-
The Prime Ministers
- An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 24 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Historical
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $39.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Menachem Begin
- The Battle for Israel's Soul
- By: Daniel Gordis
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reviled as a fascist by his great rival Ben-Gurion, venerated by Israel’s underclass, the first Israeli to win the Nobel Peace Prize, a proud Jew but not a conventionally religious one, Menachem Begin was both complex and controversial. Born in Poland in 1913, Begin was a youthful admirer of the Revisionist Zionist Ze’ev Jabotinsky and soon became a leader within Jabotinsky’s Betar movement.
-
-
Great story lousy oration
- By Jacob Engelstein on 10-03-14
By: Daniel Gordis
-
Six Days of War
- June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East
- By: Michael B. Oren
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Israel and the West, it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War or, simply, as "the Setback". Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen, and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David accords, the controversy over Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the intifada, and the rise of Palestinian terror are all part of the outcome of those six days.
-
-
Really 2 Books in One . . .
- By Tim on 04-05-06
By: Michael B. Oren
-
The Emperor and the Spy
- The Secret Alliance to Prevent World War II
- By: Stan S. Katz
- Narrated by: Gary Elliot
- Length: 18 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Col. Sidney Mashbir so embraced the Japanese language and culture, that he achieved a closer intimacy with Emperor Hirohito than any Westerner. In spite of Mashbir and his Japanese allies' courageous, peace-keeping efforts, World War II erupted. Mashbir was then forced to take a pivotal role in defeating Japan, a nation and its people whom he had so befriended.
-
-
Tremendous accounting of little known facts
- By EB on 12-22-19
By: Stan S. Katz
-
Freezing Order
- A True Story of Russian Money Laundering, State-Sponsored Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath
- By: Bill Browder
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Browder’s young Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in a Moscow jail in 2009, Browder cast aside his business career and made it his life’s mission to pursue justice for Sergei. One of the first steps of that mission was to uncover who had killed Sergei and profited from the $230 million corruption scheme that he had exposed. As Browder and his team tracked the money that flowed out of Russia—through the Baltics and Cyprus and on to Western Europe and the Americas—they discovered that Vladimir Putin himself was one of the beneficiaries of the crime.
-
-
Red Notice Part II —- The Empire Struck Out
- By R. Alembik on 04-16-22
By: Bill Browder
-
Israel
- A Concise History of a Nation Reborn
- By: Daniel Gordis
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 16 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Israel is a tiny state, and yet it has captured the world's attention, aroused its imagination, and, lately, been the object of its opprobrium. Why does such a small country speak to so many global concerns? More pressingly: Why does Israel make the decisions it does? And what lies in its future? We cannot answer these questions until we understand Israel's people and the questions and conflicts, the hopes and desires, that have animated their conversations and actions.
-
-
Great read; shows history, current story & nuance
- By Wolfman on 11-13-17
By: Daniel Gordis
-
Lioness
- Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel
- By: Francine Klagsbrun
- Narrated by: Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 32 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Golda Meir was a world figure unlike any other. Born in tsarist Russia in 1898, she immigrated to America in 1906 and grew up in Milwaukee, where from her earliest years she displayed the political consciousness and organizational skills that would eventually catapult her into the inner circles of Israel's founding generation. Moving to mandatory Palestine in 1921 with her husband, the passionate socialist joined a kibbutz but soon left and was hired at a public works office by the man who would become the great love of her life.
-
-
The persistent mispronunciations of Hebrew and Yiddish words ruined this performance
- By YH-O on 12-30-18
-
Menachem Begin
- The Battle for Israel's Soul
- By: Daniel Gordis
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reviled as a fascist by his great rival Ben-Gurion, venerated by Israel’s underclass, the first Israeli to win the Nobel Peace Prize, a proud Jew but not a conventionally religious one, Menachem Begin was both complex and controversial. Born in Poland in 1913, Begin was a youthful admirer of the Revisionist Zionist Ze’ev Jabotinsky and soon became a leader within Jabotinsky’s Betar movement.
-
-
Great story lousy oration
- By Jacob Engelstein on 10-03-14
By: Daniel Gordis
-
Six Days of War
- June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East
- By: Michael B. Oren
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Israel and the West, it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War or, simply, as "the Setback". Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen, and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David accords, the controversy over Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the intifada, and the rise of Palestinian terror are all part of the outcome of those six days.
-
-
Really 2 Books in One . . .
- By Tim on 04-05-06
By: Michael B. Oren
-
The Emperor and the Spy
- The Secret Alliance to Prevent World War II
- By: Stan S. Katz
- Narrated by: Gary Elliot
- Length: 18 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Col. Sidney Mashbir so embraced the Japanese language and culture, that he achieved a closer intimacy with Emperor Hirohito than any Westerner. In spite of Mashbir and his Japanese allies' courageous, peace-keeping efforts, World War II erupted. Mashbir was then forced to take a pivotal role in defeating Japan, a nation and its people whom he had so befriended.
