Iron and Blood
A Military History of the German-Speaking Peoples Since 1500
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Iron and Blood
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Narrated by:
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Rory Alexander
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By:
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Peter H. Wilson
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
For most of its existence, German-speaking Europe has been splintered into innumerable states—some substantial (such as Austria and Prussia) and some consisting of just a few Alpine meadows. Its military experience has also been extraordinarily varied: threatened and threatening; a mere buffer-zone, and a global threat.
Iron and Blood is a startlingly ambitious and absorbing book. It encompasses five centuries of political, military, technological and economic change to tell the story of the German-speaking lands, from the Rhine to the Balkan frontier, from Switzerland to the North Sea. Wilson's narrative considers everything from weapons development to recruitment to battlefield strategy. Germans' military impact on the rest of Europe has been immense. If there is one constant it has been the sense of being beset by seemingly more powerful enemies—France or Russia or Turkey—and the need to strike a rapid knockout blow to ensure a favourable result. Almost inevitably, this has in practice meant protracted, relentless and often unwinnable wars, and—in 1939-1945—moral catastrophe.
The author of definitive books on the Holy Roman Empire and the Thirty Years War, Peter Wilson has with Iron and Blood written his masterpiece.
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Confusing and disorganized
- By BMC on 08-05-14
By: William Philpott
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Frederick the Great
- A Military History
- By: Dennis Showalter
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
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Story4 out of 5 stars 57
Frederick the Great is one of history's most important leaders. Famed for his military successes and domestic reforms, his campaigns were a watershed in the history of Europe, securing Prussia's place as a continental power and inaugurating a new pattern of total war that was to endure until 1916. However, much myth surrounds this enigmatic man's personality and his role as politician, warrior, and king.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Thrashed insensibly by over writing
- By Jeff Lacy on 09-27-20
By: Dennis Showalter
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Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces
- By: Steven R. Ward
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 18 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 63
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 57
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Story4 out of 5 stars 55
Immortal is the only single-volume English-language survey of Iran's military history. CIA analyst Steven R. Ward shows that Iran's soldiers, from the famed "Immortals" of ancient Persia to today's Revolutionary Guard, have demonstrated through the centuries that they should not be underestimated. This history also provides background on the nationalist, tribal, and religious heritages of the country to help listeners better understand Iran and its security outlook.
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5 out of 5 stars
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More than a military history
- By BehA on 01-21-17
By: Steven R. Ward
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Pandora’s Box
- A History of the First World War
- By: Jorn Leonhard, Patrick Camiller - translator
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 39 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 214
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 191
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 188
In this monumental history of the First World War, Germany's leading historian of the 20th century's first great catastrophe explains the war's origins, course, and consequences. With an unrivaled combination of depth and global reach, Pandora's Box reveals how profoundly the war shaped the world to come. Jörn Leonhard treats the clash of arms with a sure feel for grand strategy, the everyday tactics of dynamic movement and slow attrition, the race for ever more destructive technologies, and the grim experiences of frontline soldiers.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent reading of a complex book
- By chris on 02-26-19
By: Jorn Leonhard, and others
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The Splintered Empires
- The Eastern Front 1917-21
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 22 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 176
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 139
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 138
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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For the Common Defense, 3rd Edition
- A Military History of the United States from 1607 to 2012
- By: Allan R. Millett, Peter Maslowski, William B. Feis
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 33 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
Called "the preeminent survey of American military history" by Russell F. Weigley, America's foremost military historian, For the Common Defense is an essential contribution to the field of military history. This third edition provides the most complete and current history of United States defense policy and military institutions and the conduct of America's wars. Without diminishing the value of its earlier editions, authors Allan R. Millett, Peter Maslowski, and William B. Feis provide a fresh perspective on the continuing issues that characterize national security policy.
