17
By: Barnes Carr
-
The Last of the Doughboys
- The Forgotten Generation and Their Forgotten World War
- By: Richard Rubin
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 20 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 334
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 309
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 312
They were the final survivors of the millions who made up the American Expeditionary Forces, nineteenth-century men and women living in the twenty-first century. Self-reliant, humble, and stoic, they kept their stories to themselves for a lifetime, then shared them at the last possible moment so that they, and the war they won - the trauma that created our modern world - might at last be remembered. You will never forget them.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Flawed But Worthwhile: History Buffs Should Get It
- By Jim on 01-12-14
By: Richard Rubin
-
Factory Girls
- From Village to City in a Changing China
- By: Leslie T. Chang
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 421
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 265
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 261
A book of global significance that provides new insight into China, Factory Girls demonstrates how the mass movement from rural villages to cities is remaking individual lives and transforming Chinese society, much as immigration to America's shores remade our own country a century ago.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Living in Shenzhen - and What A Disappointment
- By Abstraction on 03-01-10
By: Leslie T. Chang
-
Charlie Mike
- A True Story of War and Finding the Way Home
- By: Joe Klein
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
In Charlie Mike, Joe Klein tells the dramatic story of Eric Greitens and Jake Wood, larger-than-life war heroes who come home and use their military discipline and values to help others. This is a story that hasn't been told before, one of the most hopeful to emerge from Iraq and Afghanistan - a saga of lives saved, not wasted.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Thank you for all. Aco. 2/14TH INF 10TH MNT
- By Wolf on 07-14-20
By: Joe Klein