The Rise of Germany, 1939-1941
The War in The West, Volume 1
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Narrated by:
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Paul Boehmer
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By:
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James Holland
About this listen
For seven decades, our understanding of World War II has been shaped by a standard narrative built on conventional wisdom, propaganda, the dramatic but narrow experiences of soldiers on the ground, and an early generation of historians. For his new history, James Holland has spent over 12 years unearthing new research, recording original testimony, and visiting battlefields and archives that have never before been so accessible.
In The Rise of Germany, the first of a major new three-part history of World War II in the West, he weaves together the experiences of dozens of individuals, from civilians and infantrymen to line officers, military strategists, diplomats, and heads of state, as well as war strategy, tactics, and the economic, political, and social aspects of the war to create a captivating audiobook that redefines and enhances our understanding of one of the most significant conflicts in history.
Beginning with the lead-up to the outbreak of war in 1939 and ending in 1941 on the eve of Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of Russia, The Rise of Germany is a masterful history of the war on land, in the air, and at sea, destined to generate significant scholarly debate and listener interest.
Download the accompanying reference guide.©2015 James Holland. First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Bantam Press, an imprint of Transworld Publishers. Recorded by arrangement with Grove Atlantic, Inc. (P)2015 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Overall
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- Unabridged
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Sir Alistair Horne has been a close observer of war and history for more than 50 years, and in this wise and masterly work he revisits six battles of the past century and examines the strategies, leadership, preparation, and geopolitical goals of aggressors and defenders to reveal the one trait that links them all: hubris.
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I Never Heard W ll Explained this Way!
- By John on 09-01-16
By: Alistair Horne
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Neptune
- The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings
- By: Craig L. Symonds
- Narrated by: Craig L. Symonds
- Length: 15 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Seventy years ago, more than 6000 Allied ships carried more than a million soldiers across the English Channel to a 50-mile-wide strip of the Normandy coast in German-occupied France. It was the greatest sea-borne assault in human history. The code names given to the beaches where the ships landed the soldiers have become immortal: Gold, Juno, Sword, Utah, and especially Omaha, the scene of almost unimaginable human tragedy.
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The Whys of D-Day
- By Mike From Mesa on 02-09-15
By: Craig L. Symonds
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Dunkirk
- The Complete Story of the First Step in the Defeat of Hitler
- By: Norman Gelb
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1940, the last patch of resistance to the Nazi war machine was a little strip of beach whose name would soon be famous around the world: Dunkirk. Over 300,000 Allied soldiers crowded into the little harbor. If Hitler destroyed them, Britain would be left defenseless, and the war would almost be over. The British had other ideas. Over the next ten days, the people of Britain launched an unprecedented rescue effort. Countless little ships steamed forth from every port in England to bring the boys back home.
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The Real Dunkirk Story: Not the Movie Version
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 08-09-17
By: Norman Gelb
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The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume I: Visions of Glory 1874-1932
- By: William Manchester
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 41 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Winston Churchill is perhaps the most important political figure of the 20th century. His great oratory and leadership during the Second World War were only part of his huge breadth of experience and achievement. Studying his life is a fascinating way to imbibe the history of his era and gain insight into key events that have shaped our time.
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Superb - Review of Both Volume I & Volume II
- By Wolfpacker on 01-23-09
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The Second World War
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 39 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Over the past two decades, Antony Beevor has established himself as one of the world's premier historians of World War II. His multi-award winning books have included Stalingrad and The Fall of Berlin 1945. Now, in his newest and most ambitious book, he turns his focus to one of the bloodiest and most tragic events of the twentieth century, The Second World War. Thrillingly written and brilliantly researched, Beevor's provocative account is destined to become the definitive work on World War II.
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It Fills in Gaps I Didn't Know Existed
- By DJM on 07-31-12
By: Antony Beevor
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Retribution
- The Battle for Japan, 1944 - 45
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 27 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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In his critically acclaimed Armageddon, Hastings detailed the last twelve months of the struggle for Germany. Here, in what can be considered a companion volume, he covers the horrific story of the war against Japan. By the summer of 1944 it was clear that Japan’s defeat was inevitable, but how the drive to victory would be achieved remained to be seen. The ensuing drama–that ended in Japan’s utter devastation–was acted out across the vast stage of Asia.
