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Countdown 1945
- The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World
- Narrated by: Chris Wallace
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
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Publisher's summary
The #1 national bestselling “riveting” (The New York Times), “propulsive” (Time) behind-the-scenes account “that reads like a tense thriller” (The Washington Post) of the 116 days leading up to the American attack on Hiroshima, by Chris Wallace, veteran journalist and CNN anchor and Max host.
April 12, 1945: After years of bloody conflict in Europe and the Pacific, America is stunned by news of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death. In an instant, Vice President Harry Truman, who has been kept out of war planning and knows nothing of the top-secret Manhattan Project to develop the world’s first atomic bomb, must assume command of a nation at war on multiple continents—and confront one of the most consequential decisions in history. Countdown 1945 tells the gripping true story of the turbulent days, weeks, and months to follow, leading up to August 6, 1945, when Truman gives the order to drop the bomb on Hiroshima.
In Countdown 1945, Chris Wallace, the veteran journalist and CNN anchor and Max host, takes listeners inside the minds of the iconic and elusive figures who join the quest for the bomb, each for different reasons: the legendary Albert Einstein, who eventually calls his vocal support for the atomic bomb “the one great mistake in my life”; lead researcher J. Robert “Oppie” Oppenheimer and the Soviet spies who secretly infiltrate his team; the fiercely competitive pilots of the plane selected to drop the bomb; and many more.
Perhaps most of all, Countdown 1945 is the story of an untested new president confronting a decision that he knows will change the world forever. But more than a book about the atomic bomb, Countdown 1945 is also an unforgettable account of the lives of ordinary American and Japanese civilians in wartime—from “Calutron Girls” like Ruth Sisson in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to ten-year-old Hiroshima resident Hideko Tamura, who survives the blast at ground zero but loses her mother and later immigrates to the United States, where she lives to this day—as well as American soldiers fighting in the Pacific, waiting in fear for the order to launch a possible invasion of Japan. Told with vigor, intelligence, and humanity, Countdown 1945 is the definitive account of one of the most significant moments in history.
Featured Article: 12 Thrilling History Listens to Get Ready for
Oppenheimer
Dubbed the "father of the atomic bomb," J. Robert Oppenheimer was a theoretical physicist who gained notoriety for the role he played in the Manhattan Project and the creation of the very first nuclear weapon. After the atomic bomb was developed, it was deployed by the United States to destroy the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These listens provide historical context about the man at the center of Christopher Nolan's biopic.
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- The Story of How Johnny Mitchell and His Fighter Pilots Took on Admiral Yamamoto and Avenged Pearl Harbor
- By: Dick Lehr
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
“AIR RAID, PEARL HARBOR. THIS IS NOT DRILL.” At 7:58 a.m. on December 7, 1941, an officer at the Ford Island Command Center frantically typed what would become one of the most famous radio dispatches in history as the Japanese navy launched a surprise aerial assault on the American navy stationed in Hawaii. In a little over two hours, the Japanese killed more than 2,400 Americans and propelled the US’s entry into World War II. Dead Reckoning is the story of the mission to avenge that devastating strike.
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Half Soap Opera, target audience 20 something male
- By Donald L. Hogan on 03-20-21
By: Dick Lehr
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The Bastard Brigade
- The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
During World War II, in the middle of building an atomic bomb, the leaders of the Manhattan Project were alarmed to learn that Nazi Germany was far outpacing the Allies in nuclear weapons research; Hitler, with just a few pounds of uranium, would have the capability to reverse the entire D-Day operation and conquer Europe. So they assembled a rough and motley crew of geniuses—dubbed the Alsos Mission—and sent them careening into Axis territory to spy on, sabotage, and even assassinate members of Nazi Germany's feared Uranium Club.
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Awesome
- By Solar red on 07-12-19
By: Sam Kean
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Inferno
- By: Joe Pappalardo
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Joe Pappalardo's Inferno tells the true story of the men who flew the deadliest missions of World War II, and an unlikely hero who received the Medal of Honor in the midst of the bloodiest military campaign in aviation history.
