-
The Star-Spangled Screen
- The American World War II Film
- Narrated by: Marlin May
- Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
The Star-Spangled Screen
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties
- The Collapse of the Studio System, the Thrill of Cinerama, and the Invasion of the Ultimate Body Snatcher—Television
- By: Foster Hirsch
- Narrated by: Foster Hirsch
- Length: 36 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5
Hollywood in the 1950s was a period when the film industry both set conventions and broke norms and traditions—from Cinerama, Cinemascope and Vistavision to the epic film and lavish musical. It was a decade that saw the rise of the anti-hero; the smoldering, the hidden, and the unspoken; teenagers gone wild in the streets; the sacred and the profane; the revolution of the Method; the socially conscious; the implosion of the studios, the end of the production code; and the invasion of the ultimate body snatcher: the “small screen” television.
By: Foster Hirsch
-
Hollywood: The Oral History
- By: Jeanine Basinger, Sam Wasson
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon, Marni Penning
- Length: 28 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 96
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
From the archives of the American Film Institute comes a unique picture of what it was like to work in Hollywood from its beginnings to its present day. Gleaned from nearly three thousand interviews, involving four hundred voices from the industry, Hollywood: The Oral History, lets a listener “listen in” on candid remarks from the biggest names in front of the camera—Bette Davis, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Harold Lloyd—to the biggest behind it—Frank Capra, Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Jordan Peele, as well as the lesser known individuals that shaped what was heard and seen on screen.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Picky, Picky!
- By Patrick on 12-22-22
By: Jeanine Basinger, and others
-
My Place in the Sun
- Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington (Screen Classics)
- By: George Stevens Jr.
- Narrated by: George Stevens Jr.
- Length: 18 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 4
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 4
The son of a celebrated Hollywood director emerges from his father's shadow to claim his own place as a visionary force in American culture. George Stevens, Jr. tells an intimate and moving tale of his relationship with his Oscar-winning father and his own distinguished career in Hollywood and Washington.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
More Movies, Less Politics
- By grace on 12-20-23
-
Oscar Wars
- A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears
- By: Michael Schulman
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 21 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 215
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 176
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 175
In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas—some iconic, others never-before-revealed—that have played out on the stage and off camera. Unlike other books on the subject, each chapter takes a deep dive into a particular year, conflict, or even category that tells a larger story of cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight. Schulman examines how the red carpet runs through contested turf, and the victors aren't always as clear as the names drawn from envelopes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating and FUN
- By Peter Riley on 06-11-23
By: Michael Schulman
-
Charlie Chaplin vs. America
- When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided
- By: Scott Eyman
- Narrated by: Phil Thron
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 14
Bestselling Hollywood biographer and film historian Scott Eyman tells the story of Charlie Chaplin’s fall from grace. In the aftermath of World War Two, Chaplin was criticized for being politically liberal and internationalist in outlook. He had never become a US citizen, something that would be held against him as xenophobia set in when the postwar Red Scare took hold. In Charlie Chaplin vs. America, bestselling author Scott Eyman explores the life and times of the movie genius who brought us such masterpieces as City Lights and Modern Times.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great narration
- By Marc Nasoff on 03-13-24
By: Scott Eyman
-
Dark City (Revised and Expanded Edition)
- The Lost World of Film Noir
- By: Eddie Muller
- Narrated by: Eddie Muller, Erin Bennett
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
Dark City expands with new chapters and a fresh collection of restored photos that illustrate the mythic landscape of the imagination. It's a place where the men and women who created film noir often find themselves dangling from the same sinister heights as the silver-screen avatars to whom they gave life.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good overview, summary of the genre
- By Buretto on 03-31-22
By: Eddie Muller
-
Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties
- The Collapse of the Studio System, the Thrill of Cinerama, and the Invasion of the Ultimate Body Snatcher—Television
- By: Foster Hirsch
- Narrated by: Foster Hirsch
- Length: 36 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5
Hollywood in the 1950s was a period when the film industry both set conventions and broke norms and traditions—from Cinerama, Cinemascope and Vistavision to the epic film and lavish musical. It was a decade that saw the rise of the anti-hero; the smoldering, the hidden, and the unspoken; teenagers gone wild in the streets; the sacred and the profane; the revolution of the Method; the socially conscious; the implosion of the studios, the end of the production code; and the invasion of the ultimate body snatcher: the “small screen” television.
