Miles

Excellent and informative

Revisado: 06-07-20

I was looking for more knowledge on the civilizations of South America. I was only familiar with the Inca and stories from the conquest.

I really enjoyed the discussions of where information came from (archaeology or anthropology or later written records). Overall, I found this very engaging and learned a lot. I could actually see this as something I listen to a second time and would put this in my top five of Great Courses.

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Relatable, Never Slow, Fun and Satisfying

Revisado: 05-12-20

I'm probably biased because I love listening to Paul Tonkinson and his fellow comedian Rob Deering every week and their running podcast "Running Commentary". Both are comedians. But having watched a few clips of both, I don't think I ever laugh so hard as the conversations they have spur of the moment running.

Paul is a northerner who doesn't seem the type to be really introspective. But he has an interesting history and life and I enjoyed hearing how that led into his cracks at running as a young person and again as he got older. I loved all the characters in his life like his friends and coaches. I'd already followed the specifics of his training in real time through the podcast but still enjoyed all the stories and anecdotes. I think most runners will identify with most of the ups and downs. But overall, even when it gets serious the book keeps a very positive and optimistic tone. And it's not about some amazing world class runner that no one can identify with either. Would absolutely recommend if you want one man's funny account of trying to hit a marathon goal. You might find plenty of parallels to your own life and your own running.

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Fun, a little different but true to form

Revisado: 08-07-18

Nice to read a Hercule Poirot novel with a different side kick. Hastings is gone, and we have a doctor as our narrator. The setting is very typical, but it's still an interesting group of people. Probably one of my favorites of the early Poirot novels.

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Fascinating, well told, well researched

Revisado: 07-21-17

I did not know prior to reading this that Joan Druett is a very well respected maritime historian but it really shows through in the quality of the book.

I encourage anyone remotely interested in this to listen to the book and avoid doing any research on the historical events themselves until afterwards because I think it makes the story so much more powerful.

I really enjoyed reading and learning about the characters of these events. You really feel that you get to know their personalities and various strengths and weaknesses. Druett did a great job at breaking away from the narrative only rarely to explain certain events in a historical or scientific context (like explaining our understanding of scurvy at the time for instance, or mentioning when it was appropriate some history of the island/islands). I really enjoyed those descriptions because although I was following along with this gripping story I felt I was also learning so much more about a lot of historical topics I would not have otherwise known and felt that they added depth to the story.

Other books I've listened to that I found similar and would also recommend would include: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage (Lansing), Into Thin Air (Krakauer), Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival (King).

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Critical final installment

Revisado: 07-21-17

This book is the third book to follow on from The Coming of the Third Reich and The Third Reich in Power.

I found the narrator to be good and did not at all distract from the story.

Evans does not cover too many specifics of battles or maneuvers but instead the effects of the war on the citizens and the soldiers. There are sprinkling of letters and diaries of ordinary people as well as accounts as to what higher ranking Nazis were doing. He provides statistics on quality of life and the big picture as well as small details here and there. The descriptions of what was happening all the way from the mistreatment of foreign workers to the atrocities in the death camps are disturbing but I felt he brought a lot of detail to it that often gets left out of documentaries or specials. Even when you know what's going to happen, it really still felt riveting towards the end as I was eager to hear the outcome of the stories he had weaved through the bigger picture. A worthy final book and I'm sure I'll listen to the whole trilogy again some day.

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An Amazing Part 2

Revisado: 07-21-17

One should definitely read the prior installment to this (The Coming of the Third Reich). This book did not disappoint as a follow up.

It's a really great look at exactly how the Nazis consolidated their power, used propaganda and organization to creep into every day life, and there are a lot of excellent and compelling first person accounts and narratives sprinkled throughout.

The narrator (who I thought was fine and was so used to be the third book I'd forget I was listening to someone reading at all) has an odd way of pronouncing the word coordinate, almost like co-ordinate. But given how Nazis usurped civilian, governmental and religious organizations and it was all referred to as "coordination" I think this verbal inconsistency is actually helpful because it makes you stop and think every time the Nazis take power in a different arena.

The whole thing is compelling from understand how pervasive Nazi ideology was, largely helped by the fact they had taken over all forms of education. This is critical to understanding German's attitudes when the war started and how many of them reacted passively to the ever growing tendrils of totalitarianism.

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Great story, great narration

Revisado: 06-12-17

This was the third Agatha Christie novel I've listened to (did the more famous Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile first). The narrator, Hugh Fraser, is once again excellent.

