Sebestyen’s history fills in many blanks for the listener on what really happened in each Eastern European Soviet bloc nation as it seized the sudden opportunity to free itself from Stalinist communism. The events were utterly unexpected by nearly everybody concerned, including the U.S. and the Soviets themselves. Both massive debt and the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev played critical parts. Paul Hecht narrates with dispassionate interest, pronouncing difficult words and parsing each sentence logically. Hecht stresses the key information without drama or high emotion. The focus is on Romania, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany; there's not much about the other satellites or Russia itself. This is a learning experience par excellence.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2009
Duration: 18 hrs, 45 mins
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Buckley offers a reasonable proposal for a national service program without jail or criminal penalties. Narrator Lawrence reads with a slow and careful announcer's voice; one wishes Buckley were reading this one himself. Books on Tape does its usual quality job with formatting, packaging and tape-turning instructions. The reader repeats the last sentence at such times, so you're sure you haven't missed anything. Popular nonfiction collections will appreciate Gratitude, and the topic is likely to prove timely in the years ahead.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 5 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Kozol’s shocking exposé of inequities in the funding of our public schools contrasts white suburban schools with those serving black and Hispanic populations. Interviews with students, teachers, and school administrators add eloquent testimony to Kozol’s disturbing presentation of facts. Narration by Jack Winston is clear and brisk, but the pace is unrelenting, with little pause for transition between scenes or chapters. Winston’s cool, detached voice contrasts with Kozol’s impasssioned and outraged message. The sheer repetition and magnitude of Kozol’s damning evidence is numbing; the narration gives no relief. Powerful medicine, most easily taken in small doses. Music signalling tape changes is jarringly inappropriate.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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