-
The Pursuit of Power
- Europe: 1815-1914
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Series: Penguin History of Europe Series, Book 7
- Length: 41 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: History, Europe
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...
-
To Hell and Back
- Europe 1914-1949
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 26 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The European catastrophe, the long continuous period from 1914 to1949, was unprecedented in human history - an extraordinarily dramatic, often traumatic, and endlessly fascinating period of upheaval and transformation.
-
-
Very good, well-educated reader/narrator.
- By M. MCCASKEY on 01-19-16
By: Ian Kershaw
-
The Age of Revolution
- 1789-1848
- By: Eric Hobsbawm
- Narrated by: Hugh Kermode
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This magisterial volume follows the death of ancient traditions, the triumph of new classes, and the emergence of new technologies, sciences, and ideologies, with vast intellectual daring and aphoristic elegance. Part of Eric Hobsbawm's epic four-volume history of the modern world, along with The Age of Capitalism, The Age of Empire, and The Age of Extremes.
-
-
Brilliant Materialist Interpretation
- By Earth Lover on 05-16-20
By: Eric Hobsbawm
-
The Coming of the Third Reich
- By: Richard J. Evans
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 21 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is no story in 20th-century history more important to understand than Hitler’s rise to power and the collapse of civilization in Nazi Germany. With The Coming of the Third Reich, Richard Evans, one of the world’s most distinguished historians, has written the definitive account for our time.
-
-
Compelling and depressing
- By Tad Davis on 06-30-10
By: Richard J. Evans
-
The Whisperers
- Private Life in Stalin's Russia
- By: Orlando Figes
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 29 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on a huge range of sources - letters, memoirs, conversations - Orlando Figes tells the story of how Russians tried to endure life under Stalin. Those who shaped the political system became, very frequently, its victims. Those who were its victims were frequently quite blameless. The Whisperers recreates the sort of maze in which Russians found themselves, where an unwitting wrong turn could either destroy a family or, perversely, later save it: a society in which everyone spoke in whispers - whether to protect themselves, their families, neighbours or friends - or to inform on them.
-
-
A Real Life Dystopian Nightmare
- By The History Club on 08-31-18
By: Orlando Figes
-
A New World Begins
- The History of the French Revolution
- By: Jeremy D. Popkin
- Narrated by: Pete Cross, Jeremy D. Popkin
- Length: 21 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The principles of the French Revolution remain the only possible basis for a just society - even if, after more than 200 years, they are more contested than ever before. In A New World Begins, Jeremy D. Popkin offers a riveting account of the revolution that puts the listener in the thick of the debates and the violence that led to the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a new society.
-
-
A great and engaging story
- By Tom Masters on 05-27-21
By: Jeremy D. Popkin
-
The Third Reich in Power
- By: Richard J. Evans
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 31 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive account of Germany's malign transformation under Hitler's total rule and the implacable march to war. This magnificent second volume of Richard J. Evans's three-volume history of Nazi Germany was hailed by Benjamin Schwartz of The Atlantic Monthly as "the definitive English-language account... gripping and precise." It chronicles the incredible story of Germany's radical reshaping under Nazi rule.
-
-
Good but annoying
- By Joanne on 12-22-10
By: Richard J. Evans
-
To Hell and Back
- Europe 1914-1949
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 26 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The European catastrophe, the long continuous period from 1914 to1949, was unprecedented in human history - an extraordinarily dramatic, often traumatic, and endlessly fascinating period of upheaval and transformation.
-
-
Very good, well-educated reader/narrator.
- By M. MCCASKEY on 01-19-16
By: Ian Kershaw
-
The Age of Revolution
- 1789-1848
- By: Eric Hobsbawm
- Narrated by: Hugh Kermode
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This magisterial volume follows the death of ancient traditions, the triumph of new classes, and the emergence of new technologies, sciences, and ideologies, with vast intellectual daring and aphoristic elegance. Part of Eric Hobsbawm's epic four-volume history of the modern world, along with The Age of Capitalism, The Age of Empire, and The Age of Extremes.
-
-
Brilliant Materialist Interpretation
- By Earth Lover on 05-16-20
By: Eric Hobsbawm
-
The Coming of the Third Reich
- By: Richard J. Evans
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 21 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is no story in 20th-century history more important to understand than Hitler’s rise to power and the collapse of civilization in Nazi Germany. With The Coming of the Third Reich, Richard Evans, one of the world’s most distinguished historians, has written the definitive account for our time.