By: Foster Hirsch
-
Hollywood: The Oral History
- By: Jeanine Basinger, Sam Wasson
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon, Marni Penning
- Length: 28 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 96
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
From the archives of the American Film Institute comes a unique picture of what it was like to work in Hollywood from its beginnings to its present day. Gleaned from nearly three thousand interviews, involving four hundred voices from the industry, Hollywood: The Oral History, lets a listener “listen in” on candid remarks from the biggest names in front of the camera—Bette Davis, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Harold Lloyd—to the biggest behind it—Frank Capra, Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Jordan Peele, as well as the lesser known individuals that shaped what was heard and seen on screen.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Picky, Picky!
- By Patrick on 12-22-22
By: Jeanine Basinger, and others
-
My Place in the Sun
- Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington (Screen Classics)
- By: George Stevens Jr.
- Narrated by: George Stevens Jr.
- Length: 18 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 4
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 4
The son of a celebrated Hollywood director emerges from his father's shadow to claim his own place as a visionary force in American culture. George Stevens, Jr. tells an intimate and moving tale of his relationship with his Oscar-winning father and his own distinguished career in Hollywood and Washington.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
More Movies, Less Politics
- By grace on 12-20-23
-
Oscar Wars
- A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears
- By: Michael Schulman
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 21 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 215
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 176
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 175
In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas—some iconic, others never-before-revealed—that have played out on the stage and off camera. Unlike other books on the subject, each chapter takes a deep dive into a particular year, conflict, or even category that tells a larger story of cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight. Schulman examines how the red carpet runs through contested turf, and the victors aren't always as clear as the names drawn from envelopes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating and FUN
- By Peter Riley on 06-11-23
By: Michael Schulman
-
Charlie Chaplin vs. America
- When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided
- By: Scott Eyman
- Narrated by: Phil Thron
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 14
Bestselling Hollywood biographer and film historian Scott Eyman tells the story of Charlie Chaplin’s fall from grace. In the aftermath of World War Two, Chaplin was criticized for being politically liberal and internationalist in outlook. He had never become a US citizen, something that would be held against him as xenophobia set in when the postwar Red Scare took hold. In Charlie Chaplin vs. America, bestselling author Scott Eyman explores the life and times of the movie genius who brought us such masterpieces as City Lights and Modern Times.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great narration
- By Marc Nasoff on 03-13-24
By: Scott Eyman
-
Dark City (Revised and Expanded Edition)
- The Lost World of Film Noir
- By: Eddie Muller
- Narrated by: Eddie Muller, Erin Bennett
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
Dark City expands with new chapters and a fresh collection of restored photos that illustrate the mythic landscape of the imagination. It's a place where the men and women who created film noir often find themselves dangling from the same sinister heights as the silver-screen avatars to whom they gave life.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good overview, summary of the genre
- By Buretto on 03-31-22
By: Eddie Muller
-
Hitch-22
- A Memoir
- By: Christopher Hitchens
- Narrated by: Christopher Hitchens
- Length: 17 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,382
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,947
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,931
Over the course of his 60 years, Christopher Hitchens has been a citizen of both the United States and the United Kingdom. He has been both a socialist opposed to the war in Vietnam and a supporter of the U.S. war against Islamic extremism in Iraq. He has been both a foreign correspondent in some of the world's most dangerous places and a legendary bon vivant with an unquenchable thirst for alcohol and literature.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Truth, the whole truth and nothing but.
