The Bay of Pigs
Oxford University Press - Pivotal Moments in US History
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Steve Sever
-
By:
-
Howard Jones
About this listen
In The Bay of Pigs, Howard Jones provides a concise, incisive, and dramatic account of the disastrous attempt to overthrow Castro in April 1961. Drawing on recently declassified CIA documents, Jones deftly examines the train of missteps and self-deceptions that led to the invasion of U.S.-trained exiles at the Bay of Pigs.
Ignoring warnings from the ambassador to Cuba, the Eisenhower administration put in motion an operation that proved nearly unstoppable, even after the inauguration of John F. Kennedy. The CIA and Pentagon, meanwhile, both voiced confidence in the outcome of the invasion, especially after coordinating previous successful coups in Guatemala and Iran. And so the Kennedy administration launched the exile force toward its doom in Cochinos Bay on April 17, 1961.
Jones gives a riveting account of the battle - and the confusion in the White House - before moving on to explore its implications. The Bay of Pigs, he writes, set the course of Kennedy's foreign policy. It was a humiliation for the administration that fueled fears of Communist domination and pushed Kennedy toward a hardline "cold warrior" stance. But at the same time, the failed attack left him deeply skeptical of CIA and military advisers and influenced his later actions during the Cuban missile crisis.
The “Pivotal Moments in American History” series seeks to unite the old and the new history, combining the insights and techniques of recent historiography with the power of traditional narrative. Each title has a strong narrative arc with drama, irony, suspense, and - most importantly - great characters who embody the human dimension of historical events. The general editors of “Pivotal Moments” are not just historians; they are popular writers themselves, and, in two cases, Pulitzer Prize winners: David Hackett Fischer, James M. McPherson, and David Greenberg. We hope you like your American History served up with verve, wit, and an eye for the telling detail!
©2008 Howard Jones (P)2011 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Thirteen Days
- A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis
- By: Robert F. Kennedy
- Narrated by: Kurt Elftmann
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In October 1962, when the United States confronted the Soviet Union over its installation of missiles in Cuba, few people shared the behind-the-scenes story as it is told here by the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. In this unique account, he describes the hour-by-hour negotiations, with particular attention to the actions and views of his brother, President John F. Kennedy. In a foreword to this edition, the distinguished historian and Kennedy adviser Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., discusses the book's enduring importance and the significance of new information about the crisis that has come to light from the former Soviet Union.
-
-
IF YOU LOVE HISTORY"""
- By Max & Lucy on 02-24-19
-
The Story of World War II
- By: Donald L. Miller, Henry Steele Commager
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 24 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on previously unpublished eyewitness accounts, prizewinning historian Donald L. Miller has written what critics are calling one of the most powerful accounts of warfare ever published. Here are the horror and heroism of World War II in the words of the men who fought it, the journalists who covered it, and the civilians who were caught in its fury. Miller gives us an up-close, deeply personal view of a war that was more savagely fought - and whose outcome was in greater doubt - than one might imagine. This is the war that Americans on the home front would have read about had they had access to previously censored testimony.
-
-
INCREDIBLE! WELL-RESEARCHED, COMPLETE & UNBIASED!
- By The Louligan on 07-15-14
By: Donald L. Miller, and others
-
Black Hawk Down
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ninety-nine elite American soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile city. As night falls, they are surrounded by thousands of enemy gunmen. Their wounded are bleeding to death. Their ammunition and supplies are dwindling. This is the story of how they got there - and how they fought their way out. Black Hawk Down drops you into a crowded marketplace in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia with the U.S. Special Forces and puts you in the middle of the most intense firelight American soldiers have fought since the Vietnam war.
-
-
A Classic Of Military Writing...
- By Joshua on 11-06-16
By: Mark Bowden
-
SOG Kontum
- Secret Missions in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia 1968-1969
- By: Joe Parnar, Robert Dumont
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book tells the story of the Teams operating out of FOB2 Kontum, near the tri-border area, in 1968-69. From recon missions over the fence to the heroic, and sometimes fatal efforts undertaken to try and rescue missing SOG members, the events are told through the words of the men themselves, supported by previously unreleased official documents.
