The Great Commanders
Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Horatio Nelson, Napoleon Bonaparte, Ulysses S. Grant, Georgi Zhukov
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The Great Commanders
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Narrated by:
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Phil Grabsky
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By:
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Phil Grabsky
About this listen
The Great Commanders is a masterly portrait of six men - Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Horatio Nelson, Napoleon Bonaparte, Ulysses S. Grant and Georgi Zhukov - whose military genius changed the course of world history. Providing a refreshing new opportunity to compare soldiers from such disparate backgrounds and periods, each chapter focuses on the life and achievements of one of the commanders, considering their motivation, overall strategy, tactical skill, and the vital importance of each man's special personal qualities. What forces drove them? Did Nelson's legendary victory at Trafalgar in 1805 derive from his brilliance as a naval tactician alone? Does Marshal Zhukov's triumphant conquest of Berlin in 1945 justify the claim that he was the greatest general of the Second World War?
Concentrating on one battle in particular for each commander, this penetrating study brilliantly illustrates the thinking, method, and individual dynamism behind the great military campaign.
©1993 Phil Grabsky (P)2012 Phil GrabskyListeners also enjoyed...
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- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 36
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Story5 out of 5 stars 35
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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Masters of Command
- Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, and the Genius of Leadership
- By: Barry Strauss
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 134
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 119
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 119
Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar: Each was a master of war. Each had to look beyond the battlefield to decide whom to fight and why; to know what victory was and when to end the war; to determine how to bring stability to the lands he conquered. Alexander, Hannibal, and Caesar had to be not only generals but statesmen. And yet each was a battlefield commander, a strategist, a leader of men - in short, a warrior.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Too much jumping around
- By Nick on 03-12-17
By: Barry Strauss
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The Fall of Carthage
- The Punic Wars 265-146BC
- By: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,571
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,352
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,346
The struggle between Rome and Carthage in the Punic Wars was arguably the greatest and most desperate conflict of antiquity. The forces involved and the casualties suffered by both sides were far greater than in any wars fought before the modern era, while the eventual outcome had far-reaching consequences for the history of the Western World, namely the ascendancy of Rome. An epic of war and battle, this is also the story of famous generals and leaders: Hannibal, Fabius Maximus, Scipio Africanus, and his grandson Scipio Aemilianus, who would finally bring down the walls of Carthage.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Captivating
- By Jean on 03-25-19
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Moment of Battle
- The Twenty Clashes That Changed the World
- By: James Lacey, Williamson Murray
- Narrated by: Kevin Foley
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
From the great clashes of antiquity to the high-tech wars of the twenty-first century, here are the stories of the twenty most consequential battles ever fought, including Marathon, where Greece's "greatest generation" repelled Persian forces three times their numbers-and saved Western civilization in its infancy.
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5 out of 5 stars
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In Depth
- By L. Sands on 09-26-16
By: James Lacey, and others
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The Cambridge History of Warfare
- By: Geoffrey Parker
- Narrated by: Andrew Cullum
- Length: 21 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 69
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
The new edition of The Cambridge History of Warfare, written and updated by a team of eight distinguished military historians, examines how war was waged by Western powers across a sweeping timeframe beginning with classical Greece and Rome, moving through the Middle Ages and the early modern period, down to the wars of the 21st century in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Too anglocentric
- By A. Siegel on 10-27-22
By: Geoffrey Parker
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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 57
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Story4 out of 5 stars 51
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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In the Name of Rome
- The Men Who Won the Roman Empire
- By: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 17 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 593
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 532
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 531
Adrian Goldsworthy has received wide acclaim for his exceptional writing on the Roman Empire - including high praise from the acclaimed military historian and author John Keegan - and here he offers a new perspective on the empire by focusing on its greatest generals, including Scipio Africanus, Marius, Pompey, Caesar, and Titus.
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2 out of 5 stars
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This pie was all crust, no filling
- By JLB on 04-11-17
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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 66
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
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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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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The Allure of Battle
- A History of How Wars Have Been Won and Lost
- By: Cathal J. Nolan
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 25 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 185
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 153
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 152
History has tended to measure war's winners and losers in terms of its major engagements, battles in which the result was so clear-cut that they could be considered "decisive". Cannae, Konigsberg, Austerlitz, Midway, Agincourt - all resonate in the literature of war and in our imaginations as tide-turning. But these legendary battles may or may not have determined the final outcome of the wars in which they were fought. Cathal J. Nolan's The Allure of Battle systematically and engrossingly examines the great battles, tracing what he calls "short-war thinking".
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2 out of 5 stars
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Missing important facts and not well researched
- By Andrew on 02-24-18
By: Cathal J. Nolan
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Hannibal
- By: Ernle Bradford
- Narrated by: Peter Jones
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
At the bloody battle of Cannae, he trounced a Roman army twice the size of his own. With his brothers, he subdued nearly all of Italy, Spain and Northern Africa. A cunning tactician, he secured victory for Bithynia at sea by catapulting poisonous snakes onto the decks of his enemy’s ships. Biographer Ernle Bradford draws on the historical writings of Livy, Polybius, Plutarch and others in re-creating the fantastic story of the greatest general since Alexander the Great.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Perfect Balance of Narrative and Analysis
- By John on 11-28-23
By: Ernle Bradford
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The Ghosts of Cannae
- Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic
- By: Robert L. O'Connell
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 371
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 262
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 260
For fans of Victor Davis Hanson, Donald Kagan, and Barry Strauss comes a rich, sweeping account of the most imitated---and vicious---battle in history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Hannibal's Legacy
- By Douglas on 11-10-10
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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 690
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 577
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 573
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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Carnage and Culture
- Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power
- By: Victor Davis Hanson
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 20 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 310
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 278
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Story5 out of 5 stars 277
Examining nine landmark battles from ancient to modern times - from Salamis, where outnumbered Greeks devastated the slave army of Xerxes, to Cortes' conquest of Mexico to the Tet offensive - Victor Davis Hanson explains why the armies of the West have been the most lethal and effective of any fighting forces in the world. Looking beyond popular explanations such as geography or superior technology, Hanson argues that it is in fact Western culture and values which have consistently produced superior arms and soldiers.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wow! This truly is a great book. A rarity!
- By GEJ on 11-12-19
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The Compleat Victory
- Saratoga and the American Revolution
- By: Kevin Weddle
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 18 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 57
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Story5 out of 5 stars 50
In the late summer and fall of 1777, after two years of indecisive fighting on both sides, the outcome of the American War of Independence hung in the balance. Having successfully expelled the Americans from Canada in 1776, the British were determined to end the rebellion the following year and devised what they believed a war-winning strategy, sending General John Burgoyne south to rout the Americans and take Albany.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A reasonable summary of the revolutionary War of the Northern Army
- By Astrobuf on 12-22-23
By: Kevin Weddle
What listeners say about The Great Commanders
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mark
- 11-20-14
Broad, and High Level History
I picked up the Great Commanders primarily because the title seemed to cover such a diverse group of Military Leaders, many of whom I knew little about. The book was very enjoyable and one that I would recommend for World History buffs. The author treated each of the Commanders in a very even handed manner - noting good and bad character traits that they appeared to exhibit. Of particular interest to me was what seemed to be the motivating factor for each of the Commanders that are detailed in the book - some were fighting simply for glory, some for their very survival, and some for an ideal or a particular vision that they held. The book was enjoyable and one that I would recommend, but I will say that the content is high level and not incredibly detailed. If you are looking for detailed information of the individual commanders themselves then I would probably recommend reading biographies in lieu of this one. The narration was enthusiastic and for the most part above average.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- bike_reviewer
- 09-15-17
Great and quick to listen to
The author did a fantastic job of summarizing the lives of figures and included lots of details that are not available in your average history book.
It was enjoyable to listen to as well. It took about 30 minutes for me to get used to the British accent however.
Great book!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- McKenzie
- 03-04-20
A decent yet shallow exploration of commanders.
The book is short, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. it provides a decent overview of these various military commanders but it never goes in depth enough to really feel substantial. It also has a few inaccuracies such as calling Ulysses S Grant the 15th President rather than the 18th. Overall it provides a good overview and starting point for research but shouldn't be the main source.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 05-14-19
Fantastic
A quick and informative walk in the shoes of great men. Not overly packed with information and very well written. Narrator was awesome.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- lupe
- 10-16-18
Awesome book
Love the the information and stories of these unforgettable men. The narrator is pleasant to listen as well. Great book and audio over all.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Patrick M DaBiere
- 07-26-21
An excellent overview
An excellent overview of Great Commanders thought out history. In listening to this book it has inspired me to listen to more complete biographies of some of these mentioned in this book. I would recommend it, as it is an easy and informative book.
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