Audiobooks by Paul Johnson

Edición especial de La historia de los judíos de Paul Johnson. Una historia de cuatro mil años -de Abraham a la consolidación del Estado de Israel- en la que se ha forjado una cultura que ha ejercido una influencia innegable en la formación del mundo moderno. «Ningún pueblo ha insistido más firmemente en que la humanidad tiene un destino y la historia un propósito.» Desde el descubrimiento del monoteísmo por los israelitas hasta sus aportaciones en la creación y el desarrollo del capitalismo, el socialismo y el psicoanálisis, el genio judío se percibe en todas las manifestaciones artísticas, científicas y del pensamiento. El historiador Paul Johnson señala algunas de las contradicciones inherentes al hecho de ser judío -como, por ejemplo, la racionalidad frente al misticismo- y observa un peculiar nacionalismo, expresado ya en el Libro de los Macabeos, que desembocó en el sionismo.

Paul Johnson (Author), álvaro Blázquez (Narrator)

Audiobook

Eisenhower: A Life

Acclaimed historian Paul Johnson’s lively, succinct biography of Dwight D. Eisenhower explores how his legacy endures today In the rousing style he’s famous for, celebrated historian Paul Johnson offers a fascinating biography of Dwight D. Eisenhower, focusing particularly on his years as a five-star general and his two terms as president of the United States. Johnson chronicles Ike’s modest childhood in Kansas, his college years at West Point, and his rapid ascent through the military ranks, culminating in his appointment as supreme commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II. Johnson then paints a rich portrait of Ike’s presidency, exploring his volatile relationship with Vice President Nixon, his abhorrence of isolationism, and his position on the cold war, McCarthyism, and the civil rights movement. Many elements of Eisenhower’s presidency speak to American politics today, including his ability to balance the budget, his skill in managing an oppositional Congress, and his warnings about the military-industrial complex. This brief yet comprehensive portrait will appeal to biography lovers as well as to enthusiasts of presidential history and military history alike.

Paul Johnson (Author), Jonathan Davis (Narrator)

Audiobook

Stalin

Paul Johnson, the most celebrated popular historian of our time, takes a scalpel to Stalin, whom he considers "one of the outstanding monsters of history." Johnson sets forth the essence of Stalin’s life, character, and career. "It has been a hateful task, which has caused me much pain and disgust," he writes with characteristic candor. "But it has been a duty I have performed not without a certain grim satisfaction." Stalin poses a particular challenge to a biographer: How does one render such a monster human? While Johnson doesn't flinch from chronicling Stalin's rise to absolute power—the remorseless vendetta against Leon Trotsky, the development of the Gulag, the extermination of millions of peasants—he also shows Stalin playing billiards, listening to his adored Mozart, and annotating Marx’s Capital in the margins. It is, in concise form, the story of Russia in the twentieth century: dark and murderous, a stage on which to display humanity's infinite capacity for self-destruction.

Paul Johnson (Author), Grover Gardner (Narrator)

Audiobook

Mozart: A Life

Liszt once said that Mozart composed more bars than a trained copyist could write in a lifetime. Mozart’s gift and skill with instruments was also remarkable as he mastered all of them except the harp. For example, no sooner had the clarinet been invented and introduced than Mozart began playing and composing for it. In addition to his many insights into Mozart’s music, Johnson also challenges the many myths that have followed Mozart, including those about the composer’s health, wealth, religion, and relationships. Always engaging, Johnson offers readers and music lovers a superb examination of Mozart and his glorious music, which is still performed every day in concert halls and opera houses around the world.

Paul Johnson (Author), Robert Ian Mackenzie (Narrator)

Audiobook

Darwin: Portrait of a Genius

Charles Darwin is arguably the most influential scientist of all time. His Origin of Species forever changed our concept of the world's creation. Darwin's revolutionary career is the perfect vehicle for historian Paul Johnson. Marked by the insightful observation, spectacular wit, and highly readable prose for which Johnson is so well regarded, Darwin brings the gentleman-scientist and his times brilliantly into focus. From Darwin's birth into great fortune to his voyage aboard the Beagle, to the long-delayed publication of his masterpiece, Johnson delves into what made this Victorian gentleman into a visionary scientist-and into the tragic flaws that later led Darwin to support the burgeoning eugenics movement.