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A superb study by one of the world's finest histor
- By Easton Reader on 12-22-16
By: Max Hastings
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Desert Fox
- The Storied Military Career of Erwin Rommel
- By: Samuel W. Mitcham Jr.
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the strange and fascinating life of Erwin Rommel, from his days as a youth in Imperial Germany - when he had a child out of wedlock with an early girlfriend - through his lauded military exploits during World War I to his death by suicide during World War II, after he attempted a failed coup against Hitler. Rommel was a man of contradictions: a soldier who wrote a best-selling book about World War I, a commander who went from commanding Hitler's bodyguard to trying to kill him, and a serious military mind who was known for participating in practical jokes.
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Amazing Detail, Amazing Story!
- By Al888 on 05-19-19
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Engineers of Victory
- The Problem Solvers Who Turned the Tide in the Second World War
- By: Paul Kennedy
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Paul Kennedy, award-winning author of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers and one of today’s most renowned historians, now provides a new and unique look at how World War II was won. Engineers of Victory is a fascinating nuts-and-bolts account of the strategic factors that led to Allied victory. Kennedy reveals how the leaders’ grand strategy was carried out by the ordinary soldiers, scientists, engineers, and businessmen responsible for realizing their commanders’ visions of success.
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Misleading title
- By Thomas on 04-10-14
By: Paul Kennedy
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Patton, Montgomery, Rommel
- Masters of War
- By: Terry Brighton
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In the Second World War, the United States, Great Britain, and Germany each produced one land-force commander who stood out from the rest: George Patton, Bernard Montgomery, and Erwin Rommel. All were arrogant, publicity seeking, and personally flawed, yet each possessed a genius for command and an unrivaled enthusiasm for combat.
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Excellent ... Patton, Montgomery, Rommel
- By John VandenBrook on 01-10-10
By: Terry Brighton
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Crete 1941
- The Battle and the Resistance
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Nazi Germany expected its airborne attack on Crete in 1941 to be a textbook victory based on tactical surprise. Little did they know that the British, using Ultra intercepts, had already laid a careful trap. It should have been the first German defeat of the war, but a fatal misunderstanding turned the battle around.
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Engrossing
- By Jean on 02-01-16
By: Antony Beevor
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When Tigers Ruled the Sky
- The Flying Tigers: American Outlaw Pilots over China in World War II
- By: Bill Yenne
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1940 Pearl Harbor had not yet happened, and America was not yet at war with Japan. But China had been trying to stave off Japanese aggression for three years - and was desperate for aircraft and trained combat pilots. General Chiang Kai-shek sent military aviation advisor Claire Chennault to Washington, where President Roosevelt was sympathetic but knew he could not intervene overtly. Instead he quietly helped Chennault put together a group of American volunteer pilots.
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A Well Written Historical Perspective
- By Donald Hill on 11-21-17
By: Bill Yenne
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Great writing, great narration, interesting topic
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As the new year of 1944 began in Italy, the Allied army’s momentum had ground to a halt just south of the vaunted German Gustav Line of defense, far short of their initial objective of liberating Rome by Christmas. The fighting up the Italian peninsula had been brutal—rugged terrain, fierce resistance, terrible weather. While Allied leaders in London prepared for the cross-Channel invasion of France later that spring, the war in the West hinged in Italy.
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No “petulant hatred” found
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War in the Air: Sets stage with gripping narrative
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All the details
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Great writing, great narration, interesting topic
- By ItalCali on 08-02-21
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Cassino '44
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As the new year of 1944 began in Italy, the Allied army’s momentum had ground to a halt just south of the vaunted German Gustav Line of defense, far short of their initial objective of liberating Rome by Christmas. The fighting up the Italian peninsula had been brutal—rugged terrain, fierce resistance, terrible weather. While Allied leaders in London prepared for the cross-Channel invasion of France later that spring, the war in the West hinged in Italy.