I was a bit worried without the out of ordinary elements of the other two novels that this one wouldn't be as good but it was still excellent. Christie has a way of creating characters whose motivations you start to really care about and want to know more of. I also enjoyed the First Person narration of this story as it provided an interesting view on everything.

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Repetitive, no depth

Revisado: 06-12-17

I'd already read Ultramarathon Man and enjoyed it enough to think I might enjoy this too. Well, I think if you've already read the earlier book at all recently you won't get much out of this.

Yes it focuses on Karnazes's greek ancestry and a little on the historical origins of the marathon. But never really as in depth as I would have hoped (which is odd, since he seems to have researched it and consulted an historian). His greek family connections are even less inspiring, especially if you'd read the earlier novel, since now he writes like it's the conclusion of a long expected narrative about why he became a runner when it doesn't sound like he'd ever put much thought into it prior to writing this book.

I might have been able to get past all that if there were more details about his running or his training, but unfortunately there's not much there either. The few things he does mention (the diet he was on for the run he does in Greece) he mentions over and over again to the point where you don't really learn what it is and also somehow are sick of hearing about it. He does tell stories from his run, but again there just isn't much there. He always seems uncomfortable with the fame he's acquired so each person he meets he just goes into how awkward it was or how humble he is that anyone would care. Fellow runners rarely get more than brief mentions, he's always out there running on his own, doing his own thing. He does spend a bit of time trying to be philosophical about it and guess at why he runs, but he doesn't come to any enlightening answers here. Also, he mentions some weird out of body experience he has while running (and fall asleep while running) like they are big deals, when both of those occurred in his much earlier book so I'm not quite sure why he's surprised they happened again. If they even happened at all. Some stories just seem made up, and not even to make a more compelling story. I think Dean's just not a very deep guy. And that's fine, but he spends too much time dancing around trying to be humble and modest about everything, so it's hard to appreciate the athlete side of the story either.

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Should be required reading

Revisado: 06-12-17

I'd read this trilogy several years ago and wanted to re-read but I struggle with finding the time to sit down and read something. I remembered how much detail was packed into it and was a bit worried that might be tough from an audiobook but it was just fine.

This trilogy is, in my opinion, the best understanding of what it attempts to discuss- the rise and the fall of the Nazis. I didn't expect the first book to be that interesting, but in fact I think it's the most interesting. Evans does a thorough job at explaining a lot of cultural attitudes and different authors and perspectives that were around at the time. I think it's a good balance against the Great Man theory that Hitler came out of a vacuum fully formed and that all his ideas were his own. Instead you learn how he was culturally influenced and how certain elements of society were almost primed for a movement like the Nazi party.

I think this series will get most often compared to Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. The narrator for Shirer's book is amazing so I think people are quick to have problems with this one, but I did not have any issues. I never felt distracted by his narration or noticed any major errors or issues (despite people bringing up his German pronunciation I am not so sure, I am no expert but my understanding of German led me to think his pronunciations are fine). I think one really ought to read both series, Shirer's and this. Shirer's is a lot more constricted to what Hitler was doing and what was going on in the foreign office in particular as a lot of documents had been newly released when he wrote his book.

But Evans is correct that Shirer is a journalist, not a historian, and certainly biased by what he saw being on the ground there. Being a journalist, his writing is a lot more digestible and chronological. That said, Evans frequently quotes Shirer's "Berlin Diaries" as a source and more importantly quotes the letters and diaries of both high ranking Nazis and ordinary Germans. He goes into detail on what effect on the population each critical event had and discussed with an unbiased attitude those who both supported the Nazis and those who abhorred them. This is a true history with many shades of gray but you will finish the book with a much greater understanding of pre-war Germany.

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Excellent, well narrated

Revisado: 06-12-17

Of course this is an amazing classic, probably Christie's most well known and Hercule Poirot's most well known appearance.

I was a little hesitant about Dan Stevens knowing him only as a Downton Abby actor but he was absolutely amazing and I would not hesitate to get anything narrated by him in the future. He did a wonderful job with everyone's voices. I rarely found it distracting (all British men seem to struggle a little with the voices of American women for whatever reason) and was fully immersed the whole time. I intend to get more Christie novels on audiobook in the future, they are an absolute joy and I have trouble pausing them to go about my life, the audio version of not being able to put the book down.

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