Hitler's War

By: Harry Turtledove

Narrated by: John Allen Nelson

A stroke of the pen and history is changed. In 1938, British prime minister Neville Chamberlain, determined to avoid war at any cost, signed the Munich Accord, ceding part of Czechoslovakia to Hitler. But the following spring, Hitler snatched the rest of that country and pushed beyond its borders. World War II had begun, and England, after a fatal act of appeasement, was fighting a war for which it was not prepared.

Now, in this thrilling, provocative, and fascinating alternate history by Harry Turtledove, another scenario is played out: What if Chamberlain had not signed the accord? What if Hitler had acted rashly, before his army was ready - would such impatience have helped him or doomed him faster? Here is an action-packed, blow-by-blow chronicle of the war that might have been - and the repercussions that might have echoed through history - had Hitler reached too far, too soon, and too fast.

Turtledove uses dozens of points of view to tell this story: from American marines serving in Japanese-occupied China to members of a Jewish German family with a proud history of war service to their nation, from ragtag volunteers fighting in the Abraham Lincoln Battalion in Spain to an American woman desperately trying to escape Nazi-occupied territory - and witnessing the war from within the belly of the beast.

A novel that reveals the human face of war while simultaneously riding the twists and turns that make up the great acts of history, Hitler's War is the beginning of an exciting new alternate history saga. Here is a tale of powerful leaders and ordinary people, of spies, soldiers, and traitors, of the shifting alliances that draw some together while tearing others apart. At once authoritative, brilliantly imaginative, and hugely entertaining, Hitler's War captures the beginning of a very different World War II - with a very different fate for our world today.

©2009 Harry Turtledove (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Turtledove is always good, but this return to World War II, one of his favorite turfs, is genuinely brilliant." ( Booklist)

If only Nelson knew how to pronounce words

I would think a professional should find out how to pronounce words he's unfamiliar with. He does seem familiar with German and Russian pronunciations but...
The most grating thing is his pronouncing the final "s" in the pejorative "bosches" for Germans. His other errors are frequent enough to seriously distract from the story. I admit that in the later books someone has told him about some of his errors ("submariner" comes to mind) but he continues to mispronounce others.
It's a shame, his repertoire of voices makes it easy to recognize different characters, if only he didn't have this flaw...

Really good

Would you consider the audio edition of Hitler's War to be better than the print version?

With the narration like this it is really expirience to listen to story. The second narrator in otjer parts of the saga is also very good. Highest raking for the narration ans strory.

Must agree about narration

Decent story from Turtledove but must agree with other comments about the reader of this book - awful. Accents all over the place, I think the golden rule is if you can't do it naturally then don't try ! To emphasise the point am now listyening to the second book and it's huge improvement.

For any fan of WW2 and alternate History

If you enjoy WW2 whether the war or the many homefront you will hear it all. from Russian bomber, famous Stuka pilot, a jewish family in germany, an american woman in berlin, and many more. Please take a listen and enjoy.

Wonderful story

Easy to follow, well written and well read. I am looking forward to the rest of the series

good book, lackluster narration

the narrator takes an great topic and make it sound as exciting as pain drying

Hitler's War by Harry Turtledove

PURCHASE THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT IS AN ENGAGING AND COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE EARLY YEARS OF HITLER'S RISE TO POWER, INCLUDING LITTLE KNOWN FACTS. I almost didn't purchase this narrated volume because it received very average reader ratings and reviews. The objection in general related to the quality of the narration. The narrator John Allen Nelson faced a daunting task in that he had to employ several different European accents in order to effectively tell this facinating story of dramatized history. I strongly believe that Mr. Nelson's narration was excellent and I would highly recommend this work to anyone interested in the actions leading to the outbreak of World War II in Europe. Fact based alternative scenarios make this book especially interesting for any fan of contemporary world history.

Great book, terrible voice acting

Just like the title says. It’s really a shame such an interesting series is being dragged down by such a terrible voice actor

Not his best work

Any additional comments?

A bit to slow and does not pull you in like of Turtledove's books. I have started it twice and put it down. But if you like his other books you may want to give it a try.

Interesting

Turtledove attempts to deliver again and thus far in this tread he seems to be doing so. He attacks the question: what if WWII started a bit earlier, with the Allies declaring war instead of handing over Czechoslovakia? Thus far, much of the gist of WWII seems to be following as it did in our history, but several events are developing that allude to some interesting turns. The ending is a cliffhanger. This book has the feel of another great Turtledove saga, and those can often go on for 7 or more books, so beware before getting too deeply into this.