-
-
Compelling and depressing
- By Tad Davis on 06-30-10
By: Richard J. Evans
-
The Whisperers
- Private Life in Stalin's Russia
- By: Orlando Figes
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 29 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on a huge range of sources - letters, memoirs, conversations - Orlando Figes tells the story of how Russians tried to endure life under Stalin. Those who shaped the political system became, very frequently, its victims. Those who were its victims were frequently quite blameless. The Whisperers recreates the sort of maze in which Russians found themselves, where an unwitting wrong turn could either destroy a family or, perversely, later save it: a society in which everyone spoke in whispers - whether to protect themselves, their families, neighbours or friends - or to inform on them.
-
-
A Real Life Dystopian Nightmare
- By The History Club on 08-31-18
By: Orlando Figes
-
A New World Begins
- The History of the French Revolution
- By: Jeremy D. Popkin
- Narrated by: Pete Cross, Jeremy D. Popkin
- Length: 21 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The principles of the French Revolution remain the only possible basis for a just society - even if, after more than 200 years, they are more contested than ever before. In A New World Begins, Jeremy D. Popkin offers a riveting account of the revolution that puts the listener in the thick of the debates and the violence that led to the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a new society.
-
-
A great and engaging story
- By Tom Masters on 05-27-21
By: Jeremy D. Popkin
-
The Third Reich in Power
- By: Richard J. Evans
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 31 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive account of Germany's malign transformation under Hitler's total rule and the implacable march to war. This magnificent second volume of Richard J. Evans's three-volume history of Nazi Germany was hailed by Benjamin Schwartz of The Atlantic Monthly as "the definitive English-language account... gripping and precise." It chronicles the incredible story of Germany's radical reshaping under Nazi rule.
-
-
Good but annoying
- By Joanne on 12-22-10
By: Richard J. Evans
-
The Third Reich at War
- By: Richard J. Evans
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 35 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Evans interweaves a broad narrative of the war’s progress with viscerally affecting personal testimony from a wide range of people - from generals to front-line soldiers, from Hitler Youth activists to middle-class housewives. The Third Reich at War lays bare the dynamics of a nation more deeply immersed in war than any society before or since. Fresh insights into the conflict’s great events are here, from the invasion of Poland to the Battle of Stalingrad to Hitler’s suicide in the bunker.
-
-
Masterful
- By Karen on 09-03-10
By: Richard J. Evans
-
The Proud Tower
- A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890-1914
- By: Barbara W. Tuchman
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 22 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fateful quarter-century leading up to World War I was a time when the world of privilege still existed in Olympian luxury and the world of protest was heaving in its pain, its power, and its hate. The age was the climax of a century of the most accelerated rate of change in history, a cataclysmic shaping of destiny.
-
-
Fascinating history
- By Doug on 02-18-07
-
The Napoleonic Wars
- By: Alexander Mikaberidze
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 35 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Napoleonic Wars saw fighting on an unprecedented scale in Europe and the Americas. It took the wealth of the British Empire, combined with the might of the continental armies, almost two decades to bring down one of the world's greatest military leaders and the empire that he had created. Napoleon's ultimate defeat was to determine the history of Europe for almost 100 years. From the frozen wastelands of Russia, through the brutal fighting in the Peninsula to the blood-soaked battlefield of Waterloo, this book tells the story of the dramatic rise and fall of the Napoleonic Empire.
-
-
No description of battles
- By John Gaston on 01-15-21
-
Our Oriental Heritage
- The Story of Civilization, Volume 1
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.
-
-
Wonderful
- By Michael on 11-30-13
By: Will Durant
-
A People’s History of the World
- From the Stone Age to the New Millennium
- By: Chris Harman
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Length: 29 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chris Harman describes the shape and course of human history as a narrative of ordinary people forming and re-forming complex societies in pursuit of common human goals. Interacting with the forces of technological change as well as the impact of powerful individuals and revolutionary ideas, these societies have engendered events familiar to every schoolchild-from the empires of antiquity to the world wars of the 20th century. In a bravura conclusion, Chris Harman exposes the reductive complacency of contemporary capitalism.
-
-
Changed my view of history and explains so much!
- By Nothing really matters on 09-14-19
By: Chris Harman
-
A People’s Tragedy
- By: Orlando Figes
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 47 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Opening with a panorama of Russian society, from the cloistered world of the Tsar to the brutal life of the peasants, A People’s Tragedy follows workers, soldiers, intellectuals and villagers as their world is consumed by revolution and then degenerates into violence and dictatorship. Drawing on vast original research, Figes conveys above all the shocking experience of the revolution for those who lived it, while providing the clearest and most cogent account of how and why it unfolded.
-
-
Excellent detailed history
- By privacy on 01-07-19
By: Orlando Figes
-
Grand Expectations
- The United States 1945-1974
- By: James T. Patterson
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 31 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Grand Expectations, the 10th volume of the peerless Oxford History of the United States, weaves the major political, cultural, and economic events of the period into a superb portrait of America from 1945 through Watergate.
