Regular price: $23.07

Membership details Membership details
  • A 30-day trial plus your first audiobook, free.
  • 1 credit/month after trial – good for any book, any price.
  • Easy exchanges – swap any book you don’t love.
  • Keep your audiobooks, even if you cancel.
  • After your trial, Audible is just $14.95/month.
  • Get access to the Member Daily Deal
OR
In Cart

People who bought this also bought...

The March of Folly audiobook cover art

  • The March of Folly

  • From Troy to Vietnam
  • By: Barbara W. Tuchman
  • Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
  • Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars 431
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars 288
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars 285

In The March of Folly, two-time Pulitzer Prize winning historian Barbara Tuchman tackles the pervasive presence of folly in governments through the ages. Defining folly as the pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interests, despite the availability of feasible alternatives, Tuchman details four decisive turning points in history that illustrate the very heights of folly in government.

  • 4 out of 5 stars

  • No stone left unturned

  • By peter on 04-13-11
The Zimmermann Telegram audiobook cover art

  • The Zimmermann Telegram

  • By: Barbara W. Tuchman
  • Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
  • Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars 723
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 605
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 600

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.

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • Very Interesting

  • By Carolyn on 01-17-13
The Proud Tower audiobook cover art

  • The Proud Tower

  • A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890-1914
  • By: Barbara W. Tuchman
  • Narrated by: Nadia May
  • Length: 21 hrs and 47 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars 668
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 454
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 455

The fateful quarter-century leading up to World War I was a time when the world of privilege still existed in Olympian luxury and the world of protest was heaving in its pain, its power, and its hate. The age was the climax of a century of the most accelerated rate of change in history, a cataclysmic shaping of destiny.

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • Fascinating history

  • By Doug on 02-18-07
The First Salute audiobook cover art

  • The First Salute

  • A View of the American Revolution
  • By: Barbara W. Tuchman
  • Narrated by: Nadia May
  • Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars 136
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 79
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 80

This compellingly written history presents a fresh, new view of the events that led from the first foreign salute to American nationhood in 1776 to the last campaign of the Revolution five years later. It paints a magnificent portrait of General George Washington and recounts in riveting detail the events responsible for the birth of our nation.

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • A brilliant classic

  • By Matthew on 03-27-09
Bible and Sword audiobook cover art

  • Bible and Sword

  • England and Palestine from the Bronze Age to Balfour
  • By: Barbara W. Tuchman
  • Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
  • Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars 146
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 106
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars 106

Two-time Pulitzer Prize - winning historian Barbara Tuchman explores the complex relationship of Britain to Palestine that led to the founding of the modern Jewish state - and to many of the problems that plague the Middle East today.

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • Great historical insight into how we got to today

  • By Plimtuna on 06-09-10
A Distant Mirror audiobook cover art

  • A Distant Mirror

  • The Calamitous Fourteenth Century
  • By: Barbara W. Tuchman
  • Narrated by: Nadia May
  • Length: 28 hrs and 38 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars 1,444
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 932
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 949

The fourteenth century reflects two contradictory images: on the one hand, a glittering time of crusades and castles, cathedrals and chivalry, and the exquisitely decorated Books of Hours; and on the other, a time of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world of chaos and the plague.

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • Gripping, once you get into it

  • By E. Smakman on 11-30-09

Publisher's Summary

Master historian Barbara W. Tuchman looks at history in a unique way and draws lessons from what she sees. This accessible introduction to the subject of history offers striking insights into America's past and present, trenchant observations on the international scene, and thoughtful pieces on the historian's role. Here is a splendid body of work, the story of a lifetime spent "practicing history".
©1981 Alma Tuchman, Lucy T. Eisenberg, and Jessica Tuchman Matthews; Introduction copyright 1981 by Barbara Tuchman (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"A book to celebrate...A delight to read." (New York Times Book Review)
"Persuades and enthralls...I can think of no better primer for the nonexpert who wishes to learn history." (Chicago Sun-Times)

What members say

Average Customer Ratings

Overall

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    20
  • 4 Stars
    10
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2

Performance

  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2

Story

  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    16
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Audible.com Reviews
Audible.co.uk reviews
Amazon Reviews
Sort by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Barbara Tuchman fan faced with reality

Great writers who chose to be a historian are rare. As a result I, and many others, have enjoyed Mrs Tuchman's eloquence in her many wonderful books. This sense that I was in the presence of the greatest historian was first tarnished when I saw a one star review of the Guns of August. I thought only a madman could hate such an accomplished piece. I read it and was further intrigued by the recommendations of 'proper' historians at the end. I bought these, and though less eloquently written, I began to see his point. But it was only with these essays, where Mrs Tuchman strays from her well structured histories into opinion, that the original one star complaint is laid bare. A sentence claiming a strong historians objectivity is swiftly followed by a stronger and arrogant subjectivity. To see a hero laid so bare and so low is probably an important life lesson, but still hurts and disappoints.

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Great Mind Shares a Lifetime of Experience

One of the great historians of the Twentieth Century meditates upon the methods of her craft and the lessons of our history.

Sort by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Joe Partridge
  • 06-08-16

Understanding history

This was far better than I expected although I am a fan of Ms Tuchman. There was essay after essay explaining events I remember with the incisive eye and mind you get in her pure works of history.