-
-
good stories
- By Chuck Moore on 08-29-24
By: Joe Parnar, and others
-
The Brilliant Disaster
- JFK, Castro, and America's Doomed Invasion of Cuba
- By: Jim Rasenberger
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The U.S.-backed military invasion of Cuba in 1961 remains one of the most ill-fated blunders in American history, with echoes of the event reverberating even today. Despite the Kennedy administration’s initial public insistence that the United States had nothing to do with the invasion, it soon became clear that the complex operation had been planned and approved by the best and brightest minds at the highest reaches of Washington, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President John F. Kennedy himself.
-
-
US Government Perspective
- By Kindle Customer on 05-25-11
By: Jim Rasenberger
-
The Lumumba Plot
- The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination
- By: Stuart A. Reid
- Narrated by: Michael Boatman
- Length: 18 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was supposed to be a moment of great optimism, a cause for jubilation. The Congo was at last being set free from Belgium—one of seventeen countries to gain independence in 1960 from ruling European powers. At the helm as prime minister was charismatic nationalist Patrice Lumumba. Just days after the handover, however, the Congo’s new army mutinied, Belgian forces intervened, and Lumumba turned to the United Nations for help in saving his newborn nation from what the press was already calling “the Congo crisis.”
-
-
Somewhere between a bio and a hatchet job
- By Buretto on 12-27-23
By: Stuart A. Reid
-
Thirteen Days
- A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis
- By: Robert F. Kennedy
- Narrated by: Kurt Elftmann
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In October 1962, when the United States confronted the Soviet Union over its installation of missiles in Cuba, few people shared the behind-the-scenes story as it is told here by the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. In this unique account, he describes the hour-by-hour negotiations, with particular attention to the actions and views of his brother, President John F. Kennedy. In a foreword to this edition, the distinguished historian and Kennedy adviser Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., discusses the book's enduring importance and the significance of new information about the crisis that has come to light from the former Soviet Union.
-
-
IF YOU LOVE HISTORY"""
- By Max & Lucy on 02-24-19
-
The Story of World War II
- By: Donald L. Miller, Henry Steele Commager
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 24 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on previously unpublished eyewitness accounts, prizewinning historian Donald L. Miller has written what critics are calling one of the most powerful accounts of warfare ever published. Here are the horror and heroism of World War II in the words of the men who fought it, the journalists who covered it, and the civilians who were caught in its fury. Miller gives us an up-close, deeply personal view of a war that was more savagely fought - and whose outcome was in greater doubt - than one might imagine. This is the war that Americans on the home front would have read about had they had access to previously censored testimony.
-
-
INCREDIBLE! WELL-RESEARCHED, COMPLETE & UNBIASED!
- By The Louligan on 07-15-14
By: Donald L. Miller, and others
-
Black Hawk Down
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ninety-nine elite American soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile city. As night falls, they are surrounded by thousands of enemy gunmen. Their wounded are bleeding to death. Their ammunition and supplies are dwindling. This is the story of how they got there - and how they fought their way out. Black Hawk Down drops you into a crowded marketplace in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia with the U.S. Special Forces and puts you in the middle of the most intense firelight American soldiers have fought since the Vietnam war.
-
-
A Classic Of Military Writing...
- By Joshua on 11-06-16
By: Mark Bowden
-
SOG Kontum
- Secret Missions in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia 1968-1969
- By: Joe Parnar, Robert Dumont
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book tells the story of the Teams operating out of FOB2 Kontum, near the tri-border area, in 1968-69. From recon missions over the fence to the heroic, and sometimes fatal efforts undertaken to try and rescue missing SOG members, the events are told through the words of the men themselves, supported by previously unreleased official documents.
-
-
good stories
- By Chuck Moore on 08-29-24
By: Joe Parnar, and others
-
The Brilliant Disaster
- JFK, Castro, and America's Doomed Invasion of Cuba
- By: Jim Rasenberger
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The U.S.-backed military invasion of Cuba in 1961 remains one of the most ill-fated blunders in American history, with echoes of the event reverberating even today. Despite the Kennedy administration’s initial public insistence that the United States had nothing to do with the invasion, it soon became clear that the complex operation had been planned and approved by the best and brightest minds at the highest reaches of Washington, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President John F. Kennedy himself.
