• Iron War

  • Dave Scott, Mark Allen, and the Greatest Race Ever Run
  • By: Matt Fitzgerald
  • Narrated by: Seth Michael Donsky
  • Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (508 ratings)

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Iron War  By  cover art

Iron War

By: Matt Fitzgerald
Narrated by: Seth Michael Donsky
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Publisher's summary

The 1989 Ironman World Championship was the greatest race ever in endurance sports. In a spectacular duel that became known as the Iron War, the world's two strongest athletes raced side by side at world-record pace for a grueling 139 miles.

Driven by one of the fiercest rivalries in triathlon, Dave Scott and Mark Allen raced shoulder to shoulder through Ironman’s 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike race, and 26.2-mile marathon. After 8 punishing hours, both men would demolish the previous record - and cross the finish line a mere 58 seconds apart.

In his new book, Iron War, sports journalist Matt Fitzgerald writes a riveting epic about how Allen and Scott drove themselves and each other through the most awe-inspiring race in sports history. Iron War goes beyond the pulse-pounding race story to offer a fascinating exploration of the lives of the world’s two toughest men and their unquenchable desire to succeed.

Weaving an examination of mental resolve into a gripping tale of athletic adventure, Iron War is a soaring narrative of two champions and the paths that led to their stunning final showdown.

©2011 Matt Fitzgerald (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Iron War

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Fine Story....But the Narration!!!!

I had no problems with the substance and story of the book. Although I think my being an active age group triathlete helps to make the book more interesting than it would be to someone who has never been kicked in the face during an open water swim! The two protagonists are interesting people and their achievements, which are related in the book, are phenomenal.

On the other hand, the narration is just off. One of the worst of any audiobook I have listened to in 20 years (including back in the audio cassette days). The best way I can describe the narration is that it seemed like the book was narrated by Cruella DeVille. Seriously, listen for yourself.

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13 people found this helpful

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

Good Story - HORRIBLE naration

I just couldn't get past the over the top narration lacking any flow or rhythm.

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9 people found this helpful

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

Worst Narration Ever

Would you try another book from Matt Fitzgerald and/or Seth Michael Donsky?

I simply can't listen to Seth Michael Donsky. If the subject matter were not so interesting to me, I would have stopped immediately. I can only listen to short pieces at a time. Matt Fitzgerald tries to hard to use metaphors to create understanding.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

He has the worst enunciation and over the top breathing, and his style exacerbates the overdone metaphor hyperbole. It's hilarious at times, but mostly, it's just unbearable.

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5 people found this helpful

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

this book was as painful as a double ironman

Would you try another book from Matt Fitzgerald and/or Seth Michael Donsky?

absolutely not

Would you ever listen to anything by Matt Fitzgerald again?

absolutely not

What didn’t you like about Seth Michael Donsky’s performance?

Donsky's narration was grating in voice quality, but worse, he used the wrong intonations with the words he was reading. that said, he could only read the really poor writing.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

the general story of Scott and Allen was good, the extra garbage about who was thinking what when you couldn't know, failing to acknowledge that Allen would have received several penalties on the iron war day had all the stuff from the story been true, blaming the fathers for everything, it was too much, poor, poor trod upon typical America cry baby stuff throughout the book.

Any additional comments?

Mark Allen's divorce was acceptable because Allen was a peyote smoking mystic, but Allen was a terrible father ergo the divorce because he made his kid ride a bike while he ran? Mark Allen's father was a terrible father because he worked all the time to get through medical school, then after the divorce, his father was a terrible father because he called him every week and expected him to go to college which somehow equaled too controlling, then when Mark was doing tri, his father was there to support him at races and that was wrong too. Let's face it, regardless of what his father did, he would have been demonized to support the author's hypothesis that people really good at triathlon had bad fathers. Every body can find something to claim their father was terrible, sad that this had to be the overriding theme of this book when in fact, but for his father's money and financial support, Mark Allen would not have been doing triathlons rather than working those first years.

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2 people found this helpful

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

But that narration...

Excellent story. The narrator's style just didn't jive for me. Still highly recommended. The inspiration is there, it's up to you (and me) to leverage it.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Narrator is annoying!

The book is pretty good and entertaining. But the narrator's over pronunciation of every word was a distraction from the content.

The history of the 2 athletes and Ironman in generals was very interesting.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Great story, difficult to listen to the narrator

I have the hard copy version of the book. Bought the audiobook to listen to in my car and when biking/running. Narrator is difficult to listen to. Way over the top. Would have preferred a more conversational narrator.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Great story...tough to listen to.

Truly a great story... A must read for the budding triathlete or the nostalgic IRONMAN...one point though, the narration is tough to get into. Nothing against Seth Michael Donsky, but I don't think his narration style was the best for this book. My first impression was that he wasn't an athlete and couldn't connect with the essence of story. After a couple if tries to listen, I finally increased the speed to 1.5x...that helped pick up the pace and make it tolerable/enjoyable. It's worth listen. Great story!!!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Read by a robot

Great story, too bad it’s narrated by a guy who sounds like he’s reading a lot of these words for the first time. Just over the top annunciation to the point that there is zero emotion.

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

Best Entertainment Endurance Sports Book I've Ever

I absolutely loved this book. It's very entertaining and goes into great depth about the build up of the IronWar. Mark Allen claims the author made a lot of false claims about him and Scott, but if I'm being honest, I speculate that the claims are true, but claims that Mark didn't necessarily want to reveal due to the deep personal nature of them. Regardless of whether the book is fact or fiction, it is fantastic entertainment and well worth the read.

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