Stephen
- 3
- reviews
- 2
- helpful votes
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Hell and Good Company
- The Spanish Civil War and the World It Made
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Christian Coulson
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 97
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 85
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Story4 out of 5 stars 88
The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) inspired and haunted an extraordinary number of exceptional artists and writers, including Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Martha Gellhorn, Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, and John Dos Passos. The idealism of the cause--defending democracy from fascism at a time when Europe was darkening toward another world war--and the brutality of the conflict drew from them some of their best work.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Awkward approach to a civil war
- By sabas on 01-17-17
- Hell and Good Company
- The Spanish Civil War and the World It Made
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Christian Coulson
Interesting but not compelling
Reviewed: 03-21-15
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
No. It was a so what book for me.
What was most disappointing about Richard Rhodes’s story?
I didn't feel that I learned anything.
What didn’t you like about Christian Coulson’s performance?
Maybe the book was underwhelming because listening to an Englishman pronounce Spanish words is like a fingernail across a blackboard. The producer could have at least found a reader fluent in Spanish for the audio.
Do you think Hell and Good Company needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
No comment
Any additional comments?
None
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Leningrad: Siege and Symphony
- The Story of the Great City Terrorized by Stalin, Starved by Hitler, Immortalized by Shostakovich
- By: Brian Moynahan
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 20 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 39
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 34
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Story4 out of 5 stars 33
Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony was first played in the city of its birth on August 9, 1942. There has never been a first performance to match it. Pray God, there never will be again. Almost a year earlier, the Germans had begun their blockade of the city. Almost a year earlier, the Germans had begun their blockade of the city. Already many thousands had died of their wounds, the cold, and most of all, starvation.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Important take on history and music
- By J. Kahn on 10-14-14
- Leningrad: Siege and Symphony
- The Story of the Great City Terrorized by Stalin, Starved by Hitler, Immortalized by Shostakovich
- By: Brian Moynahan
- Narrated by: George Backman
Labored recording.
Reviewed: 12-13-14
Would you try another book from Brian Moynahan and/or George Backman?
Not by Backman
What was most disappointing about Brian Moynahan’s story?
The story was too long and had an appeal to a narrow segment of ward historians.
How could the performance have been better?
The delivery of Russian and German words was labored. Destroyed the book for me.
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Disappointment
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All Hands Down
- The True Story of the Soviet Attack on the USS Scorpion
- By: Kenneth Sewell, Jerome Preisler
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 641
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 551
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 550
Forty years ago, in May 1968, the submarine USS Scorpion sank in mysterious circumstances with a loss of 99 lives. The tragedy occurred during the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.
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1 out of 5 stars
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All Hands Down
- By Stephen on 12-19-08
- All Hands Down
- The True Story of the Soviet Attack on the USS Scorpion
- By: Kenneth Sewell, Jerome Preisler
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
All Hands Down
Reviewed: 12-19-08
The book was written in an entertaining way, my compliments to the authors. The research was weak and explanations conflicting.
I get the feeling the project was a rush job by the publishers/editors to get it on the street. The authors give conflicting accounts of the final movements of the Scorpion (you cannot have an explosion and implosion simultaneously). There were multiple minor errors, (describing a Bekins moving van as orange in color instead of white: Allied moving vans are orange). If you are not interested in sound research and just want to wallow in a supermarket tabloid style story then the book is for you.
I recommend looking up USS Scorpion and K-129, separately, on the internet and you will see the same references the authors use with more plausible explanations as to what happened to the two boats.
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18 people found this helpful