-
-
US Government Perspective
- By Kindle Customer on 05-25-11
By: Jim Rasenberger
-
The Lumumba Plot
- The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination
- By: Stuart A. Reid
- Narrated by: Michael Boatman
- Length: 18 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was supposed to be a moment of great optimism, a cause for jubilation. The Congo was at last being set free from Belgium—one of seventeen countries to gain independence in 1960 from ruling European powers. At the helm as prime minister was charismatic nationalist Patrice Lumumba. Just days after the handover, however, the Congo’s new army mutinied, Belgian forces intervened, and Lumumba turned to the United Nations for help in saving his newborn nation from what the press was already calling “the Congo crisis.”
-
-
Somewhere between a bio and a hatchet job
- By Buretto on 12-27-23
By: Stuart A. Reid
-
The Making of the Atomic Bomb
- 25th Anniversary Edition
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 37 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here for the first time, in rich human, political, and scientific detail, is the complete story of how the bomb was developed, from the turn-of-the-century discovery of the vast energy locked inside the atom to the dropping of the first bombs on Japan. Few great discoveries have evolved so swiftly - or have been so misunderstood. From the theoretical discussions of nuclear energy to the bright glare of Trinity, there was a span of hardly more than 25 years.
-
-
Beware limitations of the reader
- By JFanson on 01-01-19
By: Richard Rhodes
-
The Reaper
- Autobiography of One of the Deadliest Special Ops Snipers
- By: Gary Brozek, Nicholas Irving
- Narrated by: Jeff Gurner
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Groundbreaking, thrilling and revealing, The Reaper is the astonishing memoir of Special Operations Direct Action Sniper Nicholas Irving, the 3rd Ranger Battalion's deadliest sniper with 33 confirmed kills, though his remarkable career total, including probables, is unknown. Irving shares the true story of his extraordinary military career, including his deployment to Afghanistan in the summer of 2009, when he set another record, this time for enemy kills on a single deployment.
-
-
Great story
- By SteveS on 11-18-15
By: Gary Brozek, and others
-
The Manhattan Project
- The Making of the Atomic Bomb
- By: Al Cimino
- Narrated by: Eric Meyers
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book traces the history of the Manhattan Project, from the first glimmerings of the possibility of such a catastrophic weapon to the aftermath of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It profiles the architects of the bomb, including J. Robert Oppenheimer, and how they tried to reconcile their personal feelings with their ambition as scientists. It looks at the role of the politicians and it includes first-hand accounts of those who experienced the effects of the bombings.
-
-
Very informative!
- By JavierMiguel78 on 08-08-23
By: Al Cimino
-
The Bay of Pigs Invasion: President Kennedy's Failed Attempt to Overthrow Fidel Castro
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Cynthia O'Brien
- Length: 1 hr and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Within just a month of becoming president, the issue of Communist Cuba became central to John F. Kennedy and his administration. On February 3rd, 1961, President Kennedy called for a plan to support Cuban refugees in the US. A month later he created the Peace Corps, a program that trained young American volunteers to help with economic and community development in poor countries.
-
-
Deceptive Title
- By Mr. Conrad on 04-08-17
-
Rise and Kill First
- The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations
- By: Ronen Bergman
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 25 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Talmud says: “If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.” This instinct to take every measure, even the most aggressive, to defend the Jewish people is hardwired into Israel’s DNA. From the very beginning of its statehood in 1948, protecting the nation from harm has been the responsibility of its intelligence community and armed services, and there is one weapon in their vast arsenal that they have relied upon to thwart the most serious threats: Targeted assassinations have been used countless times, on enemies large and small....
-
-
Eye Opening
- By Ari Safari on 02-09-18
By: Ronen Bergman
-
Black Ops
- The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior
- By: Ric Prado
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Enrique Prado found himself in his first firefight at age seven. The son of a middle-class Cuban family caught in the midst of the Castro Revolution, his family fled their war-torn home for the hope of a better life in America. Fifty years later, the Cuban refugee retired from the Central Intelligence Agency as the CIA equivalent of a two-star general. Black Ops is the story of Ric’s legendary career that spanned two eras, the Cold War and the Age of Terrorism.