- By Laura on 08-23-10
-
Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens
- By: Christopher Hitchens
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 28 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,263
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,058
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,043
The first new collection of essays by Christopher Hitchens since 2004, Arguably offers an indispensable key to understanding the passionate and skeptical spirit of one of our most dazzling writers, widely admired for the clarity of his style, a result of his disciplined and candid thinking. Topics range from ruminations on why Charles Dickens was among the best of writers and the worst of men to the enduring legacies of Thomas Jefferson and George Orwell.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Grab it
- By Davol2449 on 09-02-11
-
Dear Reader
- The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il
- By: Michael Malice
- Narrated by: Marcus Freeman
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,371
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,212
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,209
No country is as misunderstood as North Korea, and no modern tyrant has remained more mysterious than the Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il. Now, celebrity ghostwriter Michael Malice pulls back the curtain to expose the life story of the "Incarnation of Love and Morality". Taken directly from books spirited out of Pyongyang, Dear Reader is a carefully reconstructed first-person account of the man behind the mythology.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great book
- By Rodney on 05-24-17
By: Michael Malice
-
Adolf Hitler
- A Captivating Guide to the Life of the Führer of Nazi Germany
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 2 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 24
Explore the rise of Adolf Hitler. Was Hitler, as Ian Kershaw asked, a natural consequence of German history, or an aberration? Not that Hitler had been in hiding, waiting to attack. The Führer had actually been following an aggressive and savage foreign policy for almost 10 years, and been named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1938.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome little book
- By Bryan T. on 02-02-19
-
David Lynch
- The Man from Another Place (Icons)
- By: Dennis Lim
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 90
At once a pop culture icon, cult figure, and film industry outsider, master filmmaker David Lynch and his work defy easy definition. Dredged from his subconscious mind, Lynch's work is primed to act on our own subconscious, combining heightened, contradictory emotions into something familiar but inscrutable. No less than his art, Lynch's life also evades simple categorization, encompassing pursuits as a musician, painter, photographer, carpenter, entrepreneur, and vocal proponent of Transcendental Meditation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Essential listening for Lunch fans
- By Michael P. Mesaros on 08-14-18
By: Dennis Lim
-
Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century
- By: Alexandra Popoff
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
If Vasily Grossman's 1961 masterpiece, Life and Fate, had been published during his lifetime, it would have reached the world together with Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago and before Solzhenitsyn's Gulag. But Life and Fate was seized by the Russian KGB. When it emerged posthumously, decades later, it was recognized as the War and Peace of the 20th century.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
What? Nazism = communism?
- By James Messelbeck on 06-25-19
By: Alexandra Popoff
-
A Short History of Film
- By: Wheeler Winston Dixon, Gwendolyn Audrey Foster
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 15 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 64
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 64
The history of international cinema is now available in a concise, conveniently sized, and affordable volume. Succinct yet comprehensive, A Short History of Film provides an accessible overview of the major movements, directors, studios, and genres from the 1880s to the present.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A fascinating textbook - (is that possible?)
- By AS on 11-02-12
By: Wheeler Winston Dixon, and others
-
The Orientalist
- Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life
- By: Tom Reiss
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 122
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 108
Part history, part cultural biography, and part literary mystery, The Orientalist traces the life of Lev Nussimbaum, a Jew who transformed himself into a Muslim prince and became a best-selling author in Nazi Germany. Born in 1905 to a wealthy family in the oil-boom city of Baku, Lev escaped the Russian Revolution in a camel caravan. He found refuge in Germany, where, writing under the names Essad Bey and Kurban Said, his remarkable books about Islam, desert adventures, and global revolution became celebrated across fascist Europe.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The essential but mostly forgotten history leading up to the Russian and German revolutions of the 20th century
- By mark on 05-11-21
By: Tom Reiss
-
Rites of Spring
- The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age
- By: Modris Eksteins
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 108
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 90
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 92
Dazzling in its originality, Rites of Spring probes the origins, impact, and aftermath of World War I from the premiere of Stravinsky's ballet "The Rite of Spring" in 1913 to the death of Hitler in 1945. "The Great War", as Modris Eksteins writes, "was the psychological turning point...for modernism as a whole. The urge to create and the urge to destroy had changed places."