-
-
Tremendous accounting of little known facts
- By EB on 12-22-19
By: Stan S. Katz
-
Freezing Order
- A True Story of Russian Money Laundering, State-Sponsored Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath
- By: Bill Browder
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Browder’s young Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in a Moscow jail in 2009, Browder cast aside his business career and made it his life’s mission to pursue justice for Sergei. One of the first steps of that mission was to uncover who had killed Sergei and profited from the $230 million corruption scheme that he had exposed. As Browder and his team tracked the money that flowed out of Russia—through the Baltics and Cyprus and on to Western Europe and the Americas—they discovered that Vladimir Putin himself was one of the beneficiaries of the crime.
-
-
Red Notice Part II —- The Empire Struck Out
- By R. Alembik on 04-16-22
By: Bill Browder
-
Israel
- A Concise History of a Nation Reborn
- By: Daniel Gordis
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 16 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Israel is a tiny state, and yet it has captured the world's attention, aroused its imagination, and, lately, been the object of its opprobrium. Why does such a small country speak to so many global concerns? More pressingly: Why does Israel make the decisions it does? And what lies in its future? We cannot answer these questions until we understand Israel's people and the questions and conflicts, the hopes and desires, that have animated their conversations and actions.
-
-
Great read; shows history, current story & nuance
- By Wolfman on 11-13-17
By: Daniel Gordis
-
Lioness
- Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel
- By: Francine Klagsbrun
- Narrated by: Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 32 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Golda Meir was a world figure unlike any other. Born in tsarist Russia in 1898, she immigrated to America in 1906 and grew up in Milwaukee, where from her earliest years she displayed the political consciousness and organizational skills that would eventually catapult her into the inner circles of Israel's founding generation. Moving to mandatory Palestine in 1921 with her husband, the passionate socialist joined a kibbutz but soon left and was hired at a public works office by the man who would become the great love of her life.
-
-
The persistent mispronunciations of Hebrew and Yiddish words ruined this performance
- By YH-O on 12-30-18
-
Mossad
- The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service
- By: Michael Bar-Zohar, Nissim Mishal
- Narrated by: Benjamin Isaac
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Mossad, authors MichaelBar-Zohar and Nissim Mishal take us behind the closed curtain with riveting, eye-opening, boots-on-the-ground accounts of the most dangerous, most crucial missions in the agency's 60-year history.
-
-
maybe with a different reader.
- By Andrew on 04-30-16
By: Michael Bar-Zohar, and others
-
Israel
- A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth
- By: Noa Tishby
- Narrated by: Noa Tishby
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Israel. The small strip of arid land is 5,700 miles away but remains a hot-button issue and a thorny topic of debate. But while everyone seems to have a strong opinion about Israel, how many people actually know the facts? Here to fill in the information gap is Israeli American Noa Tishby.
-
-
my first review
- By Anonymous User on 05-19-21
By: Noa Tishby
-
Rise and Kill First
- The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations
- By: Ronen Bergman
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 25 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Talmud says: “If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.” This instinct to take every measure, even the most aggressive, to defend the Jewish people is hardwired into Israel’s DNA. From the very beginning of its statehood in 1948, protecting the nation from harm has been the responsibility of its intelligence community and armed services, and there is one weapon in their vast arsenal that they have relied upon to thwart the most serious threats: Targeted assassinations have been used countless times, on enemies large and small....
-
-
Eye Opening
- By Ari Safari on 02-09-18
By: Ronen Bergman
-
Rebbe
- The Life and Teachings of Menachem M. Schneerson, the Most Influential Rabbi in Modern History
- By: Joseph Telushkin
- Narrated by: Rich Topol
- Length: 18 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From his modest headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, the Rebbe advised some of the world's greatest leaders and shaped matters of state and society. Statesmen and artists as diverse as Ronald Reagan, Robert F. Kennedy, Yitzchak Rabin, Menachem Begin, Elie Wiesel, and Bob Dylan span the spectrum of those who sought his counsel.
-
-
Only good things
- By Ben on 06-01-17
By: Joseph Telushkin
-
Caesar
- Life of a Colossus
- By: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 24 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tracing the extraordinary trajectory of Julius Caesar's life, Adrian Goldsworthy covers not only the great Roman emperor's accomplishments as charismatic orator, conquering general, and powerful dictator but also lesser-known chapters. Ultimately, Goldsworthy realizes the full complexity of Caesar's character and shows why his political and military leadership continues to resonate some 2,000 years later.