-
-
Impressive and Inspiring!
- By medardo on 03-12-22
By: Ric Prado
-
Hunting the Jackal
- A Special Forces and CIA Soldier's Fifty Years on the Frontlines of the War Against Terrorism
- By: Billy Waugh, Tim Keown
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than half a century, Special Forces and CIA legend Billy Waugh dedicated his life to tracking down and eliminating America's most virulent enemies. Operating from the darkest shadows and most desolate corners of the world, he made his mark in many of the most important operations in the annals of US Spec Ops. He spent seven and a half years behind enemy lines in Vietnam as a member of a covert group of elite commandos.
-
-
Hunting the Jackal - epic accounting of SOF/SOG and CIA IV
- By Eric on 01-08-18
By: Billy Waugh, and others
-
The Gates of Europe
- A History of Ukraine
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ukraine is currently embroiled in a tense fight with Russia to preserve its territorial integrity and political independence. But today's conflict is only the latest in a long history of battles over Ukraine's territory and its existence as a sovereign nation. As the award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy argues in The Gates of Europe, we must examine Ukraine's past in order to understand its present and future.
-
-
An extraordinarily good book
- By Specs2789 on 03-01-23
By: Serhii Plokhy
-
The Path Between the Seas
- The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 31 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Path Between the Seas tells the story of the men and women who fought against all odds to fulfill the 400-year-old dream of constructing an aquatic passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a story of astonishing engineering feats, tremendous medical accomplishments, political power plays, heroic successes, and tragic failures. McCullough expertly weaves the many strands of this momentous event into a captivating tale.
-
-
No Stone Unturned
- By Tim on 06-25-13
By: David McCullough
-
Six Days of War
- June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East
- By: Michael B. Oren
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Israel and the West, it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War or, simply, as "the Setback". Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen, and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David accords, the controversy over Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the intifada, and the rise of Palestinian terror are all part of the outcome of those six days.
-
-
Great overview of Middle East troubles
- By Patrick Marstall on 07-23-06
By: Michael B. Oren
-
One Minute to Midnight
- Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War
- By: Michael Dobbs
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In October 1962, at the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union appeared to be sliding inexorably toward a nuclear conflict over the placement of missiles in Cuba. Veteran Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs has pored over previously untapped American, Soviet, and Cuban sources to produce the most authoritative book yet on the Cuban missile crisis.
-
-
On the verge of annihilation.
- By MikeCG on 01-22-09
By: Michael Dobbs
-
The Eyes of the Eagle
- F Company LRPs in Vietnam, 1968
- By: Gary A. Linderer
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gary Linderer volunteered for the Army, then volunteered for Airborne training. When he reached Vietnam in 1968, he was assigned to the famous "Screaming Eagles," the 101st Airborne Division. Once there, he volunteered for training and duty with F Company 58th Inf, the Long Range Patrol company that was "the Eyes of the Eagle." The Eyes of the Eagle is an accurate, exciting look at the recon soldier's war. There are none better.
-
-
Loved it
- By Dan on 03-16-20
By: Gary A. Linderer
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
Six Days of War
- June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East
- By: Michael B. Oren
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Israel and the West, it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War or, simply, as "the Setback". Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen, and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David accords, the controversy over Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the intifada, and the rise of Palestinian terror are all part of the outcome of those six days.
-
-
Great overview of Middle East troubles
- By Patrick Marstall on 07-23-06
By: Michael B. Oren
-
The Twilight War
- The Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran
- By: David Crist
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 25 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the past three decades, the United States and Iran have been engaged in an unacknowledged secret war. This conflict has frustrated five American presidents, divided administrations, and repeatedly threatened to bring the two nations to the brink of open warfare. Drawing upon unparalleled access to senior officials and key documents of several US administrations, David Crist, a senior historian in the federal government, breaks new ground in virtually every section of The Twilight War.
-
-
Most authoritative book on conflict on Iran, hands down.