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic
- By Anonymous User on 11-17-17
By: Modris Eksteins
-
Somebody
- The Reckless Life and Remarkable Career of Marlon Brando
- By: Stefan Kanfer
- Narrated by: Armando Durán
- Length: 14 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 61
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
Brando is perpetually fascinating, both for the power of the characters he portrayed and for his tumultuous personal life. Best-selling biographer Stefan Kanfer seamlessly intertwines the man and the work to give us the fullest and most illuminating appraisal yet. Kanfer takes us from Brando's troubled childhood to his arrival in New York in the 1940s, where he studied with the legendary Stella Adler and became, at age 23, the star of Broadway in A Streetcar Named Desire.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
so boring, made me not like brando
- By A. Garofalo on 02-20-14
By: Stefan Kanfer
-
The Fiery Angel
- Art, Culture, Sex, Politics, and the Struggle for the Soul of the West
- By: Michael Walsh
- Narrated by: Michael Walsh
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 46
Without an understanding and appreciation of the culture we seek to preserve and protect, the defense of Western civilization is fundamentally futile; a culture that believes in nothing cannot defend itself, because it has nothing to defend. In this profound and wide-ranging historical survey, Michael Walsh illuminates the ways that the narrative and visual arts both reflect and affect the course of political history, outlining the way forward by arguing for the restoration of the heroic narrative that forms the basis of all Western cultural and religious traditions.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great cultural criticism
- By miasarx on 08-06-18
By: Michael Walsh
-
The Method
- How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act
- By: Isaac Butler
- Narrated by: Isaac Butler
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 129
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 112
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 112
On stage and screen, we know a great performance when we see it. But how do actors draw from their bodies and minds to turn their selves into art? What is the craft of being an authentic fake? More than a century ago, amid tsarist Russia’s crushing repression, one of the most talented actors ever, Konstantin Stanislavski, asked these very questions, reached deep into himself and emerged with an answer.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Where is the Thesis?
- By Frances L. on 07-27-22
By: Isaac Butler
Publisher's summary
The American World War II film depicted a united America, a mythic America in which the average guy, the girl next door, the 4-F patriot, and the grieving mother were suddenly transformed into heroes and heroines, warriors and goddesses. The Star-Spangled Screen examines the historical accuracy—or lack thereof—of films about the Third Reich, the Resistance, and major military campaigns. Concerned primarily with the films of the war years, it also includes discussions of such postwar movies as Battleground (1949), Attack! (1956), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and Patton (1970). This revised edition includes new material covering recent films such as Saving Private Ryan (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001), Dunkirk (2017), and JoJo Rabbit (2019) and their place in the war movie tradition. The Star-Spangled Screen makes a major contribution to popular culture by recreating an era that, for all its tragedy, was one of the most creative in the history of American film.
The book is published by The University Press of Kentucky. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.
"A thoughtful, well-written study of American films on World War II." (Variety)
"Countless books have been published on World War II films. Perhaps the best introduction is The Star Spangled Screen." (Choice)
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
Looking for the Good War
- American Amnesia and the Violent Pursuit of Happiness
- By: Elizabeth D. Samet
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 50
In Looking for the Good War, Elizabeth D. Samet reexamines the literature, art, and culture that emerged after World War II, bringing her expertise as a professor of English at West Point to bear on the complexity of the postwar period in national life. She exposes the confusion about American identity that was expressed during and immediately after the war, and the deep national ambivalence toward war, violence, and veterans - all of which were suppressed in subsequent decades by a dangerously sentimental attitude toward the United States' "exceptional" history and destiny.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Essential reading for military officers and political decision makers.
- By Arlene S. Burke on 02-23-22
-
The Collaboration
- Hollywood's Pact with Hitler
- By: Ben Urwand
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 56
To continue doing business in Germany, Hollywood studios agreed not to make films attacking Nazis or condemning persecution of Jews. Ben Urwand reveals this collaboration and the cast of characters it drew in, ranging from Goebbels to Louis B. Mayer. At the center was Hitler himself - obsessed with movies and their power to shape public opinion.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Making mountains out of molehills
- By M. S. Cohen on 11-05-13
By: Ben Urwand
-
Five Came Back
- A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War
- By: Mark Harris
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 20 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 333
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 294
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 292
It was the best of times and the worst of times for Hollywood before the war. The box office was booming, and the studios’ control of talent and distribution was as airtight as could be hoped. But the industry’s relationship with Washington was decidedly uneasy - hearings and investigations into allegations of corruption and racketeering were multiplying, and hanging in the air was the insinuation that the business was too foreign, too Jewish, too "un-American" in its values and causes. Could an industry this powerful in shaping America’s mind-set really be left in the hands of this crew?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Had a lot of fun with this book!
