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The Great Gamble
- The Soviet War in Afghanistan
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
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Publisher's summary
Feifer's extensive research includes fascinating interviews with participants from both sides of the conflict.
In gripping detail, he vividly depicts the invasion of a volatile country that no power has ever successfully conquered. Parallels between the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are impossible to ignore: Both conflicts were waged amid vague ideological rhetoric about freedom. Both were roundly condemned by the outside world for trying to impose their favored forms of government on countries with very different ways of life. And both seem destined to end on uncertain terms. The Great Gamble tells an unforgettable story full of drama, action, and political intrigue whose relevance in our own time is greater than ever.
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Drawing on hundreds of accounts by soldiers, politicians, aid workers, entertainers and the Vietnamese people, Paul Ham reconstructs for the first time the full history of our longest military campaign. From the commitment to engage, through the fight over conscription and the rise of the anti - war movement, to the tactics and horror of the battlefi eld, Ham exhumes the truth about this politicians' war - which sealed the fate of 50,000 Australian servicemen and women.
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Fascinating detailed account
- By Alan T Alcock on 04-21-09
By: Paul Ham
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Otto Skorzeny
- The Devil’s Disciple
- By: Stuart Smith
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny became a legend in his own time. "Hitler's favorite commando" acquired a reputation as a man of daring, renowned for his audacious 1943 mission to extricate Mussolini from a mountain-top prison. He could be brave and resourceful, but was also a notorious egoist and an unrepentant Nazi until the end of his life. Stuart Smith draws on years of in-depth research to uncover the truth about Skorzeny's career and complex personality.
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Balanced and fascinating story of Skorzeny
- By MortonC on 04-14-19
By: Stuart Smith
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Why We Lost
- A General's Inside Account of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
- By: Daniel Bolger
- Narrated by: Steve Coulter
- Length: 20 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Over a 35-year career, Daniel Bolger rose through the army infantry to become a three-star general, commanding in both theaters of the U.S. campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. He participated in meetings with top-level military and civilian players, where strategy was made and managed. At the same time, he regularly carried a rifle alongside rank-and-file soldiers in combat actions - unusual for a general.
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An apolitical account of our recent wars.
- By DMgraphicGlass on 04-07-15
By: Daniel Bolger
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Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs
- The Unknown Story of World War II's OSS
- By: Patrick K. O'Donnell
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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"A revealing look into the intrigue and extraordinary courage of our intelligence gatherers of World War II. A rare combination of suspense thriller and true heroism by a great American writer." (Clive Cussler, New York Times best-selling author)
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Great book...
- By Nicholas G. on 05-11-05
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Last Hope Island
- Britain, Occupied Europe, and the Brotherhood That Helped Turn the Tide of War
- By: Lynne Olson
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey, Kimberly Farr
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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A groundbreaking account of how Britain became the base of operations for the exiled leaders of Europe in their desperate struggle to reclaim their continent from Hitler, from the New York Times best-selling author of Citizens of London and Those Angry Days.
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Not What I Expected--More What I Needed to Know
- By DanD on 06-25-17
By: Lynne Olson
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The Burning Shores
- Inside the Battle for the New Libya
- By: Frederic Wehrey
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The death of Colonel Muammar Qadhafi freed Libya from 42 years of despotic rule, raising hopes for a new era. But in the aftermath, the country descended into bitter rivalries and civil war, paving the way for the Islamic State and a catastrophic migrant crisis. In a fast-paced narrative that blends frontline reporting, analysis, and history, Frederic Wehrey tells the story of what went wrong.
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amazing yet painful book
- By Ghassan Tranesh on 09-20-18
By: Frederic Wehrey
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Masters of Chaos
- The Secret History of Special Forces
- By: Linda Robinson
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Special Forces soldiers are daring, seasoned troops from America's heartland, selected in a tough competition and trained in an extraordinary range of skills. They know foreign languages and cultures and unconventional warfare better than any US fighters, and while they prefer to stay out of the limelight, veteran war correspondent Linda Robinson gained access to their closed world. She traveled with them on the frontlines, interviewed them at length on their home bases, and studied their doctrine, methods, and history.
