Military Audiobooks | History

We Churchills die at forty,' said Winston in 1908, 'and I want to put something more on the slate before then.' By the time he died in 1965, the slate was full. From his earliest days Churchill was an ambitious character, eager for action.He achieved fame and popularity through his dispatches from the Boer War, and in 1900 was elected MP for Oldham. Until the outbreak of war in 1939 Churchill was loved and loathed in equal measure. Critics and supporters alike recognised his vision, but often questioned his judgement. In the thirties, his out-of-touch views on subjects such as Indian nationalism meant that his warnings on German militarism were not taken seriously. On the day Churchill took office as Prime Minister, Hitler invaded the low countries; by mid-June France had fallen. A lesser man would have been overwhelmed. Even his opponents do not doubt his greatness as a leader during the Second World War.But the 1945 election brought a shock defeat. Despite this setback, in 1951 at the age of 77 he returned to serve a second term as Prime Minister. Churchill Remembered draws on a wealth of archive broadcasts by, among others, Robert Boothby, Violet Bonham Carter, Nancy Astor, Oswald Mosley and Churchill himself, and encompasses the whole of his extraordinary life. This is A fascinating and illuminating audio portrait of the life and career of one of Britain's greatest leaders, recounted by those who knew him and in his own words.

Mark Jones, Various Authors, Various Authors (Author), Sir Winston Churchill, Various Readers, Various Readers, Winston Churchill (Narrator)

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Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters

In war, great commanders lead soldiers into hell to do the impossible. They were called the Easy Company—but their mission was never easy. Immortalized as the Band of Brothers, they suffered huge casualties while liberating Europe in an unparalleled record of bravery under ﬁre. Dick Winters led them through the Battle of the Bulge, the attack on Foy—where Easy Company reached its breaking point — and ﬁnally into Germany, by which time each member had been wounded. Outside Munich, they liberated an S.S. death camp and captured Berchtesgaden, Hitler's alpine retreat. Beyond Band of Brothers is Winters's memoir, based on his wartime diary, but it also includes his comrades' untold stories. Only Winters was present from the activation of Easy Company until the war's end. This is their story, told in his words for the ﬁrst time.

Cole C. Kingseed, Major Dick Winters (Author), Tom Weiner (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Story of John Paul Jones

A condensed biography of the courageous and respected founder of the U.S. Navy. This audiobook gives a sweeping account of the life of the great naval commander who is famous for shouting: ""I have not yet begun to fight!"". CONTENTS: Preface 1. Land Ho! 2. Sailor and Patriot 3. Lieutenant and Captain 4. The Gallant ""Ranger"" 5. A Terrible Sea Fight 6. Last Years

Percy K. Fitzhugh (Author), Alex Panzer (Narrator)

Audiobook

Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War

William Manchester (Author), Barrett Whitener (Narrator)

Audiobook

House to House: An Epic Memoir of War

David Bellavia (Author), John Bruning, Ray Porter (Narrator)

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11 Days in December: Christmas at the Bulge, 1944

11 Days in December tells the unforgettable story of one of the grimmest points of World War II and its Christmas Eve turn toward victory. In December 1944, the Allied forces thought their campaign for securing Europe was in its final stages. But Germany had one last great surprise attack still planned, leading to some of the most intense fighting in World War II: the Battle of the Bulge. After ten days of horrific weather conditions and warfare, General Patton famously asked God, "Sir, whose side are you on?" For the next four days, as the skies cleared, the Allies could fly again, the Nazis were contained, and the outcome of the war was ensured. Renowned historian and author Stanley Weintraub weaves together the stories of ordinary soldiers and their generals to recreate this dramatic, crucial narrative of a miraculous shift of luck in the midst of the most significant war of the modern era. "Listeners share the cold, loss, and sense of doubt plaguing the ordinary soldier….an unforgettable portrait of war."—AudioFile

Stanley Weintraub (Author), Patrick Cullen (Narrator)

Audiobook

Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters

The immortalized Band of Brothers suffered huge casualties while liberating Europe, an unparalleled record of bravery under fire. Dick Winters was their commander, and only he was present from the activation of Easy Company until the war's end. This is their story, told in his words for the first time. "A poignant, riveting story with timeless application to the study of leadership in war."-Colonel Lance Betros, chairman, Department of History, US Military Academy

Colonel Cole C. Kingseed, Major Dick Winters (Author), Tom Weiner (Narrator)

Audiobook

Flags of Our Fathers

In this unforgettable chronicle of perhaps the most famous moment in American military history, James Bradley has captured the glory, the triumph, the heartbreak, and the legacy of the six men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima. Here is the true story behind the immortal photograph that has come to symbolize the courage and indomitable will of America. In February 1945, American Marines plunged into the surf at Iwo Jima—and into history. Through a hail of machine-gun and mortar fire that left the beaches strewn with comrades, they battled to the island's highest peak. And after climbing through a landscape of hell itself, they raised a flag. Now the son of one of the flagraisers has written a powerful account of six very different young men who came together in a moment that will live forever. To his family, John Bradley never spoke of the photograph or the war. But after his death at age seventy, his family discovered closed boxes of letters and photos. In Flags of Our Fathers, James Bradley draws on those documents to retrace the lives of his father and the men of Easy Company. Following these men's paths to Iwo Jima, James Bradley has written a classic story of the heroic battle for the Pacific's most crucial island—an island riddled with Japanese tunnels and 22,000 fanatic defenders who would fight to the last man. But perhaps the most interesting part of the story is what happened after the victory. The men in the photo—three were killed during the battle—were proclaimed heroes and flown home, to become reluctant symbols. For two of them, the adulation was shattering. Only James Bradley's father truly survived, displaying no copy of the famous photograph in his home, telling his son only: "The real heroes of Iwo Jima were the guys who didn't come back." Few books ever have captured the complexity and furor of war and its aftermath as well as Flags of Our Fathers. A penetrating, epic look at a generation at war, this is history told with keen insight, enormous honesty, and the passion of a son paying homage to his father. It is the story of the difference between truth and myth, the meaning of being a hero, and the essence of the human experience of war. From the Hardcover edition.

