Europe Audiobooks | Travel

On to Stalingrad: Operation Winter Thunderstorm and the attempt to relieve Sixth Army, December 1942

In late November 1942, Soviet forces surrounded Paulus' Sixth Army in a pocket outside the Russian city of Stalingrad. In response the Germans planned a relief operation, Operation Winter Storm, intended to break through the Soviet forces and open the pocket, releasing the encircled units. The 6th Panzer Division was the spearhead of the German relief force. The attack started on December 12th, 1942 and was aborted on December 23rd after heavy Soviet counterattacks. This failure sealed the fate of the German 6th Army in Stalingrad. This account of the operation was first published in German in 1961, written by the well-respected military historian and retired German officer, Schiebert Horst. It covers the entire operation from the situation in mid-November through the two German offensives, the Soviet counteroffensive and ongoing fighting until early January.

Horst Scheibert (Author), Derek Perkins (Narrator)

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One Christmas in Washington: Roosevelt and Churchill Forge the Grand Alliance

One Christmas in Washington is the fascinating, in-depth look at the Washington war conference of 1941, as two proud and accomplished statesmen struggled to overcome biases, suspicion, and hubris to create what turned out to be the war-winning alliance. The authors take a penetrating look at the high-level meetings and at the scenes behind the scenes. As with any momentous gathering of world leaders, there was high politics and low gossip, and both contributed to earth-shaking events of this momentous time. "James does a wonderful job of illuminating a historical event not previously well chronicled....Listeners who try this title will learn something and enjoy doing it."-AudioFile

David Bercuson, Holger Herwig (Author), Lloyd James (Narrator)

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One Hot Summer: Dickens, Darwin, Disraeli, and the Great Stink of 1858

While 1858 in London may have been noteworthy for its broiling summer months and the related stench of the sewage-filled Thames River, the year is otherwise little remembered. And yet, historian Rosemary Ashton reveals in this compelling microhistory, 1858 was marked by significant, if unrecognized, turning points. For ordinary people, and also for the rich, famous, and powerful, the months from May to August turned out to be a summer of consequence. Ashton mines Victorian letters and gossip, diaries, court records, newspapers, and other contemporary sources to uncover historically crucial moments in the lives of three protagonists-Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, and Benjamin Disraeli. She also introduces others who gained renown in the headlines of the day, among them George Eliot, Karl Marx, William Thackeray, and Edward Bulwer Lytton. Ashton reveals invisible threads of connection among Londoners at every social level in 1858, bringing the celebrated city and its citizens vibrantly to life.

Rosemary Ashton (Author), Corrie James (Narrator)

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One Perfect Day: Memoir of Veronika Csosz

One Perfect Day – Hungary 1956 is the profoundly moving story of Veronika Csosz, her experiences during the 1956 Hungarian Uprising and her traumatic escape. Veronika's story is also about young people with an unshakeable desire to be free of the fear, violence and oppression of Communist rule which, on a beautiful autumn day, led to the tragic events of 1956. Despite calls for help to the leaders of the free world, Hungary's fight for freedom was overshadowed by the international stand-off over the Suez Canal. Help never came, and the desperate fight for democracy was crushed by the Soviet Army just days after freedom seemed to be won.

Sandy Watson (Author), Ella Watson Russell (Narrator)

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One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic: A History of the Church in the Middle Ages

Renowned professor Thomas F. Madden turns his scholarly eye on the intrigue and politics swirling about the Medieval Church. Professor Madden explores the compelling events that shaped the culture and forever altered history, from the Monophysite Controversy to reform movements to the Inquisition, Black Death, and Great Schism. This is a history populated with larger-than-life characters and notorious personages such as Charlemagne, Pope Innocent III, and the Knights Templar. Richly detailed and infused with dramatic intensity, Professor Madden's captivating lectures provide a better understanding not only of the Medieval Church, but of the modern world that followed.

