Military Audiobooks | History

Sailing Upwind: Leadership and Risk from TopGun to the Situation Room

Sailing Upwind is more than just another memoir of a distinguished former naval officer's highly diverse career. This book by Admiral James 'Sandy' Winnefeld is also intended to offer useful reflections regarding how he accepted and managed risk along the way, as well as a concise description of the qualities one must develop to become a successful leader. Winnefeld began his career as an F-14 fighter pilot and TOPGUN instructor, commanded an aircraft carrier, and then served in a variety of flag officer billets on the way to becoming the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This book describes in an entertaining and humble manner how that journey unfolded. The listener learns what it is like to become a Navy fighter pilot, and to fly, fight, and takeoff and land from an aircraft carrier-including a harrowing description of ejecting from an F-14 at night far from land. Winnefeld describes the culture of excellence at the real TOPGUN and the Navy's nuclear propulsion program. He recounts how he learned to lead the men and women who operate at every level of Navy operational command, from squadron to ship to fleet. Finally, the author presents a behind-the-scenes look at how decisions are made at the highest levels of government regarding whether and how those forces will be used, and how they are acquired.

Admiral Sandy Winnefeld (Author), Sandy Winnefeld (Narrator)

Audiobook

Alfred Dreyfus: The Man at the Center of the Affair

An insightful new biography of the central figure in the Dreyfus Affair, focused on the man himself and based on newly accessible documents On January 5, 1895, Captain Alfred Dreyfus's cries of innocence were drowned out by a mob shouting 'Death to Judas!' In this book, Maurice Samuels gives listeners new insight into Dreyfus himself-the man at the center of the affair. He tells the story of Dreyfus's early life in Paris, his promising career as a French officer, the false accusation leading to his imprisonment on Devil's Island, the fight to prove his innocence that divided the French nation, and his life of quiet obscurity after World War I. Samuels's striking perspective is enriched by a newly available archive of more than three thousand documents and objects donated by the Dreyfus family. Unlike many historians, Samuels argues that Dreyfus was not an 'assimilated' Jew. Rather, he epitomized a new model of Jewish identity made possible by the French Revolution, when France became the first European nation to grant Jews full legal equality. This book analyzes Dreyfus's complex relationship to Judaism and to antisemitism over the course of his life-a story that, as global antisemitism rises, echoes still. It also shows the profound effect of the Dreyfus Affair on the lives of Jews around the world.

Maurice Samuels (Author), Jason Grasl (Narrator)

Audiobook

First Into Action Again

Duncan Falconer (Author), Duncan Falconer, TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Damn the Valley: 1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 2-508 PIR, 82nd Airborne in the Arghandab River Valley

'DAMN THE VALLEY' was a phrase regularly uttered by the men that spent any amount of time in the Arghandab River Valley during the deployment of 2 Fury to Afghanistan in 2009-2010. The valley has claimed bodies from the troops of Alexander the Great, the British Empire, and more recently, the Russian Army. Operating in the valley was like nothing the men could have envisaged, they called it the 'meat grinder.' It was a deployment that the media didn't talk about, and the government doesn't acknowledge. Three of the company were KIA, more than a dozen suffered life-changing injuries, and half the company had Purple Hearts-not many modern-day deployments have a 52% casualty rate. At one point, the entire prosthetics ward at Walter Reed was full of the men who patrolled that deadly area of the world. Since their return, many of the survivors have struggled to move on with their lives, and the unit has been declared at 'extraordinary risk' by the Department of Veteran Affairs. No one who entered that region was left unscathed. This book shares the perspective of the men that were on the ground for that deployment during the fighting season of 2010.

William Yeske (Author), Basil Sands, William Yeske (Narrator)

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Facing Armageddon: With the RAF on Christmas Island 1961-1962

After being called up for National Service in July 1960, twenty-year-old Chas Hall joined the RAF and signed on to extend his time for an extra three years becoming a regular serviceman. Following initial training, he became a wireless operator and served at RAF Mildenhall. It was shortly after this that he got his first foreign posting in late 1961 to Christmas Island. It was on this island, that Chas encountered the horrors of nuclear testing. In an operation codenamed 'Brigadoon' by the British government and 'Dominic' by the Americans, Chas experienced twenty-five atmospheric nuclear tests. This he describes as his 'twelve-month sentence' alongside over 300 British and 10,000 American servicemen who were posted to one corner of a remote coral island. Facing Armageddon reveals the true extent of the controversial nuclear testing and how it affected servicemen; with twenty-five men dying during Chas's time on Christmas Island and many more suffering mentally as they continued serving on the island. With the British government announcing medals for nuclear test veterans in November 2022 to recognize their contribution in the tests after a four-year campaign by participants and The Mirror newspaper, Chas's story gives insight to why these servicemen deserve the recognition for their part in these tests.