-
-
A Fairly Unbiased Look at US Political History
- By Kindle Customer on 03-04-13
-
The Third Reich in History and Memory
- By: Richard J. Evans
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 70 years since the demise of the Third Reich, there has been a significant transformation in the ways in which the modern world understands Nazism. In this brilliant and eye-opening collection, Richard J. Evans offers a critical commentary on that transformation, exploring how major changes in perspective have informed research and writing on the Third Reich in recent years. Drawing on his most notable writings, Evans reveals the shifting perspectives on Nazism's rise to political power, its economic intricacies, and its subterranean extension into postwar Germany.
By: Richard J. Evans
-
Crimea
- By: Orlando Figes
- Narrated by: Malk Williams
- Length: 20 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The terrible conflict that dominated the mid-19th century, the Crimean War, killed at least 800,000 men and pitted Russia against a formidable coalition of Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. It was a war for territory, provoked by fear that if the Ottoman Empire were to collapse then Russia could control a huge swathe of land from the Balkans to the Persian Gulf. But it was also a war of religion, driven by a fervent, populist and ever more ferocious belief by the Tsar and his ministers that it was Russia's task to rule all Orthodox Christians and control the Holy Land.
-
-
Outstanding History of the Crimean War
- By Rick Sailor on 11-08-18
By: Orlando Figes
-
Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945
- By: Tony Judt
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 43 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Almost a decade in the making, this much-anticipated grand history of postwar Europe from one of the world’s most esteemed historians and intellectuals is a singular achievement. Postwar is the first modern history that covers all of Europe, both east and west, drawing on research in six languages to sweep readers through 34 nations and 60 years of political and cultural change—all in one integrated, enthralling narrative.
-
-
Great book, but not terrific listening
- By History on 10-18-11
By: Tony Judt
-
The Habsburg Empire
- A New History
- By: Pieter M. Judson
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 18 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rejecting fragmented histories of nations in the making, this bold revision surveys the shared institutions that bridged difference and distance to bring stability and meaning to the far-flung empire. By supporting new schools, law courts, and railroads along with scientific and artistic advances, the Habsburg monarchs sought to anchor their authority in the cultures and economies of Central Europe. A rising standard of living throughout the empire deepened the legitimacy of Habsburg rule.
-
-
Ideal for students of empires, nationalism, minorities and ethnic groups
- By Uther on 02-11-17
By: Pieter M. Judson
-
A World Undone
- The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918
- By: G. J. Meyer
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 27 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The First World War is one of history’s greatest tragedies. In this remarkable and intimate account, author G. J. Meyer draws on exhaustive research to bring to life the story of how the Great War reduced Europe’s mightiest empires to rubble, killed 20 million people, and cracked the foundations of the world we live in today. World War I is unique in the number of questions about it that remain unsettled. After more than 90 years, scholars remain divided on these questions, and it seems likely that they always will.
-
-
Excellent Overview of the "Overshadowed" War
- By Andrew on 12-14-12
By: G. J. Meyer
Publisher's Summary
Richard J. Evans's gripping narrative ranges across a century of social and national conflicts, from the revolutions of 1830 and 1848 to the unification of both Germany and Italy, from the Russo-Turkish wars to the Balkan upheavals that brought this era of relative peace and growing prosperity to an end. Among the great themes it discusses are the decline of religious belief and the rise of secular science and medicine, the journey of art, music, and literature from Romanticism to Modernism, the replacement of old-regime punishments by the modern prison, and the dramatic struggle of feminists for women's equality and emancipation. Uniting the era's broad-ranging transformations was the pursuit of power in all segments of life, from the banker striving for economic power to the serf seeking to escape the power of his landlord, from the engineer asserting society's power over the environment to the psychiatrist attempting to exert science's power over human nature itself.
The first single-volume history of the century, this comprehensive and sweeping account gives the listener a magnificently human picture of Europe in the age when it dominated the rest of the globe.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Pursuit of Power
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Awake Tex
- 02-02-17
Terrific comprehensive history
Evans's history of 19th century Europe should be required reading for anyone interested in how we came to the situation facing us in the 21st. The beginning of the book,with its focus on geopolitics, is slow going but worth the effort. Evans seems to cover everything: A rich social history that spans the continent from the end of the Napoleonic wars to the onset of WW1. Highly recommended.
19 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Libby
- 01-23-18
Choppy and tedious
This book started out good, but I couldn't maintain interest as it kept going. It kept getting bogged down in details until I couldn't even remember the larger point he was trying to make. The choppy, non-chronological order in which things were presented, too, made it frustratingly difficult to synthesize all the ideas.
