Jeff

Animated maps please, constant barrage of unit numbers doesn’t get it.

Revisado: 02-11-18

I listened to this but would buy an electronic edition that had computer driven maps of how ALL these units moved about. How hard could that be guys?

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 13 personas

Riveting and a wonderful read about Hell on Earth

Revisado: 06-11-17

Any additional comments?

This book is superbly written and is far and away the best story about a single soldier in a three year battle where literally Hell came to Earth. I can not recommend this book strongly enough. I can not think of anyone who would not want to read/listen to this, especially given how wonderfully the prose is crafted and how well it is performed. Do yourself a favor: buy it and listen to it and see for yourself.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Like No Other

Revisado: 07-19-15

Words fail. If you have not read Alan Bennett then what a void about that is filled only by reading any one, or all, of his works, There is nobody else quite like him.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

A Book Worth Listening To

Revisado: 07-12-14

Would you consider the audio edition of Dear Leader to be better than the print version?

N/A

What did you like best about this story?

Well, after listening to "Escape From Camp 14" I was prepared for most anything, and that preparation served me well. No one denies that the poor, enslaved souls of North Korea live under a regime second only to Stalin and his Gulag Archipelago (have we forgotten that he murdered almost twice as many people as Herr Hitler?). From that vantage point this book reinforces the notion that the torture of these people is one of the most heinous crimes of this and the last century.

With that in mind we find ourselves at "Mr. Jin-sung's" book. Does it stand as fiction, the truth, or on ground somewhere in between. I say the latter and for the following reasons:
1) The circumstances of his escape are too incredible to be believed. His month long journey at times rings impossible and leaves the listener in a state of bewilderment. Maybe it was written as it was for good reasons, but it is hard to believe that his trip occurred as he would have us believe;
2) The grammar and sometimes use of Western phrases raises the suspicion that his ghost writer (and I surely do believe there was one) added a Western tone that I found obvious and disturbing;
3) The author comes off as too naive by half. He wants the listener to believe that at the tender age of 27 he worked his way into the very CLOSEST circles of Dear Leader, I mean among the top ten, if not five, confidants, and yet when he is in China he finds the culture and "wealth" there incomprehensible. For a man whose job partially included the task of learning to think like a South Korean by learning everything he could about them this unending litany of shock over encountering a culture in northern China-not far removed from South Korea-as a bit much.

Okay, even with those flaws I recommend the listen. The description of how North Korea and its "government" worked in the 1990s and early 2000s (which I chose in the main to take at face value) leaves one speechless.

Did Daniel York do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

OK but that is not a reason to listen to the book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Only as set out above.

Any additional comments?

No.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

For people who seek an in-depth look at the man

Revisado: 04-21-14

Would you consider the audio edition of Hitler to be better than the print version?

Don't know, have not read the print version.

What did you like best about this story?

The specificity

Which scene was your favorite?

Spare me, in a history that covers fifty years?

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Any additional comments?

For those history buffs who want a very close look at this brilliant lunatic. Hitler's triumph was based on virtually all of the pieces surrounding his life falling into place, and his manipulation of them once presented, in ways that defy one's imagination ... until the end of course. The author presents that history to the listener in ways that make the listen hard to turn off.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Listen to the Book, period!

Revisado: 04-21-14

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes

What was one of the most memorable moments of Abraham Lincoln?

All of it

What about Arthur Morey’s performance did you like?

Great

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Any additional comments?

This is The definitive history of Abraham Lincoln written as writers used to write and by a master. No matter how familiar you are with the life and times of Lincoln, listen to/read this book.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

Great, great listen

Revisado: 08-08-13

If you could sum up Gettysburg in three words, what would they be?

Even if you think you know about that crucible you don't unless you've read this book.

What other book might you compare Gettysburg to and why?

Surprising in so many differing ways. The South did not lose that war the first day or at little Round Top or certainly Pickets' charge. It lost the battle and arguably the war during the afternoon of the second day, as a result of Lee's philosophy of command, and Professor Guelzo does an outstanding job of allowing the listener in on this "secret".

Have you listened to any of Robertson Dean’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No I have not but I will be looking for him.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

This is so much better than "The Killer Angels" and it, not that text, should have been made into a movie. I doubt if Hollywood will but it by God it should. Better yet, a short TV series not unlike "Band of Brothers".

Any additional comments?

The book is very specific, probably best suited for use as a manual at West Point. What could be attempted are computerized graphics inserted in the text like "Berlin 1961, The Most Dangerous Place In the World" (title probably wrong but I read it sometime ago, clearly the future of eBooks).

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Better listen than I expected

Revisado: 04-30-13

Any additional comments?

I gravitate toward detail when it comes to military histories. So this was right up my alley. However, if you don't stay away. I found it very helpful to go to Google Earth to keep up with deployments, battles, etc. The narration was spot on.

On substance, Grant does not go into any detail about losses but does so with victories. I had to continually remind myself this book was written in the 1880s and that might have passed muster then, but not now. Even with that drawback I found myself liking Grant as a person more as chapter followed chapter. He comes off as a decent human being notwithstanding the ghastly horrors of which he was part, especially in the final two years of the war.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

Watch out here. The performance is very bad

Revisado: 04-30-13

Any additional comments?

I really can't recommend the audible effort of what might otherwise be a commendable historical novel. The performance is very bad and in my mind continually attempts to assert itself over the content of the novel with regrettable consequences. Buy the written version.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

A good listen but, Bill, hang it up 4 awhile

Revisado: 04-09-13

Any additional comments?

I read "Killing Kennedy" first and my comments about that effort are there. This book is written and narrated in very much the same style. To any passing student of history there is little here that is "shocking". However, the authors do credible work tying together the widely separated events surrounding this historical tragedy into credible, if not also pop, history. Most troubling to me was the fate of Mary Surratt. There was reasonable doubt (at least as it pertains to the death penalty) but of course those times did not allow for such things and she was hanged with men much more intimately involved.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña