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The Unification of Germany: The History and Legacy of the German Empire’s Establishment
- Narrated by: Dan Gallagher
- Length: 1 hr and 41 mins
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Publisher's summary
When invoking the term "German unification", many might initially think of the tumultuous period at the end of the 20th century when Communist East Germany and Democratic West Germany came together to form the modern German state. However, that was technically a "reunification" because Germany was first unified as a nation-state in 1871. That unification formed a state much larger than today’s Germany, stretching from Strasbourg in the Alsace region in today’s France almost 1,500 kilometers to Königsberg, now Kaliningrad in contemporary Russia, on the Baltic Sea.
This unified Germany was an experiment with few historical precedents. The 19th century was, indeed, the "Age of Nationalism", but German speakers had traditionally been spread out across Europe, including the Austrian Empire, loose confederations such as the Holy Roman Empire, and many other countries. German unity was a seemingly impossible dream held by nationalists for many years, but it became a reality when Prussia, the largest state in the German Confederation, pursued a deliberate and aggressive strategy to bring as many German-speaking territories under its control. That is not to say most Germans resisted unification, because even as life in an assortment of German states had some advantages, an underlying insecurity prevailed in principalities lacking overarching authority. German-speaking lands had been the sites of some of the continent’s most brutal wars. Moreover, there was a growing sense of German cultural and linguistic togetherness fostered by nationalists, artists, writers, and composers.
Not surprisingly, German unity in 1871 caused geopolitical ripples that reverberated for decades. Other larger European powers, such as Britain, France, and Russia, came to feel threatened by the rise of Germany. These tensions were still prevalent at the outbreak of World War I in 1914, and it became even more important in World War II. In part, this was because Germany also became an economic powerhouse, fundamentally altering the global economy. Alongside the rapid expansion of the US, trade went through a transformation that still has ramifications today.
The forces driving Germany's unification in the 19th century were similar to other trends of the era, but there were many specific and contingent factors playing out before 1871. In this respect, the unification of Germany is both an unusual and unfamiliar story.
The Unification of Germany: The History and Legacy of the German Empire’s Establishment looks at the life and work of Germany’s most famous politician and how Germany was unified. You will learn about German unification like never before.
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Ukraine is a geographically diverse country with the unfortunate fate of being sandwiched between empires. Though this is frequently explored no further than the global conflicts of the 20th century, in reality, Ukraine’s struggle for self-determination has far deeper roots than most people realize. See the splendor of the Kyivan Rus, gallop with the Golden Horde across the Ukrainian steppe, encounter the legendary Cossacks, and witness the terror of the tsars. From the Romans to the Mongols to the Russians, Ukraine has seen it all and remained uniquely Ukrainian through it all.
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Excellent quick listen
- By Thomas J Anderson on 12-14-23
By: Dominic Haynes
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Iran
- A Modern History
- By: Abbas Amanat
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 41 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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This history of modern Iran is not a survey in the conventional sense but an ambitious exploration of the story of a nation. It offers a revealing look at how events, people, and institutions are shaped by currents that sometimes reach back hundreds of years. The book covers the complex history of the diverse societies and economies of Iran against the background of dynastic changes, revolutions, civil wars, foreign occupation, and the rise of the Islamic Republic.
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A Nuanced, and Objective Masterpiece !!!!!
- By Chris Carl on 01-16-20
By: Abbas Amanat
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The Anatomy of Fascism
- By: Robert O. Paxton
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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What is fascism? By focusing on the concrete, what the fascists did rather than what they said, the esteemed historian Robert O. Paxton answers this question for the first time. From the first violent uniformed bands beating up "enemies of the state", through Mussolini's rise to power, to Germany's fascist radicalization in World War II, Paxton shows clearly why fascists came to power in some countries and not others.
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Great book for getting a clearer idea of fascism
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-17
By: Robert O. Paxton
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Victorious Century
- The United Kingdom, 1800-1906
- By: David Cannadine
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 24 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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To live in 19th-century Britain was to experience an astonishing series of changes, of a kind for which there was simply no precedent. There were revolutions in transport, communication and work; cities grew vast; and scientific ideas made the intellectual landscape unrecognisable. This was an exhilarating time but also a horrifying one. In his new book, David Cannadine has created a bold, fascinating new interpretation of the British 19th century in all its energy and dynamism, darkness and vice.