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Story of Special Forces
- By Austin Pearson on 02-28-18
By: Linda Robinson
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Donovan's Devils
- OSS Commandos Behind Enemy Lines - Europe, World War II
- By: Albert Lulushi
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The OSS - Office of Strategic Services - created under the command of William Donovan, has been celebrated for its cloak-and-dagger operations during World War II and as the precursor of the CIA. As the "Oh So Social", it has also been portrayed as a club for the well-connected before, during, and after the war.
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Unique Look
- By Darren Sapp on 03-09-17
By: Albert Lulushi
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Cobra II
- The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq
- By: Michael R. Gordon, Bernard E. Trainor
- Narrated by: Craig Wasson
- Length: 25 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Unimpeachably sourced, Cobra II describes how the American rush to Baghdad provided the opportunity for the virulent insurgency that followed. The brutal aftermath in Iraq was not inevitable and was a surprise to the generals on both sides; Cobra II provides the first authoritative account as to why. It is a book of enduring importance and incisive analysis, a comprehensive account of the most reported yet least understood war in American history.
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Informative military account of the War in Iraq
- By Graham on 09-02-07
By: Michael R. Gordon, and others
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In the Ruins of Empire
- By: Ronald Spector
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Americans are accustomed to thinking that World War II ended on August 14, 1945, when the Japanese surrendered unconditionally. Yet on the mainland of Asia, in the vast arc stretching from Manchuria to Burma, peace was a brief, fretful interlude. In some parts of Asia, such as Java and Southern Indonesia, only a few weeks passed before new fighting broke out between nationalist forces and the former colonial powers.
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Informative, but not an engrossing listen
- By S on 02-19-08
By: Ronald Spector
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Thank you
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The Habsburg Empire
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Rejecting fragmented histories of nations in the making, this bold revision surveys the shared institutions that bridged difference and distance to bring stability and meaning to the far-flung empire. By supporting new schools, law courts, and railroads along with scientific and artistic advances, the Habsburg monarchs sought to anchor their authority in the cultures and economies of Central Europe. A rising standard of living throughout the empire deepened the legitimacy of Habsburg rule.
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Ideal for students of empires, nationalism, minorities and ethnic groups
- By Uther on 02-11-17
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Power, Faith, and Fantasy
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From the first cannonballs fired by American warships at North African pirates to the conquest of Falluja by the Marines, and from the early American explorers who probed the sources of the Nile to the diplomats who strove for Arab-Israeli peace, the United States has been dramatically involved in the Middle East. For well over two centuries, American statesmen, merchants, and missionaries, both men and women, have had a profound impact on the shaping of this crucial region.
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Very pleasantly surprised...
- By Judy on 05-30-07
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Directorate S
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- Length: 28 hrs and 30 mins
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Resuming the narrative of his Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars, best-selling author Steve Coll tells for the first time the epic and enthralling story of America's intelligence, military, and diplomatic efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11.
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Slow At Times But Always Horrifying And Engaging
- By Gillian on 02-20-18
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What listeners say about The Great Gamble
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Alyssa B. Goss
- 11-22-09
Correction
I have to say I can't figure out what the previous reviewer is talking about. The total amount of time spent discussing America in this book doesn't total more than 15 minutes. There is one sentence in the introduction and a brief section in the epilogue. If such broad comparisons such as "America and Russia underestimated the power of tribal loyalty in Afghanistan" strikes you as dangerously liberal you need to avoid reading books in general, not just this one. Any other comparisons between the US and USSR have to be made by the listener. I wonder if possibly they mixed this book up with another book (which I haven't read but I've seen it around) called The Gamble, which is about the US war in Afghanistan. This seems more than likely to me.
I found this book to be informative. The time-line however was very difficult to follow, the scenes in the book tend to skip around. Other than that I found the narrative style to be clear and entertaining.
My only other complaint is that the narrator (who I have encountered before) reads everything in a kind of droning rumble. It takes a good hour to learn to decipher one of his words from another. I often found myself skipping back to re-listen to sections to figure out what he'd said.
