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Not accurate, had to return it

Revisado: 11-30-24

The book begins by narrating the episode of the bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut on April 18, 1983.
So far so good.

Then, in the next chapter, it proceeds to tell the brief history of how Lebanon got so bad.
The narrative is not objective, particularly as it comes to Israel or the Christian forces.

For example, when telling how Israel initiated their operations in Lebanon after the attack on their ambassador to the UK (that was the purported causus belli) it fails to mention that there had been 270 attacks on Israel by the PLO in the previous 11 months of "ceasefire"; or when telling how Israel shot down scores of Syrian warplanes, it makes it sound as if they did it for sport, but they were over Lebanon defending their own military assets there. It then goes on to lambast Israel for bombarding West Beirut and initiating a siege, but again that choice was to spare West Beirut house to house fighting, In the end 14,000 PLO fighters and 6,500 Fatah combatants left West Beirut under the supervision of peacekeeping troops, so there were plenty of military forces trapped in West Beirut, which made it a legitimate military target.

The authors are either misinformed or biased or both.
Too bad, because I really enjoyed previous books by James Scott.
I never read anything by Jack Carr, I guess he stuck to his strength as a novelist in this book as well.
Had to return the title.

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Good history for audiobook format

Revisado: 08-09-24

Good history of the Revolutionary War campaigns in the South, with rich enough context to understand the story, but not too much to bog down the narrative.

The author did an excellent job on staying focus on the topic, the temptation to expound on the whole of the Revolutionary War must have been hard to resist. I learned a lot. Battles are clearly described, the narration is engaging.

I particularly appreciated that chapters tended to be 'self-contained", that is, for the most part, characters and their relevant contribution to the story where all in the same chapter, which makes it easy to follow when listening (as opposed to books where context and characters are presented first, and the narrative follows later, no biggie in printed format when you can go back easily, not so in audio format).

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Pure, unadulterated military history

Revisado: 08-09-24

If you just want to get immersed into the action with the Roman legions, this book is for you.

For example, right from the start you find Caesar leading his soldiers, and you learn about his tactical and strategic choices, but without all the baggage of having to learn about his infancy or the social factors relevant in Rome or all the other stuff. There's other books for that. The through line is offered by the vicissitudes of the X legion, but not only that one, also many others (as per the subtitle, "tenth legion AND the armies of Rome"). Here and there, you learn about what it was like to live like a legionnaire, and I really appreciated how these facts are interspersed in the chapters, much better than having long, boring introductory chapters with all the details but no narrative sustaining them. The core of the story is from Caesar's campaigns in the 60s bc to the conquest of Masada in 73ad.

Highly recommended, I found it hard to pause listening.

Good narration.

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No-frills autobiography

Revisado: 03-24-24

Recommended to all who are interested in air combat.
Vivid descriptions of dogfights, and the personality of Giora Epstein shines through, both his grit and his hunting instinct.
Amazing that he was a paratrooper at first and he had 500 jumps before becoming a fighter pilot!
Obviously this is not a history book, so you need to be familiar with the history of Israel's war and the basics of air combat.
If you are, do not miss this book!

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Good biography

Revisado: 11-07-23

Fair biography.

Author could have dwelled more on signature events in Golda’s life and less on others, instead of keeping a steady chronological rhythm.

Also some things could have been explained better, like that the “conception “ Israeli intelligence had of Egypt’s intentions was a whole doctrine, not just an idea.

Also narrator not great.

Having said that, it’s still a good listen that serves as a good review of Israeli history.

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Gem of a book - highly recommended!

Revisado: 10-13-23

I've read many books about Israel's military history, and this is one of the best.
I can't believe it has so few ratings.

First, it is obviously very well researched, and includes facts that emerged only recently. It changed my perception of the Yom Kippur war. I thought of it as a disaster, but now I think of it differently. It also changed my perception of Golda Meir and many others.

Second, it is a well written book. I found it hard to stop listening when I had to get back to work. There are well written history books; and there are well written books, period. This one is of the latter category. Witty, engaging, informative, and with a point of view. Again great writing.