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Blandly toeing the line between macro and micro
- By Max Shafer-landau on 10-17-17
By: David Cannadine
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A History of Fascism, 1914-1945
- By: Stanley G. Payne
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 20 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Focusing mostly on Italy and Germany but also considering Spain, Romania, Japan, and movements in other countries, Payne describes fascism as revolutionary ultranationalism based on national rebirth, extreme elitism, mass mobilization, and the promotion of violence and military virtues. He also suggests that the early Russian communists borrowed many techniques from fascism, and that though we are fairly well-inoculated against fascism itself, the values it represents could still emerge in new forms.
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Dated lit review, ill-suited for audiobook
- By Keith on 11-24-19
By: Stanley G. Payne
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The Gates of Europe
- A History of Ukraine
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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An extraordinarily good book
- By Specs2789 on 03-01-23
By: Serhii Plokhy
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Vietnam
- A New History
- By: Christopher Goscha
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 23 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In Vietnam, Christopher Goscha tells the full history of Vietnam, from antiquity to the present day. Generations of emperors, rebels, priests, and colonizers left complicated legacies in this remarkable country. Periods of Chinese, French, and Japanese rule reshaped and modernized Vietnam, but so too did the colonial enterprises of the Vietnamese themselves as they extended their influence southward from the Red River Delta.
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Not bad, but not great.
- By Kp on 08-06-18
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Russia in Revolution
- An Empire in Crisis, 1890 to 1928
- By: S. A. Smith
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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The Russian Revolution of 1917 transformed the face of the Russian empire, politically, economically, socially, and culturally and also profoundly affected the course of world history for the rest of the 20th century. Historian S. A. Smith presents a panoramic account of the history of the Russian empire, from the last years of the 19th century, through the First World War and the revolutions of 1917 and the establishment of the Bolshevik regime, to the end of the 1920s.
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Excellent centenary look at the complete revolutio
- By Privet on 09-13-18
By: S. A. Smith
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On China
- By: Henry Kissinger
- Narrated by: Nicholas Hormann
- Length: 20 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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In this sweeping and insightful history, Henry Kissinger turns for the first time at book length to a country he has known intimately for decades and whose modern relations with the West he helped shape. On China illuminates the inner workings of Chinese diplomacy during such pivotal events as the initial encounters between China and tight line modern European powers, the formation and breakdown of the Sino-Soviet alliance, the Korean War, and Richard Nixon’s historic trip to Beijing.
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Another History of China
- By Elton on 09-23-11
By: Henry Kissinger
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Making the Arab World
- Nasser, Qutb, and the Clash That Shaped the Middle East
- By: Fawaz A. Gerges
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 18 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2013, just two years after the popular overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian military ousted the country's first democratically elected president - Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood - and subsequently led a brutal repression of the Islamist group. These bloody events echoed an older political rift: the splitting of nationalists and Islamists during the rule of Egyptian president and Arab nationalist leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. Fawaz Gerges, one of the world's leading authorities on the Middle East, tells how the clash between pan-Arab nationalism and pan-Islamism has shaped the history of the region.
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Why didn’t anyone tell the narrator he was mispronouncing the name of the guy the book was about?
- By Amazon Customer on 05-03-23
By: Fawaz A. Gerges
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The Red Flag
- A History of Communism
- By: David Priestland
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 28 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Red Flag, Oxford professor David Priestland tells the epic story of a movement that has taken root in dozens of countries across 200 years, from its birth after the French Revolution to its ideological maturity in 19th-century Germany to its rise to dominance (and subsequent fall) in the 20th century.
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Best History of Communism I Have Seen
- By David on 06-11-15
By: David Priestland
What listeners say about The Unification of Germany: The History and Legacy of the German Empire’s Establishment
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Dave
- 06-27-21
Good Overview
This is a nice, linear, concise overview of a large and complicated subject. It doesn’t dive too deep into any single aspect to the exclusion of major events and people, which is a common trap that shorter works fall in to.
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- Holly Field
- 11-11-20
German pronunciation atrocious
I am not a German language expert but I am married to a German and lived there six years. As such I can at least recognize proper pronunciation and it is nowhere to be found in this narration. It is a bit distracting to be honest. I would expect narrators to familiarize with their subject matter beforehand. For example, if I was going to narrate a book with Japanese words I would find a native speaker and seek their assistance in pronouncing those words since I would know in advance that I do not speak Japanese as this gentleman must surely have known he does not speak German.
Content-wise the book seems OK, although I am not a history professor; this topic just interested me.
Grin and bear it!
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- S. Pollok
- 10-17-19
Monotonous narrator
I came away knowing no more about German Unification in 1871 than I did before I read it. Waste of time.
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