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No “petulant hatred” found
- By Gabby J on 11-21-24
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Big Week
- The Biggest Air Battle of World War II
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During the third week of February 1944, the combined Allied air forces based in Britain and Italy launched their first round-the-clock bomber offensive against Germany. Their goal: to smash the main factories and production centers of the Luftwaffe while also drawing German planes into an aerial battle of attrition to neutralize the Luftwaffe as a fighting force prior to the cross-channel invasion, planned for a few months later. Officially called Operation ARGUMENT, this aerial offensive quickly became known as “Big Week,” and it was one of the turning-points of World War II.
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War in the Air: Sets stage with gripping narrative
- By Nashville Cat on 11-17-18
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Burma '44
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The Battle of Britain
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The Battle of Britain paints a stirring picture of an extraordinary summer when the fate of the world hung by a thread. Historian James Holland has now written the definitive account of those months based on extensive new research from around the world, including thousands of new interviews with people on both sides of the battle.
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The battle up to The Battle of Britain
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Dam Busters
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The night of 16 May, 1943: Nineteen specially adapted Lancaster bombers take off from RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, each with a huge 9000-lb cylindrical bomb strapped underneath it. Their mission: to destroy three dams deep within the German heartland, which provide the lifeblood to the industries supplying the Third Reich's war machine.
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A must for anyone interested in Air Warfare
- By Jim In Texas! on 03-24-14
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The Savage Storm
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Following victory in Sicily, while the central command planned the spring 1944 invasion of France, Allied troops crossed into Southern Italy in September 1943, expecting to drive Axis forces north and liberate Rome by Christmas. Italy quickly surrendered but German divisions fiercely resisted, and the hoped-for quick victory descended into one of the most challenging and protracted battles of the entire war. James Holland’s The Savage Storm chronicles the dramatic opening months of the Italian Campaign in unflinching and insightful detail.
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Fast paced and engaging with superb narration
- By Michael Kiehn on 11-27-24
By: James Holland
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Beda Fomm to Operation Crusader, 1940-41
- Desert Armour: Tank Warfare in North Africa
- By: Robert Forczyk
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Robert Forczyk covers the development of armored warfare in North Africa from the earliest Anglo-Italian engagements in 1940 to the British victory over the German Afrikakorps in Operation Crusader in 1941. The war in the North African desert was pure mechanized warfare, and in many respects the most technologically advanced theatre of World War II. It was also the only theatre where for three years British and Commonwealth, and later United States, troops were in constant contact with Axis forces.
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Too many details, not enough context
- By MortonC on 09-01-24
By: Robert Forczyk
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Hero City
- Leningrad 1943–44
- By: Prit Buttar
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At the height of World War II the people of Leningrad endured a bitter 900-day siege. Prit Buttar tells the story of how the siege was finally broken. The Red Army had suffered multiple setbacks in the preceding two years but achieved a partial success by breaking the blockage in early 1943. However, this was followed by further failed attempts to lift the siege completely. This compelling history uses original Russian source material to vividly describe the deprivations visited upon those trapped. But it also details the tactical successes and strategic failures of both sides.
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Another great Prit Buttar book
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Operation Typhoon
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David Stahel's groundbreaking new account of Operation Typhoon captures the perspectives of both the German high command and individual soldiers, revealing that despite success on the battlefield the wider German war effort was in far greater trouble than is often acknowledged.
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The German POV of difficulty
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By: David Stahel
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Hitler's Panzer Generals
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Germany's success in the Second World War was built upon its tank forces; however, many of its leading generals, with the notable exception of Heinz Guderian, are largely unknown. This biographical study of four German panzer army commanders serving on the Eastern Front is based upon their unpublished wartime letters to their wives. David Stahel offers a complete picture of the men conducting Hitler's war in the East, with an emphasis on the private fears and public pressures they operated under.