- By Detail-oriented on 08-11-14
By: Mark Harris
-
The Great Escape
- Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World
- By: Kati Marton
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 37
The stunning story of the breathtaking journey of nine extraordinary men from Budapest to the New World, what they experienced along their dangerous route, and how they changed America and the world. In a style both personal and historically groundbreaking, acclaimed author Kati Marton (born in Budapest) tells the tale of their youth in Budapest's Golden Age of the early 20th century, their flight, and their lives of extraordinary accomplishment, danger, glamour, and poignancy.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
very interesting, well-narrated
- By D. Littman on 12-17-06
By: Kati Marton
-
Wasteland
- The Great War and the Origins of Modern Horror
- By: W. Scott Poole
- Narrated by: Andrew Eiden
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 295
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 261
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 260
In the early 20th century, World War I was the most devastating event humanity had yet experienced. New machines of war left tens of millions killed or wounded in the most grotesque of ways. The Great War remade the world's map, created new global powers, and brought forth some of the biggest problems still facing us today. But it also birthed a new art form: the horror film, made from the fears of a generation ruined by war. From Nosferatu to Frankenstein's monster and the Wolf Man, the touchstones of horror can all trace their roots to the bloodshed of the First World War.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
An interesting take
- By CN on 07-30-19
By: W. Scott Poole
-
Rites of Spring
- The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age
- By: Modris Eksteins
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 108
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 90
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 92
Dazzling in its originality, Rites of Spring probes the origins, impact, and aftermath of World War I from the premiere of Stravinsky's ballet "The Rite of Spring" in 1913 to the death of Hitler in 1945. "The Great War", as Modris Eksteins writes, "was the psychological turning point...for modernism as a whole. The urge to create and the urge to destroy had changed places."
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic
- By Anonymous User on 11-17-17
By: Modris Eksteins
-
Looking for the Good War
- American Amnesia and the Violent Pursuit of Happiness
- By: Elizabeth D. Samet
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 50
In Looking for the Good War, Elizabeth D. Samet reexamines the literature, art, and culture that emerged after World War II, bringing her expertise as a professor of English at West Point to bear on the complexity of the postwar period in national life. She exposes the confusion about American identity that was expressed during and immediately after the war, and the deep national ambivalence toward war, violence, and veterans - all of which were suppressed in subsequent decades by a dangerously sentimental attitude toward the United States' "exceptional" history and destiny.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Essential reading for military officers and political decision makers.
- By Arlene S. Burke on 02-23-22
-
The Collaboration
- Hollywood's Pact with Hitler
- By: Ben Urwand
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 56
To continue doing business in Germany, Hollywood studios agreed not to make films attacking Nazis or condemning persecution of Jews. Ben Urwand reveals this collaboration and the cast of characters it drew in, ranging from Goebbels to Louis B. Mayer. At the center was Hitler himself - obsessed with movies and their power to shape public opinion.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Making mountains out of molehills
- By M. S. Cohen on 11-05-13
By: Ben Urwand
-
Five Came Back
- A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War
- By: Mark Harris
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 20 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 333
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 294
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 292
It was the best of times and the worst of times for Hollywood before the war. The box office was booming, and the studios’ control of talent and distribution was as airtight as could be hoped. But the industry’s relationship with Washington was decidedly uneasy - hearings and investigations into allegations of corruption and racketeering were multiplying, and hanging in the air was the insinuation that the business was too foreign, too Jewish, too "un-American" in its values and causes. Could an industry this powerful in shaping America’s mind-set really be left in the hands of this crew?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Had a lot of fun with this book!