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15 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Steven
- 04-06-09
A view from the Left
If you believe that (a) soldiers are all victims of deranged and/or senile political leaders, and (b) there is no material difference between the Politburo's efforts to bring Communism to Afghanistan and the Bush Administration's efforts to bring democracy to Iraq, this book is for you.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-15-21
Based/Redpilled
This is truly a Based/Redpilled book and you should read it if you like swallowing dust and drinking SU-25 radar coolant
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- Haakon B. Dahl
- 03-15-21
Worth it!
An American, I have deployed twice to Afghanistan. We were surrounded by the remnants and ruins of the evil Soviet invasion, and worked to demonstrate the difference. Yet one man is more or less like another, and the Russians who preceded us learned lessons that we would have to learn as well, and Afghans of various convictions were still the home team whereas we, like the Soviets, were just visiting.
This book treats all involved fairly, and despite being somewhat out of date (2009) in 2021, it remains a valuable building block for an understanding of the (relatively) deep history of current events.
Robertson Dean narrates with an even and accessible style. A bit dry, but it’s not a romance. The narration is well-suited to the work, and the writing is worth your time.
The book brings to life much of what was only rust and dust to those of us living the aftermath (again) in real-time.
In India I was struck by how many times I heard “this was built by the British before they left”. In Afghanistan the refrain is “this was destroyed by the Russians before they left”. The USSR thoroughly destroyed Afghanistan in a way that bears a wicked fruit to this day. Their armies were composed of saints and devils, like any army. Their misguidance was worse than ours, yet at the same time, we should have learned from their experience many things that it seems we had to absorb the hard way, if it all. And the “war” continues.
I have Afghan friends now living in America, and I have American friends who died in Afghanistan. This book has been valuable to me in opening up the story of those who went before us, regardless of ideology, of alignment, of station in life and so on and so forth.
“5 of 5. Recommend”
Pardon me, I should have focused more on the book. Please allow my tale to illustrate the value I took from this book and its narration.
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Overall
- Alan
- 01-14-11
Excellent book
I listened to this book while working out on my treadmill. It provided an interesting behind the scenes look at the before/during/after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. The book also provides insight on the Kremlin and the CIA thinking during the occupation. I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy this subject matter.
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- WCHBlok
- 11-29-21
Very good
This is my first book on the Soviet-Afghan War and I really enjoyed it. Maybe not quite as long or as detailed as I hoped for, but I thought it laid out the major players in a clear and concise way, covered a lot of the bigger events/operations and also went to the micro level with the experiences of some individual Soviet soldiers, both officers and enlisted. Was not aware of how much of an absolute shambles the war was from a Soviet perspective in terms of poorly-trained, poorly-supplied conscripts with some terrible leadership down at the NCO level, the amount of drug and alcohol abuse and rampant theft and black market dealing. I’ve always heard it was the Soviets’ Vietnam, but in my opinion this was way worse (from a performance/execution level, not even referring to any moral arguments).
I thought the narrator did a good job. He has a very nice voice and I appreciated the fact that he didn’t attempt accents/impressions like a lot of other narrators have done on other books.
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- Limited 10
- 01-23-24
Extremely insightful!
This book opened my eyes to the Soviet invasion and subsequent war in Afghanistan. What I thought I knew was turned upside down by the stories within.
A great read!
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- Simona
- 10-07-23
Informative, balanced and well-researched
Excellent overview of the Afghan wars, it stops at around 2009. Listening time well spent.
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- Matthew
- 07-14-23
Superb and relevant history
Not gonna lie, I decided on this book after starting to play Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. This game is set during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and I wanted to have some better background on that setting.
Feifer's book is both comprehensive and accessible. it gives a great overview of the invasion--from its inception to the Soviet withdrawal and the aftermath--without becoming tedious.
Feifer presents several major characters on various sides of the conflict, and he does a good job of balancing the macro and the micro. We see how the struggles of individual Soviet soldiers and Mjuahideen fit into the bigger picture of the conflict. This makes it concrete and detailed without devolving into tedium.
Read (or listen) to this book for key insights into how rural and remote Afghanistan managed to stymie major world powers like the USSR and the USA
Robertson Dean's narration is solid throughout.
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- Ash
- 07-17-20
Well Done
Superb book well researched that is very readable and brilliantly narrated. Well worth the credit.
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