DWD's Reviews

A Review of the Audiobook Published in 2015 by Simon and Schuster Audio Read by Arthur Morey Duration: 21 Hours, 10 minutes Unabridged Josef Stalin (1878-1953), FDR (1882-1945) and Winston Churchill (1874-1965) at the Tehran Conference in 1943. The premise of 1944: FDR and the Year That Changed History is that 1944 is the most important year of World War II - the year that the Allies grew certain that they were going to win the war, the year that post-War plans were laid out, the year of the D-Day invasion and more. This effort by Jay Winik is very readable and was an informative and entertaining listen. There are times when he creates fabulous images in the listener's mind that are worthy of any novelist. His description of the extent of anti-Jewish operations throughout Europe and particularly in Auschwitz and other death camps are so vivid and so striking that I can readily recommend this book as a good place to start for anyone who wants a serious look. The ...

Published in 2011 by HighBridge Audio Multicast performance Duration: 2 hours, 59 minutes Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) NPR has searched through its archives and found 29 stories that make for a very interesting listen if you are a student of the Civil War. There are interviews with historians, including James McPherson and Shelby Foote and authors like Tony Horwitz, Jay Winik and E.L. Doctorow. Sam Waterston reads the Gettysburg Address (so good!) and Hal Holbrook talks about a project of his about the impact of the Civil War on Iowa. There are also interviews with regular people, like the African American family that comes to see the original Emancipation Proclamation and turns it into a profound and moving educational event. None of it is very deep, but all of it is deeply interesting. This is a must-listen for all amateur historians of the Civil War. I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. This audiobook can be found here: NPR American Chronicles: The Civil War .

Disappointing Published by HarperAudio in 2007 Read by Sam Tsoutsouvas Duration: 12 hours, 56 minutes Jay Winik's April 1865 is one of my favorite Civil War histories - it holds a very safe place on a shelf that has to be purged on a regular basis to make room for new books because it is a brilliant history.  Before I go on with this review I must note that I listened to the abridged audiobook version of this book (so far as I can determine, there is no unabridged version). Despite the abridgment, this book still clocks in at nearly 13 hours. Some of my criticisms are undoubtedly due to the abridgment. Winik's thesis in this book is that the time period from 1788 to 1800 was a time of revolutionary ardor and that most of the great European powers were affected. Victor Hugo wrote:  “One can resist the invasion of armies;  one cannot resist the invasion of ideas.” Winik looks at how the ideas of America's Founding Fathers and the French philosophes affected...

This is how history should be written! Winik asserts that the month of April 1865 was the single most important month in the history of the United States due to the confluence of historical events and decisions that came with the end of the Civil War. The decisions include Lincoln's plan for a "soft" peace rather than a vengelful one. Lee's decision not to opt for guerrilla warfare but rather surrender and urge his men to become good citizens for their country (meaning the USA), Johnston's similar decision in North Carolina, the assassination of Lincoln, the uncertain rules of Presidential succession, the North's collective decision not to lash out blindly at a prostrate South in revenge for Lincoln's murder and a host of other issues. My take: Winik is one of that new breed of historian that knows that good writing as at least as important as good research ( You can't teach anything if you write poorly ). Winik's synopsis of the issues of...