The Thirty Years War
Europe's Tragedy
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Narrated by:
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Matthew Waterson
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By:
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Peter H. Wilson
About this listen
The Thirty Years War devastated seventeenth-century Europe, killing nearly a quarter of all Germans and laying waste to towns and countryside alike. Peter Wilson offers the first new history in a generation of a horrifying conflict that transformed the map of the modern world.
When defiant Bohemians tossed the Habsburg emperor's envoys from the castle windows in Prague in 1618, the Holy Roman Empire struck back with a vengeance. Bohemia was ravaged by mercenary troops in the first battle of a conflagration that would engulf Europe from Spain to Sweden. The sweeping narrative encompasses dramatic events and unforgettable individuals—the sack of Magdeburg; the Dutch revolt; the Swedish militant king Gustavus Adolphus; the imperial generals, Wallenstein and Tilly; and diplomat Cardinal Richelieu. In a major reassessment, Wilson argues that religion was not the catalyst, but one element in a lethal stew of political, social, and dynastic forces that fed the conflict.
By war's end a recognizably modern Europe had been created, but at what price? The Thirty Years War condemned the Germans to two centuries of internal division and international impotence and became a benchmark of brutality for centuries. As late as the 1960s, Germans placed it ahead of both world wars and the Black Death as their country's greatest disaster.
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- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 95
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 83
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Story4 out of 5 stars 83
This new Captivating History audiobook serves as an overview of Russian history over the span of more than a millennium, from the foundation of the Russian state by the Viking Prince Rurik in AD 862 until the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991.
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5 out of 5 stars
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greater depth
- By Paul on 11-19-18
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The Horde
- How the Mongols Changed the World
- By: Marie Favereau
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 60
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
Favereau takes us inside one of the most powerful sources of cross-border integration in world history. The Horde was the central node in the Eurasian commercial boom of the 13th and 14th centuries and was a conduit for exchanges across thousands of miles. Its unique political regime - a complex power-sharing arrangement among the khan and the nobility - rewarded skillful administrators and diplomats and fostered an economic order that was mobile, organized, and innovative.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Golden Horde complete history, well done
- By Amazon Customer on 03-10-22
By: Marie Favereau
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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 58
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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Story4 out of 5 stars 52
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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History of Scotland: A Captivating Guide to Scottish History, the Wars of Scottish Independence and William Wallace
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm, David Patton
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 84
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Performance3 out of 5 stars 73
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 73
Three captivating manuscripts in one audiobook: Scottish History: A Captivating Guide to the History of Scotland, Wars of Scottish Independence: A Captivating Guide to the Battles Between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England, Including the Impact Made by King Robert the Bruce, and William Wallace: A Captivating Guide to a Freedom Fighter and Martyr Who Impacted Scottish History and Scotland’s Independence from England. Listen to learn more.
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2 out of 5 stars
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A broken record
- By Holly Conklin on 03-27-19
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The Greek Revolution
- 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe
- By: Mark Mazower
- Narrated by: John Lee, Mark Mazower
- Length: 20 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 96
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 83
As Mark Mazower shows us in his enthralling and definitive new account, myths about the Greek War of Independence outpaced the facts from the very beginning, and for good reason. This was an unlikely cause, against long odds, a disorganized collection of Greek patriots up against what was still one of the most storied empires in the world, the Ottomans. The revolutionaries needed all the help they could get.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Excellent, had it not been for the narrator
- By Jean N on 05-15-22
By: Mark Mazower
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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 178
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 140
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 139
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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The War of the Three Gods
- Romans, Persians, and the Rise of Islam
- By: Peter Crawford
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 396
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 344
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 345
The War of the Three Gods is a military history of the Near and Middle East in the seventh century - with its chief focus on the reign of the Eastern Roman Emperor Heraclius (AD 610-641) - a pivotal and dramatic time in world history. The Eastern Roman Empire was brought to the very brink of extinction by the Sassanid Persians before Heraclius managed to inflict a crushing defeat on the Sassanids with a desperate, final gambit.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Filled in some blanks
- By Cory on 10-19-15
By: Peter Crawford
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The Crusades
- The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land
- By: Thomas Asbridge
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 25 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,984
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,538
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,516
The Crusades is an authoritative, accessible single-volume history of the brutal struggle for the Holy Land in the Middle Ages. Thomas Asbridge - a renowned historian who writes with "maximum vividness" (Joan Acocella, The New Yorker) - covers the years 1095 to 1291 in this big, ambitious, listenable account of one of the most fascinating periods in history.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Comprehensive
- By Tad Davis on 10-04-16
By: Thomas Asbridge
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The Age of Revolution
- A History of the English Speaking Peoples, Volume III
- By: Sir Winston Churchill
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 625
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 463
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Story5 out of 5 stars 457
This is the third volume in Churchill's famous account. During the long period of 1688 to 1815, three revolutions took place, and all led to war between the British and the French.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Historical Overview of Britain
- By Lois on 01-30-12
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The Thirty Years War
- By: C. V. Wedgwood
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 19 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 855
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 747
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 743
Initially, the Thirty Years War was precipitated in 1618 by religious conflicts between Protestants and Catholics in the Holy Roman Empire. But the conflict soon spread beyond religion to encompass the internal politics and balance of power within the Empire, and then later to the other European powers. By the end, it became simply a dynastic struggle between Bourbon France and Habsburg Spain. And almost all of it was fought out in Germany. Entire regions were depopulated and destroyed.
