The suffering and death of American prisoners held by the Japanese during WWII fill what may be the most depressing audiobook yet published. George Weller, the first American reporter to enter Nagasaki after the atomic bomb exploded there, wrote reports of the terrible aftermath, including personal histories of captive American servicemen. Stefan Rudniki's deep, resonant voice aptly imitates the British accents and the accented English spoken by the Japanese. He sets apart the words of many soldiers expressed in brief paragraphs by making the narration sound more stilted than his own. Multiple narrators, however, would have better differentiated among the author's words, GIs' memories, the forward by Walter Cronkite, and long additions by the editor—the author's son.
Pub Date: 2007
Duration: 11 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Kristin Atherton is the absolute right choice to narrate this riveting and complex history of the rise of global terrorism. The research provided here is ambitious, providing a clear-eyed, deeply considered history of the nature of terrorist acts, the motivations for which were hard for news broadcasts of the 1970s to fully capture. Atherton's narration never wavers as Burke covers the well-known events of airplane hijackings, the Munich Olympic attacks, and the Beirut bombings of 1983, "the bloodiest year." The result is an insightful history that gives context to events that may have seemed disparate to casual observers. Atherton maintains a comprehensive, consistent voice throughout this long, gripping audiobook.
Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
Duration: 25 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217018796
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Tim Campbell's sonorous voice is a splendid match for Wellerstein's account of the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan in 1945. Wellerstein, a scholar of the history of nuclear weapons and the creator of the website NUKEMAP, delves deep into American nuclear policy. His conclusion is that President Harry S. Truman was almost entirely out of the decision loop. After the bombings, Truman made sure that American nuclear policy was firmly under the control of the president. While somewhat staccato, Campbell's delivery is never hurried or hard to follow. His voice has a slight gravelly quality, but is quite winsome and appropriately expressive throughout. Campbell's narration quickly draws the listener into this history.
Pub Date: Dec. 9, 2025
Duration: 11 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063379459
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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