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Unique and intriguing study of the Panzer Leaders of 1941
- By Rodney W. Schmisseur on 03-06-24
By: David Stahel
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The Battle of Arnhem
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- By: Antony Beevor
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On September 17, 1944, General Kurt Student, the founder of Nazi Germany's parachute forces, heard the groaning roar of airplane engines. He went out onto his balcony above the flat landscape of southern Holland to watch the air armada of Dakotas and gliders, carrying the legendary American 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions and the British 1st Airborne Division. Operation Market Garden, the plan to end the war by capturing the bridges leading to the Lower Rhine and beyond, was a bold concept, but could it have ever worked? The cost of failure was horrendous, above all for the Dutch.
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Fighting a lost war
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By: Antony Beevor
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The Wehrmacht's Last Stand: The German Campaigns of 1944-1945
- Modern War Studies
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- Narrated by: Tom Beyer
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By 1943, the war was lost, and most German officers knew it. What kept the German army going in an increasingly hopeless situation? Where some historians have found explanations in the power of Hitler or the role of ideology, Robert M. Citino, the world's leading scholar on the subject, posits a more straightforward solution: Bewegungskrieg, the way of war cultivated by the Germans over the course of history. In this book, Citino charts the path by which Bewegungskrieg, or a "war of movement," inexorably led to Nazi Germany's defeat.
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The fake English with a pseudo German accent,
- By Neil on 11-29-24
By: Robert M. Citino
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Inferno
- The World at War, 1939-1945
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 31 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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From one of our finest military historians, a monumental work that shows us at once the truly global reach of World War II and its deeply personal consequences.
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Superb
- By David on 04-05-21
By: Max Hastings
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The Confederacy's Last Hurrah
- Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville
- By: Wiley Sword
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 22 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Though he barely escaped expulsion from West Point, John Bell Hood quickly rose through the ranks of the Confederate army. With bold leadership in the battles of Gaines' Mill and Antietam, Hood won favor with Confederate president Jefferson Davis. But his fortunes in war took a tragic turn when he assumed command of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. After the fall of Atlanta, Hood marched his troops north in an attempt to draw Union army general William T. Sherman from his devastating "March to the Sea." But the ploy proved ruinous for the South.
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Oh dear, pronunciation again
- By Charles on 08-07-20
By: Wiley Sword
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Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front, 1941-1942
- Schwerpunkt
- By: Robert A. Forczyk
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Robert Forczyk's incisive study offers fresh insight into how the two most powerful mechanized armies of WWII developed their tactics and weaponry during the early years of the Russo-German War. He uses German, Russian, and English sources to provide the first comprehensive overview and analysis of armored warfare from the German and Soviet perspectives.
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A Great work on tank warfare
- By Anonymous User on 03-22-24
What listeners say about The Rise of Germany, 1939-1941
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Patrick Hartnett
- 06-30-19
A must listen!
James Holland sheds new light on a subject that many may believe has been covered to the point of exhaustion!! From his re-examination of the myth of Wehrmacht mechanization and “blitzkrieg” to his in depth look at the nuts and bolts operational level of the war.
Paul Boehmer does a magnificent job narrating! Right down to spot on pronunciations of names and technical terminology along with various accents that, along with tone help keep a 28hr book alive and interesting!
Looking forward to volumes 2 and 3 of this series!!
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2 people found this helpful
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- John Ciccariello
- 07-31-21
Epic
listened to part 1, 2, 3 in reverse. Fascinating. The authors level of detail and use of personal storys is great
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- Lance Hutchinson
- 04-30-16
Excellent
I'm glad I ignored some of the other reviews. I personally thought it was well-written and well performed. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the events between 1939 and 1941.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Bobby Lopez
- 03-06-19
Kept my interest all the way through
I really appreciated how Holland emphasizes aspects about the war that are often ignored, such as logistics and industrial output. He doesn’t set out to show how powerful Germany was compared to a weak France, but instead reveals the opposite: France was still one of the most powerful industrialized nations in the world by 1940, and Germany’s apparent mechanization was only still developing. German victory over Poland, Norway, France, and Greece was indeed swift, but it came at a tremendous cost of lives and machines and relied on near reckless risk-taking.
Some people said they couldn’t stand the narrator, but I thought he was fine. I definitely will be listening to more James Holland books.
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- J.Brock
- 11-05-21
Another stunner from James Holland
James Holland is at his best here. The history of the beginnings of WWII, this being part 1 before the US is trust into the effort completely, is not a new undertaking. The history of the Third Reich has been told repeatedly, but Holland always brings a well o under and personal perspective. He’s able to at once maintain an overall perspective mixed with first person accounts. It’s brilliant as ever. What a stunning work. Paul Boehmer is exceptional here.
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- Mike From Mesa
- 01-08-17
The logistics of war
One modern day general said that “arm chair” generals speak of strategy while real generals worry about supply and logistics and that is one of the things this book discusses in detail - how the logistics of war affect the fighting war. I have read many books on World War II but none of them ever paid anything more than lip service to the constraints imposed on war strategy by the need for proper supplies, maintenance and repairs, while that is perhaps the main thrust of this book.
Why did the Allies only use Sherman tanks later in the war? Because it simplified the need for supply, training, maintenance and repair. What affect did the quality of the German soldier’s “kit” have on the German war effort? You will find the answer in this book. How about the Allies’ need to standardize rifle bullet calibers? Again, read this book. While this book covers the basics of the war itself, its main concern is the steps taken by the Allies to standardize as much as could be standardized between the Allies to make the task of resupply and repair as easy as possible.
I personally found the book very interesting but also found it a bit jarring to come across a large number of “British-isms”, many of which I had not heard before. The author and the narrator are British so this should not be a surprise and common British terms such as “spot on”, “put paid to” and “done for” were not a surprise, but I had to check on the exact meaning of terms like “teeth sucking”, “getting up the noses” and “keen as mustard”. Added to that I found the narrator’s voice and pronunciation to be a bit difficult. I suppose the British, living a lot closer to Europe than Americans, tend to try to be more accurate in their pronunciation of non-English words and that is certainly true for this narrator. Still, after listening a bit I found the odd, but properly proper, pronunciations to lend a more accurate feeling to the book and to be a net positive rather than a negative.
This is far from being either the most interesting or most informative book I have read on the European Theater of World War II, but it has the advantage of tacking an issue that I have never seen handled properly before and that certainly added to my interest in this book. I found myself torn between giving the book 5 stars for being the only book I have read that treated the logistics of the war as being important and 4 stars as it simultaneously disregarded other important aspects of the war. In the end I decided on 4 stars as I felt that this book did not have either the same interest or immediacy as some of the truly great books on the European Theater of World War II. Still, I recommend it for anyone really interested in how the various armies struggled to fight during the initial part of the war. I am looking forward to the second volume.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Chris Crutchfield
- 02-16-16
Great view of the events.
Loved the research. I have read others on the subject the point of view was refreshing different.
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3 people found this helpful
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- M Wilson
- 11-22-17
Freshly informative account..
Having read widely on WW2 it is a challenge to find a fresh and newly informative account of events - this account by Mr Holland hits the mark, is engaging informative and has a great historical and personal view point woven thru the book, well done Sir, I look forward to the second book in the series...
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- Marty Aron
- 04-24-20
Excellent historical story telling.
Good story telling supported by solid research and logical development. The focus on logistics and its impact on military and political decisions is a key to the narrative.
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- Sean
- 03-08-16
Reader striving for linguistic accuracy
Where does The Rise of Germany, 1939-1941 rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
The reader reviews really had me worried until I listened and realized he had put great effort in to getting all of the French, German and even English pronunciation accurate. We are so used to lazy anglicized versions that the correct pronunciation does seem somewhat jarring, but after a short while it really adds to the authenticity.
What other book might you compare The Rise of Germany, 1939-1941 to and why?
I have read all of the classic WW II books from Churchill to Shirer but none of them capture the personal accounts or the macro economics of the war the way this book does. I thought the publisher was making outlandish claims when they promised a new perspective, but I think the book actually lived up to this. I am now waiting eagerly for the second book.
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4 people found this helpful