- By David Free on 07-14-19
By: David Crist
-
MacArthur at War
- World War II in the Pacific
- By: Walter R. Borneman
- Narrated by: David Baker
- Length: 19 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
World War II changed the course of history. Douglas MacArthur changed the course of World War II. Macarthur at War goes deeper into this transformative period of his life than previous biographies, drilling into the military strategy that Walter R. Borneman is so skilled at conveying and exploring how personality and ego translate into military successes and failures.
-
-
An interesting, but flawed, history
- By Mike From Mesa on 07-29-16
-
Who Can Hold the Sea
- The U.S. Navy in the Cold War 1945-1960
- By: James D. Hornfischer
- Narrated by: Christopher Newton, Sharon Hornfischer
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This landmark account of the U.S. Navy in the Cold War, Who Can Hold the Sea combines narrative history with scenes of stirring adventure on—and under—the high seas. In 1945, at the end of World War II, the victorious Navy sends its sailors home and decommissions most of its warships. But this peaceful interlude is short-lived, as Stalin, America’s former ally, makes aggressive moves in Europe and the Far East.
-
-
James D. Hornfisher's last work
- By JWHayn4563 on 05-05-22
-
Embers of War
- The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam
- By: Fredrik Logevall
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 32 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this landmark work that will forever change your understanding of how and why America went to war in Vietnam, author Fredrik Logevall taps newly accessible diplomatic archives in several nations and traces the path that led two Western nations to tragically lose their way in the jungles of Southeast Asia. He brings to life the bloodiest battles of France’s final years in Indochina - and describes how, from an early point, a succession of American leaders made disastrous policy choices that put America on its own collision course with history.
-
-
Understanding Why We failed the People of Vietnam
- By VA on 03-22-21
By: Fredrik Logevall
-
Nimitz at War
- Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay
- By: Craig L. Symonds
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Only days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt tapped Chester W. Nimitz to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. Nimitz transformed the devastated and dispirited Pacific fleet into the most powerful and commanding naval force in history. Facing demands from Washington to mount an early offensive, he had first to revive the depressed morale of the thousands of sailors, soldiers, and Marines who served under him. And of course, he also confronted a formidable and implacable enemy in the Imperial Japanese Navy.
-
-
Great
- By Jean on 12-14-22
By: Craig L. Symonds
-
Six Days of War
- June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East
- By: Michael B. Oren
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Israel and the West, it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War or, simply, as "the Setback". Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen, and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David accords, the controversy over Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the intifada, and the rise of Palestinian terror are all part of the outcome of those six days.
-
-
Great overview of Middle East troubles
- By Patrick Marstall on 07-23-06
By: Michael B. Oren
-
The Twilight War
- The Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran
- By: David Crist
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 25 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the past three decades, the United States and Iran have been engaged in an unacknowledged secret war. This conflict has frustrated five American presidents, divided administrations, and repeatedly threatened to bring the two nations to the brink of open warfare. Drawing upon unparalleled access to senior officials and key documents of several US administrations, David Crist, a senior historian in the federal government, breaks new ground in virtually every section of The Twilight War.
-
-
Most authoritative book on conflict on Iran, hands down.
- By David Free on 07-14-19
By: David Crist
-
MacArthur at War
- World War II in the Pacific
- By: Walter R. Borneman
- Narrated by: David Baker
- Length: 19 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
World War II changed the course of history. Douglas MacArthur changed the course of World War II. Macarthur at War goes deeper into this transformative period of his life than previous biographies, drilling into the military strategy that Walter R. Borneman is so skilled at conveying and exploring how personality and ego translate into military successes and failures.
-
-
An interesting, but flawed, history
- By Mike From Mesa on 07-29-16
-
Who Can Hold the Sea
- The U.S. Navy in the Cold War 1945-1960
- By: James D. Hornfischer
- Narrated by: Christopher Newton, Sharon Hornfischer
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This landmark account of the U.S. Navy in the Cold War, Who Can Hold the Sea combines narrative history with scenes of stirring adventure on—and under—the high seas. In 1945, at the end of World War II, the victorious Navy sends its sailors home and decommissions most of its warships. But this peaceful interlude is short-lived, as Stalin, America’s former ally, makes aggressive moves in Europe and the Far East.
