World War Z

An Oral History of the Zombie War

By: Max Brooks

Narrated by: Max Brooks, Alan Alda, John Turturro, Rob Reiner

Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of 30 million souls, to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet.

He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.

Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the 12-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War.

Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission.

©2006 Max Brooks (P)2006 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Winner of Audio Publishers Association 2007 Audie Award, Multi-Voiced Performance
• Audie Award Finalist, Audiobook of the Year, 2007

"Hard to put down." (Publishers Weekly)

"A literate, ironic, strangely tasty treat." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Horror fans won't be disappointed: like George Romero's Dead trilogy, World War Z is another milestone in the zombie mythos." (Booklist)

Great Performance, but an abridged book

I really enjoyed the celebrity performances, but was disappointed to discover it was an abridged text. Overall, still a very enjoyable listening experience!

Great book

I really liked the book, and thought it was even better than the movie. It was cool how they had different voice actors for the different parts.

A great listen for long commutes to and from work.

Seeing as I didn't have time to read as much as I would like to anymore, I decided to pick up World War Z as something to listen too while commuting. Now that I've finished it, it's been a great ride. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

Great!

I like how the story focuses more on the governments of the world and not too much on the individual survivors.

Make an unabridged version

the book was awesome max Brooks is epic but seriously make one on abridged version of war war Z not two different copies that I have to listen to and try to figure out what order goes in one on abridged copy seriously

I Wish, I Wish, It Wasn't Abridged

My expectations for the audio recording of this book were completely blown out of the water. The format is such that it truly feels as though we're listening to the real voices of the people who lived through the war. The multiple narrators each brought their own flavor to the recording and overall, a fantastic production.

I only wished that, as someone who previously read and enjoyed the original novel immensely, they hadn't cut so much from the original novels, scenes that showed individuals fighting to keep their humanity, scenes that showed the human spirit persevering in a relatable way, and scenes from the epilogue that were both hopeful and chilling. I understand why it was sliced the way it was, because most of the perspectives that were cut were fairly minor in the grand scheme of things, but nevertheless, it's the 'ordinary people' that make this book so very different.

Overall, however, this was a fantastic audiobook, and the stories within are definitely worth listening to, abridged or not.

An amazing experience!

An amazing experience that keep me engaged for the duration! A must listen for any lovers of the book.

Well Thought Out – Well Done

Believably done, with an unbelievable topic! The scenarios played out by the Zombie War are what you’d expect. I look forward to the movie.

5 star book movie hurt this book!

good cast reading tons of things lost in movie should be a redo for the movie considering book was so good crap movie awsome book director butchered book dumb movie dumb dumb bad movie bad terrible movie great book

HELL YEAH

Top tier voice Casting and flawless execution. Better than reading the book and I've never said that about any audiobook before.