-
-
Caesar and his times
- By Mike From Mesa on 08-31-15
-
Ally
- My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide
- By: Michael B. Oren
- Narrated by: Michael B. Oren
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Michael Oren served as the Israeli ambassador to the United States from 2009 to 2013. An American by birth and a historian by training, Oren arrived at his diplomatic post just as Benjamin Netanyahu, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton assumed office. During Oren's tenure in office, Israel and America grappled with the Palestinian peace process, the Arab Spring, and existential threats to Israel posed by international terrorism and the Iranian nuclear program.
-
-
Worth Listening To Whether You Agree or Disagree
- By David Enzel on 07-05-15
By: Michael B. Oren
-
Morality
- Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times
- By: Jonathan Sacks
- Narrated by: Jonathan Sacks
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With liberal democracy embattled, public discourse grown toxic, family life breaking down, and drug abuse and depression on the rise, many fear what the future holds. In Morality, respected faith leader and public intellectual Jonathan Sacks traces today's crisis to our loss of a strong, shared moral code and our elevation of self-interest over the common good.
-
-
Not Mind Shattering
- By CJ on 12-04-20
By: Jonathan Sacks
-
Spies of No Country
- Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel
- By: Matti Friedman
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The four spies at the center of this story were part of a ragtag unit known as the Arab Section, conceived during World War II by British spies and Jewish militia leaders in Palestine. Intended to gather intelligence and carry out sabotage and assassinations, the unit consisted of Jews who were native to the Arab world and could thus easily assume Arab identities. In 1948, with Israel's existence in the balance during the War of Independence, our spies went undercover in Beirut, where they spent the next two years operating out of a kiosk....
-
-
Absolutely brilliant
- By David Mane on 06-23-19
By: Matti Friedman
-
Jerusalem
- The Biography
- By: Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 25 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jerusalem is the universal city, the capital of two peoples, the shrine of three faiths; it is the prize of empires, the site of Judgement Day and the battlefield of today’s clash of civilizations. From King David to Barack Obama, from the birth of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to the Israel-Palestine conflict, this is the epic history of three thousand years of faith, slaughter, fanaticism and coexistence. This is how Jerusalem became Jerusalem, and the only city that exists twice - in heaven and on earth.
-
-
A vivid drama!
- By Steven on 05-25-12
-
A History of the Jews
- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 28 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This historical magnum opus covers 4,000 years of the extraordinary history of the Jews as a people, a culture, and a nation. It shows the impact of Jewish character on the world: their genius, imagination, and, most of all, their ability to persevere despite severe persecutions. Compelling insights into events and individuals are chronologically detailed, from Moses and Jesus to Spinoza, Marx, Freud, the Rothschilds, and Golda Meir.
-
-
Excellent History
- By Rilezmom on 06-06-09
By: Paul Johnson
-
People Love Dead Jews
- Reports from a Haunted Present
- By: Dara Horn
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Renowned and beloved as a prizewinning novelist, Dara Horn has also been publishing penetrating essays since she was a teenager. Often asked by major publications to write on subjects related to Jewish culture - and increasingly in response to a recent wave of deadly anti-Semitic attacks - Horn was troubled to realize what all of these assignments had in common: She was being asked to write about dead Jews, never about living ones.
-
-
Powerful and smart
- By BK on 09-25-21
By: Dara Horn
-
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
- A History of Nazi Germany
- By: William L. Shirer
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 57 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since its publication in 1960, William L. Shirer’s monumental study of Hitler’s German empire has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of the 20th century’s blackest hours. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich offers an unparalleled and thrillingly told examination of how Adolf Hitler nearly succeeded in conquering the world. With millions of copies in print around the globe, it has attained the status of a vital and enduring classic.
-
-
Narrative possesses listener, it's that good
- By Gary on 10-08-12
Publisher's Summary
The Prime Ministers is the first and only insider account of Israeli politics from the founding of the Jewish State to the near-present day. It reveals stunning details of life-and-death decision-making, top-secret military operations and high level peace negotiations. The Prime Ministers brings listeners into the orbits of world figures, including Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Henry Kissinger, Yasser Arafat, Margaret Thatcher, Princess Diana and the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Written in a captivating literary style by a political adviser, speechwriter and diplomat, The Prime Ministers is an enthralling political memoir, and a precisely crafted prism through which to view current Middle East affairs. The Prime Ministers presents first-hand accounts of major historical events, including:
- Menachem Begin's decision to bomb Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor
- Yitzhak Rabin's handling of the Entebbe rescue mission
- The Egypt-Israel peace process
- The shelling of the Irgun arms ship, the Altalena Deir Yessin
It offers keen observations of key personalities, and unforgettable descriptions of political rivalries, diplomatic blunders, White House and Buckingham Palace banquets and more, to bring Israel's history to life in a way no book has done before.