-
-
James D. Hornfisher's last work
- By JWHayn4563 on 05-05-22
-
Embers of War
- The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam
- By: Fredrik Logevall
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 32 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this landmark work that will forever change your understanding of how and why America went to war in Vietnam, author Fredrik Logevall taps newly accessible diplomatic archives in several nations and traces the path that led two Western nations to tragically lose their way in the jungles of Southeast Asia. He brings to life the bloodiest battles of France’s final years in Indochina - and describes how, from an early point, a succession of American leaders made disastrous policy choices that put America on its own collision course with history.
-
-
Understanding Why We failed the People of Vietnam
- By VA on 03-22-21
By: Fredrik Logevall
-
Nimitz at War
- Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay
- By: Craig L. Symonds
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Only days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt tapped Chester W. Nimitz to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. Nimitz transformed the devastated and dispirited Pacific fleet into the most powerful and commanding naval force in history. Facing demands from Washington to mount an early offensive, he had first to revive the depressed morale of the thousands of sailors, soldiers, and Marines who served under him. And of course, he also confronted a formidable and implacable enemy in the Imperial Japanese Navy.
-
-
Great
- By Jean on 12-14-22
By: Craig L. Symonds
-
One Minute to Midnight
- Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War
- By: Michael Dobbs
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In October 1962, at the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union appeared to be sliding inexorably toward a nuclear conflict over the placement of missiles in Cuba. Veteran Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs has pored over previously untapped American, Soviet, and Cuban sources to produce the most authoritative book yet on the Cuban missile crisis.
-
-
On the verge of annihilation.
- By MikeCG on 01-22-09
By: Michael Dobbs
-
The Brilliant Disaster
- JFK, Castro, and America's Doomed Invasion of Cuba
- By: Jim Rasenberger
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The U.S.-backed military invasion of Cuba in 1961 remains one of the most ill-fated blunders in American history, with echoes of the event reverberating even today. Despite the Kennedy administration’s initial public insistence that the United States had nothing to do with the invasion, it soon became clear that the complex operation had been planned and approved by the best and brightest minds at the highest reaches of Washington, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President John F. Kennedy himself.
-
-
US Government Perspective
- By Kindle Customer on 05-25-11
By: Jim Rasenberger
-
Black Ops
- The Rise of Special Forces in the C.I.A., The S.A.S., and Mossad
- By: Tony Geraghty
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After eight challenging years in Afghanistan, the new U.S. strategy, aimed at winning hearts and minds rather than search-and-destroy, refocuses the conflict on Special Forces: unorthodox soldiers who work outside of traditional military forces to combine secret military operations with nation building.
-
-
Painful narration
- By JWS on 12-18-20
By: Tony Geraghty
-
A Better War
- The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last Years in Vietnam
- By: Lewis Sorley
- Narrated by: Basil Sands
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Neglected by scholars and journalists alike, the years of conflict in Vietnam from 1968 to 1975 offer surprises not only about how the war was fought, but about what was achieved. Drawing on authoritative materials not previously available, including thousands of hours of tape-recorded allied councils of war, award-winning military historian Lewis Sorley has given us what has long been needed - an insightful, factual, and superbly documented history of these important years.
-
-
A thought-provoking history of the war 68-75
- By Rodney W. Schmisseur on 02-05-14
By: Lewis Sorley
-
When Britain Saved the West
- The Story of 1940
- By: Robin Prior
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the comfortable distance of seven decades, it is quite easy to view the victory of the Allies over Hitler's Germany as inevitable. But in 1940 Great Britain's defeat loomed perilously close, and no other nation stepped up to confront the Nazi threat. In this cogently argued book, Robin Prior delves into the documents of the time - war diaries, combat reports, Home Security's daily files, and much more - to uncover how Britain endured a year of menacing crises.
-
-
Very detailed; a bit dry in spots
- By No on 09-07-15
By: Robin Prior
-
Road to Disaster
- A New History of America’s Descent into Vietnam
- By: Brian VanDeMark
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 23 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many books have been written on the tragic decisions regarding Vietnam made by the stars of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Yet despite many words of analysis and reflection, no historian has been able to explain why such decent and previously successful men stumbled so badly. That changes with Road to Disaster. Historian Brian VanDeMark draws upon decades of archival research, his own interviews with many of those involved, and a wealth of previously unheard recordings by Robert McNamara and Clark Clifford, who served as Defense Secretaries for Kennedy and Johnson.