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Great listen I
- By Amazon Customer on 06-21-21
By: Joe Pappalardo
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LeMay
- By: Warren Kozak
- Narrated by: Grainger Hines
- Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The firebombing of Tokyo. Strategic Air Command. John F. Kennedy. Dr. Strangelove. George Wallace. All of these have one man in common—General Curtis LeMay, who remains as enigmatic and controversial as he was in life. Until now. Warren Kozak traces the trajectory of America’s most infamous general, from his troubled background and heroic service in Europe to his firebombing of Tokyo, guardianship of the U.S. nuclear arsenal in the Cold War, frustrated career in government, and short-lived political run.
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Definition.....Leader.....General Curtis Le May
- By Nj-Mike on 01-04-15
By: Warren Kozak
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Road to Surrender
- Three Men and the Countdown to the End of World War II
- By: Evan Thomas
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
So begins this suspenseful, impeccably researched history that draws on new access to diaries to tell the story of three men who were intimately involved with America’s decision to drop the atomic bomb—and Japan’s decision to surrender. They are Henry Stimson, the American Secretary of War, who oversaw J. Robert Oppenheimer under the Manhattan Project; Gen. Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, head of strategic bombing in the Pacific, who supervised the planes that dropped the bombs; and Japanese Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo.
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Very thorough…
- By Dan on 10-21-23
By: Evan Thomas
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The Arsenal of Democracy
- FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War
- By: A. J. Baime
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Arsenal of Democracy tells the incredible story of how Detroit answered the call, centering on Henry Ford and his tortured son Edsel, who, when asked if they could deliver 50,000 airplanes, made an outrageous claim: Ford Motor Company would erect a plant that could yield a “bomber an hour”. Critics scoffed: Ford didn’t make planes; they made simple, affordable cars. But bucking his father’s resistance, Edsel charged ahead.
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Misleading title
- By Kindle Customer on 12-01-14
By: A. J. Baime
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Above and Beyond
- By: Casey Sherman
- Narrated by: Maxwell Hamilton
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
From the authors of the best-selling The Finest Hours comes the riveting, deeply human story of President John F. Kennedy and two U-2 pilots, Rudy Anderson and Chuck Maultsby, who risked their lives to save America during the Cuban Missile Crisis. During the ominous two weeks of the Cold War's terrifying peak, two things saved humanity: the strategic wisdom of John F. Kennedy and the U-2 aerial spy program. On October 27, 1962, Kennedy, strained from back pain, sleeplessness, and days of impossible tension, was briefed about a missing spy plane.
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Narrator’s mispronunciations detracted from the story
- By Stephen E. Smith on 08-01-18
By: Casey Sherman
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One Minute to Midnight
- Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War
- By: Michael Dobbs
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In October 1962, at the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union appeared to be sliding inexorably toward a nuclear conflict over the placement of missiles in Cuba. Veteran Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs has pored over previously untapped American, Soviet, and Cuban sources to produce the most authoritative book yet on the Cuban missile crisis.
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On the verge of annihilation.
- By MikeCG on 01-22-09
By: Michael Dobbs
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Raid on the Sun
- Inside Israel's Secret Campaign that Denied Saddam the Bomb
- By: Rodger W. Claire
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Abridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
From the earliest days of his dictatorship, Saddam Hussein had vowed to destroy Israel. So, when France sold Iraq a top-of-the-line nuclear reactor in 1975, the Israelis were justifiably concerned, especially when they discovered that Iraqi scientists had already formulated a secret program to extract weapon-grade plutonium from the reactor, a first critical step in creating an atomic bomb.
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Fascinating detail of a historic strike
- By Kevin on 04-27-04
By: Rodger W. Claire
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Beyond Valor
- A World War II Story of Extraordinary Heroism, Sacrificial Love, and a Race Against Time
- By: Jon Erwin, William Doyle
- Narrated by: Zach Hoffman, Jon Erwin
- Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
On April 12, 1945, a fleet of American B-29 bombers flew toward Japan. Their mission was simple: Stop World War II by burning the cities, factories, and military bases of the Japanese empire, thereby forcing an unconditional surrender. But it didn't go as planned. Onboard one of the B-29s, the City of Los Angeles, a phosphorus bomb detonated inside the plane. Staff Sergeant Henry E. "Red" Erwin absorbed the blast of burning phosphorus and managed to throw the still-flaming bomb overboard before collapsing from the third-degree burns that covered his body.
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One of the best books I’ve ever listened to!!!