More from the same
Narrator
What listeners say about The Prime Ministers
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Eli
- 10-06-13
Great and fascinating book, wrong narrator.
I started reading the dead tree version of the book and was completely hooked. I thought I knew the history well, but the author provides some fascinating insights and background color to some of the most monumental and historical events in the modern State of israel.
I don't know who decided to choose the narrator (who is actually a fine narrator - heard his other books) but he just can't do the hebrew and yiddish phrases peppered throughout the book. (After all this is a book about Israeli prime ministers, who were all natives of Eastern Europe -except one, Rabin). Even as a trilingual speaker, I had a hard time understanding his rendition or pronunciation of common hebrew and yiddish phrases, let alone the rich inflection necessary to convey the necessary nuance.
So overall, this is a fascinating and well written book that I would highly recommend. If the mispronunciation of the hebrew or yiddish will bother you, then think about the print version)
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wendy Sachs
- 10-28-15
Annoying that....
Narrator does not know how to pronounce many common Hebrew and Yiddish words. Very annoying.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Netanya
- 04-23-17
Gripping
Only criticism is that the pronunciations of the Hebrew were often butchered. That could have and should have be caught and fixed.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- clight1
- 07-10-15
Superb
Wonderful "fly on the wall" selections from Israel's modern history. Even if you are well versed in the history, the inside accounts are priceless. Irritating pronunciation of Hebrew words, but otherwise the reader was very engaging
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ed
- 08-28-14
Reader should learn the dialect and pronunciation
Would you consider the audio edition of The Prime Ministers to be better than the print version?
have not read the print version, so do not know.
What did you like best about this story?
content and history
Would you be willing to try another one of Derek Perkins’s performances?
NO!!!
If you could give The Prime Ministers a new subtitle, what would it be?
?
Any additional comments?
The reader mispronounces hebrew and yiddish words, even people's names. Reader should check on correct pronunciation of unfamiliar word before embarking on this task. Might not be noticeable to some one unfamiliar with hebrew and yiddish, but makes it very difficult (almost, but not quite funny!) to listen to, for some who know the difference. AUDIBLE should get a new reader (Theodore Bikel?) and re-issue this book. Uncomfortable to listen to.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David Enzel
- 07-10-13
Hard to Stop Listening - Gripping History
Would you listen to The Prime Ministers again? Why?
Absolutely. Ambassador Avner explains what it was like to be an insider in the Israeli government for over 20 years. He was very close to Menachim Begin who never wrote his memoirs. This may be as close as we can get to that.
What does Derek Perkins bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Excellent pronunciation and tone. He is British but when he recounts something uttered by an American his accent is quite convincing.
Any additional comments?
One of the best audiobooks I have had the pleasure to hear.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- grammy sue
- 06-16-15
A must listen
The history was brought to life in this book. Thank you to the author for a great education
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 03-24-15
Exceptional
You'll love it! Moving story of a diplomat's travails with the leaders of Israel and the world. It is highly recommended.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Just a regular Joe
- 03-18-15
Great informative book....reader...not as great
Would you consider the audio edition of The Prime Ministers to be better than the print version?
n/a
Any additional comments?
Book is very very informative-great book for those interested in an eye/ear witness account of happenings. The only issue is the reader and his mispronunciation of most Hebrew and Yiddish words. His non-command of "Jewish lingo" left me saddened and almost laughing in some places.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Menachem Minkowitz
- 02-19-15
Breathtaking
An absolutely fascinating narrative from the first to the last page. Free of embellishments which so often tarnish historical chronicles. A behind-the-scenes look at moments that defined contemporary history for thr whole of humanity and for the Jewish people in particular.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Ian Waxman
- 11-30-20
An enduring insight into the demands of being an Israeli prime minister
No other modern day country has had to face the existential threats that Israel has, and sadly still faces. The author shares unrivalled access to the thoughts and actions of successive prime ministers over crucial decades. In particular Menachim Begin, that most misunderstood Israeli leader. The book highlights key events of the Middle East and relationships with world leaders, especially US Presidents. Despite a few mispronounced Hebrew terms the delivery is excellent and I thoroughly recommend this volume to anyone interested in Middle East politics, the human cost of leadership and the rebirth of the modern Jewish nation.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- samuel
- 09-25-19
Very captivating and informative.
I thought that this was a great listen. I learnt a lot about Israeli history and the personalities of it's prime ministers through their ups and downs of public and private life.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Dr J
- 10-16-18
outstanding
Outstanding account of Israeli leadership through difficult challenging times. Begin referred to Avner as his Shakespeare. How apt.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jeremy Herz
- 01-22-18
Fascinating book but poor narration
Excellent book but narrator obviously does not speak Hebrew or Yiddish, as he mispronounced the transliterated material on many occasions, which detracted from the performance.