Chas Hall (Author), Julian Elfer (Narrator)

Audiobook

Task Force Helmand: Life, Death and Combat on the Afghan Front Line

A gripping, no-holds-barred account of war in the twenty-first century. In 2006 Doug Beattie was awarded the Military Cross for his part in recapturing the southern Afghan town of Garmsir from the Taliban. He was due to retire from the British Army in 2007, when his CO made a desperate plea: stay on for one more tour. Torn between his love for his wife and children, and an overwhelming sense of duty towards his other family, the Royal Irish Regiment, in March 2008 he returned to Afghanistan. The story of what he endured there makes for gripping listening. If 2006 had been hellish, then 2008 was off the scale. For six months Beattie led British and Afghan troops into repeated, exhausting battles with the Taliban. He took part in 50 major contacts and innumerable smaller skirmishes. Here he describes in detail the action-packed reality of combat on the front line. An exceptional soldier who knows the horror of watching men die, Doug Beattie writes of the chaos and ferocity of war with the utmost honesty and humanity. This is essential listening for anyone with an interest in the armed forces and armed conflict, and anyone who wants to understand the reality of war.

Doug Beattie, Doug Beattie M.C. (Author), Drew Dillon (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Yank: My Life as a Former US Marine in the IRA

HE YEAR IS 1975. A young Irish-American is on a mission to enlist in an elite unit of the US Marine Corps. His goal: to receive the most intensive military training possible and then go to Ireland to join the IRA and fight to end the British occupation of the North. In this powerful and brutally honest memoir of his extraordinary experiences, John Crawley details the gruelling challenges of his Marine Corps training, and how, not long after his discharge, he joined the IRA. Soon he found himself in Boston, working with notorious American mobster James ‘Whitey' Bulger to amass a shipment of weapons. When captured on the Marita Ann gun-running trawler off the Kerry coast, Crawley was imprisoned for ten years, and upon his release he became one of the masterminds behind the IRA's plan to throw London's electrical system into disarray. Crawley is blisteringly candid about the people he worked with and unflinching in his commentary on the IRA leadership. Through it all comes the steadfast voice of a man on a mission, providing an evocative and passionate account of where that mission led him and why. To this day, he remains committed to the establishment of an all-Ireland Republic.

John Crawley (Author), Alan Turkington (Narrator)

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Georgy Zhukov: The Life and Legacy of the Soviet Union’s Greatest General during World War II

In the warm predawn darkness of June 22, 1941, 3 million men waited along a front hundreds of miles long, stretching from the Baltic coast of Poland to the Balkans. Ahead of them in the darkness lay the Soviet Union, its border guarded by millions of Red Army troops echeloned deep throughout the huge spaces of Russia. This massive gathering of Wehrmacht soldiers from Adolf Hitler's Third Reich and his allied states – notably Hungary and Romania – stood poised to carry out Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's surprise attack against the country of his putative ally, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. Of the Soviet generals, none played as crucial a role in the war as Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, one of the most highly decorated army officers in Russian military history. At critical stages during the Second World War, it seemed as if it was Zhukov alone who stood between Russian defeat and German victory. Zhukov was ultimately involved in all the major battles on the Eastern Front, including Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Kursk, Bagration, and the final assaults into Poland and Germany to capture Berlin. Stalin came to depend on Zhukov’s ruthless military skills for victory, but in the cut-throat Soviet Union, that was always a double-edged sword, because it seemed that Stalin envied Zhukov and feared him as well. Zhukov, who could be as aggressive and blunt as Stalin, was one of the few people prepared to stand up to the Soviet dictator and argue with him, and as many Soviet politicians and generals learned to their detriment, going toe to toe with one of the most brutal leaders of the 20th century was a highly risky venture. However, the mutual understanding they forged as they confronted the Germans may have played the biggest role in Hitler’s demise.

Charles River Editors (Author), Steve Knupp (Narrator)

Audiobook

Lovers in Auschwitz: A True Story

Brought to you by Penguin. Zippi Spitzer and David Wisnia were captivated by each other from the moment they first exchanged glances across the work floor. It was the beginning of a love story that could have happened anywhere. Except for one difference: this romance was unfolding in history's most notorious death camp, between two young prisoners whose budding intimacy risked dooming them if they were caught. Incredibly, David and Zippi survived for years beneath the ash-choked skies of Auschwitz. Under the protection of their fellow inmates, their romance grew and deepened, even as their brushes with death mounted and David's luck in particular seemed close to running out. As the war's end finally approached and the time came for them to leave the camp, David and Zippi made plans to meet again. But neither of them could imagine how long their reunion would take or how many lives they would live in the interim. They had no inkling, either, of the betrayals that would await them along the way. But David did suspect that Zippi harbored a secret-one that could explain the mystery of his survival all those years ago. An unbelievable tale of romance, sacrifice, loss, and resilience, Lovers in Auschwitz is a saga of two young people who found themselves trapped inside a waking nightmare of the Nazis' creation, yet who nevertheless discovered a love that sustained them through history's darkest hour. ©2024 Keren Blankfeld (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Keren Blankfeld (Author), Suzanne Toren, TBD (Narrator)