Professor Thomas F. Madden, Thomas F. Madden (Author), Professor Thomas F. Madden, Thomas F. Madden (Narrator)

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Opération Anthropoid objectif, assassiner un haut dignitaire nazi: Les plus grandes affaires d'espio

L'opération Anthropoid est l'opération montée en vue d'assassiner le dignitaire nazi Reinhard Heydrich. L'attentat se déroule à Prague le 27 mai 1942 et Heydrich meurt huit jours après des suites de ses blessures. Planifiée par le Special Operations Executive, le service secret britannique qui soutenait les Résistances européennes lors de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, cette opération est exécutée par deux soldats tchécoslovaques, entraînés en Grande-Bretagne et parachutés sur le territoire du protectorat de Bohême-Moravie. Reinhard Heydrich est à la fois le chef de l'Office central de la sécurité du Reich, le ' vice-gouverneur de Bohême-Moravie ' et le commandant des unités mobiles de tuerie de masse en Europe de l'Est. Il a également reçu pour mission d'organiser la solution finale de la question juive, programme d'extermination des Juifs d'Europe. À la suite de l'assassinat, le Reich mène des représailles violentes contre les populations civiles de la région, détruisant notamment le village de Lidice en massacrant les hommes et déportant les femmes et les enfants, ce qui provoque une forte émotion chez les Alliés. Voici l'histoire de cette opération d'assassinat d'un très haut dignitaire nazi et de la vengeance des nazis sur les populations civiles...

Frédéric Garnier (Author), Patrick Blandin (Narrator)

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Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East

Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began the largest and most costly campaign in military history. Its failure was a key turning point of the Second World War. The operation was planned as a Blitzkrieg to win Germany its Lebensraum in the east, and the summer of 1941 is well-known for the German army's unprecedented victories and advances. Yet the German Blitzkrieg depended almost entirely upon the motorised Panzer groups, particularly those of Army Group Centre. Using archival records, in this book David Stahel presents a history of Germany's summer campaign from the perspective of the two largest and most powerful Panzer groups on the Eastern front. Stahel's research provides a fundamental reassessment of Germany's war against the Soviet Union, highlighting the prodigious internal problems of the vital Panzer forces and revealing that their demise in the earliest phase of the war undermined the whole German invasion.

David Stahel (Author), Stewart Crank (Narrator)

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Opération Bleuite, infiltration et d'intoxication pendant la Guerre d'Algérie: Les plus grandes affa

La ' Bleuite ', appelée parfois le ' complot bleu ', est une opération d'infiltration et d'intoxication à grande échelle, montée par le SDECE (services secrets français) pendant la guerre d'Algérie, à partir de 1957. Cette opération, restée longtemps méconnue du grand public tant algérien que français, consistait à dresser des listes de prétendus collaborateurs algériens de l'armée française et à les faire parvenir jusqu'aux chefs de l'Armée de libération nationale (ALN), le bras armé du FLN, pour y susciter des purges internes. Cette opération a désorganisé la résistance algérienne, qui était persuadée de compter des milliers de traîtres dans ses rangs. On estime que l'ALN a éliminé physiquement plus de 4500 algériens en pensant qu'ils étaient au service des français, ce qui n'était pas le cas. Le capitaine Paul-Alain Léger, parachutiste, agent du SDECE (Service secret français) était à l'origine de cette opération ; il déclara plus tard : ' Certaines bonnes âmes, sans doute dans le regret des grandes chevauchées et des combats ardents sous le soleil, prétendront que c'est là une guerre souterraine indigne de guerriers. Je pense personnellement que si l'ennemi a des dispositions particulières pour se détruire lui-même, bien coupable serait celui qui n'en profiterait pas ! '. Voici l'histoire de cette opération secrète magistrale et tragique, peu connue du grand public...

Frédéric Garnier (Author), Patrick Blandin (Narrator)

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Operation Dragoon: The History of the Allied Invasion of Southern France after D-Day

While D-Day is one of the most famous events of the war, it is widely overlooked that about two months after the landings in Normandy, there was a second Allied landing in France. On August 15, 1944, a combined US-French force landed in southern France on the beaches of the Côte d'Azur as part of Operation Dragoon. In just over four weeks of fighting, the Allied landing led to the liberation of most of southern France and to one of the most audacious and successful Allied operations of World War II. However, the planning that led to Operation Dragoon (originally named Operation Anvil) was anything but settled. The idea for a landing in the south of France had been raised by senior commanders as early as 1942, and at one time it was intended to be a concurrent operation with the Overlord landings in Normandy. However, the spectacular failure of the American landing at Anzio in Italy earlier in the year and an increase in the size of forces for Overlord meant there simply weren’t resources to spare for a second simultaneous landing in France. Thus, Operation Anvil was canceled. With less a one month to complete the planning and preparation of a major amphibious operation, many on the Allied side were skeptical of the chances of success for this operation. However, the supply situation in northern France and growing political pressures within the Allies meant it simply had to go ahead. With that, on the morning of August 15, 1944, Allied troops began landing on the beaches of the Côte d'Azur. What followed remains a controversial part of the end of the war in Europe.

