Glenn

This is a naval history that I will listen to many times. It's like being a sports fan. There are certain team highlights that you want replayed. This book has many highlights of Athenian naval prowess.

Michael Oren is currently the Israeli ambassador to the United States. He was born in New York & grew up in New Jersey. His father was in the D-Day landing & the Korean War. This lays the foundation of who Michael Oren is which is what he does in his history. Two-thirds of his book are the preamble of events leading to the war. He tells it in such detail that it's obvious that he accessed sources from all sides of the war.

Barrett Whitener does a good job of narration but this book is too graphic regarding injuries suffered during battle to be an Audible Kid's Pick.

This book presents the thinking & the groundwork for the period immediately before Darwin's 1859 book "On the Origin of Species". Darwin conceived his theory in 1838 but said that if he had published 20 years earlier the world wouldn't have been ready for it. The narration is excellent but even better are the short parenthetical explanations of technical terms which are slipped in as if they were a natural part of the writing.

THIS TECHNIQUE WHICH SHOULD BE USED IN ALL AUDIOBOOKS WITH A TECHNICAL BENT.

I purchased this book and "The Subprime Solution" by Robert J. Shiller in late September. Both books were published before the financial crisis which started with the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in mid-September. I've listened to both books several times and learn a little more each time. Both predicted the mess that we're in and others to come. If you only have time for one, this is the one to listen to. The subject matter is not easy to understand but Morris does the better job of getting it down to layman's terms while Shiller goes academic. Also Morris' book has a longer time horizon as to what other financial shocks we can expect.

I watched a program on the Weather Channel ("Race to Nome". When Weather Changed History. The Weather Channel. March 23, 2008) which referred to this book. You can search Wikipedia to find the facts but it's not nearly as interesting as the story by Gay & Laney Salisbury. The only reason this isn't 5 stars is because there is too much detail and it's a bit long at 9.5 hrs. However, I'm one of those who couldn't get enough since I've listened to the book several times & gone back to the Internet for more. Highly recommended for the soul!

This was an excellent narration of a well-written story. Garth Stein uses auto racing as the backdrop yet you don't have to be knowledeable or even care about the sport to enjoy the story. As proof, I played it for my wife on a 5-hr trip to Lake Tahoe. Even though she didn't know most of the famous racers mentioned, she caught the meaning & was eager to resume the story on the return leg of our round-trip. We both teared up near the end as we were hooked by the powerful narration. When they make a movie, I hope it's as gripping as the book.