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)

Awesome listen

First and foremost, the voice actors in this book are awesome. Each character has their own identity, and every word is pronounced clearly. The story itself is written excellently, much better than the movie with a shared name. 10/10

Way better than the movie

I recommend this book for a great quick read however some of the stories within didn’t really make sense but overall great voice acting overall and really interesting POV 10/10.

Abridged!

I loved reading this book and thought it would be fun to listen to but it is abridged and missing huge chunks of the story. Would be 5 stars if full version.

My first audiobook

This was my first audiobook and I loved it. I listened to it from San Francisco to San Diego and it made the drive down. Especially in LA traffic. I'm glad I picked this as my first audiobook. Worth the listen.

All you need!

While the Complete Edition contains the material left out of this original abridged recording, I didn't find that it added anything particularly compelling.

This is a great book with some great performances (Mark Hamill did an INCREDIBLE job, and I didn't even know it was him until the credits at the end), but -- unlike nearly every other audio book -- I found this abridged version was better by keeping it concise and having only the strongest performances.

Had I not listened to this original abridged recording first I may have felt differently, though.

FANTASTIC!

I truly loved the whole book. I listen to A LOT of books every month and often get bored. I was hesitant to "waste" a credit on a short book but it was worth every penny. Would highly recommend.

Great

This is a really well done recording. High marks all around. I couldn't be happier with it.

Way better than the movie

While this is sadly abridged, it still captures the essence of the book. It tell the story of the zombie apocalypse from multiple view points and manages to capture not just the terror of zombies but also the realities of survival. I loved the narration as well. This one is worth a listen!

Love zombie movies and books

This book isn’t intended for children. A lot of mature content. I hope they make a part 2. Audiobook was better than the movie.

Incredible Journey!

This book was incredible and was voiced by some great actors. I would absolutely recommend this to people who are a fan of economics and warfare and of course the post apocalyptic world. I felt as of these stories were real and I was actually hearing these people tell there part of that world.