Wine and War

The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure

By: Donald Kladstrup, Petie Kladstrup

Narrated by: Todd McLaren

In 1940, France fell to the Nazis and almost immediately the German army began a campaign of pillaging one of the assets the French hold most dear: their wine. Like others in the French Resistance, winemakers mobilized to oppose their occupiers, but the tale of their extraordinary efforts has remained largely unknown - until now.

This is the thrilling and harrowing story of the French wine producers who undertook ingenious, daring measures to save their cherished crops and bottles as the Germans closed in on them. Wine and War illuminates a compelling, little-known chapter of history, and stands as a tribute to those extraordinary individuals who waged a battle that, in a very real way, saved the spirit of France.

©2001 Don and Petie Kladstrup (P)2012 Tantor

Elegant and stunning

This tells the story of how wide played a crucial part in World War II as a very enjoyable, and factual, narrative. This is a book I will listen to again soon.

fantastic for a road trip...makes you crave wine

This book had great writing and anecdotal structure. I will be buying it again as a gift.

Wine and War makes the families of French wine history come alive

The Kladstrup’s answer the questions about how the families that have produced many of the worlds top wines, including champagne, burgundy, Bordeaux’s, and those in the repeatedly contested Alsace regions have coped and even thrived through wars in that region over the last two centuries.

With a focus on WW2 that looks back knowingly at the previous conflicts you will get to know families, their hardships, their cunning, and ultimately their love of tradition. A good book to read and a nice read.

Every wine lover should listen!

The research that went into this book is astounding. We will never drink another bottle of French wine without considering the sacrifice and perseverance that is part of its history.

Great Story-telling

I was surprised how interesting the book was. I'm not French so wine is cool and I like it, but it's not a main part of our history here in the US. But, after the detailed explaining of how important wine is to the French; it made it easier to understand its importance during WWII.

The story was amazing, sad, tense and scary and ultimately joyful at the end of the war. I will say that I wept tears of joy during the last chapter. I am so glad that I bought it and listened to it. It made France's side of WWII more clear to me.

The narrator slipped from a French accent to a German accent to an American accent with ease. He told the story well.

Good story, terrible performance

The book is a collection of interesting, moving stories about people from various wine regions of France during the German occupation. The performance is so theatrical it nearly ruins the book.

The text is a collection of essentially unrelated stories covering 1939-46 France. There are some recurring characters, but mostly the stories are self contained and told at a very personal level. There is some reflection about the war in general and the currents of history, but the focus of the book is on individuals. The stories are funny, passionate, sad and inspirational. The writing is very good and all major regions get a nod.

The performance is terrible. The reader affects an outrageous French or German accent (think Monty Python accents) every time a character speaks--even though they are all speaking in English. He even has some English and American accents later in the book. When you have a German arguing with a Frenchman the rapidly switching accents require tremendous effort to follow and I felt it contributed nothing to the text. Add in some over-acting and his Hitler is almost unbearable.

Most history books mention that France quickly fell and then was liberated several years later but the time in between is rarely examined. The authors do a good job of describing the daily uncertainty and moral ambiguities of living and working in an occupied country. They do not appear to have a bias and manage to portray some of the occupying Germans as complicated characters, not caricatures.

I enjoyed the text but almost couldn't finish the book because of the overly dramatic performance.

fascinating

If you could sum up Wine and War in three words, what would they be?

compelling; historical; thrilling

What did you like best about this story?

the facts

Have you listened to any of Todd McLaren’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

never heard Todd McLaren before, but found his French accents, particularly the female ones, rather...distracting.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was moved, but not to tears.

Great WWII history!

I have enjoyed studying WWII history all my life. The Wine and War story was completely different than anything I had ever read before. The history is fascinating and very well performed. Anyone who enjoys WW II history, will enjoy this book produced by Audible.

Excellent reading, poor recording

I liked this book. Listening to it was fun, a nice foray into WWII as I work through some wine books. The stories of people who lived (or didn't) through the experience were funny, touching, and frequently sad.

My only real complaint is the quality of the recording. At times it was as though the reader was speaking through a thin wall. It was worse with low quality head phones but ultimately I had to combat it by downloading an equalizer onto my phone and lowering the 60hz range to 0.

A very interesting read

If you enjoy wine and like history, then pour a glass and read a chapter here and there to learn the stories of famous wine regions in France and people involved in wine commerce during the World War II.