-
-
Vietnam Veteran
- By Jim Rollins on 04-02-19
By: Brian VanDeMark
-
The Doomsday Machine
- By: Daniel Ellsberg
- Narrated by: Steven Cooper
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Doomsday Machine is Ellsberg's hair-raising insider's account of the most dangerous arms buildup in the history of civilization, whose legacy - and renewal under the Obama administration - threatens the very survival of humanity. It is scarcely possible to estimate the true dangers of our present nuclear policies without penetrating the secret realities of the nuclear strategy of the late Eisenhower and early Kennedy years, when Ellsberg had high-level access to them.
-
-
Fascinating Insider Story
- By Terry Masters on 12-07-17
By: Daniel Ellsberg
-
The Mantle of Command
- FDR at War, 1941–1942
- By: Nigel Hamilton
- Narrated by: Brad Sanders
- Length: 20 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on years of archival research and interviews with the last surviving aides and Roosevelt family members, Nigel Hamilton offers a definitive account of FDR’s masterful - and underappreciated - command of the Allied war effort. Hamilton takes listeners inside FDR’s White House Oval Study - his personal command center - and into the meetings where he battled with Churchill about strategy and tactics and overrode the near mutinies of his own generals and secretary of war.
-
-
Great Book, Terrible Narration
- By Ross Mackey on 04-11-22
By: Nigel Hamilton
-
My Country, My Life
- Fighting for Israel, Searching for Peace
- By: Ehud Barak
- Narrated by: Ehud Barak, Jonathan Davis
- Length: 20 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 2000, the most decorated soldier in Israel's history - Ehud Barak - set himself a challenge as daunting as any he had faced on the battlefield: to secure a final peace with the Palestinians. He would propose two states for two peoples, with a shared capital in Jerusalem. He knew the risks of failure. But he also knew the risks of not trying: letting slip perhaps the last chance for a generation to secure genuine peace. It was a moment of truth.
-
-
Unbelievably Fantastic Book
- By Amazon Customer on 08-15-18
By: Ehud Barak
-
Shadow Strike
- Inside Israel's Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power
- By: Yaakov Katz
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On September 6, 2007, shortly after midnight, Israeli fighters advanced on Deir ez-Zour in Syria. Israel often flew into Syria as a warning to President Bashar al-Assad. But this time, there was no warning and no explanation. This was a covert operation, with one goal: to destroy a nuclear reactor being built by North Korea under a tight veil of secrecy in the Syrian desert. Shadow Strike tells, for the first time, the story of the espionage, military might and psychological warfare behind Israel’s operation to stop one of the greatest known acts of nuclear proliferation.
-
-
Important Book!
- By Gerald J. Vogt on 05-10-19
By: Yaakov Katz
-
A Man Called Intrepid
- The Incredible WWII Narrative of the Hero Whose Spy Network and Secret Diplomacy Changed the Course of History
- By: William Stevenson
- Narrated by: David McAlister
- Length: 21 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Man Called Intrepid is the account of the world’s first integrated intelligence operation and of its master, William Stephenson. Codenamed INTREPID by Winston Churchill, Stephenson was charged with establishing and running a vast, worldwide intelligence network to challenge the terrifying force of Nazi Germany. Nothing less than the fate of Britain and the free world hung in the balance as INTREPID covertly set about stalling the Nazis by any means necessary.
-
-
You have to wonder ...
- By Mike From Mesa on 04-15-14
-
Hitler's American Gamble
- Pearl Harbor and Germany's March to Global War
- By: Brendan Simms, Charlie Laderman
- Narrated by: Damian Lynch
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By early December 1941, war had changed much of the world beyond recognition. Nazi Germany occupied most of the European continent, while in Asia, the Second Sino-Japanese War had turned China into a battleground. But these conflicts were not yet inextricably linked - and the United States remained at peace. Hitler’s American Gamble recounts the five days that upended everything: December 7 to 11.
-
-
A waste of time based on a flawed premise
- By Grant on 11-30-21
By: Brendan Simms, and others