Brian

Unlike Greene's other books, which are base and amoral (although still entertaining), this book is uplifting and motivating. Becoming great at anything is hard work and it is the hard work that separates those who achieve mastery in a subject area (or areas) and those who merely spectate. Mastery is not magic or necessarily innate ability, it is dedication to a pursuit through various phases of learning, from novice to master, combined with time and impeccable, undying work ethic. Greene, as in his other books, weaves historical examples throughout. Mastery is his best work to date and his first work to eclipse his own 48 Laws of Power.

The other reviews are better to read for specific details on the production, etc. I wanted to post a navigation guide since there is not one included. I came up with this by getting the full list of KJV books, listening to where each part starts (this audiobook downloads in 11 different parts), and then broke the book list up according to where each part picks up. There are also some people saying that this audiobook isn't complete. That may have been the case at one time but is no longer the case. This is the full Bible.

PART1 (OLD TESTAMENT)
Genesis, Exodus & Leviticus

PART2
Numbers, Deuteronomy & Joshua

PART3
Judges, Ruth, 1&2 Samuel & 1 Kings

PART4
2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles, Ezra & Nehemiah

PART5
Esther, Job, Psalms & Proverbs

PART6
Ecclesiastes, Song Of Solomon & Isaiah

PART7
Jeremiah, Lamentations & Ezekiel

PART8
Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah & Malachi

PART9 (NEW TESTAMENT)
Matthew, Mark, Luke & John

PART10
Acts, Romans, 1&2 Corinthians & Galatians

PART11
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2 Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1&2 Peter, 1,2&3 John, Jude & Revelation

There's not much of a story and the narration is so swift that it would be hard to follow even if there was. Seems like this was edited to be obscure and usable as Cliff Notes and only to those already intimately familiar with the subject. It could have been made better by the narrator taking a breath and using more inflection to decompress the dense material being covered. In short, it was a disappointment.

This is a short, easy and enjoyable listen. The profit motive of war is pretty well covered in this work although much more could have been written to support his points. This book will appeal more to those curious about the United States' war profit history and WWI history. At the very least it is a starting point for understanding the economic beneficiaries, whether accidental or contrived, that resulted from the United States entering WWI.

This reminds me of the Paul Wellstone funeral back in 2002 which started out as a memorial and turned into a Democratic National Convention. The sound bite you get for free is luring but it quickly turns into a hatchet job on the NRA and freedom loving Americans. I should have known to expect this since it was so prominently advertised. I could have turned on MSNBC and heard Chris Matthews spout this same tired drivel.