Paul Johnson (Author), John Curless (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Birth of the Modern: World Society 1815-1830

This is an extraordinary chronicle of the fifteen years, 1815-1830, that laid the foundations of modern society. It is a history of people, ideas, politics, manners, morals, economics, art, science and technology, diplomacy, business and commerce, literature, and revolution. From Wellington at Waterloo and Jackson at New Orleans to the surge of democratic power and reform, this tumultuous period saw the United States transform itself from an ex-colony into a formidable nation, Britain become the first industrial world power, Russia develop the fatal flaws that would engulf her in the twentieth century, and China and Japan set the stage for future development and catastrophe. Provocative, challenging, and listenable, this remarkable story is told through the lives and actions of its outstanding, curious, and ordinary people. "A colossal effort of energy and imagination."-Hugh Thomas, author of Rivers of Gold

Paul Johnson (Author), Wanda McCaddon (Narrator)

Audiobook

George Washington: The Founding Father

Paul Johnson's History of the American People has been this always stimulating author's most widely read book to date. Now Johnson gives us his concise portrait of the great founding American, George Washington, in a brilliant, sharply etched portrait that is full of surprising insights. Washington is seen as one of the most important authors of the Constitution, in addition to his pivotal leadership of the Revolutionary War and a magisterial executive in the formative years of the new United States. Washington was an 18th century man, a voice of moderation who radiated an authority for which all who met him had profound respect. He was a moderate man of few words, but when he spoke, he was worth hearing.

Paul Johnson (Author), David Drummond (Narrator)

Audiobook

Socrates: A Man for Our Times

Acclaimed historian and best-selling author Paul Johnson's books have been translated into dozens of languages. In Socrates: A Man for Our Times, Johnson draws from little-known resources to construct a fascinating account of one of history's greatest thinkers. Socrates transcended class limitations in Athens during the fifth century B.C. to develop ideas that still shape the way we think about the human body and soul, including the workings of the human mind.

Paul Johnson (Author), John Curless (Narrator)

Audiobook

Ireland: A Concise History from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day

Ireland is inarguably a beautiful, enchanted place. But its history is more turbulent, fascinating, and terrible than any other. From the first English presence in Ireland in the twelfth century, through siege, rebellion, and civil war, to Irish ascendancy, home rule, and the present-day troubles, bestselling author Paul Johnson tells, with remarkable clarity and concision, the compelling story of this most remarkable island. "A lively, intelligent, sometimes provocative but always stimulating account of Ireland from the twelfth century to our own...."-Sunday Telegraph

Paul Johnson (Author), Wanda McCaddon (Narrator)

Audiobook

Ireland: A Concise History from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day

Ireland is inarguably a beautiful, enchanted place. But its history is more turbulent, fascinating, and terrible than any other. From the first English presence in Ireland in the twelfth century, through siege, rebellion, and civil war, to Irish ascendancy, home rule, and the present-day Troubles, bestselling author Paul Johnson tells, with remarkable clarity and concision, the compelling story of this most remarkable island.

Paul Johnson (Author), Wanda Mccaddon (Narrator)

Audiobook

A History of the English People

This is a provocative and panoramic survey of two thousand years of English history. Johnson tells the story of how a small nation, living in a geographical backwater, developed unique economic and political institutions, expanded its territory, and saddled upon it the frame of a modern industrial society. "Beautifully constructed...An idiosyncratic viewpoint has enabled Mr. Johnson to extract a great deal of new information to add to the conventional account of English, or British, history."-Times Literary Supplement

Paul Johnson (Author), Nadia May (Narrator)

Audiobook

Humorists: From Hogarth to No'l Coward

In Intellectuals, Paul Johnson offered a fascinating portrait of the minds that have shaped the modern world. In Creators, he examined a host of outstanding and prolific creative spirits. And in Heroes, he brought together a galaxy of legendary figures from the annals of Western history. Now, Johnson turns his impressive intellect and piercing insight to the greatest wits in the history of the Western world. His is a selective survey across history, and includes a diverse cast of legendary humorists who got a grand kick out of life, including Benjamin Franklin and the Marx Brothers, Charles Dickens and Damon Runyon, W. C. Fields and Samuel Johnson, William Hogarth and James Thurber. Including dark humor, broad satire, bawdy wit, biting sarcasm, and more, this entertaining and erudite collection brings to life great minds who reflected on life's follies, pretensions, and foibles with that greatest of gifts: humor.

Paul Johnson (Author), Clive Chafer (Narrator)

Audiobook