Charles River Editors (Author), Colin Fluxman (Narrator)

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Opération Fortitude, désinformer les nazis: Les plus grandes affaires d'espionnage

Pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, l'opération Fortitude (' Courage ' en français) est le nom de code collectif pour des opérations de désinformation et de diversion menées par les Alliés dans le but de cacher aux Allemands que le lieu du débarquement serait la Normandie, en leur faisant croire qu'il serait effectué ailleurs (Norvège ou Pas de Calais) ; une fois celui-ci lancé, de leur faire croire que ce n'est qu'un débarquement de diversion, afin de retarder l'arrivée de leurs renforts. Fortitude est la pièce maîtresse d'un ensemble plus large d'opérations de dissimulation appelé opération Bodyguard qui visent à cacher aux Allemands l'ensemble des projets de débarquement alliés en Europe, dont ceux de Méditerranée. Voici l'histoire de cette opération ultra secrète des alliés qui a changé le cours de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale...

Frédéric Garnier (Author), Patrick Blandin (Narrator)

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Operation Fortitude: The History of the Deception Campaign that Confused the Nazis Ahead of the Norm

During the first half of 1944, the Americans and British commenced a massive buildup of men and resources in the United Kingdom, while Allied Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower and military brass planned the details of an enormous and complex amphibious invasion of Europe. The most obvious place for an invasion was just across the narrow English Channel, and the Germans had built coastal fortifications throughout France to protect against just such an invasion. Cloaking the vastest amphibious landing in history in layers of shrouding misdirection represented an undertaking second only in ambitiousness to the grand seaborne invasion itself, yet with Operation Bodyguard, the Allies attempted precisely that task in regards to 1944's D-Day. Bodyguard would, if successful, confuse the Wehrmacht occupiers of France about the actual place where Operation Overlord would ultimately come ashore. A further element of Bodyguard was Operation Fortitude. Fortitude marked one of the most ambitious deception plans in the history of warfare. Fortitude was divided into two parts, North and South. Both parts involved the creation of fake armies, one based in Edinburgh in the north and one on the southeast coast of England which threatened Pas de Calais, the most obvious area of France for invasion. The Allies went to remarkable lengths to ensure the success of the operation. A fictional U.S. Army group under George Patton was created in the south. Every effort was made to ensure operational security while also allowing the Germans to see the dummy war material. The success or failure of these planned misdirections would have deadly serious consequences for the men wading ashore through the Normandy surf in early summer of 1944. Put simply, the difference in the number and deployment of German forces facing them could determine if they succeeded or failed.

Charles River Editors (Author), Colin Fluxman (Narrator)

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Operation Greif: The History of the Infamous Waffen-SS Commando Operation during the Battle of the B

During the Battle of the Bulge, the Allies became understandably nervous, and Hitler hoped to capitalize on German momentum with a top-secret special operation that he named Operation Greif. This mission would utilize German soldiers, trained in sabotage techniques and disguised in American and British uniforms, and have them cross Allied lines to hold strategic targets for the German advance while destroying communication lines and ammunition depots. Most importantly, they would cause chaos and confusion by misdirecting the enemy, as Hitler explained in his orders: “I want you to command a group of American and British troops and get them across the Meuse and seize one of the bridges. Not, my dear Skorzeny, real Americans or British. I want you to create special units wearing American and British uniforms. They will travel in captured Allied tanks. Think of the confusion you could cause! I envisage a whole string of false orders which will upset communications and attack morale.” The Skorzeny he was addressing was none other than Otto Skorzeny, who had become famous by the late stages of the war because of his role in rescuing Benito Mussolini via the Gran Sasso raid. One thing that characterized Skorzeny was a continuing talent for self-aggrandizement and exaggeration of his role in events, which naturally worked on someone like Hitler. In the wake of the Gran Sasso raid, Hitler awarded Skorzeny the Knight’s Cross (one of the highest German awards for valor) and promoted him to Sturmbannführer (Major). Heinrich Himmler, who personally disliked and distrusted Skorzeny, seized the opportunity to raise the profile of the SS and to suggest that the success of the Gran Sasso raid was entirely due to the SS. As a result, it would be Skorzeny who led the Waffen-SS operation that Hitler envisioned for the Battle of the Bulge.

Charles River Editors (Author), Kc Wayman (Narrator)

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Europe Audiobooks in Travel