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[Spanish] - Libro de los cinco anillos

“Percibe y conoce lo que no puede verse con los ojos” - Miyamoto Musashi Obra maestra de la auto-disciplina, el desarrollo personal y la filosofía de vida. El legendario samurái Miyamoto Musashi escribió en el siglo XVII esta profunda y atemporal guía en la que revela sus secretos sobre las artes marciales y la estrategia militar. ¿Qué encontrarás en el Libro de los cinco anillos? - Principios de estrategia y táctica - Filosofía samurái - Lecciones de vida y auto-desarrollo personal - Sabiduría y espiritualidad oriental Musashi, reconocido como uno de los más grandes espadachines de la historia de Japón, escribió este libro a sus 60 años para compartir su experiencia. A través de sus palabras, nos adentramos en el corazón y la mente de un guerrero, descubriendo los principios que guiaron su camino hacia la maestría y el éxito. El libro está dividido en cinco anillos/pergaminos o secciones, cada una representando un elemento diferente: tierra, agua, fuego, viento y éter. Esta obra no es solo para aquellos interesados en las artes marciales o la historia japonesa; es para cualquiera que busque mejorar en cualquier aspecto de su vida. Este no es solo un libro; es una invitación a emprender un viaje de autodescubrimiento y excelencia personal. Es una obra que ha trascendido el tiempo y las culturas, ofreciendo lecciones valiosas que siguen siendo aplicables en el complejo mundo moderno. Adquiere tu copia hoy y descubre los secretos de uno de los más grandes maestros de la historia.

Armando Astral, Miyamoto Musashi (Author), José Peña Coto (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hell's Angels: The True Story of the 303rd Bomb Group in World War II

The true story of World War 2's legendary Hell's Angels-the 8th Air Force's 303rd Bomb Group. Although the United States declared war against Germany in December 1941, a successful assault on Nazi-occupied Europe could not happen until Germany's industrial and military might were crippled. The first target was the Luftwaffe-the most powerful and battle-hardened air force in the world. The United States Army Air Forces joined with Great Britain's already-engaged Royal Air Force to launch a strategic air campaign that ultimately brought the Luftwaffe to its knees. One of the standout units of this campaign was the legendary 303rd Bomb Group-Hell's Angels. This is the 303rd's story, as told by the men who made it what it was. Taking their name from their B-17 of the same name, they became one of the most distinguished and important air combat units in history. The dramatic and terrible air battles they fought against Germany ultimately changed the course of the war. INCLUDES PHOTOS

Jay A. Stout (Author), Robertson Dean (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Long Road to Hope

In a tale of intense courage and unimaginable pain, The Long Road to Hope is the timely autobiography of Mohammed Nabi, an Afghan interpreter who worked for the Canadian and British forces on the frontline in Helmand Province from 2008-2011. Raised on the frontline. Interrogated and tortured when only a teenager. Shot at by RPGs while on duty. Hunted down by the Taliban. Living as a homeless refugee on the streets of Athens, separated from his wife and family. These are the experiences of Mohammed Nabi, an Afghan interpreter who worked with British and Canadian troops during the occupation of Afghanistan. In this story of a life and a nation ravaged by war, Nabi, working in collaboration with journalist Anastasia Miari, gives a passionate and heart-wrenching account of living through the violence and conflict of modern day Afghanistan. From his early life growing up in a remote village where brutal local warlords kept dancing boys as slaves, to witnessing, and initially celebrating the rise of the Taliban, to working with and befriending western forces in his role as an interpreter, this powerful, intense first-hand account lays out the struggles of a man fighting to survive in the midst of extreme danger on a daily basis. The book covers his three years working as an interpreter, facing gunfire and rocket attacks as he worked alongside troops on the frontline and witnessing scores of colleagues be killed, before charting his life after this, living in fear of the threat of brutal Taliban reprisals, at one point barely escaping with his life. He fled Afghanistan in 2015 and lived homeless on the streets of Athens, where he met co-author Anastasia Miari, before eventually being accepted into a refugee camp, where he fought to be heard by authorities and was powerless to witness the traumatic scenes of Afghanistan unravelling before his eyes. Recently granted asylum, Nabi is still separated from his wife and children in Afghanistan, and is desperately fighting to extract them from Kabul where they remain trapped under Taliban rule. This essential account will move readers to tears with its emotional depiction of the tragedy of the ongoing violence and conflict in Afghanistan, as Nabi recount s the dreadful realities of life as a translator on the frontlines of modern history's most brutal and enduring conflict.

Mohammed Nabi (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Military Audiobooks in History