- By katherine on 09-15-20
By: Jon Erwin, and others
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Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot
- By: Starr Smith, Walter Cronkite
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Of all the celebrities who served their country during World War II - and they were legion - Jimmy Stewart was unique. On December 7, when the attack on Pearl Harbor woke so many others to the reality of war, Stewart was already in uniform - as a private on guard duty south of San Francisco at the Army Air Corps Moffet Field. Seeing war on the horizon, Jimmy Stewart, at the height of his fame after Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and his Oscar-winning turn in The Philadelphia Story in 1940, had enlisted several months earlier.
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After-action intelligence report
- By David on 04-20-18
By: Starr Smith, and others
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Night of the Assassins
- The Untold Story of Hitler's Plot to Kill FDR, Churchill, and Stalin
- By: Howard Blum
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The year is 1943, and the three Allied leaders - Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin - are meeting for the first time at a top-secret conference in Tehran. But the Nazis have learned about the meeting, and Hitler sees it as his last chance to turn the tide. Although the war is undoubtedly lost, the Germans believe that perhaps a new set of Allied leaders might be willing to make a more reasonable peace in its aftermath. And so, a plan is devised - code name Operation Long Jump - to assassinate FDR, Churchill, and Stalin.
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Very inaccurate background.
- By Anna Goforth on 04-19-22
By: Howard Blum
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Beyond
- The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space
- By: Stephen Walker
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Travelling at almost 18,000 miles per hour - 10 times faster than a rifle bullet - Yuri Gagarin circles the globe in just 106 minutes. From his windows, he sees the Earth as nobody has before, crossing a sunset and a sunrise, crossing oceans and continents, witnessing its beauty and its fragility. While his launch begins in total secrecy, within hours of his landing, he has become a world celebrity - the first human to leave the planet. Beyond tells the thrilling story behind that epic flight on its 60th anniversary.
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A remarkable story on many levels
- By Dipam on 03-22-22
By: Stephen Walker
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The Splendid and the Vile
- A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: John Lee, Erik Larson
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
On Winston Churchill’s first day as prime minister, Adolf Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next 12 months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons. It was up to Churchill to hold his country together and persuade President Franklin Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally - and willing to fight to the end. In The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson shows how Churchill taught the British people "the art of being fearless."
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John Lee’s narration is a struggle
- By Leslie Rathjens on 03-05-20
By: Erik Larson
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While extraordinary, I can only give it 3 stars
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Road to Surrender
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So begins this suspenseful, impeccably researched history that draws on new access to diaries to tell the story of three men who were intimately involved with America’s decision to drop the atomic bomb—and Japan’s decision to surrender. They are Henry Stimson, the American Secretary of War, who oversaw J. Robert Oppenheimer under the Manhattan Project; Gen. Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, head of strategic bombing in the Pacific, who supervised the planes that dropped the bombs; and Japanese Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo.
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Very thorough…
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The Making of the Atomic Bomb
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Here for the first time, in rich human, political, and scientific detail, is the complete story of how the bomb was developed, from the turn-of-the-century discovery of the vast energy locked inside the atom to the dropping of the first bombs on Japan. Few great discoveries have evolved so swiftly - or have been so misunderstood. From the theoretical discussions of nuclear energy to the bright glare of Trinity, there was a span of hardly more than 25 years.
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Beware limitations of the reader
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The General and the Genius
- Groves and Oppenheimer - The Unlikely Partnership That Built the Atom Bomb
- By: James Kunetka
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Two ambitious men. One historic mission. With a blinding flash in the New Mexico desert in the summer of 1945, the world was changed forever. The bomb that ushered in the atomic age was the product of one of history's most improbable partnerships. The General and the Genius reveals how two extraordinary men pulled off the greatest scientific feat of the 20th century.
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Not exactly about the General and the Genius
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Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front, 1943-1945
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
By 1943, after the catastrophic German defeat at Stalingrad, the Wehmacht's panzer armies gradually lost the initiative on the Eastern Front. The tide of the war had turned. Their combined arms technique, which had swept Soviet forces before it during 1941 and 1942, had lost its edge. Thereafter the war on the Eastern Front was dominated by tank-led offensives and, as Robert Forczyk shows, the Red Army's mechanized forces gained the upper hand, delivering a sequence of powerful blows that shattered one German defensive line after another.