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5 out of 5 stars
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One of the World's Great History Books.
- By Judith A. Weller on 08-25-12
By: C. V. Wedgwood
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A Concise History of Spain
- By: William Phillips Jr., Carla Rahn Phillips
- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
This audiobook traces Spain's development from prehistoric times to the present, focusing particularly on culture, society, politics, and personalities. It introduces listeners to key themes that have shaped Spain's history and culture, including its varied landscapes and climates; the impact of waves of diverse human migrations; the importance of its location as a bridge between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and Europe and Africa; and religion, particularly militant Catholic Christianity and its centuries of conflict with Islam and Protestantism.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Underwhelmed
- By Anonymous User on 02-20-20
By: William Phillips Jr., and others
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Napoleon's Wars
- An International History, 1803-1815
- By: Charles Esdaile
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 24 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 130
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 90
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Story4 out of 5 stars 90
In the most definitive account to date, respected historian Charles Esdaile argues that the chief motivating factor for Napoleon was his insatiable desire for fame. More than a myth-busting portrait of Napoleon, however, this volume offers a panoramic view of the armed conflicts that spread so quickly out of revolutionary France to countries as remote as Sweden and Egypt.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Not bad, nor what I was expecting
- By Judd Bagley on 07-18-09
By: Charles Esdaile
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Napoleon
- Soldier of Destiny
- By: Michael Broers
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 20 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 66
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 59
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Story4 out of 5 stars 59
Written with great energy and authority - and using the newly available personal archives of Napoleon himself - the first volume of a majestic two-part biography of the great French emperor and conqueror.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Clarity
- By Tad Davis on 03-25-19
By: Michael Broers
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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 72
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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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Napoleon
- By: J. Christopher Herold
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 61
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Story4 out of 5 stars 50
Napoleon Bonaparte's rise from common origins to the pinnacle of power, as well as his defeat at Waterloo, still influences our daily lives, from the map of Europe to the metric system. Here's the fascinating story of the great soldier-statesman.
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3 out of 5 stars
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modern and cynical history of Napoleon
- By Mavs on 06-21-18
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The Fall of the Roman Empire
- A New History of Rome and the Barbarians
- By: Peter Heather
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 21 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 486
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 435
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 433
The death of the Roman Empire is one of the perennial mysteries of world history. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Peter Heather proposes a stunning new solution: Centuries of imperialism turned the neighbors Rome called barbarians into an enemy capable of dismantling an Empire that had dominated their lives for so long. A leading authority on the late Roman Empire and on the barbarians, Heather relates the extraordinary story of how Europe's barbarians, transformed by centuries of contact with Rome on every possible level, eventually pulled the empire apart.
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1 out of 5 stars
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A New HIstory but not a better history
- By Mario on 03-28-14
By: Peter Heather
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Napoleon
- A Concise Biography
- By: David A. Bell
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 195
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 167
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 166
David Bell emphasizes the astonishing sense of human possibility that Napoleon represented. Bell emphasizes the importance of the French Revolution in understanding Napoleon's career. The revolution made possible the unprecedented concentration of political authority that Napoleon accrued. Without the political changes brought about by the revolution, Napoleon could not have fought his wars. Without the wars, he could not have seized and held onto power. Though his virtual dictatorship betrayed the ideals of liberty and equality, his life and career were revolutionary.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Perfect introduction to Napoleon
- By DJP on 10-17-20
By: David A. Bell
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The Thirty Years War
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