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3 out of 5 stars
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The chapters in the book are badly labled
- By Hermione on 01-31-23
By: Allan R. Millett, and others
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Imperial Germany and War, 1871-1918
- Modern War Studies
- By: Daniel J. Hughes, Richard L. DiNardo
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 21 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 181
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 156
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 155
Written by two of the world's leading authorities on the subject, Imperial Germany and War, 1871-1918 examines the most essential components of the imperial German military system, with an emphasis on such foundational areas as theory, doctrine, institutional structures, training, and the officer corps. In the period between 1871 and 1918, rapid technological development demanded considerable adaptation and change in military doctrine and planning.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very well researched
- By Jeff Wise on 04-27-20
By: Daniel J. Hughes, and others
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Putin's Wars
- From Chechnya to Ukraine
- By: Mark Galeotti
- Narrated by: David Sibley
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 105
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 92
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 93
Putin's Wars is a timely overview of the conflicts in which Russia has been involved since Vladimir Putin became prime minister and then president of Russia, from the First Chechen War to the two military incursions into Georgia, the annexation of Crimea and the eventual invasion of Ukraine itself. But it also looks more broadly at Putin's recreation of Russian military power and its expansion to include a range of new capabilities, from mercenaries to operatives in a relentless information war against Western powers.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Botched Attempt on Russian Stress
- By Alexey B. on 12-20-22
By: Mark Galeotti
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The First World War
- By: Hew Strachan
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 166
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 146
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 146
A century has passed since the outbreak of World War I, yet as military historian Hew Strachan argues in this brilliant and authoritative new book, the legacy of the "war to end all wars" is with us still. The First World War was a truly global conflict from the start, with many of the most decisive battles fought in or directly affecting the Balkans, Africa, and the Ottoman Empire. Even more than World War II, the First World War continues to shape the politics and international relations of our world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding narrative of the military action
- By Tad Davis on 04-30-17
By: Hew Strachan
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Hitler's Great Gamble
- A New Look at German Strategy, Operation Barbarossa, and the Axis Defeat in World War II
- By: James Ellman
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 64
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
On June 22, 1941, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, one of the turning points of World War II. Within six months, the invasion bogged down on the outskirts of Moscow, and the Eastern Front proved to be the decisive theater in the defeat of the Third Reich. Ever since, most historians have agreed that this was Hitler's gravest mistake. In Hitler's Great Gamble, James Ellman argues that while Barbarossa was a gamble and perverted by genocidal Nazi ideology, it was not doomed from the start.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Full of good information and a pretty well established thesis
- By S. H. Moore on 11-28-20
By: James Ellman
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The Savior Generals
- How Five Great Commanders Saved Wars That Were Lost - From Ancient Greece to Iraq
- By: Victor Davis Hanson
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 351
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 314
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 313
Prominent military historian Victor Davis Hanson explores the nature of leadership with his usual depth and vivid prose in The Savior Generals, a set of brilliantly executed pocket biographies of five generals (Themistocles, Belisarius, William Tecumseh Sherman, Matthew Ridgway, and David Petraeus) who single-handedly saved their nations from defeat in war. War is rarely a predictable enterprise - it is a mess of luck, chance, and incalculable variables. Today's sure winner can easily become tomorrow's doomed loser.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A good history book tells about human nature.
- By Doruk Denkel on 03-03-20
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The Pursuit of Power
- Technology, Armed Force, and Society since A.D. 1000
- By: William H. McNeill
- Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
In this magnificent synthesis of military, technological, and social history, William H. McNeill explores a whole millennium of human upheaval and traces the path by which we have arrived at the frightening dilemmas that now confront us. McNeill moves with equal mastery from the crossbow - banned by the Church in 1139 as too lethal for Christians to use against one another - to the nuclear missile, from the sociological consequences of drill in the 17th century to the emergence of the military-industrial complex in the 20th.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant, lucid history
- By Ariel on 07-04-22
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The Gulf War
- A Captivating Guide to the United States-Led Persian Gulf War Against Iraq for Their Invasion and Annexation of Kuwait
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Jaime Peters
- Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 37
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 36
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
Today, it is known by many names, like the First Iraq War, Kuwait War, and, most commonly, the Gulf War or the First Gulf War. It was a rather short conflict, lasting just shy of seven months between late 1990 and early 1991. Yet, it was still rather impactful because it showcased several essential innovations and changes in political and technological aspects of warfare, some of which are still part of modern conflicts.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Title should be "In defense of Sadam"
- By michael doucette on 03-17-22
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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 692
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 578
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 574
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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Storm Clouds over the Pacific, 1931-1941
- War in the Far East Series, Book 1
- By: Peter Harmsen
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
Storm Clouds over the Pacific begins the story long before Pearl Harbor, showing how the war can only be understood if ancient hatreds and long-standing geopolitics are taken into account. Harmsen demonstrates how Japan and China's ancient enmity led to increased tensions in the 1930s, which, in turn, exploded into conflict in 1937.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Interesting Story
- By Coach Mark on 03-25-23
By: Peter Harmsen
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Hitler
- A Global Biography
- By: Brendan Simms
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 29 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 79
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
Hitler offers a deeply learned and radically revisionist biography, arguing that the dictator's main strategic enemy, from the start of his political career in the 1920s, was not communism or the Soviet Union, but capitalism and the United States. Whereas most historians have argued that Hitler underestimated the American threat, Simms shows that Hitler embarked on a preemptive war with the United States precisely because he considered it such a potent adversary.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A good biography with a different viewpoint
- By Timothy on 10-10-19
By: Brendan Simms