The Zimmermann Telegram

By: Barbara W. Tuchman

Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon

Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

In the dark winter of 1917, as World War I was deadlocked, Britain knew that Europe could be saved only if the United States joined the war. But President Wilson remained unshakable in his neutrality. Then, with a single stroke, the tool to propel America into the war came into a quiet British office. One of countless messages intercepted by the crack team of British decoders, the Zimmermann telegram was a top-secret message from Berlin inviting Mexico to join Japan in an invasion of the United States. Mexico would recover her lost American territories while keeping the U.S. occupied on her side of the Atlantic.

How Britain managed to inform America of Germany's plan without revealing that the German codes had been broken makes for an incredible, true story of espionage, intrigue, and international politics, as only Barbara W. Tuchman could tell it.

©1958 Barbara W. Tuchman (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“A true, lucid thriller…. Mrs. Tuchman makes the most of it with a creative writer’s sense of drama and a scholar’s obeisance to the evidence.” ( New York Times)

“The tale has most of the ingredients of an Eric Ambler spy thriller.” ( Saturday Review)

Facts, facts and more facts

Tuchman is a pulitzer prize winner for a reason.
The story was good, the facts good, the pace good, but not my cup of tea - for the history buff you will love it.

The narrator was good, but he voice a bit soft for my ears. I had trouble following some passages

A key to modern history

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I had read

Who was your favorite character and why?

Zimmerman, of course.

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

No

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

No

History is a lot more twisted than we know!

What an amazing look at the behind the scenes twists and turns of history! How little we really know about what moves nations and governments. This book helps you to see that.

Historical context

The organization of the story. The following of history and those who were living this history.

US manoevered into World War 1

An outstanding history of a key event leading to US participation in World War 1. What you would expect from a thoroughly researched Barbara Tuchman book. Solid on facts and read in a most interesting way. Once you plug in you don't want to stop until you have heard the whole book.

Great Story

What did you love best about The Zimmermann Telegram?

The fact that it brings attention to an almost forgoten, but an important, part of American Histroy

What did you like best about this story?

The background story of all the key players, not just America and Germany but Mexico, Japan and Great Britian.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Wilson's outlook on going to war takes an 180 degree turn

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

A Classic Perfectly Narrated.

This book is spectacularly witty and moves at a break neck speed compared to most historical accounts. And it's given the added advantage in this instance of one of the most delightful narrations I've ever heard. The narrator's voice is David Attenborough-esque in it's mellifluence, and captures every bit of the author's prodigious wit.

Well told story

This is an outstanding, well researched documentary that sounds like a story because of the outstanding narration. A great deal of detail is provided regarding our getting involved in WW1 and I heard a lot of background information about the numerous issues President Wilson had to deal with at the time that I was not familiar with.

Good history, terrible audio

This may have been released in 2010, but the audio quality is so low you would have thought it was copied from cassette tapes made in the 80s. Usually I would listen to nonfiction at 2.5x speed, but I had to slow this down to 1.5x just to be able to make out what the narrator was saying through the audio distortion.

Setting that aside, this is the story of how the US came to enter World War I. It talks about Kaiser Wilhelm II, the narcissistic sociopath that refused to admit he was wrong, and only wanted to be shown news that made him look good (remind you of anyone? The resemblance is uncanny). It talks about Woodrow Wilson, and how he would be a great statesman if only everyone were obligated to do what he said, but that, alas, he didn't have the magic of persuasion. It talks about Room 40 in Britain, where German communications were intercepted and decoded. And all the various events of spies and diplomacy and politics that led Wilson, kicking and screaming for peace, into an inevitable war.

Zimmerman - a little known factor in US/Mexican relations

The book is slow to gain interest without a good knowledge of world history before WW I. However, the book provides a significant revision to my understanding of the history of the US before the war, and is relevant to our current understanding of relations with the SW United States and Mexico.