James Bradley, Ron Powers (Author), Stephen Hoye (Narrator)

Audiobook

Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War

The nightmares began for William Manchester twenty-three years after World War II. In his dreams he lived with the recurring image of himself as a battle-weary youth 'angrily demanding to know what had happened to the three decades since he had laid down his arms.' To find out, Manchester visited those places in the Pacific where as a young Marine he fought the Japanese. In this intensely powerful memoir, America's preeminent biographer-historian, who has written so brilliantly about World War II in his acclaimed lives of General Douglas MacArthur (American Caesar) and Winston Churchill (The Last Lion), looks back at his own early life. He offers an unrivaled firsthand account of World War II in the Pacific: of what it looked like, sounded like, smelled like, and most of all, what it felt like to one who underwent all but the ultimate of its experiences.

William Manchester (Author), Barrett Whitener (Narrator)

Audiobook

House to House: An Epic Memoir of War

This is the personal side of battle, where emotion, courage, and strength are stretched to the limits. Bringing to searing life the terrifying intimacy of hand-to-hand infantry combat, House to House is far more than just another war story-it is one of the most compelling combat narratives ever written. Populated by an indelibly drawn cast of characters, it develops the intensely close relationships that form between soldiers under fire. Their friendships, tested in brutal combat, would never be quite the same. What happened to them in their bloody embrace with America's most implacable enemy is a harrowing, unforgettable story of triumph, tragedy, and the resiliency of the human spirit. Staff Sergeant David Bellavia, army infantry platoon leader, gives a teeth-rattling, first-hand account of eleven straight days of heavy house-to-house fighting during the climactic second battle of Fallujah. His actions in the firefight, which included killing five insurgents in hand-to-hand combat, earned Bellavia the Bronze Star, the Silver Star, and New York state's highest military honor, the Conspicuous Service Cross. He has been nominated for the Medal of Honor and for the army's second highest combat medal, the Distinguished Service Cross.

David Bellavia (Author), Ray Porter (Narrator)

Audiobook

Jarhead Movie Tie-In: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles

Now a Major Motion Picture from Universal Pictures New York Times bestselling author Anthony Swofford weaves his experiences in war with vivid accounts of boot camp, reflections on the mythos of the marines, and remembrances of battles with lovers and family. When the U.S. Marines -- or "jarheads" -- were sent to Saudi Arabia in 1990 for the first Gulf War, Anthony Swofford was there. He lived in sand for six months, he was punished by boredom and fear, he considered suicide, pulled a gun on a fellow marine, and was targeted by both enemy and friendly fire. And as engagement with the Iraqis drew near, he was forced to consider what it means to be an American, a soldier, a son of a soldier, and a man.

Anthony Swofford (Author), Anthony Swofford (Narrator)

Audiobook

Churchill and America

In this stirring book, Martin Gilbert tells the intensely human story of Winston Churchill's profound connection to America, a relationship that resulted in an Anglo-American alliance that has stood at the center of international relations for more than a century. Winston Churchill, whose mother, Jennie Jerome, the daughter of a leading American entrepreneur, was born in Brooklyn in 1854, spent much of his seventy adult years in close contact with the United States. In two world wars, his was the main British voice urging the closest possible cooperation with the United States. From before the First World War, he understood the power of the United States, the "gigantic boiler," which, once lit, would drive the great engine forward. Sir Martin Gilbert was appointed Churchill's official biographer in 1968 and has ever since been collecting archival and personal documentation that explores every twist and turn of Churchill's relationship with the United States, revealing the golden thread running through it of friendship and understanding despite many setbacks and disappointments. Drawing on this extensive store of Churchill's own words - in his private letters, his articles and speeches, and press conferences and interviews given to American journalists on his numerous journeys throughout the United States - Gilbert paints a rich portrait of the Anglo-American relationship that began at the turn of the last century. In Churchill and America, Gilbert explores how Churchill's intense rapport with this country resulted in no less than the liberation of Europe and the preservation of European democracy and freedom. It also set the stage for the ongoing alliance that has survived into the twenty-first century. "This is a fascinating story, straightforward and well told, of one of the 20th century's most important leaders and the critical connection he forged between the world's fading superpower and its rising one."-Publishers Weekly "It is doubtful whether anyone on this planet knows more about the life and times of Winston Churchill than his official biographer, Sir Martin Gilbert."-Library Journal

Martin Gilbert (Author), Simon Vance, Simon Vance (Narrator)

Audiobook

Military Audiobooks in History