Scot

Boring

Revisado: 12-02-24

The political and history snippets of the book are very interesting (Dred Scott decision, Kansas Nebraska Act), but 95% of the book is excruciating in the details of the personal lives of the characters. I wanted to hear about the politics and history of the times NOT the boring personal lives of these people. No one needs to know that level of detail plus it is presented using language of the mid-1800s. Ugh. I never quit listening to a book mid-way through, but this one is simply impossible to enjoy. I have read other books by Goodwin and have enjoyed them, but this is one is horrific.

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Poorly Written

Revisado: 11-26-23

Until I found out at the end that the book was based upon actual people, I thought it was just a collection of cliches that the author has strung together to create a novel. I think if the author that gotten some help from a professional writer, the product would have been much better.

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A GIANT Disappointment

Revisado: 08-10-22

I have listened to other books by Max Hastings and found them to be informative and enjoyable. This one, however, was neither. Only a small portion (perhaps 5%) dealt with a strategic discussion of the war, the remaining 95% of book were individual snippets of soldiers. If you are looking to listen to a diary, this the book for you. If you want to listen to a book about the battle for Japan, look elsewhere.

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Horrible

Revisado: 08-02-21

To me the purpose of a reading or listening to a book on a historical person is to learn about the history of the times when they were alive. This book fails miserably at that objective. The book could have been condensed to a paragraph. The only things I learn from this book was the DeGaulle was an intellectual and that he was devoted father to his children. I learned nothing about the Algerian War or about the change in the economy or social life in France during the 1950s and 1960s. What a waste of 41 hours of listening.

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Great Book - Wonderful Narration

Revisado: 11-22-20

The trilogy of Mr. Shirer's life is a listen well worth the time. Grover Gardner's reading of these books is wonderful (he could read a phone book and it would be interesting to listen to). The criticism that I have of Shirer is the fact that he constantly feels the need to correct ANYONE who disagrees with him. If you agree with him, he loves you, if you disagree with him, he trashes you. I totally understand why CBS fired him in the late 1940's. Shirer is self centered, belligerent, and egotistical to an extreme. He is also a philanderer. I enjoy his writing, but he was an awful human being.

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Great Book - Poor Kate - she was raised by wolves!

Revisado: 09-12-20

I have listened to both of Ms. Mulgrew's memoirs and she is without doubt a wonderful storyteller and narrator. With that being said, after listening to both books, my main emotion is one of sadness for Ms. Mulgrew. Her writing reflects a bizarre combination of admiration, contempt, shame, and pity for each of her parents and for them both as a couple. Her parent's failure at child rearing manifested into two sad and failed marriages for Ms. Mulgrew. I am not sure why she has so much admiration for either of her parents as neither of them (separately or as a couple) seemed up to the job of parenting and both of them seemed perpetually lost in self indulgences to the detriment of the raising of their children. For example, at age 16, Ms. Mulgrew was allowed (actually encouraged) by her parents to date a 31 year old man with the consequences that anyone with half a brain knows would be bound to happen. What kind of parents would stand for such a relationship to ever get started? Ms. Mulgrew seems throughout both books to have the utmost desire for people to think to themselves ... 'until I read this book, I assumed Ms. Mulgrew grew up on the upper East Side of New York and how could someone so worldly and erudite ever have come from Dubuque, Iowa?' and ... 'even through her last name is Mulgrew, I always assumed that she was a Kennedy and summered on Cape Cod and how on earth could anyone so worldly and sophisticated ever have grown up in Dubuque, Iowa?'. The conversational language in that Dubuque household used by Ms. Mulgrew, by her siblings, and by both of her parents sounds more like language used at a truck stop than in a home. Kudos to Ms. Mulgrew for sharing her story and the books are indeed wonderful to listen to, but a listener needs to be prepared to be steered to very dark places as they listen. At least I came away being thankful that my parents were not like hers.

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Cute, but not very scientific

Revisado: 02-24-20

This book was on the 'free' list so I gave it a try. The book has very little science it in and is mostly the author's own experience drinking (and not drinking) coffee. If you enjoy listening to people's day to day life, this is a good book. If you are looking for detailed explanation of caffeine and its historical use by humans, this book is not it. The author is also the narrator (authors as narrators is hit and miss and usually miss) and he does and EXCELLENT job. Again the book is cute and a bit whimsical. If you just consider it a long magazine article it is enjoyable.

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Not a Military or Political History of the War

Revisado: 02-08-20

This is a social science 'history' of the war. Parts are interesting, but a lot of it is merely the authors social commentary on the evils of Western society. I would not recommend.

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Totally Misleading Title

Revisado: 12-15-19

This is NOT a history of the topic as listed in the title. It is a narrative of Americans who went to Russia to assist with famine relief - not an analysis of how America participated in ending the famine or in how the famine happened. Also, when the book quoted anyone from the Soviet Union, the narrator would handle this by transitioning to what was supposed to be her perception of a accent that someone who was Russian would have if they spoke English (she sounded like Natasha from 'Rocky and Bullwinkle'). The book was a giant disappointment and I could only suffer through portions of it before giving up.

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A REVISIONIST HISTORY - AWFUL!!!!

Revisado: 11-10-19

First, a critique of the performance: Martin Sheen is too old to be a narrator. His voice is raspy and his pace is S L O W. He is awful. Next time, see if Charlie or Emilio are available.

More importantly, the book is simply revisionist in its point of view. Evidently, WWII was caused by the Republicans in Congress who were total buffoons and FDR, fortunately, saved the day in the end. I am a big reader/listener of WWII history and I have never heard such stupidity. Also, this work is aimed at someone with the intellect of a first grader. My gosh they actually gave the definition of the word 'belligerent'.

I could only listen for about 30 minutes before my irritation overwhelmed me and I stopped.

This book was a freebie as I am a monthly subscriber, so I can't return it to show my disgust. What a giant waste of time and energy. If I could rate it as a negative, I would.

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