Third, very good descriptions of battles, you can follow along easily; and of personalities, the main characters in this drama. Hard to find both in the same book.

Lastly, I had been listening to this because of the 50 year anniversary of the Yom Kippur war,,, and then October 7 2023 happened. Listening to this helped me both appreciate the magnitude of what just happened by contrasting with 1973 (I learned from this book that in 18 days of war in 1973, 2,222 Israelis died, almost all soldiers; compared to about 1,300 in a single day, a large proportion of them civilian, in 2023) and it was somehow therapeutic, as Israel has been in bad spots before.

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Very balanced account

Revisado: 06-18-22

I'm not a Civil War buff, but I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook.

It examines key parts of it from different perspectives, and debunks many long-standing myths about the battle.
Prior events or details of personalities involved are presented in just the right amount, to better understand their impact on this battle without stealing the show.

4 stars instead of 5 because a book like this, centered on a single battle and so many different characters, should have an accompanying pdf available for download with maps and pictures to keep track of the narration.

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Good for your intellect, good for your soul

Revisado: 06-09-22

Loved these lectures.

I've been studying the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Thomistic tradition, and this is THE clearest exposition of his whole thinking that I've found so far. I read Ed Feser, I watched videos by the Thomistic Institute, and read parts of the Summa. So over time I got familiar with some of Thomas Aquinas' thinking, with bits and pieces. But what Prof. Stump does, and does masterfully, is a presentation of how Thomas Aquinas' ideas are connected in a coherent whole. Beautiful.

Prof. Stump's narration is precise yet warm, I thoroughly enjoyed it, hearing her cadence and her voice somehow brought joy to my heart. I never thought this could happen when listening an audiobook about philosophy.

I also said in the title of my review that this book is good for the soul. That is because as a Catholic these lectures helped me so much in understanding and deepening my Faith.

Highly recommended to any student of philosophy and to any Catholic, really accessible presentation of very deep ideas.

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A thousand years of warfare

Revisado: 04-03-22

I remember studying in elementary and middle schools the conquest by Islam; and I remember my Father's generation, in my native Italy, still saying "Mamma li turchi!" (Mom, the Turks!) to signal consternation about a looming catastrophe. Yet in modern narrative it seems as if the Crusades came out of nothing, and everything is reduced to colonialism.

Raymond Ibrahim's book is a much needed corrective, which puts everything in context by using the correct timeline, right from the Islamic conquest of 2/3 of Christendom after 632. Very interesting and well written, performance a little bit dry but still good.

The first chapter about Islamic views of holy war is in itself revealing, informative, and worth the whole book.

I was under the impression it would be just a description of 8 major battles, but it is actually the story of a millenium + of war, punctuated by the 8 battles. Kudos to the author for weaving this all together, with richness of sources and references.
It also narrates America's first experiences with Islam, that is with the pirates of the Berber Coast, in the late 1700s and early 1800s so interesting!

Not for the faint of heart, as often the Muslim conquest is followed by a litany of horrors, dutifully described by the author.

Highly recommended to anyone interested in history.

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Good account of interesting period of history

Revisado: 03-11-22

The book title might just have included also other important historical figures featured in this book, such as Martin Luther or Francis I of France. Very interesting listen, this book is a good companion to Crowley's books such as "empires of the sea", which is very much focused on the mediterranean theater, whereas Reston's book is more global (European) in perspective and therefore offer more context.

Not five star because some key elements (in my opinion) are not mentioned, but to be fair the author mentions that he will omit quite many details for the sake of readability. Mot importantly, not five stars because the author has too modern a perspective. Faith and other cultural element of the period are not properly taken into account, and therefore the characters in the book appear all to be moving illogically. But that is not true. IF one understands and takes at face value the beliefs of people at the time.

Good narration, just one star because Pavia, which is mentioned several times in the book, is constantly mispronounced; maybe because Italian is my native language, maybe because my family hails from the area, still that irked me each time.

Having said that, recommended if you want to understand that period of European and middle eastern history.

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