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Imperial Life in the Emerald City
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- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
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While qualified Americans willing to serve in Iraq are screened for their views on Roe v. Wade, the country is put into the hands of inexperienced 20-somethings chosen for their Republican Party loyalty. Ignoring what Iraqis say they want or need, the team pursues irrelevant neoconservative solutions and pie-in-the-sky policies instead of rebuilding looted buildings and restoring electricity. Their almost comic initiatives anger the locals and fuel the insurgency.
Critic reviews
- A National Book Award Finalist
"A devastating indictment of the post-invasion failures of the Bush administration." (Booklist)
"An eye-opening tour of ineptitude, misdirection, and the perils of democracy-building." (Newsday)
"With acuity and a fine sense of the absurd, the author peels back the roof to reveal an ant heap of arrogance, ineptitude, and hayseed provincialism." (Boston Globe)
"As chilling an indictment of America's tragic cultural myopia as Graham Greene's prescient 1955 novel of the American debacle in Indochina, The Quiet American." (New York Times)
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 118
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
They were four exceptional soldiers, a new generation asked to save an army that had been hollowed out after Vietnam. They survived the military's brutal winnowing to reach its top echelon. They became the Army's most influential generals in the crucible of Iraq. Collectively, their lives tell the story of the Army over the last four decades and illuminate the path it must travel to protect the nation over the next century.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Learning from the Military
- By Joshua Kim on 06-10-12
By: David Cloud, and others
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The Man Without a Face
- The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin
- By: Masha Gessen
- Narrated by: Masha Gessen
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 652
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 570
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 565
The Man Without a Face is the chilling account of how a low-level, small-minded KGB operative ascended to the Russian presidency and, in an astonishingly short time, destroyed years of progress and made his country once more a threat to its own people and to the world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Preview of Authoritarianism in the USA
- By Jimmy O on 06-08-19
By: Masha Gessen
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The Assassins' Gate
- America in Iraq
- By: George Packer
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 19 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 203
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 97
The Assassins' Gate, so dubbed by American soldiers, is the entrance to the American zone in the city of Baghdad. In 2003, the United States blazed into Iraq to depose dictator Saddam Hussein. But after three years and unknown thousands killed, that country faces an escalating civil war and an uncertain fate. How did it get to this point?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Highly Recommended
- By Drapeau on 02-01-07
By: George Packer
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Civilian Warriors
- The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of the War on Terror
- By: Erik Prince
- Narrated by: Jeff Gurner
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,266
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,155
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,149
Blackwater is one of the most misunderstood companies of our time. As Erik Prince, its founder and former CEO, writes: "Hundreds of American citizens employed by private military contractors, or PMCs, would lose their lives helping our government wage wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, only to have their memory tarnished by the unfair and/or ignorant depiction of PMCs as profiteers, jackbooted thugs, or worse."
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4 out of 5 stars
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A different look a Security Contractors
- By Ryan on 01-20-14
By: Erik Prince
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Backstabbing for Beginners
- My Crash Course in International Diplomacy
- By: Michael Soussan
- Narrated by: Maxwell Hamilton
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Ben Kingsley and Theo James, the gripping true story of a young program coordinator at the United Nations who stumbles upon a conspiracy involving Iraq's oil reserves. "What made this episode in our collective history possible was not so much the lies we told one another, but the lies we told ourselves". Breaking a conspiracy of silence that had prevailed for years, Soussan sparked an unprecedented corruption probe into the Oil-for-Food program.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Eye-opener history made entertaining
- By Shelly Dee on 12-20-16
By: Michael Soussan
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The Operators
- The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan
- By: Michael Hastings
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 432
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 376
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 380
An explosive, behind-the-scenes look into the workings of the U.S. war in Afghanistan that lifts the curtain of the world stage to reveal the devastating greed, waste, and failure surrounding this unwinnable war.
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4 out of 5 stars
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VERY INTERESTING STORY
- By Professor on 01-04-13
By: Michael Hastings
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The Unraveling
- High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq
- By: Emma Sky
- Narrated by: Henrietta Meire
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
When Emma Sky, an intrepid young British woman, volunteered to help rebuild Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, she had little idea what she was letting herself in for: a tour that would last over a decade, longer than that of any senior military or political official. As the only adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Kirkuk and the closest confidante to US General Odierno, Sky was valued for her controversial voice and outsider's point of view.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Inspiring memoir; irritating narration
- By Amazon Customer on 09-17-16
By: Emma Sky
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Sleeping with the Devil
- How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude
- By: Robert Baer
- Narrated by: Robert O'Keefe
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 247
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4 out of 5 stars 44
Former CIA operative Robert Baer examines the dangers behind America's collaboration with Saudi Arabia. Nominally based on a "harmony of interests" - the Saudis sold their oil to the American government very inexpensively - what we offered in exchange has damaged our position in the Middle East and left our country vulnerable to economic and terrorist threats. Baer goes behind the scenes to show how the US willingly overlooked the corruption of the Saudi royal family, its financing of violent Islamic fundamentalist groups, and its bribery of American officials.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Ouch. The truth hurts.