- By Detail-oriented on 08-11-14
By: Mark Harris
-
The Great Escape
- Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World
- By: Kati Marton
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 37
The stunning story of the breathtaking journey of nine extraordinary men from Budapest to the New World, what they experienced along their dangerous route, and how they changed America and the world. In a style both personal and historically groundbreaking, acclaimed author Kati Marton (born in Budapest) tells the tale of their youth in Budapest's Golden Age of the early 20th century, their flight, and their lives of extraordinary accomplishment, danger, glamour, and poignancy.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
very interesting, well-narrated
- By D. Littman on 12-17-06
By: Kati Marton
-
Wasteland
- The Great War and the Origins of Modern Horror
- By: W. Scott Poole
- Narrated by: Andrew Eiden
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 295
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 261
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 260
In the early 20th century, World War I was the most devastating event humanity had yet experienced. New machines of war left tens of millions killed or wounded in the most grotesque of ways. The Great War remade the world's map, created new global powers, and brought forth some of the biggest problems still facing us today. But it also birthed a new art form: the horror film, made from the fears of a generation ruined by war. From Nosferatu to Frankenstein's monster and the Wolf Man, the touchstones of horror can all trace their roots to the bloodshed of the First World War.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
An interesting take
- By CN on 07-30-19
By: W. Scott Poole
-
Rites of Spring
- The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age
- By: Modris Eksteins
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 108
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 90
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 92
Dazzling in its originality, Rites of Spring probes the origins, impact, and aftermath of World War I from the premiere of Stravinsky's ballet "The Rite of Spring" in 1913 to the death of Hitler in 1945. "The Great War", as Modris Eksteins writes, "was the psychological turning point...for modernism as a whole. The urge to create and the urge to destroy had changed places."
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic
- By Anonymous User on 11-17-17
By: Modris Eksteins
-
Nothing Ever Dies
- Vietnam and the Memory of War
- By: Viet Thanh Nguyen
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 83
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 71
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 72
Nothing Ever Dies, Viet Thanh Nguyen writes. All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory. From the author of the best-selling novel The Sympathizer comes a searching exploration of a conflict that lives on in the collective memory of both the Americans and the Vietnamese.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good, probably should be read and not listened to via audible for the best experience.
- By Tanya on 10-24-16
-
Year Zero
- A History of 1945
- By: Ian Buruma
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 134
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 120
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 117
Year Zero is a landmark reckoning with the greatdrama that ensued after war came to an end in 1945. One world had ended and anew, uncertain one was beginning. Regime change had come across Asia and all of continental Europe. It was the greatest global powervacuum in history, and out of the often vicious power struggles thatensued emerged the modern world as we know it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great historical overview
- By marykk on 10-14-13
By: Ian Buruma
-
Fracture
- Life and Culture in the West, 1918-1938
- By: Philipp Blom
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
When the Great War ended in 1918, the West was broken. Religious faith, patriotism, and the belief in human progress had all been called into question by the mass carnage experienced by both sides. Shell-shocked and traumatized, the West faced a world it no longer recognized: The old order had collapsed, replaced by an age of machines. The world hurtled forward on gears and crankshafts, and terrifying new ideologies arose from the wreckage of past belief.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Lots of good trivia information
- By Jean on 07-23-15
By: Philipp Blom
-
David Lynch
- The Man from Another Place (Icons)
- By: Dennis Lim
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 90
At once a pop culture icon, cult figure, and film industry outsider, master filmmaker David Lynch and his work defy easy definition. Dredged from his subconscious mind, Lynch's work is primed to act on our own subconscious, combining heightened, contradictory emotions into something familiar but inscrutable. No less than his art, Lynch's life also evades simple categorization, encompassing pursuits as a musician, painter, photographer, carpenter, entrepreneur, and vocal proponent of Transcendental Meditation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Essential listening for Lunch fans
- By Michael P. Mesaros on 08-14-18
By: Dennis Lim
-
Nazi Women
- The Attraction of Evil
- By: Paul Roland
- Narrated by: Gabrielle Glaister
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 75
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67
