David

Superb history

Revisado: 02-20-22

A great sweep of narrative history anchored from the 1683 siege of Vienna to 1718 when the Holy Roman Empire pushed the Ottoman Empire out of Hungary. The foreground and epilogue to this conflict are thoughtfully presented. The author may annoy those who adhere to certain mythologies surround this conflict. Good. A central theme here is to understand something of the reality of what happened and how events served certain retelling of history in ways convenient to statecraft. This period of history casts an enormous shadow. Students of the history of The West - and this includes the Ottomans - should find this book well worth their time. Good as an introduction. Good as the art of narrative for those who already have some background. Superb writing. Excellent narration.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Outstanding history

Revisado: 01-01-22

Read this book if you want a place to start with the Middle Ages. Also, it’s a great book for those with some background already. Telling a compelling, coherent story of a millennium is no small task. It pulls so many familiar stories together into one narrative. That will enrich future reading about this amazing era.

Think the Middles Ages were dark and ignorant? Read this book for enlightenment.

And, yes, I noticed the odd tiny error here and there. E.g. the great Cluny Abbey was not dynamited in the French Revolution. Black powder was used. Dynamite was invented decades later.

A wee scratch here and there does not keep the whole thing out of the five star category.

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One of the finest general histories of the American Civil War

Revisado: 12-10-21

Guelzo succeeds excels with a great narrative arc from the roots of the war to the war itself and its aftermath.

Read this book if you are looking at an introduction to the war. There is vital context - before and after the war - and time spent to try to understand the times as those in them saw the world.

Read it if you have read many books on the war and want an eloquent and convincing view on this violent era that created the modern United States.

The poor reviews are completely out out of line of line. Ignore them. This is a masterpiece of historic narrative and synthesis.

If you are looking intense battlefield narrative read his book on the Battle of Gettysburg.

Narration is superb.

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Both exciting and thoughtful

Revisado: 05-25-21

A biography of LBJ motivated to read this book.

Frank Hamer would be an almost unbelievable character in fiction. But he was real man and a real hero. This book presents him thoughtfully and fairly. His faults are not glossed over, his accomplishments not smeared with adulation. There are plenty of shoot outs because that was a regular thing in his life and times. There are heart-thumping episodes throughout the book. And then there is the narrative of Hamer’s character carried throughout the book.

Excellent book. Excellent performance. Highly recommended.

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Could not stop listening

Revisado: 05-10-21

Wow. Riveting. As engrossing as The Martian. Another great tale of do the science or die.

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Fine military history

Revisado: 05-06-21

A 45 minute battle changes the course of world history and this narrative grabs the moment in riveting detail. Moreover, it corrects shameful misconceptions of the battle. The utter brilliance of Washington and his lieutenants receives its due. Of special importance is giving the Hessians respect. They were not drunk or sleeping off a binge. No, they slept in arms ready for anything. They fought back with skill and honor, but were overwhelmed by an audacious assault of rare genius and prowess.

Many thanks to the author for his scholarship and humanity. There is some repetition in the narrative that seems avoidable. Perhaps it is a literary device. No matter, it does not spoil the narrative. This book is a true pleasure and most enlightening.

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Narrator is a problem

Revisado: 04-11-21

The narrator took little to no time to get pronunciation right. The very bad Spanish and French accents are annoying.

The basic thesis of the author merits careful consideration.

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Superb

Revisado: 04-05-21

Having read hundreds of books on WWII, I wasn’t looking for a single volume history.

But Max Hastings wrote it, so I read the glowing reviews and took the plunge.

To weave a coherent, compelling narrative out of such a sprawling collection of wars and peoples is no small feat. I recommend it as a first book on the subject. Just as heartily, I recommend it as the thousandth book on the subject. One learns the story itself or how to tell it. Both are fundamental.

This book is a major contribution to the literature.

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esto le resultó útil a 15 personas

Listen skeptically, but still listen

Revisado: 04-01-21

I do not share the author’s view of the abolitionists. Surely, they deserve better treatment than they get in this book.

That said, history is full of warring truths. This is not a lost cause polemic. Rather, it is a useful analysis of the evolution of what became an irrepressible conflict.

Slavery was a vast torture machine. It was also the foundation of enormous, historic wealth. And slavery was more than just a torture machine as the author asserts. It had many facets. Nevertheless, it was hideously cruel. The spiritual awakening that created abolitionism fixated in horror and righteous fury before this cruelty. It is fair to point out that fanaticism was also present in the abolitionist movement. John Brown was deranged. But to paint the abolitionists with broad stripes of fanaticism is unjust. The author flirts with this injustice. Remember the horror the abolitionists bore witness to. Their response was as intense as the horror.

But this gets to a key and vital point the author makes. The South lived in horror too. The slaughter of Haitian war with Napoleon felt like a real consequence to them should their slave system collapse - a vital reality to the southern white mind of that time. Combine that with the feared loss of the fabulous wealth of the slave plantation economy and therein lies a core of blood conflict.

I don’t buy into the author’s thesis. He blames the abolitionists mostly for the civil war. Wrong, but not crazy. I do believe he presents an important historic argument. Understanding it’s failings and strengths is why this book is worth a good listen.

The greatest weakness of this book is the lack of slave testimony. Slaves had agency. They fled cruel oppression. The North was flooded with their accounts. Such accounts were brutally suppressed in the South. But in the North normal people read the testimony, perceived the evil, and responded accordingly. I very much wish the author had wrestled with this issue. The slaves made their case and won. The slave masters made theirs and lost. Missing in this book.

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esto le resultó útil a 12 personas

All about cabinet politics but really nothing about what they did for the war

Revisado: 12-26-20

A detailed account of cabinet politics. As such, this book may be for you, not so for me.

What I wanted is a book detailing what these ministers did. Marshaling of economic, industrial, military, social, and diplomatic resources to avoid defeat and to set the stage for victory was the accomplishment of these ministers - an extraordinary story that needs telling. Not here. We learn far more of their intrigues. Pity.

Performance excellent.

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