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Truman and the Bomb
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Overall
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Many myths have grown up around President Harry S. Truman's decision to use nuclear weapons against Imperial Japan. In destroying these myths, Truman and the Bomb will discomfort both Truman's critics and his supporters, and force historians to reexamine what they think they know about the end of the Pacific War. Using previously unpublished material, D. M. Giangreco busts myths and more. Truman and the Bomb will prove to be a classic for studying presidential politics and influence on atomic warfare and its military and diplomatic components.
By: D. M. Giangreco
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Thirty Seconds over Tokyo
- Aviation Classics
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In Ted W. Lawson’s classic Thirty Seconds over Tokyo, Lawson gives a vivid eyewitness account of the unorthodox assignment that 85 intrepid volunteer airmen - the “Tokyo Raiders” - under the command of celebrated flier James H. Doolittle executed in April 1942. The plan called for 16 B-25 twin-engine medium bombers of the Army Air Corps to take off from the aircraft carrier Hornet, bomb industrial targets in Japan, and land at airfields in China.
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awesome story of a major WWII event
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By: Ted W. Lawson
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Dark Sun
- The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Richard Rhodes
- Length: 6 hrs
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Overall
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Performance
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Richard Rhodes' landmark history of the atomic bomb won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Now, in this majestic new masterpiece of history, science, and politics, he tells for the first time the secret story of how and why the hydrogen bomb was made, and traces the path by which this supreme artifact of 20th-century technology became the defining issue of the Cold War.
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Abridged??
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By: Richard Rhodes
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Ship Ablaze
- The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum
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- Narrated by: Joel Richards
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There were few experienced swimmers among over 1,300 Lower East Side residents who boarded the General Slocum on June 15, 1904. It shouldn't have mattered since the steamship was only chartered for a languid excursion from Manhattan to Long Island Sound. But a fire erupted minutes into the trip, forcing hundreds of terrified passengers into the water. By the time the captain found a safe shore for landing, 1,021 had perished. It was New York's deadliest tragedy prior to September 11, 2001.
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I love learning the “rest of the story”
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Chasing Heisenberg
- The Race for the Atom Bomb
- By: Michael Joseloff
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 3 hrs and 23 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
After a devastating run of German victories, Allied troops are beginning to halt Hitler’s advance. But far from the battlefields, Allied scientists are struggling. Intelligence reports put them a distant second behind the Germans in a competition that could determine the outcome of the war: the race to build the world’s first nuclear weapon. For the Allies’ top scientists, the race is deeply personal. J. Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Samuel Goudsmit have known Hitler’s chief atomic scientist, Werner Heisenberg, for years.
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A Good Overview/Introduction to the Bomb Race
- By Ashlyn on 08-05-20
By: Michael Joseloff
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The Heart of Hell
- The Untold Story of Courage and Sacrifice in the Shadow of Iwo Jima
- By: Mitch Weiss
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Battle of Iwo Jima, a major event in the Pacific Theater of World War II - and one of the bloodiest in United States history - began on February 19, 1945. But what happened two days earlier has largely been a footnote - until now.... On February 17, Landing Craft Infantry 449 was among a dozen gunboats helping to prepare the area for their invasion two days later. US military leaders thought that they had weakened Japanese forces in the area.
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Important History, but Not a Compelling Story
- By Craig on 07-30-16
By: Mitch Weiss
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Target Tokyo
- Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor
- By: James M. Scott
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 20 hrs and 3 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The dramatic account of one of America's most celebrated - and controversial - military campaigns: the Doolittle Raid. In December 1941, as American forces tallied the dead at Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt gathered with his senior military counselors to plan an ambitious counterstrike against the heart of the Japanese Empire: Tokyo.
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Vengence is Mine, Thus Sayeth Doolittle
- By Jonathan Love on 06-13-16
By: James M. Scott
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Enola Gay
- Mission to Hiroshima
- By: Gordon Thomas, Max Morgan-Witts
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Painstakingly researched, the story behind the decision to send the Enola Gay to bomb Hiroshima is told through firsthand sources. From diplomatic moves behind the scenes to Japanese actions and the US Army Air Force's call to action, no detail is left untold. Touching on the early days of the Manhattan Project and the first inkling of an atomic bomb, investigative journalist Gordon Thomas and his writing partner Max Morgan-Witts, take WWII enthusiasts through the training of the crew of the Enola Gay and the challenges faced by pilot Paul Tibbets.