- By Kevin Christy on 07-28-03
By: Robert Baer
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State of Denial
- Bush at War, Part III
- By: Bob Woodward
- Narrated by: Boyd Gaines
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 621
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 98
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 100
Bob Woodward examines how the Bush administration avoided telling the truth about Iraq to the public, to the Congress, and often to themselves in State of Denial. Woodward's third book on President Bush is a sweeping narrative from the first days George W. Bush thought seriously about running for president, through the recruitment of his national security team, the war in Afghanistan, the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the struggle for political survival in the second term.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Concerning and hard to put down
- By Chris on 12-10-06
By: Bob Woodward
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Failures of Imagination
- The Deadliest Threats to Our Homeland - and How to Thwart Them
- By: Michael McCaul
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 58
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Story4 out of 5 stars 53
Congressman and Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, Michael McCaul, has spent years in Washington watching the administration turn a blind eye to the most pressing possible threats to the country. Now, in Failures of Imagination, McCaul turns away from the over-sensationalized, unrealistic fears circulated through the media in order to expose the most legitimate and looming national security threats, which have long been swept under the rug by the administration.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Spot on.
- By Prince Parker on 02-27-16
By: Michael McCaul
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The Secretary
- A Journey with Hillary Clinton from Beirut to the Heart of American Power
- By: Kim Ghattas
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 54
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Story4 out of 5 stars 53
In November 2008, Hillary Clinton agreed to work for her former rival. As President Barack Obama's secretary of state, she set out to repair America's image around the world - and her own. For the following four years, BBC foreign correspondent Kim Ghattas had unparalleled access to Clinton and her entourage, and she weaves a fast-paced, gripping account of life on the road with Clinton in The Secretary.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Never got to the heart...
- By Mel on 04-17-13
By: Kim Ghattas
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Charlie Wilson's War
- The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History
- By: George Crile
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 20 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,240
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,885
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,904
Charlie Wilson's War is the untold story behind the last battle of the Cold War and how it fueled the rise of militant Islam. George Crile tells how Charlie Wilson, a maverick congressman from east Texas, conspired with a rogue CIA operative to launch the biggest, meanest, and most successful covert operation in the agency's history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The REAL Story of the Middle East and the CIA
- By Dale on 08-24-04
By: George Crile
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Raven Rock
- The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself - While the Rest of Us Die
- By: Garrett M. Graff
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,237
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,110
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,100
A fresh window on American history: the eye-opening truth about the government's secret plans to survive a catastrophic attack on US soil, even if the rest of us die - a road map that spans from the dawn of the nuclear age to today.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Awesome Read!!
- By Brewer Richardson on 05-05-17
By: Garrett M. Graff
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The Good Spy
- The Life and Death of Robert Ames
- By: Kai Bird
- Narrated by: René Ruiz
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 360
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 308
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Story4 out of 5 stars 308
The Good Spy is Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Kai Bird’s compelling portrait of the remarkable life and death of one of the most important operatives in CIA history - a man who, had he lived, might have helped heal the rift between Arabs and the West. On April 18, 1983, a bomb exploded outside the American Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people. The attack was a geopolitical turning point. It marked the beginning of Hezbollah as a political force, but even more important, it eliminated America’s most influential and effective intelligence officer in the Middle East - CIA operative Robert Ames.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Biased but interesting
- By Peggy on 05-09-18
By: Kai Bird
What listeners say about Imperial Life in the Emerald City
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Zachary
- 10-15-16
Smug critique of Iraq war
An interesting book of reporting on the American occupation of Iraq, but more smug than insightful. The narrator does a fine job, but makes the author's disdain very clear, perhaps too clear for comfort. This book was probably significant when published, but in 2016 there are other books more deserving of your time.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Dick Williams
- 07-27-16
Pure propaganda
Pure propaganda, crap! Need a different viewpoint to get the real story. Indicative of the anti Bush administration.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- none
- 10-31-15
didn't get through it
had a little trouble keeping my attention, thus I didn't always follow it. only listened to a few chapters before giving up
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