Maybe it would've been more easily digestible with a different narrator. Napoleon Ryan has a fantastic voice. But the repetitive cadence, the way he inflects EVERY SINGLE sentence exactly the same, wears you down. I'm sure not everyone's as sensitive to cadence as I am, so it might not bother you, but listen to the sample. If you find yourself wondering if he's going to keep up this exact repetitive inflection for the entire giant book, the answer is yes.
I've listened to quite a few history programs on Audible, mostly the Great Courses and Will Durant. This suffered in comparison to the engaging and straightforward styles of those. I'm nine hours in, but I'm going to cut my losses, and get the Great Courses course The Long 19th Century instead. This is the first history book I've actually returned.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Earth Lover
- 12-25-16
Great book - gimmicky narrator
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
40 hours of well-documented nineteenth century European history? Nuff said.
How could the performance have been better?
Narrator, who is otherwise fine, has a very distracting way of emphasizing the inline quotes by raising the urgency of his voice. It's an annoying gimmick that sounds like the quoted speakers are constantly interrupting his reading to yell at you from the past.Let us get the print edition to track the quotes. After all, the audio doesn't integrate the references, so it doesn't really matter whether something is narration or quote. In short - just read the book.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
40 straight hours of European history? Sounds like fun!
Any additional comments?
Someone tell Mr Ryan to dump the yelling trick and just read. He's a fine narrator in his own right. Lose the gimmicks.
23 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- CT Customer
- 03-18-17
Thoroughly engaging
A well organized and thoughtful overview. It gave me great insight into this period. I did not realize how ignorant I was about this time with violence and hardship beyond scale we can comprehend.
Great reader. His use of voices for historical characters brought life to the reading. The 45 hours went surprisingly fast.
I would strongly recommend for any history student and any American who wants to better understand where as well as why our ancestors left
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- alan
- 01-23-17
terrible reader, excellent book
What made the experience of listening to The Pursuit of Power the most enjoyable?
A great history of Europe after Napoleon, by a historian of Germany. Unfortunately the reader pauses after every fifth or sixth word for no discernable reason, making this a very rocky choppy ride. Evans' history is best when most detailed, in the period leading up to the revolutions of 1830 and then 1848, followed by more cursory potted treatments of social, artistic, scientific, literary, musical, i.e. "cultural" milestones, and then we're suddenly at the turn of the century, rush through the Balkan wars, and its time for world war I. Nice exposition of some modern historiography - imperial atrocities in the colonies got imported into Europe, women's suffrage, etc.
What didn’t you like about Napoleon Ryan’s performance?
Pauses after every fifth or sixth word; it's like listening to hiccups.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- howard bascom
- 01-28-17
Wonderful book. Excruciating narration
The book is very comprehensive,rich in detail,and very informative-history at its best-first rate.
The narration is awkward and painful to listen to. When he pronounces German names he truly sounds like he is trying to clear a gnat out of his throat.
His inflection is also horrible. For example when he says "Bismark" delivered with a way overdone guttural,gnat removing,affectation, he then paused as if to say to the listener,"isn't that delivery wonderful!". The second example of stilted inflection is much like the way Dr. Evil in Austin Powers would say the word "Laser". That is the word is so fascinating that it has the heaviest emphasis in the sentence.
Though I just finished it,I'd gladly start it over and listen to it again but I can't bear to hear his inept delivery again
15 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Norwegian Who Would
- 10-29-17
Amazing book, fairly terrible narration.
The narrator really got on my nerves. Whenever a female was speaking in the book, he used a high, breathy falsetto voice that was, frankly, insulting. That's not how women speak.
Also, it's a nonfiction book, they're historical figures, and I want to know what they said--I don't want to hear a dramatic interpretation.
When he had to pronounce foreign words, he increased the volume of his voice in an overly theatrical way. It's just a word.
Things like this really detracted from my enjoyment of this otherwise fantastic book.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kevin Regan
- 01-28-21
Audible version flawed
This is a great book. But the audible version doesn’t include the same table of contents as the book. Like many audible books it just lists the chapters by number and includes NO chapter or section titles. This is typical of audible books. And it’s starting to piss me off.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- BB
- 05-10-17
Best review of 19the century European history
I really enjoyed this audiobook and will listen to it or read it again. It was a tad politicized against conservative ideology, so the reader has to listen/watch for it and recognize the prejudice of the author. But I have a greater understanding of the situation leading up to WW1, which in turn leads to understanding of WW2, and even our current global situation. Must read.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cornelius L Cassady
- 02-19-17
Excellent
This was a thoroughly researched and in depth description of the turmoil in Europe which led to WW 1.
4 people found this helpful