After the failure of the Weimar Republic, the Nazis believed their mission was to "masculinize" life in Germany. Hermann Goering told women, "Take a pot, a dustpan and a broom, and marry a man", but many still became active participants in murder and mayhem. From the Reich Bride Schools through the Bund Deutscher Mädel and the bizarre Lebensborn Aryan breeding programme to the brothels of the Sicherheitsdienst, this book covers the lives of women in the Third Reich, concentrating on those who sought personal power and influence amid the chaos.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
People are human
- By Stephen H on 07-04-18
By: Paul Roland
-
Stalin
- The First In-depth Biography Based on Explosive New Documents from Russia's Secret Archives
- By: Edvard Radzinsky
- Narrated by: David McCallum
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 226
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 144
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 143
The Kremlin intrigues, the private worlds of the Soviet Empire's ruling class, Radzinsky thrillingly brings them to life. And the riddle of that most cold-blooded of leaders, a man for whom nothing was sacred in his pursuit of absolute might, and perhaps the greatest mass murderer in Western history, is solved.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Great Book About a Great Tyrant
- By Moon Man on 05-01-05
By: Edvard Radzinsky
-
The Last Empire
- Essays 1992-2000
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Dan Cashman
- Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 52
The Last Empire is Gore Vidal's ninth collection of essays in the course of his distinguished literary career. Vidal displays unparalleled range and inimitable style as he offers incisive observations about terrorism, civil liberties, the CIA, Al Gore, Tony Blair, and the Clintons, interwoven with a rich tapestry of personal anecdote, critical insight, and historical detail. Written between the first presidential campaign of Bill Clinton and the electoral crisis of 2000, The Last Empire is a sweeping coda to the still-existing conflicted vision of the American dream.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Collection a reminder of what patriotism truly is
- By Ray M on 10-12-16
By: Gore Vidal
-
Adolf Hitler
- A Captivating Guide to the Life of the Führer of Nazi Germany
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 2 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 24
Explore the rise of Adolf Hitler. Was Hitler, as Ian Kershaw asked, a natural consequence of German history, or an aberration? Not that Hitler had been in hiding, waiting to attack. The Führer had actually been following an aggressive and savage foreign policy for almost 10 years, and been named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1938.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome little book
- By Bryan T. on 02-02-19
-
Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy
- Ernest Hemingway's Secret Adventures, 1935-1961
- By: Nicholas Reynolds
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 512
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 468
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 463
While he was the curator of the CIA Museum, Nicholas Reynolds, a longtime military intelligence expert, began to discover tantalizing clues that suggested Ernest Hemingway's involvement in the Second World War was much more complex and dangerous than has been previously understood. Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy brings to light for the first time this riveting secret side of Hemingway's life - when he worked closely with both the American OSS and the Soviet NKVD to defeat Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
So entertaining you'd think it was fiction
- By Austin on 03-16-17
-
Sidney Poitier
- Man, Actor, Icon
- By: Aram Goudsouzian
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 20 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
In the first full biography of actor Sidney Poitier, Aram Goudsouzian analyzes the life and career of a Hollywood legend, from his childhood in the Bahamas to his 2002 Oscar for lifetime achievement. Poitier is a gifted actor, a great American success story, an intriguing personality, and a political symbol; his life and career illuminate America's racial history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Man, the Star, the Lightning Rod
- By Susie on 01-28-13
By: Aram Goudsouzian
-
Vasily Grossman and the Soviet Century
- By: Alexandra Popoff
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
If Vasily Grossman's 1961 masterpiece, Life and Fate, had been published during his lifetime, it would have reached the world together with Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago and before Solzhenitsyn's Gulag. But Life and Fate was seized by the Russian KGB. When it emerged posthumously, decades later, it was recognized as the War and Peace of the 20th century.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
What? Nazism = communism?
- By James Messelbeck on 06-25-19
By: Alexandra Popoff
-
The Invention of Russia
- From Gorbachev's Freedom to Putin's War
- By: Arkady Ostrovsky
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 205
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 178
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 179
The end of Communism and breakup of the Soviet Union was a time of euphoria around the world, but Russia today is violently anti-American and dangerously nationalistic. So how did we go from the promise of those days to the autocratic police state of Putin's new Russia? The Invention of Russia reaches back to the darkest days of the Cold War to tell the story of the fight for the soul of a nation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Sad Story of Russia's Abandonment of Liberalism
- By Amazon Customer on 10-03-16
By: Arkady Ostrovsky