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Poor reader
- By Dee on 04-17-22
By: Gordon Thomas, and others
What listeners say about Countdown 1945
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- Gaming Pancakes
- 06-11-20
Chris Wallace killed it!
While I have read and listened to hundreds of books, I have never written a review that I can remember. I heard Mr. Wallace see on Fox News that he wrote this book to be a historic thriller. I bought it immediately. And he was exactly right. Not only did I learn a lot about the important history of 1945, but I was literally anticipating every new chapter. It reminded me of the first time I saw the movie Titanic. Of course I knew what was going to happen, but I was captivated. Great job Chris Wallace.
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23 people found this helpful
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- Mona Odom
- 07-05-20
Great documentary and style. Slight difference of opinion.
Really a must read with the following comment.
The actual numbers of allied casualties on the invasion of Japan was between one and 4 million with the ratio of over 30% dead from the Okinawa invasion. The 250,000 dead wasn’t early estimate that had no research behind it.
To this day, no new purple crosses are made as they came from the anticipated need for the Japanese invasion.
Japanese deaths were pegged at roughly 25 million. This corresponds to what the Japanese military assumed would happen. 25% of their population (109 million) would be sacrificed for the honor of the emperor. That was quite acceptable to them.
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17 people found this helpful
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- Fundraising Fan
- 06-13-20
Reads like a thriller
Fantastic book by Chris Wallace! I was so enthralled that I was looking for reasons to get in my car so I could listen to more of the book. I especially enjoyed the stories about the various participants and then what became of them after.
Really well-done.
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13 people found this helpful
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- Linda Metzger
- 06-20-20
very interesting I couldn't stop listening.
it gave you a sense of the feelings of those involved about what was happening as well as the historic events themselves. My Dad was a mechanic who was there and he worked on the Enola Gay. I never understood the significance of what he did. He was a very modest man. I am sorry that he didn't get to hear the book. I m sure he would have loved it. He just passed last October at the age of 93.
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12 people found this helpful
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- John Mayes
- 06-16-20
Countdown 1945
I just started this book
I'm 86 years old And lived through this time and knew Very little Of the background about this book
Will add my review after a finish the book this very good this far
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9 people found this helpful
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- BookReader
- 06-19-20
Countdown 1945
Countdown 1945 is documentation of the people, events that took place from the death of Franklin Roosevelt to August 1945 when US bombs dropped on Japan to end WWII. Details of the secrecy, the emotions of characters from Truman, Stalin, Tibbits and the Enola Gay, his crew, other military and scientific leaders, the girls in plants in the rural mountains, tests in Los Alamos, struggles to create ... and ultimately use, the atomic bomb.
Even if you think you know the fundamental history of this event, you will definitely be educated about intricate details you did not know.
The book reads like a novel - but it is all true. Recommended.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-27-20
Excellant!
Excellant book, I'm sure Wallace didn't write it. Should have been performed by someone who wasn't such a traitor to America, Chris Wallace. I wonder how Wallace covered Bill Clinton's shameful apology to the Japanese. The bomb probably saved a million lives on both sides. Japanese never apologized for their beastly inhuman treatment of Americans. We're still waiting!
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6 people found this helpful
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- Darryl Silva
- 06-16-20
The bar has now been raised!! Absolutely FABULOUS!
The amount of investigating necessary to write such a book is amazing.
I have recommended it highly
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5 people found this helpful
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- Denise Cabana
- 06-15-20
important read
this is a really important story told her perspective I had not heard before. Existing just how powerful a weapon or World possesses thoughtfully it came into being yet still house Gary r x r. Chris Wallace should have paid someone to read his book; a good writer not a good reader.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Tim
- 11-29-20
Listening to His Voice
Listening to Chris Wallace reading his own book, “Countdown 1945” is like listening to a radio show. I like it. I’ve read a lot about the atomic bomb and pretty much learned enough information to finally pass a history class from other authors. Instead, I bought this audiobook not so much to know the timeline of what happened in the past, but more as entertainment. I could imagine myself sitting in the kitchen and listening to the radio to a journalist, reporting what happened in those unsettling days.
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2 people found this helpful